Review of Warcraft III Battle Chest - PC/Mac

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Every company these days has their own version of a real-time strategy (RTS) game and many aren't worth the price as they are cheap rip-offs of other popular ideas. However, if you'd like to play a game created by the company most responsible for the RTS craze, then look no further than Warcraft 3. Not only do you get the most balanced RTS game available which makes for better multiplayer competition but you also get one heck of a single-player campaign. The story in Warcraft 3 is terrific and probably better than most role-playing games. To top it off, Warcraft 3 combines superior graphics with the best artwork you will ever see in a real-time strategy game. The orcs, undead legions, humans, elves and many worlds they explore are a visual as well as strategic experience. And best of all, this game that was well worth the price when it was released is now packaged with the top notch expansion, The Frozen Throne, which is an expansion that is actually better than most regular RTS games these days. If you've never tried the Blizzard series of real-time strategy games, you're missing out. This company is pure class and even provides a free online gaming service called BattleNet that allows you to match your wits against thousands of online gamers. Whether it be releasing some of the most stable games in years or banning griefers on BattleNet that formed a childish organization whose only intention was to backstab allies in multi-player competition, Blizzard is known as one of the best gaming companies in the business, and it shows with their games.

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I don't think I need to go into detail about the game: you can just visit , , and and they'll tell you everything you need to know about the mechanics and the features of the game. There are some things that I can say about it.

The graphics are as good as you'd ever need, but that's not to say they're bad; quite the opposite actually. The game has a cartoonish tone to its graphics that really lends itself to the fantasy atmosphere and the spell effects are top-notch. At first glance, the game may seem to be about who gets the strongest hero first, but that's certainly not the case. The number of strategies are infinite and everything can be easily countered by an experienced player. There is a heavy emphasis on micromanagement and spellcasting in the thick of battle that is overwhelming even for me, a 6-year starcraft veteran. I recommend dialing down the game speed during especially large battles, because the computer will wipe you out if you give it the chance.

The single-player story is absolutely stellar. Photo-realistic CGI Cinematics precede and end each of the campaigns, and there are no traditional mission briefings as such. The in-game cinemas help to advance the story and serve to never take you out of the game world; this all adds up to a immersion in the story like no other. Since each of the campaigns revolve around a single hero, it's not hard to get emotionally involved in the story, and that's a rare feat. One of the reasons I love Blizzard's game so much is the wealth of detail they inject into the history of the worlds; in this case, the realm of Azeroth. Half of the instruction manual is devoted to the backstory of each of the four races and explanations of all of the units; far beyond just describing what they do.

It's very easy to pick up and play the orc tutorial mini-campaign at the beginning is really all you need, but practice helps to master the strategies and find the one that works for you. Battle.net can be a hostile place, inhabited mostly by boys in their early teens; but more often than not you get involved in a great game with several other likeable people who aren't having an ego trip.

The only complaints I have is that even though the story has as much depth as most novels have, it steals quite a lot of elements from Starcraft. Some of the spells/skills can be recognizable from Starcraft, and Diablo, both produced by Blizzard as well. While the story in Reign of Chaos (original warcraft III) is amazing in itself and ends on a great note, the story in The Frozen Throne (the expansion to warcraft III, also included in the battle chest) ends on quite a downer. You could stop at Reign of Chaos and not miss much story-wise, but it's only a minor complaint, because the Frozen Throne campaign is just as stellar, if not even more so than the RoC Campaign. The biggest complaint I have with this pack is the strategy guides included they're nothing like the ones included in the Starcraft Battle Chest. They're "Official Battle Chest Guides" which only provide strategys for the campaigns. They have no maps, unit descriptions, and only a few general tips for other game types. There are even references to maps that aren't even there. Not to mention they're very small, to fit in the box. I wasn't very happy with them at all.

Overall though, this is an incredible game, recommended to anyone who loves a challenge and a great story.

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AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

I cannot stop playing this game. It has consumed my waking hours with the varacity of the most evil predator. It haunts my sleep with dreams of wisps building treant and my waking hours with visions of waypoints and health bars. I cannot escape this curse and so I revel in it!

Play not this game if you be of weak stomach! Play not this game if you lay claim to a social life. Play not this game if you cannot afford it. But most importantly, play not this game if thou liketh the sun or its golden rays, for they will be far from your sight once Warcraft 3 hath struck you.

Know then, all of you that the campaign of both WC3 and Frozen Throne is challenging as well as fun. Know well all of you that it's amazing mix of RPG style gaming and base building mesh seamlessly. Know you most of all that the story of the fallen lands of Lorderon and Azeroth is one of epic proportions and classic style.

Be you aware that as fun as the single player experience is, it pales when held to the light of its online brethren. The ease with which one can find and fight others online is amazing and revolutionary. The joy one gets from the various modes, including a custom battle option, is endless. But greatest of the achievements made by Blizzard, hallowed be thy name, is the continuous updates that not only make play most fair...but also add new features, such as mercenary heroes and extra campaigns.

I am the converted. I walked the path of Warcraft 2. I swam the seas of Starcraft. Now I lay in the valley of the Final Trimutive, Warcraft 3, fully sated and content. Only the promise of Starcraft Two has kept me on this plane of existence, hoping for a summer 2005 release but knowing it will never happen. Woe be to he of the path, for the tireless devotion to a false deity who has defiled himself with a release on console (Starcraft Ghost).

(Two Years Later)

Oh Yee who have tasted the sweet necter of Warcraft, I have supped of it! In my finest of hours I did what few have done! I defeated the leagons of undead and the Burning on the setting of hard! And I have been most abused. Blizzard, hallowed be thy name, has shown they can easily make a Starcraft 2 in its credits but still refuses to feed my needs... Oh well.

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I'm only a teenager, and yet I've always seemed to enjoy this game. No, I am not addicted to it. I play it everytime I have the chance to do so. Many reviews have been hating this game for A) Bad graphics and B) too little units and C) The Hero units.

First of all, the graphics are a sacrafice in order to enhance better online gaming quality. During Starcraft, Blizzard strived so hard to make units so realistic that the graphics basically killed the idea of playing a fluent game without lag. With Warcraft, it's much less often you get someone who's computer cannot support the graphics and therefore hold up the game.

Second is the fact of too little units. This is one of the reasons I love the game. You THINK!!! It's not a race who can build up the most units in ten seconds and attack. It's more of the idea of what you can do to the units they have with the units you have. You always have to be scouting their base, find out what untis they have, and get some perfect units to counter them. This way, a person with 10 units can take out 20 units with a weakness to those ten units.

I think the hero ability fairly ties in with B. The fact that you can have a certain unit with special abilities is excellent. It's like the commander. When the hero dies or is weakening, the units retreat. This is the sense of a real battle, not a suicide mass unit rush.

This game is one of the greatest I have played. It is so much more complex (in a positive way) than Starcraft or Diablo. I recommend it for anyone who is willing to have a concentrated mind in order to acheive skill in this game.

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This is a very good bargain, less than half of what you would pay if you bought each item seperate. The strategy guides are good, but not really necessary if you have played Warcraft 1 and 2, as well as the other similar games. Warcraft 3 is challenging, but not overly so. I was put to the test in many parts, but I never got frustrated. The storyline as always is excellent, and the graphics have improved ten fold from the last installment. This is certainly a must buy.