WarCraft II Battle.net Edition

Published by Vivendi UIP
Designed by Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PC CD/ROM
Price £9.99 Released: Out Now

System requirements
Windows 95/98/98SE/ME
Pentium 90 or better
16MB of RAM

The debt that modern RTS games owe to the WarCraft series is huge. After only two minutes of playing one of Blizzard's finest games you can instantly recognize where Age of Empires has come from or see where the idea for Tzar came from. So inspiring has this title been that its influence is immeasurable. This oustanding pack contains the Tides of Darkness Battle.net Edition and Beyond the Dark Portal Battle.net Edition. There are also more than 100 multiplayer maps so online play should never get repetitive. There is also a map editor so as you can see it really is a case of 'you couldn't ask for more'.

The gameplay is superb. If you have played any of the modern RTS games then you will be instantly familiar with WarCraft II. Whether you play with the Humans or the Orcs you will find the game well balanced and very enjoyable. The interface is simplistic and unconfusing as a result. The introduction is without subtitles but the rest of the game is well catered for as regards to text feedback. The graphics are big and chunky but still pleasing to look at. The only feature you will miss from modern RTS games is the unit queuing as this doesn't exist in WarCraft II. Overall though if you are a RTS fan then this game should be in your games collection as contains all the ingredients of a classic RTS (indeed this is the game that set most of the RTS standards) and is superb when you just want to get back to classic gameplay.

Recommendation: Highly Recommended. An important milestone in RTS history.
Suitability for deaf gamers: Very Good but the introduction should have been subtitled.