Warcraft: A New Dawn mod sends Starcraft II to Azeroth

Sure, conquering space bugs is fun and all, but none of it would exist if Blizzard hadn't first honed its strategy skills on a certain beloved fantasy franchise. Warcraft III released a little over a decade ago, and it remains a major influence to balancing, unit design, and story. That's why the Warcraft: A New Dawn total conversion excites us: it aspires to let us relive the entire Warcraft III experience with Starcraft II's updated visuals. Time for a little less Zerg and a little more zug-zug.

It's a work in progress, the few images and videos for A New Dawn show an intense dedication to recreating Warcraft III's memorable matchups of Horde against Alliance. Staple features such as day/night cycles (and associated visibility effects), weather, hero units, and gold-granting creep creatures are in the works. For the latter, modding group Wrekin Krew Studios plans two new creep types, Wanderers and Camps, to put up a challenging fight when encountered and drop powerful items when defeated.

The next step for Wreckin Krew is a working demo by spring, with maps using assets stitched together from Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. For now, take a look at some pre-alpha footage showing an Orc encampment apparently completely fine with a few Protoss buildings in its midst. How about that Blademaster, eh?

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?