 Review By: Cameron Morris |
Developer: | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher: | Blizzard Entertainment | |
| Genre: | RTS | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1-12 online | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | Online/LAN deathmatch, custom game modes, Tournament Rankings | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Some of the strongest elements to the entire game are the four different factions you can play as: the Alliance, the Horde, the Sentinels, and the Scourge. The Alliance is made up chiefly of humans, dwarves, and elves, the Horde is a tribal society of trolls and orcs, the Sentinels are the Night Elves, and the Scourge are the legions of undead that have popped up in the world recently. Each race is balanced for combat, having advantages and disadvantages over every other, and the balance between them is really rather good, so that no one race has a clear advantage over any other. Add in the fact that each of their campaigns plays differently, because each faction has to be played so differently and you really start to appreciate the care that went into them pretty quickly.
It’s true that each faction plays at least a little bit like previous races foun in other Blizzard RTSes (the Scourge, for example, play like a hybrid mix of the Zerg and the Protoss) but each still manages to establish an identity for itself, through story as much as through anything else. I have to reiterate that the story is a really strong part of the game, and the different roles played by each faction will have you hoping against hope that what used to be your own forces would now be wiped out in a slaughter of almost Biblical proportions. It’s true, of course, that each person will grow to like some factions better than others as they go through the campaign mode, but each race has its own strengths and redeeming qualities so that all of them are rather fun to play.
The Scourge > You. Moving on.
The multiplayer, now. That’s really the part that everybody cares about in Warcraft III. The multiplayer in the game is probably the biggest reason that people still play it, and for good reason: it’s a blast, even if you’re absolutely terrible at it like I am. The intense balance and multi-tasking required in gathering lumber and gold, monitoring your troops, training your hero, and exploring to try to find your enemies is nerve-wracking and exhilarating. By now, strategies have been developed that are so advanced and precise that newcomers to the game are going to have a very hard time getting acquainted with the way matches work unless they have some friendly help, or just train against the computer for hours and hours. If you sit down and get into a match, though, you find that you really enjoy yourself, even when you’re getting utterly destroyed so that no trace of you is left.
The community in the game really tends to be hyper-competitive, no matter what you’re doing, so don’t expect any help getting acquainted with things unless you’re lucky or go in with people you already know. This is one of the biggest reasons it’s suggested you play all the way through the campaign mode first: you gotta familiarize yourself with the game mechanics in some way, and the story mode will teach you without trying to kick your ass all over the place as it does so.
I need to mention the custom game modes, though: with the game being out for as long as it has, fans of the game have had lots of time to craft custom modes to their own liking, each playing differently and often being a blast. You can find special war games, races, even a Mario Party clone. There’s no end to the variety of things to do if you ever get bored with battling, which is good because people are rarely as skilled at these custom games as they are at normal battling.
Taken on the whole, the story for Reign of Chaos is pretty great, and the ending to it is fantastic, but there’s something about it that lacks a certain punch: too many loose ends are left untied, and the final campaign feels too far removed from the other three in terms of story. That’s not to say that the climax isn’t effective, because it’s one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to play through and watch, but something about it felt intensely out of place, and despite the apparent finality of it, it felt like something was left unsaid.
Bottom Line:
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is obviously one of the strongest Real-Time Strategy games ever released, and has a huge and rabid fanbase that would undoubtedly find me and tear me to shreds if I said anything too scathing about it. It’s successful at what it does, is fun to play, and in general is just a real treat to experience. It’s a great game, but it’s not perfect: some parts of the story feel unfinished by the end, and even though online play is great it’s going to beat you senseless if you’re new to the game. Great, but far from perfect, and left me wanting more in nearly every way imaginable. Good thing there’s an expansion…
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 8.2 |
Posted: 2006-05-02 17:19:20 PST