The classic that started it all.
For it's time, this game looks wonderful. The settings aren't very varied, with there being basically the forest, the swamp and the cave. The characters, while a little blurry and sometimes hard to distinguish, do each look unique. The main problem here isn't how the game looks, it is the lack of variety. The cutscenes, while minimal and looking good, don't really show much outside of environs.
The sound effects are also a little...repetitive. Every single unit that has the ability to talk on each side says the same exact thing (as in all orcs say the same thing and all humans say the same thing). The effects although repetitive, are well-done though and do feel authentic for its time. The voice acting for the cutcenes, though only comprising of two people (the orcish speaker and the human speaker) sounds great and is fun to listen to. The music is fantastic and unlike the sound effects, I have nothing to complain about.
The gameplay, is simple enough. You harvest resources. You use those resources to build roads and buildings. You build units. You dominate the enemy. Of course the trick is using the right unit combination to counter the enemy, while setting up a formidable defense and offense at the same time. It is like playing a more fast paced chess. And very much like chess, each faction has nearly identical units. The good thing is that this assures that each side is balanced. The bad thing is that it doesn't add any uniqueness to either side outside of aesthetics.
The real issue here is the controls. First of all, you can only select 4 units at a time. Second of all, you can't click and drag a box to select units...you have to shift+click each unit to add it to the group. Third of all, and most frustrating, you can't make groups. So you have to select units everytime you deselect them. With the big battles later on, this can prove IMMENSELY frustrating and without speed and quick thinking you will fail. Granted, you can turn the game speed to really slow to give you the time to do everything you need to, but then the game can get very dull. If the controls were better, the game would be a lot better, but then again this WAS Blizzard's first foray and not everything is perfect the first time around.
The story is quite good and from the beginning it was obvious that Blizzard had a very extensive story for the series. The only issue is that though both factions mostly coincide with their missions and don't conflict...near the end they do go in opposite directions and you don't know which is the proper ending (until you play the sequel of course).
With the immense challenge this game provides and the nearly identical campaigns for each faction, you will likely not want to play through this game again. Luckily, the multiplayer can be mildly enjoyable. It doesn't enjoy the tweaks and options of newer games, but it can provide fun and luckily doesn't require a CD for both parties.
In the end, this is an acceptable first RTS for Blizzard, but is far from their best. They have many better games to play, and unless you want to play for nostalgia, for the sake of knowing its roots or for the story...you likely won't find much to enjoy from this immensely challenging game when you can find so many triple-A RTS games out now. Enjoy.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Value: 6/10
OVERALL: 6.5/10.0