I can't really say that the game has aged well, but the gameplay is there, and will mostly appeal to nostalgic gamers who played the others, or want to delve into the roots of the RTS genre. This game is an RTS mixed with a bit of RPG similar to Warcraft 3 but with less polish and far more races with their own units and specialties. A ton of different classes to play with and different schools of magic to learn. There are 16 races to play with, most have some sort of theme or special trait unique to them. The downside is that with so many races, a few of them feel a little lacking in depth or unit variety, especially if you were to compare them with the factions from other recent RTS games. The campaign mode is decent, but I liked the campaign from the second game way better. It actually feels like a less polished version of the previous game's campaign. Definitely check this out if you've played all the newer games and want to try one of the old gems.

Here's the short version of my review: This game came out well after the groundbreaking RTS Warcraft III: reign of Chaos, but it represents an independent creator's attempt at perfecting his craft and coming up with some brilliant mechanics along the way. This is in my opinion one of the all time greats for real time strategy because of its bold hybrid nature, original soundtrack and voice acting, and ahead of its time mechanics. This is the very definition of a cult classic video game. Here's the long version: This game has an incredible number of stream lined RTS features that put it WAY beyond its time in terms of utility and functionality. Resource gathering is a little similar to that found in a Relic RTS (CoH or dawn of war) in that resources are based on "territory" capture (I put in quotes because the resource buildings must be captured by either your hero or one of his generals). Buildings had the ability to set continuous production on any pattern of units or upgrades you wanted. Each unit can be set to behave according to a huge number of AI scripts including scout/rampage (useful in the age-old RTS conundrum of when your opponent is hiding one villager somewhere on the map with a secret little building and you dont want to have to search endlessly). Above all else is the ability to make a persistent hero with his own posse of regular ole soldiers who rise above the ranks and stick with you above and beyond battles. This concept is what got me into this game in the first place and its something that saddens me to not have found its way into any other RTS's (that I know of). The heroes are many and their abilities are interesting but one of the things I was not a big fan of when I first played the game was the plot driven campaign (I always liked Warlords Battlecry II's Total War style campaign map). I did warm up to this later on and I now view it as an improvement. Whats further incredible about this game is the sheer number of sides with very unique mechanics for each one. There is a side for everyone to take up and enjoy. (Undead take little wimpy skelemen and turn them into apocalyptic harbingers of death... dark dwarves can use their engineers to build massive siege buildings... There's an entire race of fairy people that were extremely broken but seriously who would stoop so low as to play as a giant race of pixies?) Most of all, each side has a unique feel that is spot on. There are a ton of other features that I often miss when I play other RTS's as well but I only wanted to highlight my favorites. In conclusion this niche classic is a fantastic time killer and quite a bit of fun. Whenever I look at spending money on a game I ask myself how many subway sandwiches is this thing worth? Is Warlords Battlecry 3 worth two subway sandwiches? Absolutely. I mean seriously. I eat subway sandwiches and then poop them out. This gave me hours of entertainment just now. I started writing this. Played like 6 missions in the campaign and enjoyed it a great deal. Easily worth 10 bucks. Buy the game. Maybe they'll make WBC IV someday. Maybe.

An absolutely incredible RTS with heavy RPG elements, Warlords Battlecry III is still one of my favorite games to this day. There are almost a dozen and a half well-balanced races to choose from, the replayability is absolutely insane and every race has several viable strategies that will work to use their strengths against their opponents' weaknesses. Creating your leader, a hero, is also extremely rewarding from the nearly infinite number of builds that you could create. The gameplay and story go hand in hand so well together! The world map is interesting with lore behind every location and tons and tons of content to explore as the game is very non-linear. Combat is also a fun experience where each faction's strengths and weaknesses can be used to your advantage. Each faction has its own unique units and buildings as well as its own level of priority for the four resources of the game. For an example, the Dwarves faction uses a ton of metal, the Daemons are heavily based on stone and crystal, and the Empire prioritizes gold, though, each of these factions will find itself needed at least a little of these key resources to truly build a respectable army. Your faction, whether you choose a fantasy classic like the Knights or Dark Elves, or a more unique one like the disease-carrying Plague Lords, or the lizardman-like Ssrathi, is an absolute blast to play. Each has a list of armies and buildings that are almost entirely different from the other races as well as a separate tech tree. Your hero, however, is the ultimate icing on the cake in my opinion. With sixteen races and twenty-eight classes to choose from you could never tire of trying out different combinations to create vastly different heroes. Each race provides six skills for you hero and each class does the same. Each level that you achieve in the game provides you with a point to improve these skills and further improve and specialize your build. I would recommend this game to all RTS fans as well as those who love fantasy RPGs. This is a great game that to this day I don't tire of.