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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.5 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 40 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 91 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy

Players: 12

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: July 3, 2002

Summary

[Metacritic's 2002 PC Game of the Year] 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... [Blizzard]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne World of Warcraft

Cheat Codes & Hints: Adrenaline Vault Cheat Code Central Firing Squad: Night Elf Guide Game Revolution GamePro GamePro Guide GameSpot Guide IGN Insider Guide

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GamePro

WarCraft III doesn’t revolutionize the RTS genre, but a well-executed story, drum-tight gameplay and a long shelf life as a multi-player title make WarCraft III a must for and PC owning strategy fans.

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100

Gamer's Pulse

The finest RTS game I have ever played.

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100

Maxim Online

Completely reinvented in glorious 3-D, WCIII spruces up the age-old premise—organize armies and send them into battle against opposing forces—with much-improved graphics and a new pyrotechnic spell-casting system.

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100

2404.org

This makes for a massively exciting single player campaign not to mention some of the funnest multiplayer I have ever played on an RTS game in ages!

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100

Entertainment Weekly

With Hollywood-level grandeur and an epic story line involving four races, the single-player game alone would earn a high grade. [2 Aug 2002, p.77]

100

Adrenaline Vault

Astounding pre-rendered cinematics and a tightly woven storyline are backed by a substantial and varied single-player campaign.

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100

Pregaming

This game is so much fun to play, and does everything so well that it is totally almost impossible to put it down... WarCraft III is the pinnacle of the recent Real Time Strategy Genre and sets the bar for how all RTS games should be developed.

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100

Cinescape

The best Warcraft game, possibly the best strategy game, released yet.

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100

Games Radar (in-house)

Regardless of whether or not you're a hardcore fan of strategy games, WarCraft III's compelling story and excellent balance makes it a must-own.

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GameZone

The Collectors Edition is the best buy. For several dollars more you will be able to get a soundtrack to the game, DVD of all the cinemas plus an inside look at the game, artwork of the game, four posters, and a really nice case to store all the extra items in.

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Gamezilla!

The robust gameplay and detailed graphics of their latest creation make playing this game over and over again a sheer delight.

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Gamers' Temple

The yardstick that will be used to measure strategy games for some time to come.

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Game Informer

The multiplayer is amazing (of course), and the world editor is impressive, but the single-player experience is a masterstroke. [Sept 2002, p.92]

ActionTrip

I myself would be prepared to kill a reasonably large number of people to get my hands on it, so if you do happen to own the collectors edition, do pop by with it...alone... and unarmed...

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Electric Playground

One of those games that is so good, even the credits rock.

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Playboy

Role player, ex-Dungeons and Dragons addict, chainmail-wearing closet weirdo or not, you won't find a finer excuse to blow the week's wages this side of Amsterdam's red light district. [7 Aug 2002, p.1]

Armchair Empire

With the engrossing single-player missions, stellar multiplayer, and the incredibly detailed world editor, WC3 is my early choice for PC Game of the Year.

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GamerWeb PC

The game speaks for itself, in a loud, scary voice. It says, "I'm one of the greatest games ever. Add me to your collection and let me take over your pitiful life." I'd listen, if I were you.

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PC Gamer

A brilliant game in every facet of its design and execution, with not a single dull moment in the lot. [August 2002, p.62]

IGN

Everything in the box, from the game itself to the terrific manual that has tons of info plus loads of extra background story for each of the races, is top notch and adds to the overall luster of the game.

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GameSpot

As good of an offering in the genre as there's ever been, featuring a superb story, carefully refined gameplay, plenty of depth, the best online multiplayer mode in any real-time strategy game to date, and the excellent production values you'd expect from a Blizzard product.

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GameSpy

The real coup for diehard Warcraft players is a true map and mission editor that can be used to create scripted maps, custom heroes, voice and sound files, unit variations, as well as a completely new story.

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AtomicGamer

People who were expecting a revolution in strategy games should realize that Blizzard wasn't aiming at this. They simply made another solid game with their tried and true style of gameplay and some great visuals at the same time. They've delivered on that.

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Game Revolution

Enhanced gameplay combined with a great story and fantastic CG will give even the most peaceful elf a new reason to go to war.

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Media and Games Online Network

Warcraft III has lived up to all its expectations, and has succeeded in restoring some of the life and charm that RTS games have lacked with its RPG elements.

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PC Gameworld

Prepare for many a sleepless night. Most importantly, it also has that most elusive quality, the fun factor, in spades.

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FiringSquad

[The single player game is c]ertainly not comparable to the evolutionary changes we expected Blizzard to put it through.

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Total Video Games

You can read as many reviews and features as you like but we can guarantee you that you shall not be disappointed with this one.

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Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

The gripping story, the inventive mission design, the perfect pacing, the interesting races and the redolent atmosphere. [PC Gamer UK]

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Game Over Online

Graphically, Warcraft III is breathtaking.

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Eurogamer

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Cincinnati Enquirer

May very well be the most beloved PC game of the year.

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GameCritics

Certainly WarCraft III has improved exponentially from its predecessor in the areas of story and character development, which in turn results in a game of massive size that, in terms of sheer gameplay hours, will prove as fulfilling as any RPG.

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Computer Gaming World

Blizzard delivered as promised, and then some. But I wasn't floored. Not even close. [Sept 2002, p.70]

Yahoo! Games

But what Warcraft lacks in technology, it makes up for with the flair, imagination and careful attentiveness from its art designers.

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G4 TV

Not every new idea works, but it's refreshing to see a developer, especially one as conservative as Blizzard, branch out a little.

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Computer Games Magazine

A fantastic story and characters, loads of style, and top-notch production value. [Sept 2002, p.2002]

GamePen

An enjoyable game, to be sure, but it could have been so much more.

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All Game Guide

As much as in the original WarCraft and all the Blizzard games that followed, the player is placed in the story with a perfect perspective on each different race’s dreads and hopes.

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netjak

There doesn't seem to be a huge gap in play balancing, but the fact that there are so many different factions to play as doesn't seem to bring too much to the table.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 91 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryan I. gave it a10:
Although I picked up Warcraft 3 came out in 2002, It is still the game I play most, and it has a lot of competition. I play Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft, Half Life 2 and its various mods, and many others. Even with all these games I have played Warcraft 3 the most, simply from its huge replay value and epic storyline. The game's single player it huge and varied. No two missions are alike. Even if you dislike standard Warcraft 3 combat, run on over to battle.net! The multiplayer has a huge amount of player made maps, things that range from games that are alterations of normal Warcraft 3 base building and fighting, to 3rd person shooters like Elimination Tournament. Some people dislike the game, thinking that the battles are to small, and your largest army is around 18 people. But trust me, with every unit being unique, and when maps can be up to 6 v 6, the battles are huge, and you have to manage many differant units making it a long, intense battle. One of the best games of all time.

Mathew P. gave it a10:
Awesome game, It's all about thinking which units are better against others and about MICRO. For Michael U: dude, the quantity of units don't count in this game, you are pathetic, if you like stupid "no-thinking-suicide-army" games, go play AOE. Lol, hero is equal to 15 soldiers?? LOL you are really pathetic.

Air13ourn gave it a10:
Seriously, this is one of the best RTS games known to date. The factions are equally balanced for each race, with specific counters for each kind. They all have their own gameplay which can be used by pros to their advantage, yet still new player friendly by equalizing most of them out in the end. Where WarCraft really shines though are the units in which each faction can produce. They all are unique, yet still remain to be the same. One example are the basic units of each race. Footmen are the middle man of them all, normal health/attack/armor, and can defend against ranged attacks. The orc unit, the grunt, is a powerhouse with more health and attack then the footman, but costs more to build and have less armor. Ghouls for the undead harvest lumber, so you have to balance them between your attack force and resources. They also attack faster then the other counterparts, but have a lower health/attack/armor. The Night Elf unit, the archer, is a ranged unit, and is very much like the footman except for in that area. These counter carry throughout the tech trees, showing no true overpowered race that every player chooses. The story line is one almost out of a book, and is executed in a brilliant manner through the eyes of each faction. WarCraft has withstood the test of time, and is still played worldwide through battlenet, and will continue to be.

Nick M. gave it a9:
I think this game is amazing, and i was oretty reluctant to try it because i knew world of warcraft sucks and its for nerds, but i played it, and it was a fun game. I liked the graphics, even the game is about 6 years old, and it was just a great, well executed RTS.

Anonymous gave it a7:
This game was a revolution to graphics at its time, and the idea of Heroes is good and fun to play. Multiplayer is also very pleasurable, with an amazing map editor in the game. However, after finishing the campaign and moving to B.net, it get a bit boring or irritating. Races are quite unbalanced, so humans are almost forgotten in multiplayer. Also, the hero idea, which seemed good at the beginning, turns out to 3v3 hero battle later in game, when heroes become so powerful tear 1-2 units become obsolete, and other wouldn't do much alone. Also battle strategy is missing; it is not possible to defeat a stronger army using highgrounds or keep them at bay with ranged units. All in all, this game turns out to be a hero battle with supporting units, with strategy limited only to what units to train, but still fun to watch the fireworks or play Custom maps on B.net.

Joe Stass gave it an8:
A great game, pretty fun, but ultimately lacking when compared to Starcraft. Warcraft is well balanced, has some very cool aspects to it, but some things feel directly torn from Starcraft while, such as the Undead (a.k.a. Zerg). The storyline is okay, but "noble" orcs are a disappointment and both the undead and night elves just feel unnecessary. The tiny size of the battles and short game rounds are also a bit disappointing if you're really looking for some hardcore war action. Overall, the game is fun, well balanced, and everything a great Blizzard game should be, but Starcraft still steals its spotlight. It would have been better if they had just followed the formula of Warcraft 2 and kept the game at 2 races.

Michael U. gave it a2:
At first i thought this game was cool, because it was about warcraft. I played world of warcraft before it, so i wanted to play this. What a big mistake that was. The characters look completely cartoonish and can be compared to fisher price people. The idea of upgrading your buildings and troops seems cool at first, but it later gets annoying and you keep forgetting about it. On most maps you start off with about 10 people while the enemy has about 4 bases. The biggest armies consist of 16 people, making it feel more like a scouting party than an army. At first i liked the idea of heroes, but after a while you seem to use them for everything because they are way too powerful. They are basically the equvillant of 15 people, so you can defend your whole base with him and 5 people. The idea of needing air units to attack air units is also dumb. The average building can produce 1 or 2 types of troops, so you have to keep switching between buildings to produce different types of troops. Altogether it feels like 100 pots boiling at the same time. The only good part is the story. Its hard to make a strategy game that has bad graphics, gameplay, objectives, army sizes, and unbalanced characters all at once, but warcraft 3 rises to the challenge.

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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

Game Info

Summary

Also On Metacritic

What The Critics Said

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