WarCraft II: Battle Chest

The Good
Warcraft II is clearly one of the most enduring real time strategy games ever. The nice thing about this game is that it contains both the original game (Warcraft II:Tides of Darkness) and it's expansion (Warcraft II:Beyond the Dark Portal) on one convenient disc. The price is very attractive for the amount of content. The game has been updated from the initial release with support for the Windows OS, resampled sound, battle.net support, the ability to hotkey units as well as structures, and a number of other features that make a good game better. The game lets you choose your race and the campaigns progress along a storyline that is quite well written. There are also lots of scenarios to keep you busy. Then there is the battle.net support for multiplayer that ensures that the game will never old. Beating the computer is one thing, beating another human is where the true strategy comes into play. The AI by the way has been slightly improved so it reacts more logically to what is going on in the game. The graphics are colorful and complement the game nicely. The artwork and attention to detail are simply amazing. The cutscenes are fairly good even by today's standards. The voice acting in the game are top notch. The responses given when a unit is highlighted are hilarious. The best part is the more you click on them the more angry they get. Nice touch.

The Bad
There is not a lot to dislike in this game. One of the things I have noticed is that some of the sound effects seem to be just a bit scratchy at times though by far the majority of the time it sounds just fine.

The Bottom Line
One of the best classic real-time strategy games that still gets a lot of play time on Battle.net.

The Good
The best thing about this update is that it makes Warcraft 2 fully functional in Windows, along with Battle.net and many many multi-player maps. It brings some great elements into the game, though it is at it's heart the same game is was when it was released many years ago.

The Bad
Not much, seeing as its an old game theres not much to complain about it.

The Bottom Line
A fun game, if you haven't played Warcraft 2 yet, I suggest it. It's worth it now at the cheap price. The game is simple but fun. The graphics are pleasently cartoony, and the game still has the same appeal that lead it to being one of the biggest sellars of gameing history. Its only added with the windows support, the cool mission builder, and the Battle.net support.

The Good
The low price, the classic WarCraft 2 I remember, and the Battle.net capability.

The Bad
The people on Battle.net are not very fun to deal with, I'd suggest playing with some friends.

The Bottom Line
The RTS that gave birth to all of the WC clones on the market. It is undoubtly the best real time strategy game ever made.