Rating: 
Summary: Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition is GREAT!
Review: Gamers, including myself, have marveled at the old game Warcraft II for a long time. When I heard that Blizzard Entertainment was developing a new version for that classic, I was overjoyed. The old Real-Time Strategy (RTS) has left its mark as the best Game of the Year 1995, Best Online Game, and Best Multiplayer Game. Although the gameplay graphics and cutscenes art are somewhat lacking, it has pretty good graphics, funny sounds, and appropriate background music. The game's online gameplay of this game is fantastic since it takes Blizzard's free online gaming server, Battle.net, and uses it in this classic's upgrade. Warcraft II Battle.net Edition's AI is much in need of improvement compared to the other new games, though. But this game was not supposed to be completely new, so Blizzard decided not to improve some of the features, but to fix old bugs, add small improvements, and add a super multiplayer option.The story of Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition takes place after their first big hit, Warcraft I: Orcs and Humans. After the death of the Orcish Warchief Blackhand, Ogrim Doomhammer quickly took his place as the new Warchief. Meanwhile, the tattered humans from the destroyed land of Azeroth seek refuge in Lordaeron, the other power in the Alliance, a group of humans, elves, and dwarves allying up against the fearsome Orcs. The humans have won the second war against the Orcs and have destroyed their only way into human lands, the Dark Portal. As they find out, though, the rift allowing passage to their lands still exists. They Alliance must travel the rift to Orcish Lands to stop the Orcish threat. When you first start out on a single-player campaign, if you choose one from the Tides of Darkness, then you'll start with a small amount of units and a basic building to start out on. This just teaches you how to build things and gives you a basic feel for how you play the game. Eventually, you'll move into much harder levels which involve keeping someone alive as you travel enemy territory, building up a strong enough force to overcome a powerful enemy, and developing strategy in order to outsmart your computer enemy. The multiplayer features in this game are comparable to some of the top games out now. Popular online games, such as Starcraft and Diablo, use Blizzard's personal gaming server, Battle.net (the top online gaming service in the world), to make a very easy and powerful multiplayer option. There are also the basic multiplayer options such as connection over an AppleTalk or IPX networks. There are traditional modem games, which are only two player, and there is direct-connect (null modem). This game's multiplayer is also compatible with the old version of Warcraft II. You can select either the enhanced (which fixes bugs and adds Battle.net option) or you can choose normal (which is the only way you can play against other people with Warcraft II, but without Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition). This enhanced game has new features such as Shared Vision (the ability to see what your ally sees), there is the new food bar (which allows you to see how much food you have without selecting a farm), and there is fixed bugs and smaller new features that would take a while to list. This game is a pretty basic RTS. Proportionally, the graphics are way off, but otherwise they are pretty good. For example, you walk a unit next to some trees or a building. From the sizes they use, you would only be able to fit about 16 units into the biggest building (the Town/Great Hall). Those must be very big units because the smallest unit is a peon and supposedly it takes up as much space as a catapult. The cutscenes in this game could be better, too. While they are much clearer and sharper then the original Warcraft, they still could be better. The sound in this game is good, but not as good as I hoped. They have added a few new sounds that they had forgotten in the original, but those sounds go usually go unnoticed. While it's really funny to hear an Two-Headed Ogre burp really loud and then the two heads argue over who did it and to hear a Footman complain about what he's supposed to do, that's basically it in the sound department. I highly recommend this game if you are/were a frequent Warcraft or Starcraft player.
Rating:
Summary: Chess x 20 ! Wonderful Strategy Game. / Battle.net
Review: I received this game for my Birthday and I have been playing it almost every day, for months ! I have never been a "Gamer," but this game turned me on to the pleasures of Strategic Stress Relief. This game is Chess x 20 ! You cannot simply build an army of Footmen, Archers & Knights, then run-over the enemy, with Brute Force. You must learn to develop Strategies using Ballistas, Wizards, Palladins, etc. with Upgraded weapons, armor & men. Also, you must learn to build Destroyers and Battleships to protect your coast-line. This is a fascinating game, with complicated scenarios that refresh your brain cells, while you relieve stress. Rough day at work? Wack some Orcs ! Teenagers will find this game challenging and cannot use simple Hack n Slash techniques to win the scenarios. This game has influenced me to also add "Age of Empires," "Rune Gold," & "Stronghold" to my CD-Rom collection. If you can schedule some free time with a friend, Battle.net is a great way to test your skill with the game, as well. You can play on-line against each-other, or together against others/ the computer. I highly recommend War Craft II, because I never purchased a PC video game (since I was a teenager), until I acquired this game. I would write more, but I can't wait to play another scenario....
Rating:
Summary: RTS legend.
Review: This game is the first RTS game that I have played along with Starcraft and Lords of the Realm 2. But Lords of the Realm 2 (Starcraft is a whole diffrent stoty) didn't have what Warcraft had. The easy to get used to gameplay with great graphics in terms of running smooth, the very low system requirement, and the satisfaction of the Battle.net. I have not played this game since 1998 (Because my dad broke my CD. Read my Starcraft Battle Chest review.) so I don't know if anyone plays online now but all I know is that I had the most fun playing this game back in 2000. I remember the satisfaction that I had with my friends after beating the opponent with my ogres and the dragons. This game ran fine when I used to have Intel Celeron 400MHZ, 64mb ram, and 56k modem. So if you get this game right now, you shouldn't have any technical problems. Also this game is very easy to get used to with easy gameplay and great graphics for an outdated game. This game is definitly a must have if you are a RTS fan. You should know that Warcraft started it all. It started the great RTS gaming genre.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest games ever invented for computers...
Review: I rate WarCraft II the greatest strategy game ever produced for the computer even to this day. I first discovered it in late 1995 (or 1996) on the servers at Uni, where groups of "clans" would have huge WarCraft battles against each other for much of the day. Yes, nerdy, but the amount of people that stumbled onto this game and made it a huge obsession was incredible. The thing that makes the game so good is that in these current times, eye candy aside, the gameplay is incredible. The grpahics are still great and guarantee the game won't run slowly or be digressed by superficial videos etc. Besides, since when would you complain about Chess not having great graphics - it's the PLAY that counts. The pieces are so perfectly matched (or maybe because some aren't) that forces the constant pressure of various moves and strategies to stay afloat. This is not the game that can ever be mastered and won easily - the only thing this game guarantees is total immersion and escapism. I've bought WarCraft III and although it's an amazing piece of software, it just doesn't have the same captivation and basic yet totally captivating gameplay that WarCraft II does. I cannot recommend buying it highly enough...
Rating: 
Summary: 4 stars
Review: I thought the game was great. If you're a fan of Warcraft 2, this is a must have. Forget having to resort to IPK methods, you can get the new and improved Battle.net! OK, i'm calm now. There were some dissapointin aspects, as describe below, but all in all it is a great expansion to a great game. To the point: Pro: The obvious enhanced multi-player perks. You are allowed a variety of games to play, from capture the flag to one on one, and all with people all over the world. Pro: You get about a hundred new maps, to play on the net or against the computer. Con: Battle.net is sometimes unreliable. You can be disconected for no reason, even during a game. Pro: The game comes with the expansion set, in the same CD! Forget having to take time to replace one with the other, it's all right here! This also saves considerable money. Con: I would of liked to see some extra levels. A bonus level at the end of the game maybe? Noah
Rating:
Summary: Best Game Ever- period!
Review: Warcraft2 is an awesome game that has been around a lomg time...a classic. While some say that its graphics are aging, I love the undetailed, squat Orcs, among other things. Welcme to the World of Warcraft!!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the all time greats!
Review: Pros-
Priced right at just $15 for jewel case.
Still very popular with hundreds of potential opponents online.
Balanced weaponry, no one unit or structure rules.
Huge variety of maps and missions.
Easy to use map editor.
Additional games online such as capture the flag.
Game rarely lags or runs choppy even with 2v2 and 3v3 games.
Doesn't require much computer or a top video card.
Everything is on just one disc. Cons-
Cartoonish graphics are a bit dated.
Gameplay, while easy to learn can be tiring and out dated. Over all warcraft 2 is still a great game and loads of fun. I had known about this game for a long time and finally decided to pick up the $20 version which also provides you with a strategy guide. An exellent value! I heartily recommend this game because you know what you're getting. The concept is ok with the humans v the orcs but almost all my time with this game is one on one multiplayer. You don't have to go to battlenet.com you can also play a buddy modem to modem. How you begin the game depends on the map but usually you start with one peon or builder and a certain amount of resources. You will always need a certain number of farms to feed your people as well as a steady supply of gold and wood. Wood is everywhere but there are a limited number of gold mines and it is around these that you will build your camps. Most of your military will come from a barricks and you make more peons from a town hall. You'll need a blacksmith and lumber mill to upgrade your troops(swordsman,archers,catapults ect.) and from that point you can add specialty forces such as gnomes, mages and flying birds that crap explosive eggs. Note that i'm referring to the human race because i play that all the time. The orcs are very different and frankly quite weird. One of their units for example is a huge beast with two heads that only uses it's fists as a weapon. Both races can make a cool spy plane and a fairly complete navy as well as towers that can be upgraded to shoot cannons or arrows. Oil is another resource that's needed to make some more advanced units. A lot of strategy is required because maps are very crowded with many narrow passage ways. Some maps even start you off completely surrounded by trees so you can't go anywhere untill you cut down a path. I like those maps because it prevents quick attacks. Game play is fairly easy to learn. You just click on a building and the unit you want to build. It's easy to order your units to fight or where to go but you can only control 15 units at a time. The biggest negative about this game is that you can't queue up your barricks to produce more than one unit at a time. This can make the game a bit too busy and tiring and requires you to have several barricks. For example to maintain a steady source of resources you may need two main camps and one smaller one surrounding gold mines. That means probably at least 5 barricks, three town halls as well as at least one gnomish inventor and aviary and a navy or two. Considering you will have at least a couple dozen peons gathering resources and building farms it becomes a contest of who can point and click the fastest as you constantly move from building to building while trying to control your military units. A lot of work. Too bad blizzard hasn't added the multi queing feature which exists in age of empires gold and just about any newer game. Maybe there is a mod that can be downloaded to ad this feature but it is not available here. For that reason i only give the game 4* but it still makes for plenty of good clean fun for very little money. .............socks
Rating:
Summary: The great granddaddy of RTS is still a great game
Review: It is really amazing, that after all these years of owning Warcraft II, I still enjoy playing it. Most games tire after a few months, but Warcraft, especially in multiplayer, has remained fresh and fun. The new Platinum Battle.net edition is just icing on the cake. Now we can all duke it out with people all over the world, using a FREE service, can it get any better? Of course there have been many many new games in the RTS genre, from Blizzards StarCraft, to the brand new 3D Force Commander. It amazes me that even with this competition, I like to play WarCraft. The stratagy is fun, and the sense of humor of the Blizzard designers is top-notch. This is one of the greatest games ever made, one that everybody should own. It may not have the latest technical gimmicks, but it has everything a gamer needs, fun and addictive gameplay. 5/5
Rating: 
Summary: Great game, but avoid BattleNet
Review: I have been playing Warcraft II for many, many years, and absolutely love it. I finally decided to pick up the BattleNet addition of the game so I could play online against people from around the world. What a terrible mistake that was... Unfortunately, BattleNet is nothing more than a haven for depraved, foul mouthed adolescents hell bend on making your online experience as miserable as possible. The unrelenting flood of obscenities, personal attacks, and graphic content, makes the game completely inappropriate for younger players, and intolerable for older ones. You don't even have to be playing a game to be accosted, it starts immediately in the main page chat window, as soon as you connect to the service. This really is a shame, because this is such a great game, and a relatively small group of people have completely ruined it for everyone. There seem to be far fewer troublemakers on the games that charge a monthly fee, so hopefully Blizzard's new venture into online gaming, coming soon, I hope, will be better. Despite being a great game, I cannot recommend this version....
Rating:
Summary: The Essential Strategy Game
Review: This is perhaps one of the best games of all time. The gameplay is well-balanced and simple, but the game is suitable for all skill levels. If you are interested in Real-Time Strategy but don't want to spend too much money, this is a great starter game. It does lack a few features of newer strategy games, but the improvements made from the original version make it almost as good as Starcraft (another excellent game all genre newbies should consider getting). The graphics are dated, but considering that the original game came out in 1995, they are impressive. This was not the Game of the Year of 1995 for no reason. Even if you already have Warcraft 2, consider buying this for Battle.net alone. At 8.99, it's definitely worth the multiplayer social and gaming experience. Everyone should own this game.
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