About Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a fantasy real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It came out for MS-DOS and Mac OS in North America in December 1995 and in Europe in January 1996. In North America it was published by Blizzard’s parent company at the time, Davidson & Associates. Ron Millar is credited as designer and Glenn Stafford wrote the music. It was the sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it was well reviewed, winning most of the major PC gaming awards of 1996.
The game grew in several directions after launch. Blizzard released an expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal, for DOS and Mac OS in 1996, and a compilation called The Dark Saga brought the game to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997. The Battle.net Edition of 1999 bundled the expansion, added support for Blizzard’s online service and replaced the MS-DOS version with a Windows one. Single-player and multiplayer modes were part of the game from the start. Blizzard, now owned by Microsoft, still holds the rights.
How it runs in your browser
Pressing Play opens the game’s page on dos.zone in a new tab. There, js-dos, the open-source browser edition of DOSBox that DOS.Zone builds, emulates an old PC and boots the original MS-DOS release on it. The files are served by the site, so you don’t install anything or bring a copy of your own, and you don’t need an account. DOS.Zone doesn’t show ads.
DOS.Zone lists the game as WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness, with a rating of 5 from 352 player reviews. The listing doesn’t say whether Beyond the Dark Portal is included, so don’t count on the expansion.
Warcraft II also has its own multiplayer room on DOS.Zone, at dos.zone/multiplayer/warcraft-ii. Look there for how to join or host a match; we haven’t measured how well online games hold up.
Keep in mind that DOS.Zone has removed games when rights holders asked, as it did with GTA 1 and 2 after a request from Take-Two, so a listing like this one can disappear.
Controls and devices
Warcraft II is played with a keyboard and mouse. Click into the game window after it loads so your input reaches the emulator. The key layout isn’t listed on the host’s page, so check the game’s own menus.
DOS.Zone provides virtual on-screen controls for phones, but this game was built for a mouse, and a computer is the better fit.
Who it’s for
It suits anyone who played Warcraft II in the 1990s and wants a quick game without setting up an emulator, and strategy fans who want to see the game that came before Warcraft III. If you’d rather fight through dungeons than command an army, Blizzard’s Diablo also runs in a browser.
Is Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Warcraft II online with friends?
DOS.Zone runs a multiplayer room for Warcraft II at dos.zone/multiplayer/warcraft-ii. Check that page for how to set up a match; we haven’t tested how well online games run.
Do I need the original Warcraft II files?
No. DOS.Zone loads the game files itself, so there’s nothing to install, no disc to dig out and no account to create.
Does Warcraft II work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls for phones, but Warcraft II was made for a keyboard and mouse, so a computer is the better fit.
