Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition

"The game that turned a non-fan into a RTS addict."

I'm not much of a computer gamer (mainly because the system requirements of this generation's games require a much more powerful system than what I have) but I'll pick up an occasional Mac title whenever I see one for a good price. About a month ago I saw WarCraft II and since it didn't use up all of my Mac's resources, I bought it. Just recently I started playing it, and now I see why so many people like RTS's (Real-Time Strategies.)

You have two races: Orcs and Humans, both enemies of the other. The goal of the game is to conquer the land on which you are playing by constructing buildings, training units, building bases, defending your bases and searching for the enemies and then attacking them and their buildings. It may not sound very complex (or maybe it does) but there is much strategy involved, making this game highly enjoyable and addicting for everyone.

Story: 9/10
To put it short: the Orcs build boats and travel over the Great Sea to seek revenge on the Humans and conquer their land. The humans, in return prepare their cannons and men to defend against the Orcs' attacks. Both Orcs and Humans then fight to try and conquer the land and kill the opponents. Okay, so there's a bit more to it than just all-out war and want for power; or maybe there's not. I don't want to spoil anything, so that's all I'm going to say.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in the actual game (during play) are rather standard, but stand out due to realistic images (ex. fire) on animations (ex. buildings.) The FMVs (full-motion videos) are kind of choppy and blocky but look great due to 3D. For the most part, you have to give Blizzard credit because (although not of the highest possible quality) the graphics were all constructed very carefully and you can tell a lot of time was put into designing every character, tree, building, etc.

Audio: 10/10
The sounds in this game are so realistic, it's amazing. If you have the volume turned up a bit, you'll see what I mean; swords clanging, axes chopping, buildings exploding, arrows soaring and... pigs oinking? The sound effects add so much to the game, it seems like you're right there in the action fighting against your enemy. As for the background music, you'll be listening to pure battle music. You know the music they play in the movie Gladiator? That's what the BGM reminds me of in this game; motivational, spirit-lifting and never gets dull. Excellent job in the sound department.

Control: 8/10
Computer games are always pretty shoddy in the control department (as far as I'm concerned, anyway) mainly because if you don't go out and purchase a controller, you're stuck with the mouse and keyboard. Not that there is anything wrong with these, but they just don't compare to an actual controller. This game uses both the mouse and keyboard equally. The mouse is used to select your units and/or buildings while you can use hotkeys on the keyboard to give commands to your units.

The only fault I have with the control is that you are only able to control 9 units at a time. It gets a bit frustrating and annoying at times when you have 30+ units that you want to move to an enemy's base to attack and you can only move 9 at a time; you have to go back and forth and move them all to their destination gradually, thus delaying and allowing the enemy to progress in its defense/attack. Other than this minor fault, the control is great.

Gameplay: 10/10
For those unfamiliar with the RTS genre, I'll elaborate. Basically, it's an all out war pitting you against the enemy. You start out with one measly peasant and a gold mine and you're left to increase your population, your attackers and your buildings. To do so, you take your peasant, have it mine gold and build farms then train more peasants to chop wood, build structures and train your attacking units. There's nothing pre-set in this game except your overall goal; other than that, you must think for yourself.

The main concept goes somewhat like this: train peasants; have peasants mine gold, chop wood and build farms/buildings; build attackers to protect your base from incoming enemy forces; build even more attackers and buildings and have them scout the map for the enemy's base; once found, attack the enemy's units and buildings to destroy them. Once the enemy has been totally terminated (buildings and units) you shall be the victor. Excellent and strategic gameplay.

Features: 10/10
WarCraft II: battle.net Edition is basically WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness (the original game) along with the expansion (WarCraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal) put onto one CD with access to battle.net's servers to play online (free of charge) against other gamers around the world. If that isn't enough for you, you also have a Map Editor to edit current maps or create your own, which you can then use in multiplayer games or just to give to your friends!

Not to mention you also have the single player modes for both Humans and Orcs for both the original game and the expansion. If that still isn't enough, you also have previews of future (or in this case, past) Blizzard games such as WarCraft III (being released December 2001) and the expansion to StarCraft (Brood Wars) which has since been released. You can also play the Classic online multiplayer if you wish. You also have the option of installing a spawn (copy of the game) so you don't have to insert the CD every time you want to play, but the spawn only allows you to play multiplayer, not single player.

Replayability: 10/10
The Real-Time Strategy genre is probably the most replayed genre of all time. People still play WarCraft II online (and a lot of people, not just a few) every day even thought the game is something like 5 years old now. With the online multiplayer option and ladder matches, you never stop playing. The more you play the game, the more experience you get. As for single player mode, it's not the same thing, as you do the same thing over and over but multiplayer definitely has excellent replay value.

Rent or Buy?
Buy! Buy! Buy! For $15, you can't afford not to buy this title. Check Amazon.com, they're selling it for only $15 (as it's no longer considered a ''new item'') which is an excellent price for a game that will keep you playing for years to come. Besides, where on earth can you possibly rent a computer game? Okay, so maybe there are places, but it's not worth it just to rent. A game as addictive as this one will keep you coming back for more and there's no sense in paying tons of cash on rentals when you can own it for the low low price of only $15!

Overall: 9/10
Keep in mind that I never used to like RTS games until I actually sat down and started playing this title. I know there are people who say StarCraft is better than WarCraft, and they're probably right, but WarCraft II is hands down one of the best computer game I've ever played. That may not be saying much since I've played very few computer games in my time, but this game, this genre and the company who makes these great games (Blizzard) are all truly magnificent.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/01, Updated 04/26/01