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Warcraft III Expansion Released, Reviewed
Vladimir Niksic writes "According to the official Blizzard site, Frozen Throne, the long-awaited expansion to Warcraft III is out. The review at GameSpy marks it 'another quality expansion that plays like a full game.'" There's also a review at ActionTrip which praises the new features which "enhance every facet of gameplay, great storytelling, [and] varied mission types", but notes the $35 price as "..a bit steep for an expansion pack."
I prefer the low unit cap. It makes keeping your units alive a higher priority. You have to think how to create/group units. In starcraft you could simpley make 70 zerglings fully upgraded for damage and take out just about any town, then when they are all dead make a dozen or so slower units for clean up while the other player is trying to rebuild his town.
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
The upkeep and the unit limitation are and will continue to be one of the strong points of Warcraft III. It's the best way I've found to penalize the mass early zerging, and give a tangible benefit to those who economize.
There are dozens of RTSes out there that don't have upkeep or unit limits built in. Good old Total Annihilation/TA: Kingdoms. C&C Generals. SW:GB lets you set the limit up to 250 (though prepare to get swarmed by the computer, even on easy). Or you could try to adapt your strategy to a new situation. A challenge other than just trying to build the most units before the other guy.
...the main two things that prevented the game from degenerating into a "build up a horde of zerglings and rush" scene, much like every other RTS? The same two things that encourage an active strategy and decision-making?
Upkeep is an excellent realistic step. For those who don't get out much, no nation has ever raised an army by paying its soldiers an initial fee, and nothing else for the rest of their career. I don't imagine Orcs are much different.
The 90-unit limitation is partially there to put a maximum load on the graphics engine, and partially to "strongly encourage" more active play, i.e., you can't just camp in your base building up a 500-member horde before finally setting foot outside.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
but notes the $35 price as "..a bit steep for an expansion pack."
I don't know, considering the amount of content they have introduced into this expansion pack, I don't see the price as being too steep at all, IMHO.
I love Blizzard today, and always do. I could care less about whether Blizzard is open or closed source, because I buy their software to do one thing: play it. I don't pay a continual subscription fee (or license renewal fee) to do so; Battle.net is free to use.
Fact of the matter is, I have thoroughly enjoyed every game that Blizzard has created. I can't say that about *any* other developer out there, though some come close. Blizzard's games aren't for everyone, but the one thing they do know is their audience, and every game is polished very heavily for that target group.
Don't get me wrong, I love many other games of all genres; there's very little I don't like (one of the benefits of being easily amused, I suppose). But I have always been able to count on picking up a Blizzard game from the shelf confident that I'd take it home and have a game that installs without compatibility issues and is fun to play.
As for the closed source whining? I doubt anyone is going to use the game engine of Starcraft to run a hospital's server, or use the Diablo II engine as the basis for an open source OS, or something of that matter. And those folks who were working on Freecraft? Hey, maybe they could have done something a little less blatantly obvious and would never have been bothered. ("hey, I know, let's make an open-source RPG that achieves a lot of what Bioware's games do!" "I know, let's call it 'Faldur's Gate!' No one can complain about that, it's not even remotely indicative of a rip-off from the original product!")
Sorry if this seems a bit of a flame; I don't intend it to be that harsh. I just grow weary of everything being either open-source or evil. It's like the hyper-environmentalists who chain themselves to every piece of driftwood because a new beach area is opening up or something. I believe in fighting for a cause, but I also believe in picking battles that really matter.
Mmmmm.... Pigeons. Sometimes, they come with notes attached...it's like...a fortune cookie with wings.