Rating: 
Summary: This Doesn't Often Happen in the Movies!!
Review: What I mean is the sequel here outdoes the original game. Blizzards Warcraft III was a long awaited high-end 3D title with some innovation as combining an RPG (Role-Playing Game) questing game with a RTS (Real-Time Strategy) war game. The idea, although not totally original, had never really been done as successfully as they did it. Unfortunately, (although the game was very good) it had a number of things that disappointed fans of the original game, those who had come to expect so much of Blizzard.The Frozen Throne corrects most of those issues, adds some other nice features, and one of the most innovative single player mission series I've ever seen in this genre. I've played most of the DUNE, C&C, Starcraft, and other RTS series for years, and even an RTS addict like myself has to confess to a little boredom with the basic format. The general rule of single player RTS games is you send out gathering units to bring in gold, wood, crystal, gas, oil, or whatever thing gives you the purchasing power to build your base structures. You build a base, upgrade it, get a lot of fighting units, and then go and destroy the enemy bases. I've played at least 3/4 of the missions thus far, and perhaps two could be held to that strategy.
What they did do was craft several scenarios where you had detailed, specific quests, and resources if needed they were uncovered along the way. When bases were used, they were more often than not, already built up and ready to go. New units, heroes and such were generally on the high end of the tech tree. This made it so that was little need for the 101, learning-curve missions, usually provided for new players. The learning method employed, (if you can call it one) is intuition and problem solving. Meaning, in various missions you will have a need to use some of the new powers. For instance, I must have spent the majority of a maze-type mission trying to figure out why I couldn't get to certain power-ups. Then I realized that one of my hero's powers, a "blink", allowed him to teleport a short distance. That power included the ability to go up, or down a height level. When I began using this, I then discovered that there were still some areas I couldn't get to on the map, because they had not been explored. I had no flying units to explore them, so I didn't know how to get there. Finally, I realized that a power contained with an old standard unit, was an owl that could perch in a tree, and view an area. This opened up an area for me to "blink" to, and gain the power-ups desired. The Orc missions are all questing, and almost like a traditional RPG. There was no base building, or any unit construction at all in the Orc missions. You explore areas, find items, and fight monsters. You can go up levels, and become stronger by spending more time fighting monsters. I put my heroes on patrol in one area, and they killed their way back and fourth for over an hour. This allowed me to gain money for weapons, armor, and move up a few levels. The Orc Campaign ends by promising future missions to be posted, (for free download) on Battle.Net, Blizzards online multiplayer server. One better thing is that they made some decent new powers for the heroes. In WC III the original, most of the powers could be found in some form in the original Warcraft and Warcraft II games. They were not always with the same characters but few original spells were incorporated. It seems strange because with four races instead of two, you would expect to get double the types of spells, but it didn't work out that way in practice. Many spells heroes could have had were passive abilities. Others like a heal spell, were incorporated in many forms with different units. The new expansion changes that by adding several new, and fairly original, useful, spells for its characters. On the RPG front many new power-up items were added, with widely varied power levels. I'm not sure how this carries over to the online game, but the right combo of power-ups can make a medium level hero perform like a high level hero. I've seen items that add as many as 15 total attribute points. In the original game you were lucky if you found a plus 3 item for any single attribute. Many items took one of the valuable six slots in your hero's pack and added only one attribute point. They've also added many quick, no-pack, power-ups that are consumed as soon as they are picked up. Like other RPG games, they now have unique, and historical relic items that often add extra-special abilities. In other words it is a great game, and much improves on the original release. Hopefully Blizzard will now look to do for Starcraft, what they did for the world of WC III, but not make us wait 3 years for it to happen.
Rating: 
Summary: Pre-release hype not warrented for substandard expansion set
Review: If one merely purchases the Ice Throne expansion set for the sole purpose of playing the new campaigns you are in for a treat. Same great 3-D'ish graphics and a great, creative campaign storyline as the original product (Warcraft III Reign of Chaos - a prerequisite) make the original a wonderful game. Herein ends the positives for the expansion set. For those who might want more form the expansion set will find it very much lacking. Few new heroes and units do not really make a great additional product. Units per side increased from 90 to 100 but this is still low in my opinion. Hero limit per side is still limited to three. Game play is still noticeably slow on Pentium 4 1.6GHz machines a far cry above their recommendation of 800 MHz. Many gamers were waiting for a better World Editor and a stuck with the same slow and rather uninspired program. Those who want to experiment with game balancing by adjusting unit values are still unable to do so legally. Blizzard Inc. maker of the Warcraft Series has a bad habit of sending a whole horde of lawyers to the doorstep, terrorizing and harassing authors of the software editors and those who host sites with this kind software. In short price paid for enjoyment value is low, and that I think is the most important considering a computer game. Too much hype for a poor product. Pass the brickbats to Blizzard on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: this review is only for very skillful player, not for newbie
Review: Here are the most significant changes in the new expansion:
1. Tier1 melee units and Tier3 melee units are the same armor type: Heavy. So those range units like RifleMan are no longer counter of high tech level melee units like Knight. 2. The Hero will get 100% damage from melee attack (normal type).
and the lowest upkeep is now 50(raise from 40). So melee hero will no longer be the TANK units in front of your army. 3. Because you can buy things from your shop for very low price at beginning of the game (100 points to cure 3 units for ORC).
So you never need the tower to assist you at beginning of the game. That means MF is just a piece of cake even for newbies. 4. The single game is REALLY boring. nobody who likes SLG will spend time playing single game. That is just a joke for kids. 5. AI of the computer in the custom game is very low. The previous one for the original version (War3 ROC) is much better.
In the original version, computer is quite smart to build counter units for your army (cheating)? But in the expansion, I tried 6 times only mass the tier1 units (like Grunt and Thrower).
Easily to defeat computer at any time (no rush or tower stuff).
These things never happen in the original version.
Rating:
Summary: Warcraft III the Frozen Throne Expansion Pack
Review: At first I choked at the price of this product, high for an expansion, higher than many complete games are selling for, however after firing it up and playing a while I quickly realized that this wasn't just an expansion. It's a major overhaul of the game it's self - And a lot of new content to boot! The original title was a major set up from Warcraft II, and the Frozen Throne expansion pushes the title just as much. Obviously there is a new story based on the last title, and awesome new units and heros, but aside from the new content is the way that things work now. For the first time you can queue up upgrades, AND you can also queue up units at the same time (before one upgrade OR up to 7 units). A building Upgrade still takes over the queue, but not such a big deal. Also new to the game are Runes, like healing/mana potions, except that you can't pick them up. Once activated by your hero their effect is immediate. The Tomes also work that way (Strength, Agility etc). I haven't yet been able to play all the new units and heros, but the Night Elf (first campaign) Warden is much better than I thought it would be. My biggest complaint is that there isn't an traditional Orc Campaign. What they have (called the bonus campaign) is a single ongoing scenario that is much more role playing. So far it's fun, but I would still have liked a traditional campaign. Oh, it's also only part 1 of 3, so there is at least one more expansion to come... Pros:
? Much new content
? New interface features
? Great new units/heros
? Interesting Orc Campaign
? Works well on a machine at low end of requirements Cons:
? Price (though still good value IMO)
? No traditional Orc Campaign Conclusion:
This game easily overcomes the few bad points, and is still a good value, though obviously you need the original Warcraft III to play. Highly recommended, and after you install it you won't want to play the original anymore...
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GAME!!!
Review: I got this game the day it came out and I have to say I'm impressed! The story line continues from War3 but there are a lot of differences (some good some bad). The campain gives you control of more than 3 heros sometimes. The campian also lets you control a new race once (naga). There is no orc campain and in the human campaign you control blood elves. I think there should be some minor tweaking for multi-player but I'm sure a Blizzard patch will fix that. *cough* orc bat-rider *cough*
Rating:
Summary: Has Hell Frozen Over Yet?!!!
Review: I got this game the first day it came out(July 1st).It took me 3 days to beat it.But any ways this game is kick!It has a nice storyline,new customized games,new units,and a whole new way to play.The features are listed below -The story line is amazing.Even though there is only 1 cinemax at the beginning and 1 at the end.Some of you orc fans may be disappointed though.The fact is the main story revoles around the Night Elves(1st in camp.),Humans/Blood Elves(2nd),and the Undead last.To make up for that,the orcs are given a bonus campaign in which you are Rexxar(beast master) and Rohkan(shadow hunter) to play as. -There is one other race that you fight 2 times,and you get to be them 2 times,and that race is the Naga.The Naga are a race from the sea that were once the highbourne.You get the hero Lady Vashj who is a serpant type thing,and you get these serpant like people who have a lot of power.They are not a race in the campaign and have less structures and units than anyone else.But, when you get to be them, you'll wish they were a race. -The graphics are a tad bit better,and the neutral creeps are crazy and include things like the faceless ones,dragon spawn,hydra and other wierd things.Also the World Edit is better,if any of you are into that. -You are Illidan twice and he looks so cool.The heros that are new(the warden,blood mage,crypt lord,and shadow hunter) are very thought out and have some really cool abilities.You also get to be these things called Drangi(spt?)who are always invisible until they attack 1 time. -Each race has a type of shop like the ancient of wonders,voodoo lounge,tomb of relics,and the arcane vault in which people can buy stuff from.The cool thing is that all your units have 2 slots in which they can store items in.Also each race has a type of wierdo orb to gives them a lot of power. -there are also a lot of new units.For orcs they're batriders,spirit walkers,and berserker trolls.For Night Elf they're mountain giants,fairie dragons,an avatar(which the warden calls out),and spirits(the avatar creats with cropses).For the humans you have the spell breakers,dragonhawk riders, and the fire phionex(the blood mage calls it out).And for the undead you have the carrion bettles(from the crypt lord),the destroyers,the skeleton mage,and the obsidain staute in which you can either have it heal your troops or replenish mana. -you also get some good upgrades like the orc borrows getting up graded into a better armor,the ablility to have the crypt fiends go under ground for the undead,the ability to replenish more mana and health for the moonwells for the night elves,and the new upgrade for the guard tower into a good assult weapon for the humans. This game is really cool and the Night Elves buildings can now hit you when they're still rooted to the earth.There is tons of betrayl and a lot of the same people for wc3 too(like sylvanns windrunner,Malfurion(furion),tyrande,kel'thuzad,and other people).Overall this is a great game for anyone and I totally reccomend it.(Sorry for the length and I did not mention that it seems like everything costs less).
Rating:
Summary: Warcraft III:Frozen Throne
Review: WoW! What a game. This game is worth every penny you spend on the game. Play Warcraft 3 and you will have to buy the Expanison Pack.
Rating:
Summary: The truth about the few new additions.
Review: Actually, the more I play the more I wanna change my review. I've noticed some good things and bad things. The campaign is as I said nothing special. Seems pathetic compared to ROC. They couldn't even work in the orcs, so they made them a "bonus" campaign, which involves you do some boring tasks, than ends. People say later you download more, but thats just a rumor. Anyways, the problem isnt building. There are 2 types of missions. Get a hero, fight to the exit, while rescuing units of yours who for some reason still have their weapons even when in jail. Theres also get a half built base, upgrade your townhall or tree or whatever, than attack. Most missions are so easy to complete with the starting units you are given. The real problem is the characters. There are no backgrounds to any character or development. Maiev wants revenge over some dead guards so she hunts illidan, that is her ENTIRE story. You never learn anything else about her, except she has some real problems with being nice. Kael hungers for magic, which is stupid. Arthas is boring, wants to get his power back, and help the king of liches. Pretty boring. Then theres the crypt lord, ana'narub. He says "I was sent to aid you from the lich king" and bam thats it. You never learn anything about him. He is so boring. Then once you finish campaigns there is NO ending, and you learn what happens to NONE of the characters except one. Yes you have to wait for a new game because there was no ending really. It never says "Kael decided to eat, so he stopped being hungry". It says nothing about any of those characters. Battle.net seems to be boring. Every game is usually a rush now. They downgraded most unit costs, and now it is incredibly easy to get mass units and attack. Out of the 100 or so ladder games I have played, only a few involved zero rushing. Tournaments are boring, match after match, people love chatting about nothing. Clan support has added the new constant spamming. Every public channel involves tons of newb clans talking about how they "pwn" everyone and are "1337" so we should all join. The new units are boring. Spell breakers got old. Dragonhawks were in ROC just you couldn't build them, the AI could. Wyverns have had their name changed to Wind Riders for some odd reason. Batriders are fun, except noone goes them. I hate having to take down mountain giants, but they aren't too bad, same with those spirit walkers. Some units have been changed. Tanks are now engines and gyros are now flying machines. Boring. I don't know why they changed those units, but anyways. There are some new buildings, like nerubian towers, arcane towers, the 4 new item shops, thats about it for players. Than taverns and market places which are pretty boring. Neutral heroes are alright. Naga sea witch kinda boring, pit lord fun, beast master involves alot of summoning, dark ranger involves some life sucking, and the pandaran is probably the biggest relief. Its better than "vashj". Which reminds me, blizzard needs to get a good name department, cause the names for the new heroes and such are terrible.
Rating:
Summary: Blizzard rocks! (Slightly Spoilery)
Review: I was never a huge fan of RTS games. I tried Diablo and hated it, I just never really got into them. I think it wasn't that the genre wasn't for me, I just hadn't discovered the beauty of Warcraft yet. When I decided to give Warcraft a try, I was hooked. WCIII kept me at my computer for weeks. I played non-stop, I was obsessed!! I've been waiting for Frozen Throne to come out just so I could experience that feeling all over again and Blizzard doesn't disappoint. Along with an extension of the storyline, there's a new race (although they don't have their own campaign), more focus on the Blood Elves, Illidan becomes a more central character -- great storyline. It's a really natural progression in the storyline although it doesn't feel as epochal as the 'Reign of Chaos' storyline, but perhaps Blizzard is saving that for the next WCIII expansion ... ;) There's a few new models, the shop building is cool, the new heroes (including the neutral ones) are cool (two words: Pandaren Brewmaster), and just overall I was really rather impressed. Considering how much time has passed since WCIII Reign of Chaos was released, Blizzard really outdid themselves here. There are a TON of optional side quests, which really expand the game playing experience for me and a lot of secrets that really add more fun, if that's even possible. A few complaints though: -The Orc RPG isn't finished, I am bummed about this, I am dying to find out what happens! I'm willing to be patient and wait for the download though.
-No Naga campaign, I was really hoping for one. They are thrown in almost as a plot device and I really hope Blizzard explores their origins, their reasons for being in Azeroth and they become a more integral part of the story other than a foil for Illidan.
-No Orc campaign for that matter, they're off doing their own thing in the Mini-RPG
-Too few cinematics; I'm a big RPG fan and love Square's FF series and Blizzard does a really great job with their cinematics, but they were sorely lacking in this game. Where in ROC there were several, I believe there's only 2 in Frozen Throne. My complaints about this game aren't important enough or numerous enough to discourage anyone from buying this game. If you loved Reign of Chaos, you will love it. Even if you don't think you will like it, try it. I'm not about to spoil the ending for anyone, but Blizzard is most definitely going to make another WCIII expansion after this one; best cliffhanger since Bobby Ewing showed up in the shower on Dallas.
Rating:
Summary: a different, yet thoroughly enjoyable experience
Review: WCIII takes some elements from its predecessors and adds new levels of strategies, the Hero concept being paramount. Certainly there are many players who were experts at the simple "mass production skills" developed in the earlier Blizzard titles, especially Starcraft, who will find this game less enjoyable as it plays away from their skills. Simple answer to their gripes: learn new skills.
WCIII is more strategy based. This is evident in the fact that units cannot simply be thrown onto enemy defenses until they (the defenses) become overwhelmed. The attacking units need to be controlled at all times for maximum efficiency because 1)there is a low production ceiling and 2) a relatively high cost for high-level units. The game isn't hard to play, but it is difficult to master. The range of playing styles available ensures a different experience from each opponent. Finding an effective strategy that best fits is a challenge. It's not a perfect game, but it is definitely worthwhile.
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