Warcraft moves into full 3-D.

Author's Rating:

Pros: Beautiful graphics, beautiful sounds, solid gameplay, Battle.net support.

Cons: Requires a decent PC to set the graphics to their full potential.

The Bottom Line: 
If you like Real Time Strategy games, you need this. I think everyone else should give it a try at least, ask a friend to check it out.

Author's Review
Writing this review brings back memories. I had been waiting for this game to come out ever since it was announced, I waited... 3 years I believe it was... Well worth it too I might add.

This game isn't going to be going anywhere soon, it will go down in history as a classic just like Warcraft 1 and 2 before it.

Graphics:
The graphics are extremely well done, a huge improvement over the graphics found in previous Warcraft games. I was a little skeptical when I heard the game would be in 3-D. And then I saw some early screenshots and they looked horrible, so I was even more skeptical. But it came out well in the end.

Gameplay:
Standard RTS gameplay here, you have pretty much the same controls as Warcraft 2, except that you can now carry a higher number of people in a group. The game retains its predecessors feeling of "simple-yet-complex", though you do have a LOT more options this time. You click a unit to select it and choose a command such as "move" or "attack" or "harvest/gather" to tell it what to do. You can select multiple units by holding down the shift button and clicking, or by dragging a box around all of the units.

The single player has a long and interesting story that is sure to draw you in. There is a campaign for every race as well as a little... what could be considered a "tutorial campaign". Mission objectives consist of the usual "bring specific unit here" and "destroy specific army here" or "collect a certain number of keys/artifacts/gold". Somehow, the same old formula manages to never get tiring.

There are also two new races in Warcraft 3. The Night Elves and the Undead. In Warcraft 1 and Warcraft 2, there have always only been 2 races to select from, the orcs and the humans. And they weren't THAT unique. The only differance I can think of between Humans and Orcs from Warcraft 2 right now is the Humans have Holy Vision on a certain unit (allows you see an area of the map you choose), while the unit equivalent of that as the orcs has Bloodlust (increases attack rate and damage).

In this game however, the orcs and the humans have different units, different buildings, and strategies for using them are entirely different. The Undead and the Night Elves were a nice edition and each race is very different from the other. An example of this is that the same unit the Undead use for harvesting lumber is also its basic attack unit. Wheres every other race has separate basic attack units and worker units. However, the other races can also use their worker units to gather anything, the Undead need to use different workers for gathering lumber and gathering gold. All of this needs to be taken into consideration while playing the game.

Music and Sounds:
The music in the game is fantastic, you actually notice it and realize how good it is. Unlike other games where the music is just "there" and plays. I think my favorite music in the game is the music that plays when you are on Battle.net chatting and looking for games, its so beautiful, sets the atmosphere so well, I just love it.

Online Play:
This game, like most of Blizzard's other PC games, allows you to play the game for free on Battle.net. But rather than keeping the same Battle.net layout that earlier games have had, they changed it completely. Its up to you whether you like the new setup really. They have a "standard game" option where you play games to increase your level/ladder rank on official blizzard approved maps, as well as a "custom game" option, where you can play games with people using any map you wish with whatever rules you wish, these games are not counted toward your ladder ranking/level however.