In a surprising turn of events, Blizzard has added a new Warcraft 3: Legacy option to Battle.net. It provides access to the original 1.29 client from The Frozen Throne era, and it's noted that it's for offline and LAN play only.
To access the Legacy version, head to your Battle.net client's Warcraft 3: Reforged page. Click the menu above the game's Play button and select Legacy 1.29.
Why is Warcraft 3: Legacy a big deal?
Before Blizzard completely redeemed itself with the incredible Diablo 2: Resurrected remake in 2021, it had a generational fumble with Warcraft 3: Reforged in 2020.
I was one of the "lucky" ones who got to review Warcraft 3: Reforged about six years ago, and it didn't take long to see why fans had review-bombed the Metacritic user score to an awful 0.5 out of 10 (the game is still sitting at a user score of 0.6 all these years later).
I gave the game 3/5 stars, which, in retrospect, was probably way too generous. Warcraft 3: Reforged arrived with core issues. Features were missing. Campaigns were changed. Character animations were rough. Networking wasn't working properly.
Worst of all? Blizzard overwrote the classic Warcraft 3 client with the Reforged client, effectively destroying the myriad custom games that were such a big draw for so many RTS enthusiasts.
If you wanted to play classic Warcraft 3, you had to do so with a workaround involving beta branch versions.
Blizzard attempted to salvage some of its work with a Reforged 2.0 patch a couple of years ago, but it largely failed to revive the game's appeal.
Is Warcraft 3: Legacy really what it seems to be?
I haven't yet had a chance to jump into the new Legacy version of Warcraft 3, but there's plenty of chatter on Blizzard's forums regarding its state.
As one user, Kiezel, points out, there are still some ongoing issues.
Some are asking why the Warcraft 3: Legacy download size is 6.25GB when the original patch 1.27 was less than 2GB.
Another user wonders why Blizzard didn't use patch 1.31, which was also pre-Reforged. Patch 1.31 was 64-bit and added several new features, whereas 1.29 is 32-bit. This excludes it from running on Mac.
Windows Central's take
I'm inclined to agree with some Blizzard forum members that this seems like fan service more than a restoration of the old Warcraft 3.
Many of the same old issues that cropped up after Reforged persist in Legacy, and it lacks online play.
Still, this could be a first step in reviving Warcraft 3 through "official" channels. I don't think there would be a huge outcry if Reforged was completely forgotten, but I could be wrong.
What do you think about Blizzard's move to add Warcraft 3: Legacy to Battle.net? Have you tried it out yet? What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below!
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