In the Beginning...

There was darkness, and it was good. Without knowing light, or what light was, we figured the way we did things then was good enough at the time. We played classics like Leisure Suit Larry and we laughed. We played Mechwarrior and we grinned evil little smirks as we crushed our polygon-coated enemies. We were happy, with our simple yet fun titles. And Blizzard had to go and blow all that.

Playing the original Warcraft, I was an immediate convert and fervent, slobbery supporter of RTS games. I loved being able to manage resource gathering, create an army to crush my enemies, and research new thingies that would split heads in a more efficient manner. The genre sprouted its share of weeds, but at heart, it's a simple and solid system that encourages planning ahead.

Warcraft III, with the hype of the last several years, had a lot to live up to. The stories, counter-stories, rumors, and innuendo that were passed around started to get pretty darned stale after a while, but it continued. When the game appeared, finally, it was…well, an RTS game. Sure, it has new graphics, new abilities, new units, new research items, and that's great…but only if the player is really into RTS games.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs

Okay, to be fair, there are many examples on the current market of slapping labels on successful engines and calling it something new (such as calling Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds an Age of Empires mod). While Warcraft III is just such an example, it's still mind-bogglingly fun to play and just as addictive as its predecessors.

The setting, for those who are not familiar with the Warcraft series, is a fantasy realm of humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, and a myriad assortment of other beasties both foul and fair. Taking place after the Second War, we find that the human lands are once again threatened, but this time by a mysterious plague.

Once the game starts, hold on…it's going to be a wild ride indeed. The player will be faced with a multi-faceted campaign consisting of (in order) Humans, Undead, Orcs, and finishing up with Night Elves. Each campaign ties seamlessly into the next, with no rough spots and some of the finest cut scene cinematography I've seen on the PC to date. If that's not enough, there's about 40 single-scenario games that can be played, although be warned - they aren't easy. Add to that access to Battle.net, and there is a ton of options. 

The Art of Management

The mood of the game is set and maintained through interesting cut scenes, which at times are a bit cartoonish visually, but the voice acting is good enough to maintain an interesting sense of involvement in the storyline.

Uther, the mentor of young Arthas, attempts to steer the young Prince on the right path.	Hard times call for hard measures. Here, Arthas orders his men to destroy a human village infected with the plague.