The Best Order to Play Warcraft Games
Warcraft is a franchise of video games that began with real-time strategy (RTS) games and eventually became known for its MMORPG, World of Warcraft. Warcraft games feature an immersive fantasy world filled with humans, elves, orcs, undead and other species, which often fight each other in large wars.
Even though Warcraft games were critically acclaimed and successful real-time strategy games, the series eventually became more widely known for its MMORPG, and not for its RTS games, even though it achieved its initial popularity through the RTS video games. Perhaps it can be said that, while with the RTS video games Warcraft was widely known about strategy game fans, it was with the MMORPG World of Warcraft that Warcraft achieved mainstream success and popularity.
What Are Warcraft Games Like?
Most of the Warcraft video games are RTS games, with the exception of the MMORPG World of Warcraft and the card game Hearthstone. Like other RTS games of the 1990s and 2000s, Warcraft games feature base building, recruitment of military units, real-time combat and single player campaigns, usually divided in different missions. It is also possible to play these RTS games in multiplayer mode, with other players across the Internet. Warcraft games are considered to be classic examples of the RTS genre, and feature most, if not all of the hallmarks that made the RTS genre famous in the video games industry.
Is There an Order to Warcraft Games?
While Warcraft video games can be played separately and enjoyed, it is recommended to play these games in story order, considering that the Warcraft video games are set in the same universe, and often share or mention important characters in common, as well as events that affect or have affected the Warcraft games universe.
The Story Timeline Order of Warcraft Video Games
This is the chronological story order of the Warcraft video games. This list includes the games in the chronological order of the events that happen in each game. For this reason, this is the suggested order in which to play the Warcraft video games to have the best possible story experience and to have a better understanding of the Warcraft games universe.
This list only includes the Warcraft games, and does not include expansions, as expansions are generally not considered to be video games themselves unless they are standalone. However, even if this list does not include the different expansions to the Warcraft games, it is suggested to play all the expansions to each game in order to have the best possible story experience in the Warcraft games universe. This is explained more in-depth in one paragraph below.
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | Warcraft III: Reforged
World of Warcraft
Hearthstone
For the purpose of this chronological story order list, it is important to consider that it is recommended to play each Warcraft game as well as its expansion, and in all cases it is suggested to play the expansion after playing the main game, for the the best story experience. For example, it is suggested to play Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and then its expansion, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal. Likewise, it is suggested to play Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (or the respective part in Warcraft III: Reforged) and then Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (or the respective part in Warcraft III: Reforged). The expansions to Warcraft games often tell completely new stores that are relevant to the Warcraft games universe lore.
Warcraft III: Reforged is a remastered version of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. For this reason, while the game received improvements, I've considered both Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: Reforged to tell exactly the same core story. Thus, they were included as a single entry in this chronological story order list that I wrote. Either game can be played for the same story.
When Is World of Warcraft Set?
The MMORPG World of Warcraft is set in the same universe as the other Warcraft main games, such as Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. While set in the same universe as the other games, World of Warcraft is set approximately four years after the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
The Story Timeline Order of the Campaigns in the Warcraft Video Games
This is not a chronological story order of all the Warcraft video games, but instead, a chronological story order of all the story campaigns available in the different Warcraft video games. In other words, this list not only includes Warcraft games, but it also includes expansions to Warcraft games. This is important because in the case of Warcraft games, expansions often feature new storylines that are very relevant to the Warcraft games universe. To be more precise, for a player looking for the best story experience in the Warcraft video games, it is important to play both the main games and the expansions of each game. For example, a gamer that plays only Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, but doesn't paly Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, and then proceeds to play Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, will be missing important information and story development about the backstory of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos as well as the Warcraft games universe story. Considering the importance of all the expansions in the Warcraft games, this list is quite useful for making sure that no campaign story is left behind, and ensuring a complete playthrough of the multiple Warcraft games, one that includes all the story available in the expansions.
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | Warcraft III: Reforged
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne | Warcraft III Reforged
World of Warcraft
Hearthstone
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
World of Warcraft: Legion
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
As far as I know, all of the World of Warcraft expansions are set chronologically one after the other. The only exception would be World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, that while starts chronologically after the previous expansion, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, features an alternate continuity. This is explained more in-depth in one paragraph below. However, with the exception of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, all of the expansions to World of Warcraft should be considered to be in chronological order. Tehcnically speaking, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor begins after World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, and so it could be considered to be in chronological order as well, but because it features an alternate continuity, I thought necessary to make this remark.
The expansion World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor features an alternate continuity that would change Warcraft's canon story. For this reason, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor should be considered an alternate continuity, set in an alternate universe, such as an "what if" scenario. Thus, even though World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor theoretically takes place before the events of some of the other expansions and Warcraft games, I did not include this expansion before in the list because it did not alter Warcraft's main story, but rather, takes place in an alternate continuity. It seems to me that all of the remaining World of Warcraft expansions that place mostly in the main Warcraft continuity.
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