Westwood vs. Blizzard Grudge Match

Here is my grudge match between Blizzard titles and Westwood titles. Games with Grades (A through F) are games that i have played. Games that have gold titles are games that i actually own.

Dune II: Battle for Arrakis Grade: C- The first modern day RTS game. No group selection. You harvested the spice for money. No engineers (but troops could capture damaged buildings). Just basic units. Sandworms would swallow up troops. You can choose your next mission. Also, there were no mobile construction units (to build new bases). Has a great theme. Overall, a brilliant first game.

Warcraft: Orcs and Humans Grade: C+ A great fantasy RTS. There is limited unit grouping, the fog of war is exactly as Dune II. However, there is innovation in having two resources, you can repair buildings. Dune II was a big influence on this game but wouldn't be for its sequel.

Command & Conquer Grade: D An alternate universe where tiberium is discovered and so ensues a war of power. It has better graphics and soldiers can be grouped and no longer control buildings (but engineers are invented). There is still one resource ala Dune II. However, it is multiplayer capable. With this game's popularity,westwood uses this game as the base for all its following games.

Warcraft II Grade: B+ A great fantasy RTS. There is limited unit grouping, the fog of war is improved. Three resources, repairing buildings - the birth of modern RTS sophistication.

CnC: Red Alert Grade: C CnC:RA fixes a lot of balance issues that CnC did but still has balance issues (and still 2 sides). Slightly better graphics and you can actually tell what's going on. Not only that, but the maps are much larger. Still no queuing or waypoints. Same basic units, resource, buildings and gameplay (tank rush) - but cool story.

Starcraft/Broodwar Grade: A Near absolute perfection. Queuing, almost completely balanced races, rally points, waypoints, unit grouping, bookmarking - you name it. Great theme. If there's anything that can be said against this game is that the graphics seem sub-standard by today's expectations but this is a game that has lasted almost four years!

Dune 2000 Grade: C+ Dune 2000 was a modern day remake of Dune II (that's why i got it). However, it still has the trademark one resource (but keeps the concrete), engineers, and all that stuff. Despite the engineers and imbalances its Dune theme is its saving grace (and its low price).

CnC: Tiberian Sun Grade: D+ It's CnC with update graphics, engineers, a wacky queue and waypoint system (that doesn't even work properly), trademark one resource, imbalances. I played the demo for two missions. Deleted it from my hard drive and went back to play Starcraft.

CnC: Red Alert II Grade: Never Played I hear RA2 has fixed some of the imbalance problems, fixed the waypoint and queue systems. However, it still has the one resource but i hear is really fun to play (the whole point of a game). If there was a demo, i would try it. However, it still has engineers.

Emperor: Battle for Dune Grade: B- Despite the poor documentation and insane difficulty, this game and sequel to Dune2/2000 is very fun. The units have more variety than before and the terrain is truer to the book and movie. Both Dune 2000 and Emperor were filmed in the style of the movie (which was similar to the book; save the weirding modules, Sadaurkar, Gurney and Duncan). Overall, an excellently Dune themed RTS. However, my bias still lays with Blizzard.

Warcraft III Grade: A Awesome. Little overdone with the four races. I hope Blizzard doesn't keep adding races though and mark it as a stamp of improvement. You don't, and can't always go up. Sometimes adding a twist and repackaging to the gameplay is all you need.