By now, all Warcraft fans know the four announced races in the game: humans, orcs, demons, and undead. There are still two more unannounced races, and Blizzard has released no timeline for when those two new races will be revealed. What we do know for sure is that one of the other races is not the elves. In fact, the elves are part of the human side, and along with the dwarves and humans, they form the side properly known as the Alliance. The Alliance has seen better days since Warcraft II. Due to the arrival of the demons and skirmishes with the orcs, the elves have lost their homeland, which is now eradicated. In their sorrow, the elves have turned to magic and are almost addicted to its fantastic energies.

The orcs have fared better, having carved out a new life for themselves in Azeroth. They have thrown off the demonic shackles of the Burning Legion and are no longer sustained by evil forces. Instead, they have rediscovered their noble, shamanistic heritage. Although not quite heroes, the orcs are not the villains they were in the previous games. In Warcraft III, the orc side is still called The Horde and is composed of the orc, troll, and minotaur peoples.

With the orcs no longer their minions, the Burning Legion - the demon race in Warcraft III - has journeyed to Azeroth to destroy the world. Little is known of this race thus far. As for the undead, they are called The Scourge, and they are also a villainous blight on the world, consisting of all manner of the living dead. Although there are currently no indications that they are in league with the demons, these two sides are certainly the villains of Warcraft III.

Because the game takes place 15 years after the events of Warcraft II and follows up on the untold story of Blizzard's cancelled project Warcraft Adventures, several familiar faces will return in the game. Indeed, Thrall and Garona will be major players in Warcraft III, as will Grom Hellscream and Nerzhul. Thrall was the protagonist in Warcraft Adventures, and Garona was a half-orc assassin from the first Warcraft. Grom Hellscream appeared as a hero unit in the Warcraft II expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal, and Nerzhul was the former spiritual leader of the orcs and is now the leader of The Scourge. Warcraft III producer Rob Pardo also said that more heroes and villains will return from previous games, but made no specific mention of what human characters would be returning.

In this second part to our preview, we'll go over all the Alliance and Horde units. We'll reveal a few new ones, and go into more detail on the ones that are already unveiled.

Next: Onto the Orcs