WARCRAFT III: First Impressions

I was actually on my way to buy this game Wednesday morning, when the FedEx man dropped a package off. Lucky for me, it was WARCRAFT III: REIGN OF CHAOS. I'm sure everyone is wondering what this game is like. Let me put it this way: like I said I got the game Wednesday morning (about 11:30) and I write this at 12:30 at night, and I just finally finished playing with it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I took breaks, but for me to play a game for almost 13 straights hours these days is unheard of. As James and I have said before, writing about games kind of takes the enjoyment out of playing them. But WARCRAFT III drew me in, and kept me there.

The game plays extremely well (if you've played WARCRAFT II, you'll feel right at home). Being a major COMMAND AND CONQUER fan, it took me a little time to get back into the groove of playing the "slower" building game, since I haven't played WARCRAFT II since 1997. I also had to realize that unit "rushes" don't really work as well as they used to. I got my butt handed to me three straight time on Battle.net (Blizzard's free internet server) before I wised up and started thinking about how to play. I finally started playing some 2 on 2 matches, and have done very well on that...I'm 6-1.

The single player game is great, too. The game isn't a straight-forward real-time strategy game anymore, although for the most part it is. WARCRAFT III has a lot of RPG elements thrown into it, and certain levels require you to take four or five units and search out certain people. The "Hero" units are a nice addition. These are the main reason WARCRAFT III feels a lot like an RPG. These characters are able to gain experience, and it carries over through each level. They can level up, learn new attacks, and even carry items.

So far, WARCRAFT III is one of the best games I've played in years. I suggest you go and buy a copy if you haven't already. Now, excuse me, as I get back to the world of WARCRAFT...