1) what are the animations like? how do the graphics look when moving? the piccies i have seen failed to really grab my attention, but near everything looks better in motion.
Done in typical Blizzard style, the models do gain a lot more life when in motion. I think they did a really fantastic job with it, but maybe I'll get 42 to comment on it. He's seen it and is more familiar with that side of things.
2) how good are the skirmish modes? that was a major complaint of mine about starcraft.
Not entirely certain what you mean by skirmish. The skirmish modes I'm familiar with (one player vs. the computer) aren't really spectacular. It's easier to beat the computer 1 on 1 than in Starcraft but only because it does some really stupid things. Computer strategic AI (different from tactical) is pretty unimpressive.
If, however, you mean the battle.net player vs player battles by skirmish, I think it's worlds different (and better) than Starcraft was in this aspect. I spent a lot of words on why I think so in my review, so I will refrain from discussing it further here unless that assertion is contested.
3) what is lag like? im on a 56k aol conection here, so im not holding up much hope, but is it playable at all?
I believe a lot of people play Warcraft III on 56k modems online. They get dropped a lot and lose games because of it, but Blizzard has historically done a very good job of keeping internet traffic down.
4) what is the build tree and research like? aol style (millions of stuff that take years to research) or red alert style (build for 20 mins and you have everything you need).
Not familiar with the aol style you refer to. I don't think I've ever researched my entire tech tree before...it generally isn't necessary to develop all types of units well. To give you an estimate, however, a 20 minute online game pretty much always includes the top tier units. The hardest to reach units require 2 city hall upgrades before you can build thier structures...but that's all you need to do. Those units (gryphons, tauren, chimeras, frost wyrms) tend to be really powerful though. Especially the tauren. Some of them don't see a lot of use. It's technically possible (really stupid, but possible) to start production on your first Tauren 5:10 after the start of the game assuming you start with a basic town hall.
5) how detailed is the hero leveling like? and do your heros get transported from one level to the next in campaign mode?
In the campaign mode, heros carry experience, levels, items, and skill choices over from previous scenarios, though not across campaigns. (Which you don't really notice, as you don't use the same units...except sort of...in one case.) They are restricted in each mission to a particular level, and you don't advance very fast because of it...getting to the high level for each mission isn't a problem at all...plenty of stuff to kill. When a hero levels, they gain hp, mana, small increases to their strength/agility/intelligence stats and damage, and a skill point. This skill point can be spent on 1 of four different skills. The first three are available right away and have 3 degrees of increasing power. The last one is that heros ultimate ability, which can only be selected after achieving sixth level---some of these ultimate abilities are really wild. The Death Knight, for instance, animates the six strongest corpses nearby for two minutes, giving you a huge temporary advantage. The other abilities are less powerful, but can still make a very large difference in how a battle goes. The Paladin's Devotion Aura, for instance, adds 1, 2, or 3 armor to every friendly unit nearby reducing the damage they take. Overall, this isn't a whole ton of variety, especially since all skills can be maxed out at level 10, the highest hero level. The system is simple, however, and is easy to manage in the heat of battle, an attractive feature in a RTS.
