WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos

The Good
Since this is Blizzard's first 3D game, the graphics are not at all bad, but large battles can be slow sometimes. The heroes are definately a good addition to this game, since they can become quite powerful if you know how to play with them. The units are really balanced and unlike most other strategy games (such as C&C), the units of different races not only differ in colour, and names, but also looks and abilities, making each race have truly unique units. Not only are the units different, each race also has different abilities. For example, most of the Night Elves' buildings can move around and they can see better in the dark, while the undead can only build on blight (similar to the zerg creep in Starcraft). Excellent singleplayer gameplay and has the most incredible cut-scenes I have ever seen, even better than Diablo II's cut-scenes. As with most other Blizzard games, clicking on a single unit for a couple of times makes them say something funny, and since there are so many different units, you can listen to a lot of these comments. WC3 also features a great map editing application. With it, you can do just about everything, from creating your own heroes to the ability to detect key strokes from within the game. Also, now 12 players can be in the same battle for multiplayer, so you can have even more intense battles.

The Bad
This game is just too similar to Starcraft and probably not as good. Mobile buildings, the presence of blight, and how the Undead Ghouls look suspiciously like Zerg Zerglings all looks too much like Starcraft. In fact there are even Starcraft units hidden in the game! Another thing I dislike about this game is how strong the defense towers are. There are many people on the internet who doesn't do anything else but build towers, hundreds of them. Since the food limit is 90 now (so that your strategy now becomes a key to winning), you can only send a few units in to destroy the towers, but most units die without even reaching the towers while catapults could easily be taken down by aerial units within the mass of towers.

The Bottom Line
If you have not played Starcraft yet, buy that instead of Warcraft 3. However, if you are a fan of Blizzard's games or just strategy games in general, then you should buy this. If you figure out how to (and have the time to actually do it) make maps using the map editor, you could make complete different games with it (puzzle, RPG, etc).

The Good
I was wary of Blizzard going 3D for Warcraft III - after all, I felt Westwood's Emperor: Battle for Dune was largely hampered by the almost complete lack of personality of its 3D units. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Blizzard has managed to craft a 3D engine that allows its units to shine in the traditional Blizzard way. It manages to straddle the fine border between cartoonish excess and hand-drawn realism, and I applaud the programmers for that. Aside from the graphics, the design of Warcraft III is uniformly excellent. You get four races to play with, and each is involving and offers a spread of unique challenges and intricacies. Furthermore, the story is engaging, and plot has for the first time in RTS history become as important as the action going on in the field. I really was interested in finding out what was going to happen, especially once you get up to the end of the first campaign... Blizzard has also reinvigorated the concept of hero units. In past RTS games, "hero" or unique units usually were part of mission-specific goals, requiring you to protect them at all costs. While these unique units might have sported slightly higher damage rolls or special powers, I usually found myself squirreling them away in the most protected parts of my bases so that they would not die an untimely death. Warcraft III completely changes this mold, now enabling you to place hero units at the forefront of battles where they belong. These hero units (each race gets three to use) are incredibly powerful, and if you do not field one or two on the battlefield, you are usually asking to get tromped. The orcs' Swordmaster, perhaps the coolest hero unit, is capable of spinning in a blade-wielding frenzy, chopping down multiple enemy units in no time.
I also really loved the fact that the game rewards you for exploring the entire map by offering neutral units to defeat in exchange for experience points for your hero. As your hero increases in levels, he or she gains more and more powers. Furthermore, sometimes defeated neutral units drop items that can further bolster the power of your hero.

The Bad
I really, REALLY hate upkeep. In Warcraft III, the size of your army dictates how much gold is deducted from your income due to taxation. Thus, if you're fielding a relatively small army, all the gold your workers collect will flow into your coffers. However, once you build up your army to respectable numbers, you'll find more and more gold vanishes even before it reaches your coffers. Thus, if you launch a major attack against an enemy while burdened by high upkeep, you'd better hope you win - otherwise, the loss of gold due to taxation will render you almost incapable of defending against a counterattack. Upkeep is probably useful in stopping rushes in multiplayer and encouraging more strategic play. Fine and dandy. But what's the point in single player games? Often, you'll be facing three or four separate enemy camps, all bent on wiping you out. With the deck stacked thus against you, why cripple you even further with upkeep? I found this aspect of the game to be the most frustrating, and I hope Blizzard does not make this a recurring feature in future RTS products.

The Bottom Line
Take Warcraft II, stir in some Starcraft, blend with a 3D engine and some innovation and you get Warcraft III. Also, I highly recommend the cool special edition, if you can find out - all the extras are worth the $70 price tag.

The Good
I loved everything about this game. The storyline is so juicy and full of plot twists and all things. The massive amount of units you can have is amazing. And the addition of Hero units with upgradable powers is all the more sweeter. And Blizzard went out of the box with the map maker. You can program events and attacks or whatever you prefer. Program an explosion and just sit back and wait for the explosion. One hundred percent awesome.

The Bad
The only thing i didn't like is that some troops cost more food than others.

The Bottom Line
A perfect RTS experience for any lover of strategy and combat. A must have and must buy. It never fails to amaze.