PlayStation

Warcraft II: The Dark Saga

So is Warcraft II better than Command & Conquer? Let's just say it is different, in as much as Soul Edge was to Tekken 2. Instead of bombs and bullets you have hand to hand combat and flying arrows, although later in the game you may cast the odd fireball spell.It is a much easier game to pick up and play with it's intuitive control system and gentle learning curve. All in all a very good strategy game that stands up tall in it's own right.

Fans of the PC titles will be disappointed to learn that nothing new has been added to the game even though several changes have occurred, such as the ability to auto-upgrade buildings, auto-build soldiers, and select more troops at once. These new touches are nice, but they're relatively minor, so PC gamers are well advised to avoid the console ports (though hats off to Electronic Arts for creating practically identical versions for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, unlike Virgin's handling of Command & Conquer). But if you haven't played it before, Warcraft II is an excellent game well worth the time and effort necessary to beat it. In all, it provides about several hundred hours of gameplay throughout its hoards of selectable and configurable missions. Whether this should be considered as an excellent value to the buyer or a blatant robbing of his youth, is really up to you, though. Expect to kill a few weekends with it and perhaps even a few work or school days, as well.

Although Blizzard attempted to streamline the control scheme, it's still very awkward. Last but not least, the load times are horrendous. If you can look beyond those huge flaws, the game is playable, but if you have a PC, by all means stick with that version.