Beta Preview (Version 900)
July 03, 2002 is the day that Blizzard released the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos to much fanfare and critical acclaim. It was an instant classic, not only receiving a massive amount of preorders before even reaching shelves, but also continuing its insane number of retail sales post release. Blizzard has always been able to make a damn good PC game, and Warcraft III has only continued the trend with a unique graphical style and strategy not seen since Blizzard's own Starcraft.
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is the retail expansion to Warcraft III. Unlike most other developers, Blizzard puts a lot of time and energy into their expansion packs, rather than just putting something out there 2 months after its announcement and slapping a $30 price tag on it. They never fail expectations and always improve the original game tenfold, so much so that the number of expansion players and base Starcraft players on Battle.Net are roughly 10:1. So, you already know that The Frozen Throne will be good, but what exactly does it encompass?
The Frozen Throne's beta testing began only a couple of days ago as of the writing of this review. Blizzard graciously provided me with a cd-key for beta testing, and I immediately started my download of the beta installer without a second thought. Ten minutes later I was logged into Battle.Net, Blizzard's free multiplayer gaming service, sitting in the lobby with some of the other gamers who had been lucky enough to receive a key other than me. I watched the chat scroll with "OMG!! I'm in the beta!!!!!!11" and "Whoa this is so awesome!" and realized I wasn't the only one who felt like it was Christmas. Since then, I have played it, and only it, for about three days now, and I feel like I have a pretty good hold on what's new.
The first thing I noticed, upon starting my first 2 vs. 2 game, were the many changes made to the basic functions of the game. I noticed that the mini-map now has small white circles while point out the creep locations. This is really helpful because, rather than guessing, you can just take a quick glance at the mini-map and find out if you have cleared the goldmine for your future expansion. There are also other small but important changes such as that: tech upgrades can now be queued; some standard units can now carry, but not use, two items with them; text is now displayed at the bottom of the screen when a building is completed; and my favorite, units following another unit will now attack rather than just stand in place and get killed. This is really helpful because large armies can be managed much easier. You can tell units to follow your hero, for example, and if the hero makes contact with the enemy, the units following that hero will actually attack now unlike before.
Speaking of heroes, each race now has an additional hero added to their army totaling four per race. Humans receive the awesome Blood Mage. This guy is even more powerful that the Arch Mage. But, this is mainly due to one factor which is Flame Strike. At its current state, Flame Strike can take out weak melee units with only one cast. It's inevitable that Blizzard will definitely nerf this spell because it's just too amazingly powerful. Sometimes I play Humans just because I can use this spell and wreak so much havoc. The Blood Mage's ultimate, in comparison, is weaker than Flame Strike, a normal spell, and hopefully this will change once a few patches are released.
The Orcs receive the Shadow Hunter. The Shadow Hunter is also a great hero and most orc players will be pleased. It is somewhat of a healer hero. One of its great healing spells is one which you can unleash on a friendly unit, and, like a chain, it spreads to four other units for five total. The Shadow Hunter's ultimate would be impressive if it weren't for one slight error. Big Bad Voodoo instantly puts a shield around all friendly units near The Shadow Hunter except for the hero himself. The only problem is that often this leaves the Shadow Hunter extremely vulnerable and causes him to die within a couple of seconds.
The Undead get the Crypt Lord. He resembles a scarab beetle in appearance with kind of an ancient Egyptian look. The Crypt Lord is great because he can sustain an impressive amount of damage. He has the ability to summon small beetles which can attack for them. Although they are rather weak, they may just be what you need to take out a couple of footmen or archers.
The Night Elves get the extremely overpowered Warden added to their ranks. The Warden is a great unit and currently don't help to balance the races. She has two really amazing spells. One of these is Fan of Knives which sends out groups of knives to nearby units dealing tons of damage. This move is devastating by itself, but this isn't all that the Warden has in her arsenal. She also can use a spell called Blink which enables her to teleport small distances back and forth, in and out of a battle. Not only does it not cost hardly any mana and have a low cool down rate, but at level 3 it has no cool down and no mana cost. I foresee that Blizzard will nerf this one as well as the Blood Mage's Flame Strike.
Another addition that every race receives is, of course, a couple of new units. The Humans receive the overpowered Dragonhawks and acceptable Spellbreakers whom can steal spells. Orcs players get Troll Batriders, new form of Tauren, and an upgrade the enable the Troll Headhunters to change into Troll Berserkers, whom are much more powerful that the original form. The Undead receive a statue unit that replenishes mana, which I can't seem to remember the name of, and the Black Sphinx flying creatures that the statue units can evolve into. The Night Elves can now build the Mountain Giant, a huge creature that somewhat resembles the Pillsbury Doughboy made of rock, and an antimagic flying creature, who again I can't seem to recall the name of.
There are really no new buildings other than the relic shop that all races now have. This shop allows you to buy items for your hero and also other players' heroes. Each race has unique items for sale, so what you will be able to buy for one race will be totally different for another.
This concludes my Frozen Throne preview. There are of course other new content besides what I have mentioned, but I want you all to discover some of that content yourself. The expansion looks to be very promising and we can only hope that Blizzard will fix some of these apparently balance issues. I have already preordered the expansion four months ahead of time just from what I have seen so far, and if you're a Warcraft III player, you might as well too. The Frozen Throne looks to greatly extends the life of one of the best games of last year and one of the best strategy games of all time.
-Sam
Company Line
Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Universal Games, announced today plans for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the expansion set to the fastest selling PC game ever, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Since the game's release in July 2002, Warcraft III has now surpassed 2 million units sold worldwide.
"We are very pleased by the success of Warcraft III," said Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder. "Our plans for the expansion set include increasing the strategic gameplay possibilities and depth of the Warcraft universe by introducing a wide array of new Heroes and units, specifically designed to enhance each race."
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.
The evil Lich King Ner'zhul has been imprisoned inside the Icecrown glacier, deep within the arctic continent of Northrend. Although the former Orc Shaman lacks physical form, his soul lives on, forever seeking a means to escape his icy prison. As the saga continues, it is revealed that both the Night Elf renegade, Illidan, and the traitorous Death Knight, Arthas, seek the Icecrown glacier and the mysterious powers found inside. While it is uncertain as to what is being sought inside the icy tomb, players must traverse uncharted lands and battle treacherous new enemies to uncover the schemes of these nefarious beings, and save all of Azeroth from the forces of darkness.
Key features include:
One new Hero per race, each possessing powerful spells and magical abilities specifically designed to enhance each race
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
3 new tilesets featuring extraordinary new lands to explore, complete with numerous creeps and critters to wage war upon
Player-built shops, unique for each race, equipped with items carefully designed to improve and aid the units of every race
Neutral buildings, which will provide players with numerous new upgrades, items and abilities
Neutral Heroes, available for recruitment by all players, that can supplement and strengthen a player's army with all new spells and abilities
An advanced world editor that allows players to create their own custom campaigns, complete with cut-scenes and voiceovers
Many new multiplayer maps
Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.netŪ including multiple new game types, clan and tournament support
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is currently slated for worldwide release in the summer of 2003, and is expected to retail for approximately $35.00. The game is expected to receive a Teen Rating from the ESRB.
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