Customer Reviews
Blizzard's beautiful BALANCE
This isn't merely an
expansion. - This is practically a whole new game. The software team at
Blizzard has outdone themselves once again, bringing us yet another
great Role-play stategy masterpiece. Frozen Throne gives us more
Warcraft 3, chock full of great new units, diverse new heroes, and 26
new levels in the campaign/story of Azeroth. Frozen Throne is full of
new items, creeps, and multiplayer options and levels. I really can't
think of anything worth complaining about concerning this release. I
myself found Warcraft 3 to be a little difficult; even after playing for
months and honing my skills. Fortuneatly, if you have a hard time with
Frozen Throne and get tired of punching the monitor in aggravation, you
can now adjust the difficulty of your opponent. Three settings: Easy,
Normal, and Insane. There is also a nifty Handicap option in the setup
screen that can make computer controlled players a bit weaker. So aside
from the cool new units and heroes, this game brings more balance to the
Warcraft experience. Blizzard has done a great job adjusting and
modifying units, hit points, and build times from the previous game. For
instance: Some buildings now build faster, certain units cost less food
points, and the total food cap is now raised. - Adversely, some
buildings now take longer to upgrade, heroes gain experience slower
after a time, and particular items are now more expensive etc.. The list
goes on. Though I am glad to report that just about all of the changes
are good. The game is better balanced and a bit more fun now. The new
units and maps (even has weather effects now -/snow/ rain) breathe new
life into the Warcraft world. This is definitely a better offering than
the original Warcraft 3. -Hardcore RTS/RPS gamers and newcomers alike
would be foolish to pass up a seat on The Frozen Throne.
A Great Expansion!
The Frozen Throne is a must
for any Warcraft fan. It adds enough new units, upgrades, and heroes to
make the game seem new once more. Furthermore, a new campaign is added
that continues the story where Reign of Chaos left off.
The
expansion adds a new hero to each side- the Shadow Hunter for the Orcs,
Blood Mage for the Humans, Crypt Lord for the Undead, and Warden for the
Night Elves. The Shadow Hunter is probably the most notable addition
here, since previously Orcs had no good way to heal their units early in
the game. The Warden is also a good Night Elf pick if you want to try
assassinating someone else's hero. Additionally, you can hire mercenary
heroes at a Tavern. These are just as good as the ones you get normally,
save that they don't take any time to train. They include the Naga Sea
Witch, Pandaren Brewmaster, Beastmaster, Dark Ranger, and Pit Lord.
New
units and upgrades are also added for each side. Some of the old units,
including the Ballista and Catapult, have been changed and renamed. The
Orc units are the Batrider (anti-air flyer) and Spirit Walker (Tauren
support caster). Upgrades include the Troll Berserker- a throwback to
Warcraft 2 and Reinforced Defenses, which makes defensive buildings
tougher. The Humans get the Spell Breaker (a caster-killer) and
Dragonhawk Rider (another anti-air unit) as well the Arcane Tower- which
could save you from a one-hero rush. Upgrades include Barrage and Flak
Cannons, which make Siege Tanks and Flying Machines into very serious
anti-air units.
The Undead receive the Obsidian Statue, which can
either heal nearby enemies or restore their mana. It can also be turned
into the Destroyer, a deadly magic-immune air unit. The Nerubian Tower
is also added, which does less damage than Spirit Towers but slows
enemies. Upgrades include Exhume Corpses, which lets Meat Wagons
generate corpses on their own. The Night Elves gain the Mountain Giant,
now the most powerful melee unit, and the Faerie Dragon, an anti-caster
air unit. Upgrades include Mark of the Claw, which allows Druids in bear
form to cast Roar.
In addition to these units, every side can now
build a shop that sells items geared toward that side's strategy. For
example, the Undead shop sells an item that can make a patch of blight
anywhere it's deployed, which allows them to build defenses outside
their home base. There's also a host of new creeps to find and fight,
some of which are incredibly powerful.
The new units and upgrades
do change the way the game is played. For one, it's now quite risky to
make an all-caster army, since there's no less than three new units that
are completely immune to magic. Needless to say, the new hero choices
and the presence of Taverns also results in new potential strategies.
Despite the changes, however, it's generally true that what worked in
Reign of Chaos still works in Frozen Throne- you just might need to make
some alterations to your army makeup.
The single play campaign is
great. It includes two new cinematics (as is the norm for Blizzard
productions, quite eye-popping) and introduces quite a few new
characters as well as some old. The story focuses on rivals Illidan and
Arthas, but supporting cast is also involved, including a rather
interesting bit from Sylvanus Windrunner. There's even a new
semi-playable side added- the Naga. I wish there were a way to play them
in custom games or multiplayer, even though they aren't fully
fleshed-out as a race. In all there's a Night Elf, Alliance (humans and
blood elves), and Undead campaign. The Orcs don't figure heavily into
this part of the plot, but there's a bonus Orc campaign that continues
the story where it left off and includes guest appearances by Thrall,
Jaina, and Cairne (download it by connecting to Battle.net). One of the
best things about playing these campaigns is you get quite familiar with
some of the new available heroes, which will help when it comes time to
make your choices in multiplay. In some missions you'll also see
something notably missing from the game- naval units. These can be built
by way of a goblin shipyard, though as yet they aren't available in
custom games or multiplay. There's also a lot of new magic items to be
seen, some of which are downright godly.
For mapmakers, there are
also new doodads and tilesets for the editor, including sunken ruins and
Dalaran ruins. Some of the new placeable objects are quite impressive.
The editor has also been revamped, allowing more control over characters
and spells. If you know what you're doing, it can now change pretty
much every aspect of the game.
Frozen Throne is about as good as
an expansion can get, and is especially excellent for an RTS expansion.
If you like Warcraft III, you shouldn't hesitate to get it. The bonus
campaign in particular shows that Warcraft really can be a combination
RTS/RPG, and I don't doubt that there will soon be many player-generated
scenarios like it.
awesome
this expansion pack is going
to comletely change WC3 for the better... WC3+expansion will definatly
be one of the best RTS games for quite some time. I'm currently beta
testing the game, so i should be able to give a rough idea of how it
should turn out for the final release. Lot's of new features (i'm not
going to get into details that are already avialable at the expansion
pack website, for you can read there yourself)....
- my favorite
new hero is the orc hero.... its like a powerfull voodoo
witchdoctor..... most notable is his healing spell (which finally gives
orcs a healing option for early game) which acts like chain lightning,
but has a healing effect.
- spellcasters have been changed.... their
attack type is now "magic attack"..... their armor type is now
"unarmed". I won't get into the details of how the attack and armor
works, because they are likely to be modified for final release.
-
spellcasters now have inventory! a 2 slot inventory.
- ancients now
have heavy armor when uprooted (makes ancient rushing a little harder i
guess)
- all races can now build item shops with items unique to each
civ. Most notible is that each civ's item shop gets a unique orb...
orcs get orb of lightning ;D.... orbs arnt available until tier3 though
and cost about 400gold on current beta.
- cyclone is now dispelable
-
crypt fiends (and other undead units) can learn the burrow ability
which lets them dig into the ground and act as a spy/regen health
-
you can now buy transport BOATS (at goblin shipyards)... this should
make for some interesting water maps hopefully.
- orc burrows can be
upgraded to heavy burrows which have fortified armor instead of medium.
-
when units are following a hero, they mimic the heros actions.. i.e. if
hero attacks, following units will also attack instead of just sitting
there watching :p
- for people with slower computers, you can now
adjust the spell detail level, which was a source of lag at times on
older machines.
- minimap now has a creep mode. it highlights creep
camps on the map via a grey circle; the bigger the circle the bigger the
creeps.
BNET will be much improved too.... here are some features
i've tried out on the current wc3x beta servers...
- built-in
clan support! you can now create clans. there are now 2 friends lists
basicly: the original friends list, and a new clan member list. The
creator of the clan gets a cheiften icon, assistant's to the leader get
shaman icons, normal members get grunt icons, and new members
(initiates) get peon icons until they are officially accepted into the
clan. There are also clan ladders and clan stats!
- Now you can stay
in the chat room while searching for a game. After you choose game
criteria (1v1, 2v2, maps, civ) and click search... the search screen
minimizes to a small box in the topright and takes u back to the chat
room. The small box tells you how long you have been waiting, and what
the average wait time is for that game type.
Anyways, i can't wait
for this to go final! it will make a great rts game even better!
-duck
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