Warcraft 3 Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom Review So Far
A surprise single-player campaign that maintains the feel of classic Warcraft 3 while mixing in some new ideas.
Warcraft 3: Reforged's Forsaken Kingdom is an exciting new single-player story campaign released in 2026, 23 years after the last expansion, The Frozen Throne. The game offers a mix of classic Warcraft 3 gameplay with new ideas, and the author finds themselves excited to return to single-player RTS after a long time. The prologue alone, consisting of four missions, is ambitious and juicy.
The Last Days of Lordaeron opens with Arthas returning from Northrend to kill his father, a pivotal moment in Warcraft lore. Garek Bandarion, a new hero, fights to protect his homeland from the Scourge, culminating in a confrontation against Baron Rivendare. The game incorporates MOBA-inspired elements, such as capturing towers that spawn waves of friendly AI-controlled soldiers and objectives that allow for unique unit recruitment.
One mission takes place in Stratholme, which is now a winding dungeon crawl. Players must coordinate two groups, one led by Garek and another by the elven priest Ilastar Songbreeze, to complete objectives and ultimately unite for the final push. In a twist, Garek does not fare well against Baron Rivendare and becomes one of the free-willed Forsaken in the main campaign.
The game is still Warcraft 3, and its visual update, the Definitive Edition, aims to address criticisms of the 2020 Reforged update. While the Definitive Edition improves the overall look of the game, the author initially wasn't convinced. However, when playing zoomed out in custom skirmish matches, they found the Definitive Edition graphics to be a magic trick, almost indistinguishable from the original 2003 graphics.
The Definitive Edition graphics are only available for the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, while multiplayer and skirmish modes allow players to choose between Classic, Reforged, or Definitive Edition. The inclusion of a new tavern hero since the Reign of Chaos and Frozen Throne campaigns is a significant addition. Overall, Forsaken Kingdom is a great game, and the minor shortcomings should not deter players from revisiting or experiencing Warcraft 3 for the first time.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
