When Warcraft III originally came out in 2002, I was five years old. Like many five-year-olds, I was too busy watching SpongeBob and whatever cartoon was on TV. Then, when Warcraft III: Reforged came out in 2020, I was too busy thinking about my college classes and whether the world would shut down because of COVID. With all that being said, it’s safe to say that I missed both trains on Warcraft III. But it looks like another one might be rolling around. At BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard Entertainment announced Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, which explores the fall of Lordaeron. During the event, we got hands-on with the upcoming expansion and tried it out ourselves.
Warcraft has always been interesting to me. That’s because it’s something that I’ve just gotten into within the last year and a half. Most of my time is spent in Blizzard Entertainment’s MMORPG World of Warcraft, which takes place well after the events of Warcraft III. So whenever I get to see new tidbits of the game’s lore, I’m all for it. That’s why I was especially excited to play Forsaken Kingdom.
Playing through Reforged for the first time was quite the experience. I say that because the game somehow looks like an early 2000s game while also looking like a 2026 game. It has just enough jank in all the right places to give that old-school charm, all while looking like what we’d expect a modern game to look like.
Once I loaded into the game, it wasted no time jumping right into the plot. I expected nothing less, given that the campaign is called “Prologue Campaign: The Last Days of Lordaeron.” As soon as everything loaded, I was put in the shoes of both Landen and Garek, two guardsmen patrolling the city.
One thing I loved about them was their different ideologies. Landen was an old soldier who cared more about ensuring the day-to-day people were safe/secure and valued peace over everything. Garek, however, was more abrasive, bored with the peace, and itching to go to war. Watching the two clash was fun to see play out on screen.
As I was going around town, I was tasked with getting followers for Arthas’ return. At first, everything seemed normal and fun. But as I got closer and closer to the end of my objective, I began hearing rumors from countless citizens about how Arthas had done unspeakable acts while out on his quest. To make matters worse, a handful of people talked about a sickness that had been slowly spreading. But no one seemed to really care about either one of those and mainly cared about the return of Arthas.
To my surprise, walking around the town took me quite a while. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. One thing I loved was clicking on Landen and Garek and hearing them say one of five lines. It made me laugh every single time, and seeing what would eventually become the Undercity was fun. That’s because up until now I’ve only ever known it as a city, the capital for the Undead in World of Warcraft. Seeing it filled with life and joy is sad in a lot of ways, especially when you consider that it now looks like it was ripped straight out of a nightmare.
Once I was done taking in the sights of a city that was destined for doom, Arthas had arrived. When he first showed up, everything seemed fine, with a parade thrown in his honor, but that all quickly changed the second we got behind closed doors. As Landen and Garek walked through the castle, they heard Arthas fighting with his father. Although we couldn’t see anything, it was clear that he had murdered his father, and that’s when things went from bad to worse. Before we had a chance to react to what was happening, we were ambushed by cultists and were forced to fight for our lives.
This is when I realized how difficult combat really is in Warcraft III. I hate to admit it, but I died more times than I’d like to admit, and spent a good chunk of my time trying to survive the ambush. Combat is a bit clunky and requires you to manage a lot of things at once.
Since everything plays out in real time, you’re forced to think on your feet. Even though it plays similarly to grand strategy games, that’s all it really has in common with the genre. In every fight, I found myself outnumbered in tight areas. This made commanding my men much harder since everyone was cramped together; I’d often click the wrong person, and it’d cost me the mission.
As I finally made my way to the throne room, my suspension was confirmed. Arthas went full villain, killed the king, and was working with the cultists to destroy Lordaeron. Although all seemed lost, there was still a spark of hope, and that was with Landen and Garek. As soon as they walked in and saw what was happening, they wasted no time rushing into combat.
But unfortunately, I wasn’t as skilled as they were and died over and over again. Just as I was starting to learn how to fight properly, my time with the demo ended. Even though I wasn’t able to see the full fall of Lordaeron, I have a strong feeling that it’s going to hit me like a truck. Forsaken Kingdom wastes no time jumping right into the thick of it. What’s nice about it is that it allows players to see a major part of Warcraft lore finally play out in real time. Even if the combat is a bit challenging and clunky, it has a charm that’s hard to stay mad at because it stays true to its original era.
Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom is out now and is playable on PC.
Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom was played on PC at BlizzCon 2026 for one hour- all screenshots were provided by Blizzard Entertainment.
