One of the most hyped games in the history of the RTS genre. So, is it any good?
The Bad: factions have about the same tech tree, battles more like micromanagement than strategy, normal skirmish mode with computer extremely hard on normal and to easy on easy
This was the question I asked myself as I turned on Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos for the first time. I had recently bought this game and the Frozen Throne in the "Battlechest" for $40 at Gamespot and I was wondering if the game would be worth the amount I payed for it. The firs thing I noticed when I loaded the game was the great intro video. It showed me the age old conflict between the orcs and humans that has been going on forever thanks to Tolkien.
When I started playing the campaign I had a lot of fun with the game. It is quite enjoyable and packs quite a great story into the game. The game looks and feels great, even for its age. As I played, I could see RTS conventions that would grace later games such as the hero unit. Like any other RTS game out there, Warcraft 3 is about building up a base by collecting the resources (gold and wood) and than destroying the enemy.
It doesn't deviate from that standard formula, but the battle system is a bit different, and this is where the game starts to fall flat. Almost all of your units have special abilities or spells that you have to use during battles, especially the powerful hero units. If you don't use them, you will die in the battle. In addition to the standard rock paper scissors in which you order certain units to attack other certain units, you have to constantly be clicking on your units to use their spells to help your side or hurt the other side. The game does lend itself to helping this by allowing you to switch between the various units you have selected without deselecting your other units, however, you can only select twelve units at once.
The spells and abilities themselves, on the other hand, are very enjoyable to watch, especially powerful ones like chained lightning or avatar. It is especially amusing to turn enemy units into sheep.
The four factions each generally play the same, though you will have to use different strategies for each one. The humans have some pretty awesome heros and abilities as well as strong defenses and apparently a more advanced tech tree, though I never noticed it. The orcs are the strongest of the four races and are all around better at brutish force. The undead are better at destroying enemies in numbers, having the cheaper units that can be built into larger armies more quickly. The elves have strong defenses by being able to uproot any of their buildings (sentient trees called "ancients," like ents) to attack as well as moon wells that can heal nearby units. They also have some pretty devious abilities including the ability to be invisible at night, though they are the weakest units in the game. The four factions are all fun to play in their own right, but the tech tree is more or less the same. The armor and weapons upgrades are all the same regardless of faction.
The story is pretty engaging and demands several hours to complete. Several levels in the campaigns attempt to break from the standard build up a base and attack formula. They make a welcome diversion. The voice acting is superb, Blizzard was apparently able to find some great voice actors for this game. The visuals are likewise as impressive for it's time, showing the beauty and the grandeur of the fantasy world the characters are living in.
The bottom line is that I had a fun time with Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, however I will probably not be revisiting the games, unless I'm particularly bored. Play it for the campaign and story and if you like that than continue to play it, otherwise, play something else.