WarCraft III/WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne - T
Common Sense Note
Although the ESRB rates the games as T (teen) games, they truly split the line between a game for teens and a more mature audience. Considering the amount of violence, the dark nature of the games, and even concerns with language and sexual content, these games would be better suited to an older audience.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jeremy Gieske
Players take the role of one of four major civilizations in the games: orcs, humans, night elves, or the undead. Each civilization has its own history, but they are intertwined with the rest. Each civilization also has its own specialties--from different military units to different upgrades. In general, the game is very similar to other Real-Time-Strategy (RTS) games. One major difference of WarCraft III to other RTS games is heroes. Heroes add a role-playing element into the rest of the game. Heroes can "build-up" experience and then have special skills/spells that they can use to either help their own forces or defeat the enemy. Heroes can also pick up or buy items in the game that can be stored in their inventory. These items typically add to the abilities of the hero.
Cinematic segments are a major part of the games. They help to carry the storyline across the missions and explain what is going on. From a technical point of view, they are very well done. From a content point of view, they are pervasively sinister, violent, and contain mature themes such as demons/demonic possession, deception, murder, and revenge. For example, the opening cinematic for WarCraft III shows an orc and a human battling in a field until fiery meteors rain down from the sky. The next scene reveals a demonic beast screaming in rage at the human and orc. The final scene shows a severed and bloodied human hand, still twitching, as it floats in a pool of water.
Several other, albeit more hidden elements, add other concerns for younger players. For example, clicking multiple times on a character or creature will cause them to say additional and sometimes not-so-innocent comments (characters), or blow-up in an explosion of guts and blood (creatures). Also hidden in the gameplay are a couple of explicit words.
Although the ESRB rates the games as T (teen) games, they truly split the line between a game for teens and a more mature audience. Considering the amount of violence, the dark nature of the games, and even concerns with language and sexual content, these games would be better suited to an older audience. Although these games are popular, parents would be wise to look at other games before getting either of these for their kids.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentSome sexual innuendo. For example, when clicked on multiple times, different characters will say things like, "I said a bow string not a G . . . never mind". |
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ViolenceBlood, guts, murder, explosions. Pervasively sinister and violent images, including demons. |
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LanguageHidden in the gameplay are a couple of explicit words. |
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Social BehaviorSome edgy humor at times -- characters sometimes say things such as "I'm sooo wasted, I'm sooo wasted" in a drunken "party girl" tone of voice. |
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Educational ValueNone. |
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