Warcraft 3: Reforged is now the worst user scored game ever on Metacritic

Blizzard’s Warcraft 3: Reforged is now the worst user scored game ever on aggregation site Metacritic.

At the time of publishing, the RTS has a user score of just 0.6 based on more than 10,000 ratings, which the site classifies as “overwhelming dislike.”

Reforged released earlier this week and attracted criticism for releasing without many visual upgrades shown in a 2018 pre-release version of the game, when it was billed as “a complete reimagining” of the classic RTS.

Reforged features overhauled character models and environments, as well as integration with the Battle.net platform.

However, the final game has none of the revamped cut-scenes shown during its announcement, and some visual improvements such as shader and lighting elements are seemingly missing.

As of Saturday, the official Warcraft 3: Reforged website is still prominently displaying a video of a remade cut-scene that is not in the final game.

The re-release also lacks many social features from the 2002 original, including support for clans and ladders.

And because the original Warcraft 3 has been updated to share Reforged’s client, these features can no longer be accessed in the original game either.

In another poorly received change, it’s emerged that Reforged’s user agreement essentially claims ownership of all user-created custom games.

In November 2019, Blizzard did appear to have back-tracked on some Reforged features, when some outlets and influencers indicated that the scope of the remaster had changed. However, many fans have claimed this was poorly communicated.

Currently Warcraft 3: Reforged has a meta-score of 63 based on 12 critic reviews, only one of which is classed as positive.

Digital Trends wrote in its review: “The highest praise I can give to Reforged is that it’s still Warcraft III. The stellar single-player campaign and strategic multiplayer action are all well preserved here.

“The updated graphics are a welcome addition, which replaces the original game’s out-of-date visuals with an expressive new look and feel.

“Unfortunately, the launch version of the game feels far from finished, with bugs and key missing features preventing the current build from being the definitive edition of Warcraft III.”

Referencing the original game’s move to the new Reforged client, Forbes wrote: “The game is a mess, and not only that, some of the ways that Reforged is a mess actually impact the original Warcraft III.

“So even if you didn’t buy the remaster and just want to play your old game, you’ll still face some of the same problems with the new launcher, connecting to servers and so forth.”