A few weeks ago, Blizzard released the highly anticipated WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos for the Personal Computer. For several months, numerous people, who were lucky to get in the beta, had been telling everyone how great of a game it was. Now that it is out, it has been proven true, and even has gotten the title of the fastest selling Real Time Strategy (RTS) game ever. Once players install the game, they will see why it is called that, since it will entice players into the world of WarCraft, and will not let them go!

To understand the setting for the game, players will have to be aware of the catastrophe that happened several millennia ago, and what drives each race in the game. The Night Elves are a reclusive race that was the first to be in the land of Azeroth. The elves learned various forms of magic, and pretty soon they became great magicians. After several years, they got cocky and reckless with the magic and it drew the Burning Legion into the world. A horrific war ensued between these two colossal races, totally decimating the beautiful world of the Night Elves. Finally, the Night Elves banished the Legion from the world, and they made a promise never to use magic in fear that the Legion might return. Since that great war, they have remained hidden from the rest of the world upon the holy mountain of Hyjal.

The green-skinned Orcs were once a noble race, until they were corrupted by the Legion. The Orcs were brought from the world of Draenor to Azeroth to engage in war with the humans. Eventually the war was ended, and peace resided between the humans and Orcs. A young Orc Warchief, named Thrall, was raised by the humans, and after several years eventually escaped. His desire is to free his people from the Legions grasp, and become the noble people they once were so many centuries ago.

The Undead are an army of millions of walking corpses, called the Scourge, which consist of damned souls, disemboweled bodies, and myriads of other unmentionable things. The sole purpose of the Scourge is to produce a terror across the world and prepare for the Legion's eventual return. The Undead are controlled by the Lich King, Ner'zhul, who lives in the icy realm of Northrend. Ner'zhul is the one behind the plague that is killing millions of people and turning them into slaves for the Scourge to command. The Lich Kings ultimate goal is to rid themselves from the control of the Burning Legion, for damning them into their service for all eternity!

In comparison to the other races in WarCraft, the Humans are the youngest race, and the ones that have the shortest life span. Since Humans live for such a short time, they strive to achieve new heights in magic, building, and technology which explain why they have expanded as vast as they have in a short amount of time. The Humans are a prideful race who believes in honor and the protection of the innocent from darkness. The Humans have been in a huge war with the Orcs for many years, and are finally happy to have peace throughout their lands, until the undead arrive that is. This is the setting for a new saga to begin and a proverb will become vital and true: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer!"

There are two editions of the game out, the Standard, and the Collectors Edition, having played both, I can relate what the differences are: all the difference are just cosmetic The cd says Collectors Edition and has a more distant silver border around the entire cd. The CD case has the same silver border but it is square and it also says Collectors Edition. The outside of the instruction book is different as well. The backside has all the signatures of the development team, and the front cover depicts a different race. Other than those few changes, the actual game is the same.  You also 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.

WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos is rated T for Teen for blood and violence.

Graphics: 9.7
Just like a fine wine, this game has gotten better with time! Ever since Blizzard unveiled WarCraft III a few years ago, people were amazed at the quality of the FMV movies, and the then spectacular in-game graphics. The game is not a full 3D camera, it can rotate, but it is on a limited axis and does not rotate a full 360 degrees. The maximum rotation is 90 degrees on each side. The only way to check these views out are by hitting the delete or inset key, once players let go the camera will revert back to its original position. 

Each unit has been done to make sure that it does not look similar to others. This can be seen right away as units have their own set of animations, voices, and appearance. The entire world is also crammed full of detail. Each level has its own distant look, the forests are lush and vivid full of trees and other things you would normally find in forest type places. On several missions you are inside a cave, and it is dark and gives off an eerie presence. There is also a day and night cycle with also brings a whole new level of how to show the graphics engine off. Nighttime brings a whole new slew of things that might go wrong in this world.

As said earlier each race has a distant look, and this includes the myriads of buildings that each use. The humans have a more familiar look with houses, castles, and blacksmiths. The Night Elves buildings have a more forest theme to them. All the Undead's buildings have to do with death, such as graveyards. Last but not least the Orc's have there own distant style, which is almost like the humans except they buildings barbaric looking to suit their style.

Sound: 9.8
The sound was done brilliantly in this game! It takes all the features of past games and just expounds upon them. One favorite, among many fans of Blizzard games, is each characters voice, and the things they say. Blizzard has once again added hilarious dialog to each type of unit, for each race. This helps give the characters more of a personality and draws the players into the overall feel of the game, some quotes are parodies of famous movies and TV shows such as Full Metal Jacket, Blazing Saddles, and others.

The music and sound effects really draw the player into the world of Azeroth. The music is really inspirational. The Collectors Edition came with the game sound track and it is nice instrumental music when you are in the mood for it. Sound effects for the units were done really well. There are distant effects for each action, and will help players know what is going on, just by the sounds it makes.

Difficulty: Medium
WarCraft III has a nice learning curve. The game first sets you with one race and slowly teaches you the controls and feel of the game. As the players skills improve so will the enemy AI, and the game will become more challenging. This happens throughout all four campaigns, so players will get a feel for each race of people. The controls will take around an hr for players to become accustom to, unless they are used to RTS games. After learning the hot key, players will enjoy the game to its fullest extent as they try to unravel the mysteries of the world in which they live.

Concept: 9.5
Blizzard has surely done it again; they have updated a great series, which is sure to have an even bigger following. The four races each have their own personalities, units, and style of game play. The game is a little linear, but most missions have side quests, which help spice up the game. Blizzard has once more set the standard for all other Real Time Strategy games to follow.

Multiplayer: 9.8
Blizzard has one of the best multiplayer environments for any PC game, Battle.net. Since StarCraft came out Blizzard has been known to keep their servers as cheat free as allowed, and provides players with a phenomenal experience. Battle.net is integrated very nicely in WarCraft III and provides new features. The best feature is the random game; it will set players up to other gamers who are in the same skill set as you are in. This prevents "god-like" players to rack up numerous win against new players. Blizzard did a fine job with multiplayer and you can be assured that they will continue to tweak it till it is perfect!

Overall: 9.7
If you do not own this game yet, stop reading and go out and purchase it. Owning both the Collectors Edition and the standard one, I have to say that 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. This has been one of the most sought after games for several years and it is obvious why once people watch the very first movie. Another great thing about Blizzard games is their astounding replay value. Take a moment and look at their other games, one example is StarCraft, the game has been out since 1998 and it is still in the top 20 best selling games each week! This is a huge indication that the mighty developers at Blizzard will continue to work on the game, creating new patches, balance races, and making it more enjoyable for many years to come! This is one purchase that you will not regret!