WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness

The Good
A definite up in the graphics since the previous. The storyline in WC2 is allot more in-depth than the one in WC1. The new units such as Elven archers and Troll axe throwers give the game allot more variety. This is the only Warcraft to have ships and oil which was not that bad of an idea but for some reason they didn't carry the idea on to WC3. It has allot of different maps that were not available in the first one such as maps with snow etc.

The Bad
Even though the story line is a little more in-depth in this game the missions are still mostly just: build a base, make lots of units and then go and defeat the enemy. The fact that the population limit is quite low gets annoying nut it is not that much of a problem.

The Bottom Line
A definite must for any RTS fan or any fan of the Warcraft series.

The Good
Warcraft 2, along with Command & Conquer and This Means War, was part of the second wave of RTS games to assault PC gamers senses. The graphics are quite cartoony, and nicely detailed, without ever looking brilliant. Each character has a nice little face picture on the side panel, where you can issue commands like move, attack and unit specific commands like cast spell or harvest timber. The storyline is quite nice, involving the humans running from their home nation after the story in Warcraft 1, and sailing across the seas. Unfortunately for them, the Orcs follow. War ensues, and it is your job to pick one of the sides and try to win. The action is all in real time, with resource gathering, structure and unit building and attacking all needing to be taken care of. The units are a wide range, with most having melee weapons only, but the magicians and axe throwers/archers having range attacks. There are also a few token air units for each side which don't do a hell of a lot, and some sea units which help make the game more varied. While the two sides have different units, they are all fairly equal, like the axe thrower vs. the archer, or the ogre vs. the knight.

The Bad
In terms of gameplay, Warcraft 2 is a little flatter than Command & Conquer, while still being good. Whereas in C&C the strategies seem to be quite varied, in Warcraft 2 it is mostly a case of learning how the computer acts which can be done within the first 5 or so missions, and then repeating the same strategy to counter it. All in all, the game is definately worth getting, but if you can get C&C instead you'll probably find yourself playing that more.

The Bottom Line
Warcraft 2 is one of the most influential RTS titles of all time and has won numerous awards. The learning curve is excellent, but the slightly dodgy AI can put more experienced gamers off.

The Good
What can i say that hasn't been said yet about this splendorous game? When i first saw the majestic demo i never expected what i was going to face, the RTS game i have spent most hours with. The story is grand, epic, very heroic and with a bit of tolkienesque modified feel. There are a lot of inclusions that make the game a great advance from Warcraft 1, new engine that made possible the battle by air and water, and a difficulty level more adjusted to common players not familiarized with that kind of games.

The Bad
As said by everyone, the AI sucked, you always knew the next step the enemy was going to take, your units sometimes are a bit dumb too, you could have a lone footman being attacked to death just at few steps from a bunch of soldiers of yours and they stay in their places as if nothing was happening until you order them to do so. Also the map editor was limited, you couldn't give the map any special victory conditions rather than defeating all the enemies on the map.

The Bottom Line
Great game to begin with real-time strategy genre. And a classic nowadays!