Metascore
71 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 14
  2. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. Political climate aside, this is a great game. It is well designed and features great replay ability.
  2. 85
    Black Gold's combination of intense real-time action, gorgeous graphics, and streamlined play make this one of the best real-time strategy games of 2001.
  3. It's an all-around great real-time strategy game that also happens to stand out from other games in the genre.
  4. It's a solid enough game that will test your RTS skills and relies on something more than churning and burning units. It could be a match made in heaven, it could be your idea of hell...
  5. Reality Pump have refined the genre to near perfection, and until we see some radical changes to the RTS formula you’ll be hard pressed to find a better title.
  6. It ain't particularly novel and it ain't particularly easy, but it is engrossing and refreshingly reliant on strategic thinking to see you through.
  7. With all the "StarCraft" and "Age of Empires" wannabes clogging store shelves, it's rewarding to find a real-time strategy game that does its own thing and does it pretty well.
  8. Good game, but a copy of the game for each PC is a bit much If you want to play on a home network.
  9. With its incredible graphics, fulfilling gameplay, and thought provoking features, World War III is bound to satisfy any RTS buff, and anyone just on the lookout for a good, solid title as well.
  10. A deep, hard strategy game that offers tons in the way of customization and length.
  11. 62
    I can think of a number of RTSs on the market right now...that would absolutely destroy this game in terms of gameplay and the idea that WW III: Black Gold could compete with them is ludicrous.
  12. Absurdly archaic in how it rewards tank-rush techniques. The only path to victory often involves churning out a mass of units and then rushing. [Feb 2002, p.88]
  13. As empty-headed a treatment of modern conflict as you’re likely to find on store shelves. [Feb 2002, p.80]
User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. N.H.
    7
    Pro: Well balanced units, No major hang ups with interface. Con: Brain damaged AI and pathing. Archaic game engine (Its a square grid!)
  2. KunoK.
    10
    The only game, where the gamers have balanced weapons and equipment.