Warcraft III: Frozen Throne

Published by Blizzard Entertainment
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PC CD-ROM/MAC CD-ROM (OS 9.0 or higher)
Released - Out Now
Requires: Warcraft III
Price : £19.99

Warcraft III was one of the games of 2002. Although the gap between Warcraft II and Warcraft III had been a large one, Blizzard managed to keep the gameplay magic intact. Warcraft III was essentially what most gamers want from a RTS. It kept micro-management simple and kept the action flowing. Whilst most gamers would have focused on the games multiplayer aspects, there is no denying that the campaigns were something special and proved very enjoyable to play through. There was never any doubt in most people's minds that an expansion pack would arrive and when Frozen Throne was announced you just knew it was going to be great and that's exactly what it is.

Most gamers will want to pick up Frozen Throne for it's excellent campaigns. There are two campaigns in all. The main campaign is a Sentinels campaign and is called Terror of the Tides. It's easily as good as any found in the original Warcraft III and is probably larger than any of them too. In addition to this there is a bonus campaign called The Founder of Durotar. Despite this being a bonus campaign it is still of a very high quality and a very enjoyable experience to play through.What I like most of all with the bonus campaign is that the missions seem to have a different style to them than the ones in the original game.

Each of the four factions, Human, Orc, Undead and Night Elf have received extra units, heroes, buildings and upgrades. The Orcs now have a Shadow Hunter, Troll Batrider, Spirit Walker and can build a Voodoo Lounge. The Undead now have a Crypt Lord, Obsidian Statue, Destroyer and can build a Tomb of Relics. The Humans now have a Blood Mage, Spell Breaker, Dragonhawk Rider and can build a Arcane Vault. The Night Elves now have a Warden, Mountain Giant, Faerie Dragon and can build an Ancient of Wonders. All the extra buildings, Voodoo Lounge, Arcane Vault, Tomb of Relics and Ancient of Wonders, are basically a shop that allow units, that have an inventory, to purchase items.

All of these additions have made a subtle difference to the way the game plays and I can honestly say that Blizzard have managed to make the game even more enjoyable. Should you prefer to play the game in it's original form though you only have to start the game using the original Warcraft III shortcut instead of the Frozen Throne one. This is actually a very nice touch from Blizzard as those that are used to playing online with a set strategy don't have to embrace the new units, upgrades and building if they don't want to. Speaking of online play, new Battle.net enhancements have been made and playing online is even more enjoyable now. Full support for clans and automated tournaments is now present. These features make Frozen Throne an essential purchase for online gamers.

An advanced World Editor and Campaign Editor have also been included to allow you to create your own scenarios and campaigns. Blizzard have also added some neutral Heroes such as the Pit Lord and Dark Ranger. The editor is surprisingly easy to use and allows you to create what you want to with the minimum of fuss. Of course the presence of such a tool means that even if you don't want to spend the time needed to create campaigns, you'll be able to download ones off the Internet.

Blizzard Entertainment have a reputation of releasing top quality, highly polished products and Frozen Throne only serves to enhance that reputation. Make no mistake about it, this could well be the expansion pack of the year and comes highly recommended for fans of Warcraft III.

Overall Game Rating: 9.2/10
This is exactly what we like to see in an expansion pack. Frozen Throne not only expands Warcraft III, it also manages to improve it.

Deaf Gamers comment:
No problems for deaf gamers and is exactly as accessible as Warcraft III.