Another great game from Blizzard

Author's Rating:

Pros: addicting gameplay, excellent online support, wonderful graphics, powerful map editor

Cons: requires an internet connection to truly enjoy

The Bottom Line: 
If you have an internet connection and love the RTS genre of computer games this game is a MUST have.

Author's Review
This was a highly anticipated game from Blizzard and it lived up to all the hype. From the start the game is amazing with a wonderfully done opening cinematic that throws you right into the game's world.

The game picks up several years after the end of Warcraft II and war is once again coming to Azeroth. Each of the 4 playable races in the game has their own campaign which unfolds their story and the part they play in the war.
The campaigns themselves are very well fleshed out storylines with unique characters and events. The stories have all the elements of a good suspense film: love, betrayal, death, redemption, vengence.

Once you've played through the campaigns you can get to what really makes this game great. The game comes bundled with its own map editor that allows you to create your own battlefields and stories just like the campaign you just played through. When you throw this in with its wonderful online support through battle.net, which allows for free online play, you are able to play maps you or other players have created against up to 11 other people. The map editor's power allows you to create almost any type of game you can imagine which allows for infinite replayabilty so you never have to play the same thing twice.

The graphics in this game was 3D and very well done, all of the units have a full range of animations from fighting to standing idle. The animation style is blizzard's own. The world comes to life with the slightly cartoonish graphics of warcraft that have helped give the universe it's unique look. The 3D graphics and camera controls allow you to zoom right into the action and watch a fight unfold from near ground level.

The sounds for the game are also very well done. The game comes with a complete music soundtrack and each unit has its own set of sounds for orders you can give it.(clicking on a unit multiple times will result in some very funny "hidden" sound clips). My personal favorite being the Nightelf Archer's "I said a bow string not a G... oh nevermind".

The cost of this game leaves no excuse for not purchasing. It has been out a few years and so it is now very cheap. Don't let its age fool you though this game has yet to be made obsolete. In years to come I'm sure its longevity will rival that of Starcraft.

I bought this game when it first came out and continue to play it to this day. I highly reccomend it to anyone who is a fan of the RTS genre of games.