Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

"The best strategy game that I have ever played!"

Warcraft was released a few years ago on the PC. It became a very important strategy game and Warcraft III really influenced many PC gamers when it came out. It introduced the concept of fighting by clicking on an enemy rather than real-time fighting and by involving more strategy in a game. Now, this expansion pack has added many things that were not in the classic version, such as extra campaigns, maps, heroes, units, and spells. I believe that the Frozen Throne is much more balanced than the original version and that it is worth the $30.00 you pay for it. Think about it, each hero is 5 dollars, and all the units, spells, and maps together are 10 dollars. This is an amazing value, considering that you will be playing this game for a very, very long time. This expansion also expands the map creator, which you can use to make some really awesome custom maps.

Story: 7/10

Most people don't really play this game on single player but there is a huge story. It consists of a constant struggle between the Orcs and Humans and how the Undead soon gets into the picture. Story isn't really a huge part in this game, and it will not really affect you in any way (since you will be playing it online).

Graphics/Sound: 10/10

I believe that sound and graphics play a huge role in this game. The graphics are truly stunning; you can zoom in several times to see the tiniest details on a building or a unit. You can see the birds, deer, and other animals that roam around within the trees, snow, and fields. The most amazing part of the graphics is seeing an all-out war taking place between 8 players. The spells, magical attacks, and melee attacks look awesome. The sound also plays a major role. When clicking on a unit, it talks to you. The sound really helps so you can know when you are being attacked. The magical spells and attacks also sound amazing. Overall, the great graphics and sound are a major bonus in this game even though the expansion set doesn't improve them. Although the graphics and sound in this game are excellent, it really does depend on your graphics card. I recommend using a GeForce 3 or 4 Ti 4200 or higher.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is the most amazing part of this game. It is just so addicting. You start out with a town hall and 3 to 5 five workers and you must build a successful army base and creates as many and as powerful units as you can to destroy the enemy base. You have to start out by harvesting lumber and gold and using those resources to build new buildings, heroes, and units. The person that uses his units in the best possible way will win.The game is really fun when playing 4 on 4. There is also nighttime and daytime and many aspects of the game change during these two periods. There are also 4 additional heroes for the races and 4 neutral heroes who are very powerful and useful. Because of the modifications in units and additional units, gameplay is very different from the original Warcraft III. Custom games are also very fun, ranging from RPG's (role-playing games) to TD (tower defenses). There is sometimes some lag (depending on your internet connection), but the bad thing is that every time someone lags, it stops the whole game and shows you the list of people who are lagging. This isn't really that bad and you shouldn't hate the game for this. There is just so much strategy involved in every single game and this is what makes Warcraft, Warcraft.

Controls: 10/10

Very simple, and very flexible. You can highlight units with the left click and move units with the right click. There are also hotkeys which you can use as shortcuts instead of clicking and selecting things manually. To move around on the screen, you just move your mouse to the edge of the screen in the direction that you want it to move. To look around object three dimensionally, you use the insert and delete keys. Typing things are also very fast unlike many other games. All you have to do is press enter, type your message, and then press enter again. I think that the controls couldn't have been any better than this.

Final Outlook: 9/10

The game's name suggests this. You learn the craft of war, strategies of war, and the art of war. This is the best expansion set that you can buy and I really do recommend it if you have Warcraft III. I guarantee at least 300 hours of gameplay after you buy this game if you are playing it online. As you play more and more, you gain more skill and you become a higher level. The most important thing is your record, which shows the death to kill ratio and the amount of experience that you have currently. So go out there and win some wars!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/20/04