System Requirements
PC OS: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP CPU: Pentium 400Mhz RAM: 128MB HDD: 700MB VIDEO: 8MB 3D accelerated, Direct X 8.1 compatible SOUND: 16 bit Direct X 8.1 Compatible
MAC 400 MHz G3 processor 128 MB of RAM 16 MB ATI Technologies or nVidia chipset 3D video card 700 MB HD space 4X CD-ROM drive Age: Teen
It has been nearly fifteen years since the war between the orcs and humans ended. An uneasy peace settled over the land while, for years, the drums of war were silent. Yet the kingdoms of men grew complacent in their victory - and slowly, the defeated orcish clans regrouped under the banner of a new visionary leader. Now a darker shadow has fallen over the world, threatening to extinguish all life - all hope. The drums of war play upon the winds once again - rising urgently towards the inevitable hour when the skies will rain fire - and the world will tremble before the coming of the Burning Legion. The Day of Judgment has come...*
Story
The game intro has the humans and orcs battling as usual when all of a sudden fire rains down from the sky and dark creatures come down destroying everything in sight. This unknown force must be stopped and quickly! In the single player campaign a prophet warns the humans and the orcs to gather their armies but the humans won\'t listen. Little do they know the people they lose in battle will come back to fight against them. The undead forces must be stopped along with their plagues. You get to experience the story from multiple perspectives. You get to play all races in the single player campaign. From the orc campaign you get to play Thrall a young warrior orc who is experiencing disturbing visions. The prophet will guide him and his army against the coming chaos. On the human side you get to play the noble prince Arthas trying to solve the mystery of these plagues. Through your journey you will get the aide of dwarves, elves and a sorceress named Jaina.
Multiplayer
You can play against the computer or against your friends via LAN or Battle.Net. There are four races you can play. Each offering unique heroes, magic and abilities. Each race possesses similar units from grunt workers to heroes. Most fighting units have strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to these as you are sending them out to fight.
Races
* Humans * Night Elves * Orcs * Undead * Heroes Heroes are the most versatile of units. They possess a special power and many valuable attributes. You can have multiple heroes. Heroes can collect and use inventory items. They also gain experience from fighting. With this experience, you can increase your existing skills or learn new ones. Another nice thing about heroes is that if you have an altar, you can resurrect them. (for a fee of course)
What kind of quests will I go on?
Each chapter has a primary mission objective for you to complete. Oftentimes, there are optional quests which can land you some nice loot if you can complete them. The quests themselves can vary between rescuing someone, establishing a base, exploring territory, or to just surviving for a given time period!
Appropriate?
From a Christian perspective this game has violence. Although the game play is not too violent (some blood), the cut scenes can be graphic. There is swearing. All races have an altar of some sort, and their own religious beliefs. Magic is heavily used as well. The humans like to follow the light and the undead tend to serve darkness. There is sacrificing in the game from a couple of the races. The undead are just plain horrid and quite evil indeed. They practice necromancy and summon many undead beings. Unlike the previous WarCrafts, I was happy not to see any pentagrams. However some buildings had 5 pointed stars in their architecture. Other symbols found in the game were obelisks. Finally I wish the female sorceresses covered their stomachs...wouldn\'t you think they would get scratched in battle?
Overall experienceEase of use
This game is easy to install and play. The interface is easy to use and maneuver. The single player and multiplayer modes are both fun. Not only is Battle.Net popular, but it\'s free. There are some patches out that improve the Battle.Net experience. You should get these to prevent disconnects. For controls you use mostly your mouse. The sound effects and music are very fitting. Each group has their own background music. When fighting you hear weapons clanging and dying screams. The voice acting for the units are well done. There are many different accents from British to Scottish. Each unit type has their own sayings. My personal favorite is the mortar team. When a unit is ready, they yell \'Mortar Combat!\' The graphics are beautiful. The best I have seen in any RTS style game. Given that the units are small to work with, they were incredibly detailed. You could also zoom in and out to reveal even better detail! The environments look great too, I loved the water effects. The movies and cut scenes are well scripted and look quite realistic. Great job on the graphics! If magic, sorcery, necromancy, and questionable symbols don\'t bother you, I highly recommend this game. As for me, I\'ll stick with Age Of Empires 2 for now. * taken from Blizzard.com
