Love ‘em or hate ‘em, when it comes to CGI intros, there’s no denying that Blizzard are the masters. They’ve continually led the field with jaw-dropping openers, perfectly setting the scene for the epic gameplay that follows.

As part of our WoW AU Anniversary celebration, Blizzard kindly supplied us with the cinematics for every Warcraft game, dating all the way back to Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans. Read on to watch our Cinematic Celebration of the Warcraft universe.


Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans
1994 was a simpler time and this rather vague intro to Blizzard's first RTS may seem dated. But the cinematic that kicked it all off introduces us to Azeroth and the kingdom of Stormwind. Set during Azeroth's 'First War' we are introduced for the first time to both the Humans of Stormwind and the Orcish Horde, fresh from Outland. It ends with the line 'Welcome to the World of Warcraft', a phrase that would return a decade later as the title to Blizzard's MMO. Folklore has it that the text for this intro didn't exist until former Blizzard alum Bill Roper turned up to do the voiceover. While fancy for 15 years ago, the fairly generic nature of the introduction to Warcraft belied the deep world that would evolve from this little RTS.

Loading the player ...

---

Warcraft 2: The Tides of Darkness
Warcraft received a sequel only a year later. Tides of Darkness followed on from the events of the original game, focusing on the 'Second War'. In this introduction cinematic we begin to see the world being fleshed out, with mention of the Dwarves and High Elves. While those familiar with WoW may assume this movies talks of a journey to Kalimdor it is in fact about the Humans of Stormwind journeying to Lorderon (now the Undercity). Like its predecessor, the cinematic paints a fairly generic picture of warring armies, rather than individual heroes.

Loading the player ...

---

Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal
Picking up after the Alliance storyline in Warcraft 2 was this sequel. Beyond the Dark Portal was released in 1996 and sent players into Outland for the first time. This intro differs from those before by focusing not on the armies of the alliance and horde. Instead it brings players back to the Dark Portal, the source of the Orcs on Azeroth. Here we see famed mage Khadgar attempting to destroy the portal, but leaving the rift to Outland intact. Not merely an expansion but a major piece of Warcraft Lore, Beyond the Dark Portal seeded many stories that were later returned to in The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.

Loading the player ...

---

Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Six years is a long time in 3D. By the time Blizzard released the third Warcraft game, Reign of Chaos, it had a fully fledged cinematics team creating leading edge CGI animation. It had also started hiring voice actors rather than relying on Blizzard employees using their best 'Awesome' voices. The intro for Reign of Chaos is narrated by Medivh, he who first opened the Dark Portal and let the pesky Orcs into Azeroth. It takes place during the 'Third War' as the Burning Legion invades Azeroth. In the game Medivh acts as a guide, helping to fight against the invasion. Here we see him convincing Thrall to take up the path that eventually leads to him founding Orgrimmar and the Horde as we now know it.

Loading the player ...

---

Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne
Surprisingly the introduction to the Warcraft 3 expansion doesn't even mention Arthas or the Lich King. Instead it focuses on the storylines other major protagonist, Illidan. The introduction shows Illidan summoning forth the Naga, who were to play a major part in the game under the control of his lieutenant, Lady Vashj. Illidan's journey in The Frozen Throne laid a lot of the groundwork for The Burning Crusade. This was quite deliberate thanks to the parallel development of WoW and Warcraft 3, which allowed Blizzard to properly develop major lore characters in the RTS.

Loading the player ...

---

World of Warcraft
This iconic cinematic was a departure from the strong storytelling that opened previous Warcraft games. After a broad introduction about raging wars and uneasy alliances, the voiceover ends. What follows shows off some of the WoW races and classes against backdrops from around Azeroth. Doing this quite successfully captures the sense of wonder first felt by most WoW players and the sense of that there were many stories to come. It features a Dwarf Hunter, Night Elf Druid, Tauren Shaman, Undead Warlock, Human Mage and Orc Warrior. WoW's intro also began a tradition of Blizzard neglecting to include Gnomes in its intro cinematics.

Loading the player ...

---

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Much like the intro to The Frozen Throne, the cinematic for The Burning Crusade is narrated by an angst-ridden Illidan. As the major bad guy in the expansion, this was the only glimpse most players had of Illidan until raids later in the expansion. After setting Illidan up as top dog of Outland, we move on to a cinematic more like the original WoW one, featuring a Draeni Paladin and Blood Elf Mage. What follows is another montage of classes and races, with the neglected Trolls finally included but still not a Gnome in sight. The cinematic ends with Illidan clutching the Skull of Guldan, casting aside his emo funk and angrily throwing out his catchphrase 'You are not prepared' one last time. Although Blizzard does its best to set up Illidan as the villain, he comes across as a bit of a bookend to the visuals and doesn't really feel like much of a threat at all to players.

Loading the player ...

---

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
In many ways this cinematic is the antithesis of The Burning Crusade's. It begins with the Lich King seated upon the frozen throne, a scene reminiscent of the end cinematic of Warcraft 3's expansion. The narration is by Arthas' father, King Teranus Menethil, who he killed after taking up Frostmourne. It is a memory of fatherly advice given to his son. While he speaks the visuals show Arthas resurrecting a giant Frostwyrm called Sindragosa and looking over the scourge army at his command. This is not only much stronger storytelling than before, but it takes place in a location prominent in the Icecrown zone. Unlike the random encounters shown in the previous intros, the event is referenced several times through the levelling experience and players will get to finally encounter Sindragosa in the new Icecrown instances due to be released in patch 3.3. This cinematic sets up the evil nature of the Lich King, shows players the armies they will soon be facing and provides an important piece of backstory. In many ways it is the pinnacle of fifteen years of Warcraft.

Loading the player ...

---

Today’s loot word is a place that many of us are proud to call our second home: Azeroth

If you missed the news about our rather awesome WoW competition, which includes several rare collector’s editions head over to this page for the scoop.