Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 24 real-time strategy games by recommenders
Recommended for its deep, varied real-time strategy gameplay, memorable soundtrack and strong nostalgia. Critics note the races feel nearly identical and the game is unbalanced against humans late on.
Recommended for its deep, varied real-time strategy gameplay, memorable soundtrack and strong nostalgia. Critics note the races feel nearly identical and the game is unbalanced against humans late on.
53 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 51
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 96%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 51 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 26 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong nostalgia and fond memories
“Those were probably some of the most enjoyable moments I ever got out of dial up internet.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Warcraft II was what I LAN played the most so it has a special place in my heart though.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Grew up with the Warcraft II Battle Chest and it was a vibe”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Warcraft III Peon Voice Notifications for Claude Code” - Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
- Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
- Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
- Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
Deep gameplay with unique units
“the old games like Settlers, HoMM 2 or Warcraft 2, that are no worse than modern ones gameplay wise”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Intel 486 CPU announced April 10, 1989” “Warcraft II really gave each unit a unique character and the strategies for almost endless.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “the WarCraft II experience really took things to the next level with far richer gameplay”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” - Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
- Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
Fun campaigns and multiplayer
“Warcraft II was what I LAN played the most so it has a special place in my heart though.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “I loved the campaigns so much that I spent many dollars to play with the campaign editor”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “The only RTS games I could truly enjoy were Warcraft II and III.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” - Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
Memorable soundtrack and artistry
“Still my favourite RTS to this day, with a fantastic soundtrack that I will never forget.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “every single one of them was thought about and considered by someone with artistic merit”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness” “Good gameplay, OST, graphics... never experienced a glitch or performance issue.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “30 Year Anniversary of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness”
Other real-time strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other real-time strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond All Reason | 76 | 17 | 82% | 10 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| Warcraft II: Tides of DarknessThis page | 51 | 2 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Total Annihilation | 48 | 7 | 87% | 7 | — | Approved |
| StarCraft | 36 | 22 | 62% | 10 | — | — |
| StarCraft II | 32 | 18 | 64% | 10 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 58 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I still play Dune 2, warcraft II, sc:broodwars and C&C, in addition to Starcraft II.”
“I played TA before StarCraft and after Warcraft 2”
“Love that warcraft II and starcraft were also top of mind for fun packs.”
“the old games like Settlers, HoMM 2 or Warcraft 2, that are no worse than modern ones gameplay wise”
“But my favourite was the orc destroyer in Warcraft II, which would start singing sea shanties.”
“I think I prefer the extra quotes from Warcraft II and Starcraft”
“Grew up with the Warcraft II Battle Chest and it was a vibe”
“It's the ultimate feel-good nostalgia game for me.”
“Still my favourite RTS to this day, with a fantastic soundtrack that I will never forget.”
“it is so difficult to get multiplayer licenses”
“the rest was history a life time of blizzard gaming”
“The only RTS games I could truly enjoy were Warcraft II and III.”
“it felt like it really opened a parallel universe compared to other games”
“WCII ToD is absolutely one of the most insane games to ever be birthed unto the world.”
“little to no effort has been put into growing the franchise”
“the WarCraft II experience really took things to the next level with far richer gameplay”
“loved Blizzard for putting the effort into a Mac release”
“the product was completed and released on CD, so no hundreds of bug fixes after the release”
“every single one of them was thought about and considered by someone with artistic merit”
“no updates, no bullshit introduction, just play”
“WC2 still feels a bit archaic, insofar as the two races feel nearly identical”
“how amazing the warcraft 2 community was on AOL”
“Those were probably some of the most enjoyable moments I ever got out of dial up internet.”
“rip the awesome fonts used in the original game”
“WC2 was such a leap forward and such an improved game”
“This was the first game I was really obsessed with.”
“Good gameplay, OST, graphics... never experienced a glitch or performance issue.”
“This game lead me down a path that resulted in me becoming a software engineer.”
“the game was horribly unbalanced against humans once bloodlust showed up”
“One of the most satisfying things is to hit the unit limit!”
“Warcraft had more differentiable units and a better story though.”
“Warcraft II and C&C made me fall in love with the genre”
“Visually at least it looks like a pretty tasteful remaster. Mostly just sharpening things up.”
“So happy I bought this game on GOG before they replaced it with the revamped version”
“I loved the campaigns so much that I spent many dollars to play with the campaign editor”
“Warcraft II really gave each unit a unique character and the strategies for almost endless.”
“Buildings as walls and using spawn points to jump through terrain are fun mechanics in WC2.”
“Warcraft II was what I LAN played the most so it has a special place in my heart though.”
“The apex of RTS games -- what a great gaming era”
“Some people are still playing it 30 years later, obsessively.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.