Xbox Game Pass Just Quietly Added The Most Influential Strategy Series Ever On PC

There was a time when console and PC games were more or less two different species, with genres that were huge on one platform barely appearing at all on the other. Real-time strategy, point-and-click adventure, and space sims were huge on PC but extremely rare on early consoles, for instance. And while that’s changed, with the vast majority of games getting released across consoles and PC these days, some foundational computer games remain impossible to play without a mouse and keyboard in hand.

That’s the case for the Warcraft series, which essentially defined the modern RTS and still has an outsized influence on the genre today. While none of the Warcraft games are available on consoles, today a remastered version of the entire RTS trilogy is available through Game Pass for PC players.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans isn’t the first blockbuster real-time strategy game, and it was in fact heavily influenced by predecessors like Dune 2. But Warcraft set a template that designers are still working from today, introducing more varied missions and a greater focus on story than the RTS games that came before it. It also established online multiplayer as one of the main pillars of the genre, rather than a niche add-on as it had been before. If you’re comparing it to today’s standards, the original Warcraft is almost unbearably clunky, but revisiting it is still a reminder of why it’s still a blueprint for others to follow.

With Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, you can see more clearly why Warcraft became a legend. With smarter unit AI and friendlier controls than the first game, it takes less work to appreciate Warcraft II for the marvel that it is. Even at 30 years old, Warcraft II is still engaging today as much as it’s a showcase of RTS history. Concepts like map-concealing fog and powerful hero characters in addition to its faceless armies caught on across the genre, and its improved interface makes it much easier to understand than the original Warcraft. Interestingly, Warcraft II did get a console port to the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn at one point, which is an impressive feat even if that version is inferior to the PC original.

With Warcraft III, the series defined an entirely new identity for itself. It’s still a game about massive armies of orcs and humans clashing on the battlefield, but here developer Blizzard put a lot more focus on the story’s individual heroes and villains. Hero units were a concept originally considered for the first Warcraft and tested in Warcraft II, but the third game in the series almost entirely revolves around them. Each faction has multiple heroes that don’t just represent stronger versions of standard units, but also grow in power over the course of the game, and whose stories form the backbone of the game’s plot. The story of Warcraft III also directly leads into the events of World of Warcraft. Each game in the Warcraft series is worth revisiting, but Warcraft III is the one that still feels the most innovative today. As much as the series has shaped the RTS genre as a whole, few games follow the story-focused path of Warcraft III, infused as it is with plenty of RPG elements, so it remains a wholly original experience.

The versions of the Warcraft series on Game Pass now are remasters of the originals, including the infamous Warcraft III: Reforged. When it first launched, Warcraft III: Reforged was a buggy mess with muddy visuals that made it a significantly worse experience than the original game. Since then, the developers have done a lot of work to right the worst of the wrongs, including a graphics option that’s much closer to the original, and much better than the first Reforged overhaul. There’s still something to be said for playing the originals of each game if you can find them, but the remasters are the most accessible way to play through three classics of the RTS genre today.

The Warcraft trilogy is available on PC and included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.