Author: scharfschutze
Type: PC Game
Released: 2003
Designer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Genre: Real-time strategy (Expansion for WarCraft III)
Almost as soon as WarCraft III came onto the scene in 2002, plans were made for the "standard" Blizzard expansion pack. With reviews still mixed to the parent game, Blizzard aimed to correct some of the "flaws" of WarCraft III while retaining the playability of its basic engine. The result was 2003's WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Like all games in the series, The Frozen Throne takes place in the world of Azeroth, in this case several months after the near-cataclysmic end of WarCraft III. In this case, everybody is rebuilding from the disastrous war, except for the Undead, who are reeling from defeat. The Orcs, Night Elves, and Humans have all carved out sections of the battered land of Kalimdor for themselves. The Night Elves place a particular emphasis on scouring the remaining Undead remnants from their lands, while the others are mostly content to simply rebuild their shattered races.
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As per usual nowadays, the campaigns proceed in a sequential order, with the Night Elves, Humans and Undead taking their turns on the player's stage. One extremely disappointing fact of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne is the lack of an Orc campaign, the excuse being that their story, the war with the Humans, has effectively ended. I would say that that is developer's bullshit, given to cover up the extremely hasty completion of this game. To be quite honest, The Frozen Throne is one of the fastest Blizzard games in terms of moving from development to production, and it unfortunately shows in some of the more annoying aspects of the game. Bowing to gamers' pressure, Blizzard eventually released a pseudo-campaign with the patches. However, this does not play at all like a standard RTS campaign, and while enjoyable and possessing tons of replay value, is not quite satisfying for me. But whatever floats your boat…
Several new and enjoyable units have been added to the mix, as well as one new Hero for each race. The Orcs get the new Tauren Spiritwalker spell-caster and the Troll Batrider (an anti-ground air unit), as well as the Shadow Hunter, a ranged hero with a healing spell. The Night Elves get the Mountain Giant, a massive melee unit, and the magic-casting Faerie Dragon, as well as the Warden, a melee hero who can teleport around the battlefield. The Humans receive the extremely useful Dragonhawk Rider (an anti-tower flyer) and Spell Breaker, an anti-magic ranged unit, and the Blood Mage, a fire-based hero. And the Undead receive the Obsidian Statue, a healing and mana-restoring unit that metamorphoses into the Destroyer, an anti-magic flying unit. As well, they receive the Crypt Lord, a giant spider with several vicious abilities. As well, a host of new upgrades have been added: Dwarvish Gyrocopters can now deal fragmentation damage to enemy air units and Troll Headhunters at last receive the Berserker upgrade that proved so beneficial in WarCraft II. However, for whatever reason, the guys at Blizzard redesigned and renamed the siege weapons of each race (except the Undead). The fact that these units still play the same way makes this change rather useless and esoteric.
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However, this is somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that a host of new map types are added, each with their own unique look and feel. Your battles can now rage across tropical islands, underneath freezing glaciers, and even through the Dark Portal to the shattered red world of the Orcs, Draenor. The maps retain their extremely realistic look and feel throughout, and the sight of a group of Dragonhawks flying across the battered plains of Draenor is a beautiful sight… until you shred the hell out of 'em with Troll Berserkers, that is!
One feature of WarCraft II that was quite sadly neglected in WarCraft III was naval warfare. The Frozen Throne attempts to address this problem through the use of neutral Shipyards that can be used to hire Transports, Battleships, and Frigates (these can attack air units). Unfortunately, except for the image, the specific ships are the same for each race, making this one of the more disappointing aspects of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne. To make up for it (sort of), each race can now build a Shop, selling items for your heroes. The items are race-specific and increase in cost and usefulness as your base grows. As well, most military units in game can now carry two items if your heroes get overloaded.
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To top off the additions, the ability to hire neutral Heroes in place of your assigned racial ones is added. The current patch level (1.17) has eight neutral heroes: the Naga Sea Witch, a ranged spell-caster; the Dark Ranger, a ranged hero that can steal enemy units; the Pandaran Brewmaster, a drunken melee unit; the Beastmaster, a melee hero capable of summoning various animals; the Pit Lord, a demonic melee hero; the Goblin Tinker, a mechanically-inclined melee hero; the Firelord, a flame-based (no, really?) ranged hero; and the Goblin Alchemist, a melee spell-caster with several useful spells.
The Frozen Throne doesn't exactly improve much on WarCraft III's graphics, and still has the same basic problems. However, things are somewhat smoother overall, and the new landscapes certainly add graphical flourish to the mix.
Effects: 9/10Every new spell has been given a completely new sound and image, filling any battle with all-new sights and sounds. The effects of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne remain among the best in the RTS gaming world, and make all the battles with the new units well worth the watching.
Gameplay: 9/10The game retains all the strengths in gameplay of the original, while not overloading the system with useless junk. The addition of neutral heroes is offset by the lack of a true Orc campaign and the limited usefulness of the naval warfare. But overall, still good!
Replayability: 8.5/10Replayability is improved by a wider variety of multiplayer modes and the good variety of play inherent in the single-player campaign. But the lack of a proper Orc campaign and the odd nature of the "new" siege units is somewhat distracting.
Overall: 6.5/10To be perfectly honest, this has not been one of Blizzard's best efforts. There are too many little things to consider. While each category holds itself up quite well, the game is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts.