Blizzard succeeds in expanding Warcraft III.
Blizzard, in providing us with this great new game, has given us a huge world to enjoy. The addition of a new hero for each race, as well as a set of neutral heroes to pick from, greatly adds to the mix. New buildings and upgrades are available, as well as new items and tile sets.
The graphics, while identical to WCIII, still look pretty cool. Every unit has its own moving portrait, and the animations are smooth. The CGI movies (I think they're CGI- they look like cut scenes from a Playstation RPG) are as beautiful as they are dark and brooding. If you've played Diablo II then you know the quality I'm talking about.
The sound is great, from the battle sounds to the cries of enthusiastic troops to the sarcastic replies units give you after clicking on them too many times. The music has been greatly improved. In the previous version the music was very gloomy and sad. Now, there's some actual variety to the music, not just funeral marches.
The storyline is in-depth and intriguing. No longer are the missions simply to kill the opposing force; side quests and optional goals provide good distractions from the main quest. Also, each race has its own plot that involves the others: in this one, the most basic plot is the Night Elves, Humans, and Orcs fighting against the Undead Scourge. While it is not the next best novel, the twisted story certainly bests many sub-par RPGs.
The controls are the same as WCIII, and are pretty much like any RTS game. The right click button works well in recognizing what you want to do with a unit, and camera controls allow you to get a closer look at the action, by zooming in and out and rotating. The game has two difficulty settings, Normal and Hard; the game is enjoyable for 'newbs' and pros alike.
The multiplayer feature, either on Battle.net or on your own LAN, literally provides hours and hours of additional fun because of the map editor. New maps are churned out all the time, so you and friends or strangers over the Internet can enjoy both simple melees as well as trigger-heavy customized games. The replayability is through the roof due to the endless variety in Frozen Throne games.
A brief word on the negative aspect- at first, the numerous additions can seem a bit too huge. It can be a bit confusing trying to manage (or micromanage) all the new options available to you. However, after an hour of play you get the 'feel' of the game, and its smooth sailing from there.
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is definitely worth the $35 bucks you can find it for. I recommend this to anyone who simply wants a lot of new, fun stuff added to their Warcraft game.
Oh, and for you left-brained number-loving types, here’s a few digits to satisfy you.
Gameplay - 10
Story - 9
Audio/Video - 10
Replayability - 10