The night elves also get involved, as they are hunting down the demonic Illidan in an attempt to rein him in before he can do any more damage. The blood elves represent what is left of the high elves after the undead ravaged their ranks in the original Warcraft III. Standing in their way are the humans, whose race is joined by a sect of high elves called the blood elves. The story campaign follows the story of Arthas (leading the undead) and Illidan racing to find the titular Frozen Throne and claim its power.
The necromancer can be upgraded to summon a skeletal mage. Finally, new neutral buildings and five mercenary heroes are going into the game, along with interface tweaks, three new tilesets, and enhanced functionality. Each of the races will be bolstered by a new hero, two new regular units, and the ability to build their own shop from which they can buy basic items as well as items specially designed for that specific race. The other is a custom campaign that includes more RPG-type missions and also serves as a proof-of-concept and tutorial for mapmakers who wish to take advantage of the new campaign editor features that will ship with The Frozen Throne. The development team studied trends in the way people played the different races, identifying various holes in the races' abilities and designing new units and spells to address those needs.Īs a result, Blizzard is including a fair amount of new content in The Frozen Throne, including two separate campaigns, one of which continues the story set forth in the original Warcraft III. Each side has one new hero, like the night elves' hero-hunting warden.Īccording to Roper, development on The Frozen Throne began in earnest just five months ago, although initial research and brainstorming for the expansion pack actually started as soon as Warcraft III was released last summer. With the bar set so high, The Frozen Throne has lofty expectations to meet, and after seeing the game during a recent visit by Blizzard's Bill Roper, it appears as though Blizzard is making every effort to meet the challenge. Brood War managed to not only extend the single-player experience with a campaign as lengthy and engaging as the original, but improve upon multiplayer balance with the new units and abilities for each of the game's three races. Unfortunately for Blizzard, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne will be directly compared to Starcraft: Brood War, the wildly successful expansion pack to Starcraft. Although game expansion packs usually include a couple of new weapons or units, a smattering of maps, and 10 hours or less of new gameplay before calling it a day, Blizzard's follow-up to Warcraft III will not be judged by such an easy standard.