WarCraft III Expansion: The Frozen Throne

by Blizzard Entertainment

Product Features

• Vivendi 72051 WOW III Expansion: Frozen PC

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008ODBQ
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: July 1, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,065 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #8 in Video Games > Mac Games > Action
  • #15 in Video Games > Mac Games > Strategy
  • #66 in Video Games > Mac Games > All Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Following in the tradition of previous Blizzard expansion sets, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne provides gamers with a vast new chapter in the epic Warcraft saga. In the single-player campaign, players revisit the war-torn world of Azeroth. Several months have passed since Archimonde and the Burning Legion were defeated at the battle of Mount Hyjal, yet a new threat has arisen throughout the land...

One new Hero per race, each possessing powerful spells and magical abilities.

A host of new units, each equipped with new abilities and spells, giving players the opportunity to create diverse strategic and tactical forms of combat.

Player-built shops, unique for each race, equipped with items carefully designed to improve and aid the units of every race.

Neutral Heroes, available for recruitment by all players, that can supplement and strengthen a player's army with all new spells and abilities.

Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.net including multiple new game types, clan and tournament support.

Product Description

WARCRAFT III FROZEN THRONE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blizzard's beautiful BALANCE, July 3, 2003

By 

Anthony J Sasso (Melrose Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WarCraft III Expansion: The Frozen Throne (CD-ROM)

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.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Expansion!, December 22, 2003

By 

Yu-jin Chia "Yu-Jin Chia" (Cupertino, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WarCraft III Expansion: The Frozen Throne (CD-ROM)

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.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great expansion for a great game, July 10, 2003

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WarCraft III Expansion: The Frozen Throne (CD-ROM)

Warcraft 3 hit over a year ago with a cliffhanger ending that left fans drooling for more. Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne continues the saga of Warcraft, with interesting new changes.

Each race gets a new hero added to the ranks, as well as several new units. These new units enhance the races with great new abilities. Aside from these new units, there are also new items to be found in the game, as well as a few joke items that refer to other Blizzard classics, like Diablo II. New Creeps are also roaming around the game, waiting to be killed by your heroes!

The story continues, and this time it is explained from different perspectives. In fact, the Alliance campaign and the Dark Elf campaigns are like playing 2 more completely new races, which you will understand once you start playing. There are also a few hidden features, such as secret levels and other easter eggs that you will have to look hard to find. Blizzard definitely put alot of time into making a quality product. There is even a bonus downloadable Orc campaign. There are only 2 new cinematics, but most of the story is explained through good in-game cutscenes, with some excellent voice acting.

Orc fans will be sorely disappointed, as they are flat-out ignored in this expansion. The Orcs have absolutely no influence or bearing on the story at all, nor are they ever mentioned once in any campaign. The bonus campaign 'The Founding of Durotar', which details their settling and adjustment into their new lands in Kalimdor, is only one chapter with many, many sub-missions. Blizzard promises that they will release more chapters to the campaign for download in coming weeks, though it is not clear how many chapters there will be, or how long the wait will be between chapters. Although the downloadable campaign is a nice feature, it is still very disappointing that the Orcs are blatantly left out of this game's primary story. The orcs have always been the most popular and more interesting of the races. To leave them out of the expansion is foolish, and was a bad move on the part of the development team. The tradition of Warcraft is truly done away with...the war of Orcs and Humans is now over and done with.

As is usual with most Blizzard expansions, the difficulty in this game is substantially greater than that of its predecessor. While not hopelessly difficult, there are some missions that are so frustrating and difficult that even long-standing Warcraft Veterans may find some of the missions too infuriating and outrageously hard to complete. I personally despised the Undead campaign...to say it was infuriating is a severe understatement. But persistence and patience will prevail in the end. As for custom games, they remain unthinkably difficult and should only be played by hardcore and expert Warcraft veterans.

I see many who are disappointed in this expansion, and though the exclusion of the Orcs was very disappointing, I see no other reason why. People seem to expect an entirely new game, but this is an EXPANSION to an existing game...if it were to add 20 new units and a new race and new this and new that, it would be too much. The purpose of an expansion is to provide more of an existing gameplay experience, while adding a few new things that enhance it overall. Frozen Throne does that quite well, and i'm very satisfied with it. Another great game from Blizzard.