More importantly, the way the action plays out in a typical match is really outstanding, which is something that's as rare in real-time strategy games as it is difficult to describe. Warcraft III truly requires you to use mixed forces to succeed. Ground forces, ranged units, flying support troops, and spellcasters, along with your heroes, are all needed for victory. That sounds like a lot, and it is, yet the smaller scale of the battles, the perfect pacing, and the ability to set certain special abilities to trigger automatically all make Warcraft III as manageable to play as it is fun. It's just an outstanding game, filled with all the charm, all the detail, and all the lasting appeal that characterizes all of the finest games ever made.

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Warcraft III is a much more small-scale, tactical game than Blizzard's last strategy game, Starcraft. It focuses more on interesting role-playing elements and powerful hero units that can often mean the difference between victory and defeat. Warcraft III also looks and sounds great. The game's voice acting has all the humor and personality that fans have come to expect from Blizzard's games, and Warcraft III's 3D graphics do a good job of conveying the sort of distinctive character you'd normally associate with a 2D game. Warcraft III isn't exactly a groundbreaking game--it's a real-time strategy game in every respect, but it's one of the best ones ever made, and it's also clearly the best PC game of July 2002.

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