Warcraft 3 is a pleasure to play.

Warcraft has always been a well known RTS series. The third installment is the biggest leap forward from a game I've ever seen. The previous two games were 2D and unimpressive graphic wise. This game leaps foward in many ways and makes it one of the most memorable RTS games to date.

The graphics are not astounding but going from two dementional to three dementional its impressive. The graphics on a fast computer are very crisp and clear. The environments are full of life but the rest of things is not. Very few small details can't be found other than trees swaying in the wind and there's not much variation of maps. Mostly its either forest based, snow based, or slightly castle like. The unit models are very brick like. There is no smoothness in the texturing at at. The buildings are really quite boring looking and are very small compared to the size of the units. There is almost no realism in the presention of this game. It has an utter cartoony feel to it. What the game does wrong in the graphics it makes up for in gameplay.

It's hardly an arguable fact that the gameplay of Warcraft 3 is just fun. Plain and simple fun. Building a base is just like in any other RTS game: gather resources, buy buildings, create units.There are no real battle tatics besides equiping your army with ground units, air units, and a phew healers. The action of two large armys colliding is very exciting as long as your computer can handle it. I've noticed even with my speedy apple G4 computer that slow down will occur I have the resolution on the highest setting. Just making a strong base and army is half the fun and then seeing what kind of damage you cause is the pay-off. I'd say the gameplay is the best aspect of this game. It's hard to describe but it just has a good pacing and you never really feel bored waiting for an attack or building your forces. Another great thing is how the hero upgrading works. There are three heroes available to each race in the game humans, orcs,and new to the game the elfs and undead. Heroes gain levels up until they reach level 10. They will become stronger attack and healthwise. They also have upgradable spells which are purchased through points earned after gaining a level. This aspect of the game is very balanced and each hero has his weaknesses and strengths.

The variety of races has changed in this chapter of Warcraft. The night elfs and undead armies are new. The good thing is that each of these races are very different from one another. For example the basic unit of the humans the foot soldier is fairly weak, the orcs grunt has very good strength, the night elfs have the archer for attacking land and air, while the undead have two basic units that are both ok for attacking. The changes you'll find from race to race is surprising.

The sound part of this game is not an esspecially strong point. The music is very monotonus and has the same slow pacing the entire time you play a match. The unit sound effects and voices are pretty good though, you hear the clashing of sords the crys of killed men and beasts, you get the drift. The voice acting isn't too bad either. In the campaign the characters deliver good performances with a few curse words thrown in. During gameplay the voices each unit has is unique and each unit becomes very distinct this way. Clicking on one unit repetitively will make them say something comical too. (Also try clicking on animals over and over again until they explode!)

The campaign is very strong point in this game. It's a good story that intertwines all the races together and has good dialogue too. You can very easilly select which chapeter you want to do whenever you want.

As all Blizzard fans know battle.net comes back as well. This is one of the easiest online games to use thanks to the setup of battle.net. It's quick and easy to find a game and get playing. As with all things internet it's better to have DSL or cable but I've heard good things about dial-up too. Custom games are also a treat to play, you can usual find games with a theme like say a lord of the rings map? The great battle.net feature adds lots of replay value to the game so that even after you finish the campaign there's more to do.

Warcraft 3 surely does a great job of being one of the top real time strategy games out there. The first one was a classic Warcraft 2 was a little strange but Warcraft 3 is a 21st century RTS game with addictive gameplay and much, much more.