The Kingdom of Azeroth was relatively peaceful and ruled by King Llane. That was until a powerful mage named Medivh commanded forces that opened up a portal in the Swamp of Sorrow, leading to another world. This ushered in the Age of Chaos, as Orcs were summoned to this world and attempted to establish an empire. As the Orcish hordes swarmed from the portal, they met with the Humans of Azeroth and mighty battles ensued.

Six years have now passed since the first war between man and orc and the battles for the kingdoms of the World of Warcraft are far from being over…

Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition contains both Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, and the expansion – Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.

Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
The First War brought the Fall of Azeroth, following the Orc campaign in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The survivors of Azeroth have fled by sea to the Human kingdom of Lordaeron, and with the conquest of the kingdom of Azeroth in the first war, the orcs are now preparing for an invasion of Lordaeron to conquer the remaining human, dwarven and elvish realms. In an effort to counter this invasion the humans, elves and dwarves have formed an alliance in the hope to avert the same fate the kingdom of Azeroth met. Both sides have acquired allies and new capabilities, including naval and air units, and more powerful spellcasters. This will become known as The Second War.

Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
After destroying the mystic gate into Azeroth, the Humans discover that the rift which allows the Orcs passage into their world still exists. Human forces must now venture beyond the Dark Portal into orcish lands to put an end to the threat of yet another invasion by the hordes.

Warcraft II: is a fantasy-themed real-time strategy (RTS) game published by Blizzard Entertainment and first released for DOS in 1995 and for Mac OS in 1996. The main game, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, earned enthusiastic reviews, won most of the major PC gaming awards in 1996, and sold over 2 million copies.

Later in 1996 Blizzard released an expansion pack Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal for DOS and Mac OS, and a compilation Warcraft II: The Dark Saga for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The Battle.net Edition, released in 1999, provided Blizzard’s online gaming service, Battle.net, and replaced the MS-DOS version with a Windows one.

Warcraft II allows players to play against AI opponents in separate Human and Orc campaigns, and in stand-alone scenarios. Most of the campaign missions follow the pattern “collect resources, build buildings and units, destroy opponents”. However, some have other objectives, such as rescuing troops or forts, or escorting important characters through enemy territory.

Players must collect resources, and produce buildings and units in order to defeat an opponent in combat on the ground, in the air and in some maps at sea. The more advanced combat units are produced at the same buildings as the basic units but also need the assistance of other buildings, or must be produced at buildings that have prerequisite buildings. The majority of the main screen shows the part of the territory on which the player is currently operating, and the minimap can select another location to appear in the larger display. The fog of war completely hides all territory which the player has not explored, and shows only terrain but hides opponents’ units and buildings if none of the player’s units are present.

The game’s map editor allows players to develop scenarios for use in multiplayer contests and against AI opponents.

Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition