Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC) Review

Warcraft III was one of the few real-time strategies that had a campaign worth investing lots of time in, as its magnificent presentation, well fleshed out characters, and great writing, managed to elevate what was a simple mortals-versus-demon invaders tale much higher than expected. Thankfully, The Frozen Throne is not a minor continuation of that storyline, as it's similarly epic, long, and enjoyable as the original one.

Taking time after the defeat of the demonic Burning Legion, it follows three separate plot threads: the reconstruction of the night elf kingdom and the pursuit of Illidan Stormrage, Illidan's attempts to destroy the ruler of the undead, the trapped in ice, Lich King, and the struggle of Arthas, the Lich King's first Death Knight, of saving his lord, thus ensuring the survival of the Undead scourge.

The expansion's campaign is almost as good as the one in Reign of Chaos - almost. While it might seem silly to judge a generic fantasy world so seriously, the characters and the dialogue sequences they take part into sometimes feel more… forced than before - more… soap opera-ish. It's indeed a minor nit-pick that most won't care but it should better be addressed.

Of course, the biggest additions revolve more around the gameplay elements of the title. Starting with the campaign, the vast majority of its levels try to offer something far better than simple base-building, with missions that include escorting supplies, handling two teams at once, capture-the-flag-like quests, and many more. Like with the original, of course, the vast majority of the levels will introduce the new units and mechanics that The Frozen Throne brings forth.

There are no new races added, but we have new heroes, new units, new structures, and so on, and they all make things a little bit more - pleasantly - complex, although the new heroes are an inch less balanced from the Reign of Chaos ones. By the way, if you hated the micromanagement required in playing Warcraft III, get ready for even more of that, as the new units are far more specialized than the "simple" ones, with the magic-fiddling Blood Elves of the Humans.

The, already great level editor has also received a surprisingly good update, enabling the creation of far more complex scenarios, and, for the first time, actual campaigns! In order to show an example of its capabilities, Blizzard has included a bonus chapter (the only one that deals with the Orcs), which actually plays like Diablo, as there are no separate maps to complete, and instead it's all about quests/side-quests and fighting - in all honesty, a pretty boring mini-campaign, but a nice example of what can be done with the editor. In conclusion, a fantastic expansion, despite its few, minor flaws.

…Oh, and spare me with your "cold toilet seat" jokes with regards to the title.