26.5.2016

Four years ago Blizzard launched World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online RPG that abruptly snatched the spotlight from former genre heavyweight, Sony Online's EverQuest, and went on to enjoy a degree of success few could have predicted. With 11 million subscribers worldwide, the cultural impact of Blizzard's creation is difficult to accurately measure. It's spawned its own lexicon, countless Internet memes, appeared as the focus of an episode of South Park, and has dominated industry discussion about online games since its release.Games like this like this aren't one-shot, linear run-throughs or exercises in melding gameplay with abstract artistic themes; they're services.You pay a subscription fee and in return you get stable servers to play on, constant bug fixes, updates to game systems, added content, and customer support lines.It's a much different experience from other media, such as movies or books, particularly when trying to assess some kind of worth. You don't fault a movie for crashing, for instance, you fault the projector. A paragraph in a novel will never glitch out, requiring you to close and reopen the pages to reset it. A massively multiplayer online game has so many more moving pieces and potential complications that having a company like Blizzard working behind the scenes should inspire confidence. It's got the quality assurance staff and support to ensure its products are remarkably polished, perform well, and actually work across a range of desktops and laptops with wildly varying hardware configurations. Also, the fact that there's such a large player base means this virtual world isn't getting shut down anytime soon, a danger with this type of game as most recently demonstrated with NCsoft and Tabula Rasa.Wrath of the Lich King is the second expansion to Blizzard's game, something the player base has already snatched up in great quantities. This kind of release schedule, with an expansion roughly every two years, differs from what Sony Online did with EverQuest, a game that just received its 15th expansion in just about 10 years. What you get with a Blizzard expansion is an incredible amount of content, some of the more prominent features being a new level cap, a new continent, the first added player class since the game's launch, and a general assurance it's all going to work correctly.Simply having plenty of content and stability isn't enough to make the game worthy of your dollar however. You could, for instance, have a magazine subscription where the product is always on time, in good condition, and is full of pictures and text, but in the end it's still just another issue of Sawdust Quarterly. As most gamers out there know already, World of Warcraft is a remarkable product. From the entertaining, strongly defined classes with wildly diverse functionality and generally solid feel and timing of activating skills, to a gigantic, beautiful open world and myriad ways to spend your time leveling up professions, coordinating large-scale attacks against powerful dungeon bosses, or engaging in player versus player battles ensures you'll find something to like.While the previous expansion, The Burning Crusade, offered quite a bit for new WoW players back in January 2007 with two new playable races and accompanying level 1 – 20 starting zones, Wrath of the Lich King is geared more for high level players. The level cap has been bumped up to 80, and the new continent of Northrend isn't accessible until you've got a higher level character, so if you're new you'll need to move through the original release content as well as territory from the first expansion, both of which are required to play Lich King. That being said, Blizzard made the leveling process up to 70 much more rapid through patches released before The Lich King's arrival, so those who activate now won't spend nearly as much time in the original release territory or Outland from The Burning Crusade as those who dove in when the content was still new.With the majority of the player base at or very much on their way to the level 80 cap at this point, any green players won't really experience the full degree of the community and social strengths of the game until later on. Even longtime players will have to retread some old content since the new class, the Death Knight, starts at level 55.Provided you've got a high enough level character you can roll one of these demonic melee fighters as Horde or Alliance and experience right away one of the expansion's major strengths; a stronger narrative cohesion. Unlike the other classes, Death Knights get their very own introductory quest lines that have you working temporarily for Arthas, also known as the Lich King. In all it's about 49 quests that start out with your character battling against the forces of light, killing citizens, infiltrating operations, assaulting strongholds, and flying frost wyrms over battlefields to reign death on those below. Through a few in-game, voiced character interactions alter you'll witness some dramatic events that provide a nice narrative context for the class within Blizzard's alternately self-serious and flippant fictional world.After the introductory sequence you take a bit of a detour though Outland as you'll need to level up to the requirement for entry into Northrend before rejoining the story of Arthas. At least Blizzard didn't make players restart at level 1. While it's difficult to say at this point what kind of role Death Knights will carve out in raiding groups and what kind of PvP strategies will be developed, they're certainly an entertaining class to play. Compared with the other nine alternatives in World of Warcraft, Death Knights have a distinct rhythm to their play styles, a result of two unique resource systems used to pull off moves. Death Knights start off fights by consuming different types of runes to activate skills, all of which have an accompanying cooldown sequence. Using these skills also builds runic power that makes available other skills, meaning the flow of fights with Death Knights alternates between managing rune cooldowns to trigger abilities and counterbalancing that with those that consume runic power.Talent trees of course strengthen different aspects of the class. Depending on how you've allocated your points you can be more effective at generating and maintaining runic power, make yourself more resilient in battle, dramatically boost your damage output and unlock a number of interesting skills. The Death Knight can, for instance, briefly come back to life as a ghoul after being killed, project a stationary anti-magic zone to dampen incoming magical damage, call down a gargoyle to inflict damage on foes, blow up corpses like Diablo II's Necromancer, and even summon a ghoul companion. Considering the class wears plate armor it's certainly a force to be reckoned with, and is particularly noticeable in PvP because of its death grip ability, which yanks targets from a distance to the death knight. It's been a long wait for a new class to toy around with, and what Blizzard has delivered provides players with a fresh set of distinct, entertaining skills to put to usewhile playing solo and grouped.One criticism that tends to get leveled at MMOs like WoW is that there's no strong central narrative. Something like BioWare's Mass Effect has a powerful story and characters, the endless nature of the MMO and the need for the developer to keep players engaged so they'll keep that subscription active means there can't really be a true termination, even if there are climactic events, though games like Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online try to address that. That being said, Blizzard has built in much more narrative across the zones of Northrend, anchored by frequent appearances by Arthas, which makes the leveling process a more interesting endeavor.Like in the Death Knight opening sequences, players will get plenty of opportunity to interact with the Scourge's heavily armored leader. He tends to show up all over the place, after seemingly mundane quests in the Howling Fjord to the finale of a dungeon run through Drak'Tharon Keep on the borders of Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak. He'll spout sinister lines with a Dr. Claw-like cadence and whether you take him seriously or smirk at his overwrought malevolence, you can't help but pay attention when he raises his sword, Frostmourne, to single out a victim or emphasize a point. One of the more involved questlines in a zone called Dragonblight fleshes out more of Arthas' history, his transformation from noble prince to embodiment of evil, and culminates in a lengthy cut-scene surrounding the Wrath Gate (Black Gate?) that gives players a better sense of what's going on in the world at large, and with a follow-up questline that spans the old world and provides a nice connection between the new and existing content.What's perhaps more effective for narrative delivery is how Blizzard's implemented localized changes in the game world depending on your actions. This can be as subtle as a bed of flowers popping up around an NPC after you turn in a quest, to more large scale alternations. After the Wrath Gate event, for instance, the landscape in front of the entrance is encircled by fire and screaming citizens run every which way and it stays that way afterward. In the Death Knight opening scenario, you'll travel back and forth between the land and a floating necropolis, and between each journey to and fro there'll be no load times yet the landscape below will shift from idyllic human town to a roaring battlefield over which frost wyrms soar. These types of transitions, though sometimes subtle, really work to enhance the notion that you're affecting the game world in a meaningful way. Coupled with the in-game cut scenes and you've got a World of Warcraft with far more narrative direction that has been previously seen.Yet you've still got to drop in the caveat that it's a good story…for an MMO. It's something that those ensconced in Azeroth will absolutely adore, but won't win over those who put the game to the side years ago or those who never took any interest in the genre in the first place.Another step forward for Blizzard is their overall zone design. Northrend not only looks far more appealing than any of the old world content but also contains a wider variety of quests. It's an important development as many tend to complain about how getting quests to kill X number of mobs, pick Y bits of random crap off the ground, or collect Z collectibles off of corpses can make you want to tear your hair out, and rightfully so. Those types of quests are boring, and in Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard has not only strengthened storytelling, but it's greatly improved the quest structures.You'll still spend time killing and collecting but quest chains are mixed up with vehicle missions, like running dragon battle daily quests at Wyrmrest Temple where you blast fireballs at other winged reptiles. There's sequences where you swoop around battlefields to snatch up survivors as well as numerous instances where you put on disguises to infiltrate enemy installations and quest for monsters which all work to alleviate the drooling stupor you might fall into after doing the same type of quest for hours on end. Some of these sequences don't work all that well though, like a giant-riding section in Zul'Drak and a defense sequence on a mountainside in Icecrown, but the glitches hardly affect the overall experience.The zone designs contribute to the sense of variety as well through complex geographic layouts like the sprawling canyons of the Howling Fjord to the jungles of Sholazar Basin. The highest level zones of Storm Peaks and Icecrown are even more impressive, as they cater to players with flying mounts. In Icecrown, for instance, a quest hub floats over the zone in the form of a battleship. Not only does it make for an interesting setup as you fly up to receive tasks and can explore the innards of the ship, but builds on the notion that this is an epic conflict and allows for some gorgeous vistas as you fly out over the railing and behold the frozen wastes and Tolkien-esque black barbs of Icecrown Citadel and its snaking gates.Then there's of course the instanced dungeons in which players battle tougher content but are rewarded with better items for their character. From the starting 5-man endeavors into The Nexus and Utgarde Keep to higher level instances like Gundrak, Wrath of the Lich King's basic dungeons are all fairly accessible and brief, meaning there aren't droves of mobs to battle through to get to the loot yielding bosses. We were moving through with pick-up groups in roughly 45 minutes, and that was without anyone having previous knowledge of the layout or boss attack patterns. The more involved raid dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King can be entered in either 10 or 25 man groups, yet again lowering the bar for players who may be intimidated by the more organized, team-oriented styles of play.Beating on AI controlled bosses and leveling your character isn't the only option in World of Warcraft; there's also quite a bit of player versus player combat to be had. On open PvP servers you can slap around anyone of the opposing faction, but Blizzard has gradually added a number of more ordered systems to its game over the years, something expanded upon in Wrath of the Lich King. Wintergrasp, a zone dedicated entirely to PvP, lies buried near Northrend's center. It's an attempt by Blizzard to give more structure to larger scale conflicts, as players can enter the zone and after a timer counts down attempt to assault or defend a fortress. It's not something that's going to elevate the game's open PvP element to the level of Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, but it's still a nice change of pace from leveling or bashing bosses since, in addition to engaging in large-scale team battles, you can commandeer siege equipment armed with rams and destructive projectiles to break apart pieces of the stronghold, adding another element to the PvP gameplay.The culture surrounding this new zone hasn't really matured at this point, though there's certainly potential. Something that's a little more measurable is the Strand of the Ancients battleground arena, a new type of set player limit see-saw battle where teams take sides storming a series of gates with siege equipment. It fits in with the general philosophy of the expansion pack where Blizzard takes what their player base enjoys and adds to it, in this case socketing another cog in the overall PvP machinery.Plenty of smaller scale changes have been implemented on top of this, not the least of which is another new profession, Inscription, that among its many functions allows players to power up existing skills. Other profession systems have been adjusted as well. With Enchanting, one of our main character's professions, it's possible toenchant rings, though only your own. An achievement system has also been built into the game, evidence that Blizzard took a note from systems whirring in something like Microsoft's Xbox 360, where simply by virtue of adding in a goal, let's say kill a number of turkeys within a time limit, the company can keep its player base busy sometimes even without a reward beyond a higher achievement point total.Not to deny the player base a fancy new hangout, Wrath of the Lich King includes a new capital city. Called Dalaran, the metropolis floats over the sparkling forests of Crystalsong on Icecrown's border, and comes with portals to other major cities, access to battlegrounds and Wintergrasp, and even its own instance, the Violet Hold, where groups fend off wave after wave of powerful enemies and bosses.Dalaran, like the rest of the zones, is quite pretty thanks to graphical effects recently added into the game including real-time shadows and more detailed models. Pairing those upgrades with the more interesting zone designs and a return to more realistic settings, a refreshing change after the alien zones in Outland, and you've got a game that still manages to impress with scenes of occasional beauty. And of course you get character animations practically unparalleled in the genre, and a diverse range of spell and ability effects that easily allow players to identify another's class as soon as something's cast. Many of Warcraft's sounds will be familiar to players, but the music and effects are still of the highest quality. While running around Northrend you'll be treated to a score that works to enhance the overall feeling of the zones, and it's always great to listen to the Lich King's spiteful verbal barbs.The VerdictWith Wrath of the Lich King, World of Warcraft's play style has been tweaked to be more accessible, addictive, and deeper. Any longtime player is sure to be pleased with what Blizzard's done here since it gives the higher level population a wealth of new content for play as well as improves the overall look of the world. And let's be honest, if you're going to spend hundreds of hours in a virtual space, it helps if it's pretty. It's an MMO system that works, as the game's success underlines, but you've got to ask yourself after four years how long this kind of momentumcan last. Perhaps within the next two years, or by the time the next World of Warcraft expansion is released, there'll be a clearer answer.As for now, Blizzard is more than content to build on World of Warcraft's formula, improving and refining nearly every aspect of the game, delivering new quest systems, a better and more focused narrative, loads of new goals to chase by yourself or with friends, and made acclimating to its world's complexities a process generally free of the headaches of something like CCP's EVE Online. Those who've yet to jump in should absolutely do so; it's hard to imagine anyone being disappointed with such a well-run, polished product that offers so many reward strata and diverse styles of gameplay.

25.8.2009

I too suffered terrible delivery time from Amazon when I pre-ordered it. I actually went to my nearest Tesco (Open 24/7 ya know) to go buy a copy instead, so I ended up with two copies, but I have a few accounts so it wasn't a big problem.The game is lacking in End-game raiding content and the sense of progression is essentially dead. In The Burning Crusade you were required to get attuned to every single end-game raid almost, at least until they gave in and removed attunements. From The Masters Key to enter Karazhan to the Medallion of Karabor to enter Black Temple. In Wrath of the Lich King the first available content is really lacking, at least until the subsequent patches of 3.1/3.2 and soon to be 3.3.You start off with TWO new bosses(yes,you read it right, TWO) Malygos the lord of magic and a dragon aspect and Sartharion a protector of a new secret Twilight Dragonflight project. The other initial release raid was a recycled level 60(The first World of Warcraft, with no expansions) one, namely Naxxramas. A few changes were made to Naxxramas to make it more casual orientated and accessible for more people. The original Naxxramas was a considerable challenge even at level 70 when the majority of the playerbase completed it due to it not being 'that' accessible at level 60.After a VERY long wait there was some new raid content added in the shape of "Ulduar" - this was a Titan instance rich in lore and other things. The instance was an immediate success and was well worth the wait. The normal modes were quite accessible to even the most casual guilds in 10 player and 25 player modes and the more hardcore playerbase were given a challenge in the form of "Hard Modes" in 10 and 25 player.Then the latest patch (3.2) hit the live servers with this rushed pile of crap raid instance that the majority of guilds waltzed in and killed the bosses in ONE try having never done them before and in most cases not even knowing some description of strategy for defeating them. Hopefully the hard mode versions of these encounters will be a little more challenging than the pathetic normal mode ones.Enough about the raids anyway;The 5 man instances in Wrath of the Lich King were in my opinion not up to scratch compared to The Burning Crusade instances. During tbc you were required to actually think when doing 5 player instances however in Wrath of the Lich King it was a complete rushfest and everything was gathered up and area of affect killed.The actual instances themselves are beautifuly made and have stunning features in them, one good example is Ahn'Kahet the Old Kingdom, the entrance to this instance is a pretty breathtaking one and sets the stage for your encounters with the Nerubian defenders and their allies.Buying this game out of the box you will be required to download a few reasonably large patches, this is a common complaint with the game however more so with people joining in half way through an expansion pack. Once you have the latest patches installed you will only be required to either install small patches regularly or one large one every so often(When they add alot of new content i.e a new raid instance).The quests in Wrath of the Lich King are really really well made and enjoyable most of the time with witty anecdotes to accompany them as you slowly progress through the different zones completing quests and slaughtering creatures.Blizzards new feature "phasing" features a reasonable amount in Wrath of the Lich King with them upping the ante for Cataclysm (The next confirmed expansion pack). Phasing is simply where the environment around you changes due to your interactions with the world around you. For example you complete a quest to capture a place in Icecrown, when you first go there it will be hostile towards you but as you slowly complete the progressive quest line you eventually end up taking it over and it gives you access to a new faction "The Knights of the Ebon Blade(If you played the Death Knight starting quests you'll know more about them) and quests/reputation rewards associated with them.Overall the game is good, but addictive. The people claiming that PvP is broken and all that stuff are just nit picking, PvP isn't really the selling point of the game and it never will be. The majority of the 10 million or so playerbase couldn't really care less about PvP or even the majority of PvE (Player VS Player, Player VS Environment) and are more than happy to engross themselves in more simple things such as roleplaying or fishing, cooking, focusing on their primary professions, working the auction house to make money, exploring new areas, just chatting with friends. Only about 30-40% of the playerbase actually do the end-game content, however it is a massive part of the game with new content being added regularly.The thing that makes the game so successful is that you don't NEED to do anything to enjoy playing it, you can take things at your own pace and not be rushed by anything or anyone. The game does really open up alot more at max level and the lower level zones will seem deserted even on the higher population realms at times. Don't be afraid to start playing though, it's never too late to level up and join in raiding or such things. The major flaw being that the game is ever changing and once you've learnt one thing it may be changed a few weeks later which could possibly be frustrating for newer players.I gave this game 4, not 5 stars because of the community also. Alot of the players especially since Wrath of the Lich King are younger, 14-16 year olds who think they're amazing and type "LIK DIS M8Z I AM KWL I SWER" which is very annoying at times, i'm not even an older player i'm 20 and it annoys even me.

17.11.2008

For the longest time now it seems World of Warcraft has been the definitive MMORPG game on the market, blowing all new comers out of the water before they even have a chance to see their surroundings. I do not subscribe to the misinformed philosophy that Blizzard created all the genre content and other MMO's copied WoW. WoW has always copied other games and ideas, and once again it borrows from other games inventions. What it does do very well is package it right in such a way to make it easy to pick up and play, hard to master and so deep and complex to keep you addicted to playign for the foreseeable future.The Burning Crusade, WoWs first expansions pack promised so much but delivered a game that was flawed and full of holes.I am very pleased to say that Blizzard seem to have learned from their mistakes and have improved on concepts and ideas to make a very fulfilling expansion...so far at least...The biggest plus point is the Deathnight class where no longer does the talent tree you choose determine your role in the game, and despite some misconceptions, any talent tree you choose will do any job you want to do, just in a different way - anyone who thinks or says differently haven't grasped what a Deathknight is all about yet!As expected with such huge numbers buying the expansion at release there were a lot of lag and choppines experienced by some as the masses made for the new continent of Northrend. Likewise there are so many Deathknights running about Outland trying to level it makes you wonder are there any 'normal' classes left in the game?yes there is more of the same. Quests, reputation, honour, grinding, but it has been packaged up in such a way that you don't notice that you are effectively repeating the same quests as the two previous incarnations just with different items and monsters. It is fun once more, with only a minor few choosing to power through the levels only to find out they have missed so much content, no-one else has kept up and they are now left at maximum level with nothign to do but start a new character or sit around and wait for company to join them in a few weeks/months. There is also bound to be new content added month by month, new instances opened and new abilities fine tuned in patches, and talk is of single player instances and achievement point purchases being added sooner rather than later. All very interesting ideas, and should be fun to explore the possibilities!PvP has again become fun. An all new outdoor PvP region of Northrend is open to everyone with specific objectives, seige weapons and general mahem to ensue....I would recommend that anyone who has played before and hasn't got the expansions yet do so, they are very good fun and will expand your love of the game. It still isn't the best PvP game out there but it is better, but for PvE and social fun it can't be beat! It will take time to settle down after everyone was getting carried away with levelling their alt, their Deathknight and their level 70 character all at the same time it gets hard to keep track of who is who...but the game promises to provide good entertainment for a long time to come.

3.9.2016

The best expansion this game has ever offered. The game itself offered an immense world based of the previous games, and this time you were faced with a new enemy which led you to the icy shores of Northrend where your ultimate goal was to gear up enough to face the ancient horrors that were left behind from an ancient time, only to have been awakened by the Lord of the Scourge who seeks to rule the world of Azeroth. Probably one of the most underrated by critics and top ranking WoW players in my opinion, i remember to this day watching videos online in which players from the top guilds would give the game a poor light and constantly say that the game is too easy for them (3% high horse players)

2.12.2008

"Zranta stepped forward, her feet making a satisfying crunching on the sparkling snow covered land. It was a rare occasion to see one of the Forsaken smile, well with Zranta her smile was more of a smirking and wicked grin. One which exposed her rotten teeth and flesh, to some not a pretty sight. The grin not just from the sound and the chilling feeling of the snow beneath her, her grin was more for the things to come. The Lich King, Arthus, to whom Zranta would thank but then bring to his knees in the name of Lady Sylvanas, it was the time for redemption." Epilogue from Corrupted Shadows(Jase Howse 2008), it mirrors the smile i had when i hit the Play button knowing that at last i could move beyond level 70.The lich king is back,

30.10.2009

As a level 75 at the moment, days into the expansion and months into the game as a heavy burning crusade raider I've got a few issues to vent here, This wont be a full review, rather a few things to inform any possible buyers about I wish I'd known before.The thing that depresses me at the moment going through this so far is the gear, while this may seem like a small issue coming from an obsessive it really is a shame; There is a minuscule amount of models and they are all really dull and uniform, you feel like a soldier in a game whereabout you should should feel a hero. By the end of the Outlands you are covered in lighting and spikes, glows and crystals. Even in the non-raid gear there are splashes of colours,

13.11.2009

Wandering through amazon I saw that WLK only has 3 stars.....3 stars ?! Why so low?Then I see theres a lot of venting about about the poor Amazon delivery on release bringing the score down. GJ people - way to promote the GAME you obviously wanted so much. So the 1* ratings can basically be ignored.And then theres a lot of out of date comments that date back to 3.0 with only release content. Well, we're on 3.2.2 now. Yes, initially there was only Naxx as the major raid content. But if you hadnt seen Naxx before it still had something to offer. And it has taken quite a while for the community to come to grips with achievements (in the way Blizz have them in mind).The concept now is for everyone to have the opportunity to see content rather than an elite 5% of gamers.

17.9.2008

Having played the beta from it's opening in July, I have had an oppertunity to see what the developers have been hard at work doing since Blizzcon last year. To my surprise, the results are extroindary. As they have stated on many an occasion, they have taken the good from Burning Crusade and ran with it. The quests and storyline are fresh and rarely feel tedious, the environments are stunning and the music really helps you feel immersed in the experience.Alot of people were dissapointed with Burning Crusade and I can happily say that Wrath of the Lich King has looked back, seen the issues that the previous expansion had and moved in the opposite direction. The Death Knight hero class,

25.11.2008

I have to agree with most reviewers of this expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King returns blizzard to its top form, well designed quest-chains, beautiful scenery and wonderful, haunting music (though I couldn't help feeling the celtic/hebredean folk didn't sit that well with the fact that I was hacking enemies to bits).The new death-knight class is well designed... I was worried that blizzard would be creating an uber-class who could wipe out any other class, but they've been sensible and designed a class who can "play well with others". Also, blizzard have noticed that a lot of people didn't really understand the plot of the last expansion, Burning Crusade,

9.9.2010

I always find that reviews for MMO's can be a bit unhelpful at times due to the changing nature of them due to the updates but I'll try to do my best.I last played WoW a couple of years ago and I'm happy with the changes that have been made. For starters, leveling up doesn't seem to take as much time as it did in Burning Crusade so it feels less of a grind and more like playing a game. There are still the 'Kill X of Y then come back' quests but as you progress, the quest become much more relevant to the story and lore of Warcraft. One definite improvement is the Dungeon Finder which queues you for a dungeon instance whilst you do other things which means no more hanging around in certain areas for a group.

23.1.2010

Pre Ordered from amazon, game arrived few days before wraith went live, perfect :DI've read alot of the reviews here, some positive, some negative so figure i'd drop ma 2 cents worth in.For me there is no better place to be than plodding around the world of warcraft, into my 3rd year now and my love of the game just keeps growing. There are times when blizz gets the balance wrong, there are times when problems need addressing but blizz always seem to sort out the major flaws in the next patch and the game evolves.My advice to anyone who is starting out is play with friends, find people who you enjoy playing the game with and your enjoyment of the game will increase tenfold, community is a big part of wow,

14.12.2010

For new WoW players i would like to show you what i did to get the maximum from the game on all levels. I stayed with the original World Of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade expansion pack and levelled up to 70 whilst exploring all the instances in the burning crusade. There is no point in staying at level 60 for a while to explore the storyline of the "Original Wow" as blizzard have got rid of nearly all of the interesting things in it but i found that much of the content from The Burning crusade remained so I didn't buy Wrath of The Lich King just yet. This was personally a great idea as i explored so much of the burning crusade content at level 70 and got loads of epics.

19.10.2008

Looks very beautiful, but I notice many things pulled straight from GuildWars. It's nice to see that GuildWars may be influencing WoW to some extent.***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***Ok, I'll tell you what I'm talking about.1) In Utgarde Keep, one of the new dungeons, are a race of viking-like giants called the Vrykul. In WoW they are evil and ill-tempered.In the GuildWars espansion released in August 2007, a race of viking giants called the Norn were introduced. These are approximately 9ft tall and they like to hunt and fight. These giants can take the form of a bear, but unlike the Vrykul are only hostile until you give them a good beating.2)

19.3.2010

This expansion is a big improvement on TBC, the areas are much nicer to look at, and on the whole the quests are much more story orientated - a few quests I have come across have their own cinematics and voice acting sequences. These pros make the game slightly less tedious to level up to 80 and show Blizzard put a lot of effort into this expansion.A mechanic that impressed me was phasing - this allows you to see changes in the world that other players cannot if they haven't completed the relevant quests. These can lead up to a dramatic change within the scenario (Such as Dragonblight). However it felt that this system was just being tested in WotLK and hopefully will be implemented a lot more within Cataclysm.Where this game lacks,

13.11.2008

This is a long time coming with the very very long awaited Hero class the Death Knight.I was fortunate to be part of the Beta group on Coldara; this expansion should have come before The Burning Crusade, but even with it coming out a year and a bit later didn't disappoint or discourage me from getting my hands on a copy.The vistas of Northerend are a master piece, the detail and storylines fit well within the 'lore' of the game and even if you have not played the preceding titles in the Warcraft series you can get a full update on installation as to what brought World of Warcraft to this point.The only negative is that the Death Knight 'lore'

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Add-On) (PC/Mac) - Reviews

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