Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
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| Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal | |
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| Developer(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) |  Blizzard Entertainment Ubisoft |
| Designer(s) | Cyberlore Studios, Blizzard Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | April 30, 1996 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Macintosh, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows |
| System requirements | Windows 95, Pentium 60 MHz, 16MB RAM, 2xCD-ROM Drive for Gameplay (4xCD-ROM for Cinematics), Local Bus SVGA Video Card (DirectX Compatible), Microsoft Compatible Mouse, DirectX Compatible Sound Card (For Audio) |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse |
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal is an expansion pack developed by Cyberlore Studios, released in 1996 by Blizzard Entertainment for their award winning real-time strategy computer game Warcraft II. As with most computer game expansion packs, Beyond the Dark Portal requires a full version of the original game to run. It adds several new heroes for both orcs and humans. It also includes a new tileset, two new campaigns, and several multiplayer maps[citation needed].
[edit] Story
The plot of Beyond the Dark Portal takes place after the events of Warcraft II, when the humans, who were nearly destroyed during the second war, took advantage of the horde's internal rivalries caused by Gul'dan's search for the Tomb of Sargeras. While Ogrimm Doomhammer had send much of his loyal Blackrock clan to give chase and destroy the Stormreaver clan and Twilight's Hammer clan for siding with Gul'dan and disobeying his rule as Warchief, the Alliance managed to break the seiges upon Lordaeron City and Silvermoon and used their combined forces to push the orcs back across Khaz Modan, lift the seige on Ironforge, leaving the Horde holding only the conquered land of Azeroth in their grip.
With much of Horde taken by suprise at this striking counter attack and having suffered the loss of many orcs in the civil war between Gul'dan and Ogrimm Doomhammer, they fell back to the Swamps of Sorrows, their major fortress Blackrock Spire, and the Dark Portal itself. After losing a critical battle at Blackrock Spire, the Horde were continued to be pushed back towards the Dark Portal, the Alliance unrelenting dispite the heavy losses they were suffering. The final blow came when the armies reached the Portal itself, and the Arch-Wizard Khadgar himself closed the portal through unleashing the arcane powers at his disposal upon its frame, tearing the stonework apart and making the rift impassible, yet still present.
The Alliance captured or destroyed nearly all of the clans, most of the orcs having lost their will to fight, cut off from reinforcements and clearly beaten. The Bleeding Hollow Clan was the only clan leadership to have survived, escaping imprisonment, but having much of their numbers lost, went into a passive existence, hiding from their enemies, and trying to avoid a band of elven rangers led by Alleria who remained tracking them even in this newfound peace. It was quite some time, the Alliance spending vast sums of taxes to rebuild and settle the former home of the Azerothian people, the Kingdoms began to take their mind off the Horde and concentrated on restoring the old balance and the persuit of internal affairs. However, it appeared the orcs of Draenor had not lost their taste for battle, and their will to conquer. A large host of orcs rebuilt the Dark Portal, the rift having survived Khardgar's assault, and lay seige to the nearest Alliance stronghold, the recently constructed citadel of Nethergarde.
While the newly reconstructed city of Stormwind was able to put together a relief effort and an army led by Danath beat the enemy back through the portal, it was clear simple conquest had not been the driving force behind the orc's willingness to reopen the portal and begin another gruesome war. Politics on Draenor had changed, with the Shadowmoon clan now dominant, its elder shaman Ner'zul was masterminding the orcish Horde. His purpose was not to challenge the humans for Azeroth and the Kingdoms of the Alliance, despite that being agreeable with clan chieftains like Grom Hellscream of the Warsong and Kargath Bladefist of the Shattered Hand eager for battle. The attack on Nethergarde was a distraction to keep the forces of Azeroth in one place so that a second strike team could raid Stormwind Keep and take the Book of Medivh from its chambers. With this book, the Horde would be able to open portals to other countless worlds, if they fell to the Horde they could quickly become unstoppable. Ner'zul could not be allowed to master the book of Medivh and to unleash the Horde on any other innocent worlds. The forces of the Alliance charged
forth, took their side of the Dark Portal from the orcs who had come through, and proceeded into their homeland to do battle with the Horde with the aim to regain the book.
The Shadowmoon clan could not be allowed to wield the powers contained within it, and a whole new war was fought, now on the soil of the orcish homelands for the first time. It was clear that the numbers were on the orc's side. As such the expedition was to be a series of tactical moves and surgical strikes against the Horde, such as the final destruction of the Bleeding Hollow clan, and the destruction of their navy on the Skeletal Coast. The expedition also sought out the artifacts needed to close the rift, fighting Deathwing the fallen aspect in order to obtain one of his prized trinkets, the Skull of Gul'dan, the warlock who had consorted with Medivh to bring the orcs into Azeroth. Soon the expedition found themselves being pushed back towards the portal by the sheer numbers of orcs, mainly belonging to the Bonechewer and Warsong clans. The Laughing Skull clan however, traded the missing Book of Medivh to the Expedition in return for their military aid in their conquest of the Blade's Edge Mountains from the Thunderlord clan.
Outnumbered and unable to stand their ground, and having obtained all the artifacts they needed to seal the Dark Portal permanently, the Alliance forces fell back to the Dark Portal with the hope to send as much of the expedition back to Azeroth as possible before the rift was sealed permanently. However, Ner'zul had learned what he had sought, and began opening dimensional rifts on Draenor. However, the rifts began to tear the planet apart, causing tidal waves and earthquakes as Draneor began to rip itself apart under the stresses of the rift's presence. Fearing for Azeroth's safety, Khadgar fought his way to the Dark Portal and sealed it before their home could suffer any of the backlashes from the planet's self destruction, cutting the Alliance Expedition off, throwing away any hope of ever seeing their homes again and facing inevitable destruction. Ner'zul escaped into one of the dimensional rifts, hoping to escape, abandoning the Horde who had fought for him to their own fate on the dying world, taking only his loyal servants and warlocks with him as Draenor tore itself asunder.
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