The first expansion for Blizzard's uber-selling online RPG launches. Here's our day one review.
By: Mike SmithWorld of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Midnight LaunchLogged into World of Warcraft lately? Yeah, you and 7,999,999 other people around the world. Very soon, you'll notice Azeroth suddenly filling with female Blood Elf paladins and male Draeni shamans, while all the level 60 characters suddenly discover lots of new and exciting things to do. That is, if you can log in at all. Yup, the Burning Crusade is upon us, and we have the skinny.
First up, Burning Crusade tackles three problems that have faced Warcraft's character range ever since its launch. Specifically, the Horde can't play paladins, the Alliance can't play shamans, and all the Horde races are an ugly bunch (which is, admittedly, aligned with the faction's nature). Now the full set of character classes is open to both Horde and Alliance players, plus, perhaps more importantly for Alliance-skewed PvP servers, the Horde has a race with cute-looking female models.
Meanwhile, the Alliance has a race with ugly blue blobby models. It's tough to get too excited about the Draeni just because of that, although their racial abilities -- a heal, a couple of passive party bonuses, and a bonus to the new trade skill Jewelcrafting -- are decent. The Draeni city, Exodar, is constructed from the wreck of a giant dimension-jumping spacecraft, even. Best of all, their dance animation is inspired by the great Daler Mehndi.
Sure, these pseudo-sci-fi lands of the Draeni are appealing, in a sterile sort of way. We're wondering what a race that can build spaceships is doing poncing about in fields waving swords, but that's another story -- and there's probably some hackneyed Warcraft lore explanation for it all. No, the Blood Elf lands are the place to be, with their second stopping zone, Ghostlands, being the best looking WOW zone so far.
Besides, Blood Elves get to ride on chocobos. Chocobos, man! Sure, the game calls them something else, but we don't care. That's reason enough to play a Blood Elf right there, as if the lithe models and appealing magic-focused racial abilities weren't enough.
Jewelcrafting, the new trade skill added by Burning Crusade, promises to add more customizability to your kit. Experienced jewelcrafters can make rings and necklaces, but most of the appeal comes from their ability to prepare gems for insertion in special "socketed" armor and weapons. Diablo II player will recognize this idea, of course.
Is it worth giving up an existing profession for it? You'll need a lot of materials to level jewelcrafting up, and they'll command high prices in the early days of the expansion as everyone and their dog tries it out. All this supply will also mean you'll have a hard time selling goods you create. It's quite the money sink, but it's certainly worth checking out if you're creating a new character.
So how about the new zones? Your trip to the Outlands will start with a stroll through the imposing Dark Portal and continue with what'll likely be quite some time in Hellfire Peninsula, probably the largest and most complex zone in the game so far. Your journey to level 70 will take in plenty of new zones, new instances, flying mounts -- you know, the usual stuff.
Did we say flying mounts? Yes: gryphons for Alliance characters and wyverns for the Horde, although there are rarer ones for the more uber players. Some Outlands content simply can't be accessed without one, so even without the considerable coolness factor, they're an essential purchase on reaching 70. Sadly, you can't use them outside the Outlands - these zones simply aren't set up for flying, although there's a chance that'll change in future.
Don't be in too much of a hurry to head through the portal, though, especially if you're on a PvP server. Remember how crowded the starting zones were when the game first released? Although Blizzard promise they have new strategies to adjust spawn rates to cope with demand, it remains to be seen how well they'll handle the launch day crowds. If you are on a PvP server, you'll not only have crowds, you'll have gankers to contend with as well. In other words, it's not going to be pretty, even if the servers can take the strain. If they can, it'll be a first for Blizzard.
Those who opt to leave the Outlands for another day and create Blood Elf or Draeni characters aren't guaranteed a smooth ride, either -- those zones will be nearly as crowded, although new characters should leave the 1-10 starting zones faster than the level 60 crowd will vacate Hellfire Peninsula. However you slice it, you're not going to find a low-stress Burning Crusade experience for some time.
But you should buy it anyway. Why? Because we're all ready for more, and there's plenty more here. Burning Crusade is an essential purchase for any serious World of Warcraft player -- but then we knew that, right? Any serious World of Warcraft player has had their Collector's Edition on pre-order for months already, and they've already polished their staffs in anticipation of dressing up for the midnight launch ceremony. (Speaking of, check back later this week for our video coverage of this event!)
Casual players, unless you're hurting for things to do with your level 60s or just can't live without playing a Blood Elf, need not be in so much of a hurry. Skip the queues and the aggro; let the hardcore, poop-in-a-sock crowd have their fun, because the Outlands will still be there when they've all raced through it and are farming whichever new instance has the best loot-to-effort ratio. In fact, casual players -- or, indeed, anyone with a low frustration threshold -- might just as well plan on finding something else to do with the next few weeks.
When it finally smoothes out, Burning Crusade players will have a whole new continent to explore, two compelling new races, a useful new profession, and a pile of other worthwhile changes. Launch issues aside, there's absolutely no reason why any World of Warcraft player should hesitate to pick it up. Consider it essential.
It totally burns when I crusade.
A review of the first World of Warcraft expansion seems like just about the most unnecessary thing in the world. With something around eight million subscribers this most massive massively multiplayer online game accounts for more than half of the current MMO market. So when Blizzard released their first expansion pack this week, it was no surprise that fans of the popular MMO lined up around the block (at midnight no less) to be among the first to explore the new content in The Burning Crusade. You can check out some of our own experiences at the midnight launch event in this week's
We've been doing the very same thing over the last few days, checking out all the new surprises The Burning Crusade has in store. Our initial impressions are, not surprisingly, very positive. As with Sony's recent Echoes of Faydwer expansion, The Burning Crusade offers a nice balance of entry-level and veteran content. Two new races, each with their own distinct starting zones, allow new players (or those who want to start over again) the chance to jump in and get an entirely original and satisfying experience right from day one. Old timers who have been bumping their head against the game's current level cap will find extra room for advancement in terms of 10 new levels, new areas, new equipment and new crafting options.
Today we'll be focusing mainly on the new races and their starting areas. Our final review will be posted next week and will also examine the new high-level areas and abilities.
Though there aren't any new classes here, the new races offer new class options for the existing factions. The Blood Elves allow Hordecore types to try their hands at playing paladins, while the Draenei give Alliance players the option to play as a shaman. The specific abilities of each race also offer interesting character options. The Blood Elves for instance, can steal mana from their enemies and even use it to silence enemy casters. The Draenei offer hit bonuses to nearby friends, making them ideal members of any party. The best of the new abilities though is the Draenei's Gift of the Naaru. This awesome ability acts as a heal-over-time spell, giving the Draenei (or his allies) the chance to stand up to repeated attacks from tougher opponents.
The Blood Elves have a long legacy on the world of Azeroth. After their war with the trolls, the High Elves established their magical city of Silvermoon in the land of Quel'Thalas. After thousands of years of peace, the trolls fought back and the High Elves turned to the humans of Arathor, sharing with them their knowledge magic in return for their help against the trolls. Further years of peace made the elves apathetic and increased their reliance (some would say addiction) to magic. When the Scourge attacked they wiped out most of the elves and the source of their magic.
The city of Silvermoon is one of the most impressive sites in the new expansion. This city is full of magic in every corner, from the floating platforms to the animated brooms that keep the trash off the street. The golds and reds of the city and the autumn palette of the Eversong woods soon gives way to the moody and spectral visuals of the Ghostlands to the south. This whole area is wonderfully atmospheric and really contrasts nicely with the brighter, bloodier visuals of the elven city and forest.
The Draenei are intimately tied in with the history of the Burning Legions. Long ago and far away, a magical race known as the Eredar was approached by the powerful Sargeras. Tempting them with limitless power in exchange for their loyalty, Sargeras had plans to corrupt the Eredar into the demons he would use to destroy worlds. A small faction Eredar were warned by an energy being known as the Naaru, who helped them escape from Sargeras and the rest of the Eredar. Calling themselves Draenei ("exiles"), this small group was pursued throughout the galaxy by Sargeras and his demons.
The Draenei land reflects the sorry state of affairs. Large ship parts and escape pods are scattered across the land. The Draenei city is itself a large section of the ship that managed to land in (mostly) one piece. The crystals that powered the ship have had a corrupting influence on the local creatures and some of the smarter inhabitants of Azeroth, particularly the Sunhawk Elves, have found ways to use these crystals to their own advantage. Draenei quests revolve around establishing the security of their outposts and fighting the corruption that the crystals are spreading throughout the land.
As with the Blood Elves, there are plenty of interesting missions with cool story arcs. Small hubs of quest givers send you further and further into the wild into more and more dangerous areas before finally sending you on to a new hub of quests. Happily, none of the missions or locations seem contrived or "gamey" as they all relate to each other and the overall crisis that the Blood Elves and Draenei find themselves in.
(We haven't the same connection or latency problems that some others have had. Logging in has been remarkably easy across the handful of servers we're testing on but friends of ours have found themselves waiting in queues to get in, even on the "recommended" servers.)
The Blood Elves also benefit from more new monsters. Creepy mana wyrms, lithe lynxes, and colorful dragonhawks all make the Bloodhawk areas feel fresh and new. While there's nothing wrong with the Draenei enemies and NPCs, they'll all be familiar to players who've spent time in the rest of Azeroth. A little more novelty here would make the Draenei a little more attractive to current players. Even so, many of the old enemies have been tweaked a bit to break up the monotony.
The Draenei lands do offer access to the new Elekk mounts, however, even going so far as to let characters ride one during a relatively early quest. These powerful elephant-like mounts are quite intimidating, particularly when decked out in their battle armor. Possessing both horns and tusks, they're not the type of creature you necessarily want to hunt, but adventurous types can try their hand at that in high-level areas.
Tthe content for the two new races is simply superb. Great missions, interesting stories, colorful enemies, and spectacular environments all conspire to create as compelling and satisfying an experience as can be found in all of Azeroth. Gamers who were lukewarm on the whole MMO format or the basic mechanics of the original game won't find anything new to like about this expansion. The new content is sure to please anyone who has even a passing interest in the title.
Beyond the new content for the new races, Burning Crusade offers an improved interface as well. You can more easily find critical information about your characters and see it updated in real time as you swap equipment in and out. The inclusion of loads of significantly useful low-level items now makes it worth paying attention to how you outfit your character. This is as true for casters now as it was for melee types in the core game.
Until then, if you see an elf in a green cape and hotpants, please be kind. It was the only outfit he could afford.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Who cares if it burns? Join the crusade anyway!
While most MMO developers release expansion packs on a fairly regular basis, fans of Blizzard's staggeringly popular World of Warcraft have had to wait for years to finally get a full-featured retail add on. When it was finally released a few weeks ago, it created a tremendous sensation within the WOW community. And it's no wonder why; the expansion adds two new races complete with distinct starting areas, a new trade profession, loads of high-level content and plenty of new dungeons, arenas and other PVP options. Our initial impressions of the expansion were very favorable and, after playing through for another week, we've come away even more impressed with what Blizzard has done.
The new draenei and blood elf races give old players a chance to start over from a fresh perspective and give new players a fantastic introduction to the game. The blood elves are clearly the more popular of the two races, at least on the servers we've played on. The fact that they offer Horde players the first chance to play a physically attractive character certainly has something to do with their popularity, but you can't discount that they're also the only Horde types that can play as paladins.
Unfortunately, there's very little sense of connection between the new areas and the rest of the world. The draenei and blood elf starting lands are simply tacked onto the world with little attempt made to integrate them with their neighbors. We'd rather have seen each area a little less isolated with some meaningful connections to the existing lands of Azeroth. On the plus side, there are a few draenei and blood elf NPCs and quest givers scattered throughout Azeroth, so new players won't feel totally alienated. Still, finding trainers for the newly opened classes in each faction is going to require a little extra work.
Reflecting the lessons Blizzard has learned over the years, the new player experience for the draenei and blood elves is much more polished than for any other race in the game. You can run through the first twenty levels without ever hitting a grind or facing lengthy travel times. Each group of quests in these early areas tells a complete and interesting story that reveals the background and current state of the world. Comparing these concentrated new player zones to those of the existing game reveals a much higher level of polish and presentation
The new jewelcrafting profession lets players create a wide variety of jewelry. Combined with mining, it makes a pretty lucrative and profitable profession. Once players start to discover some of the buff recipes, they're going to be in even greater demand. Taking a cue from Diablo II, jewelcrafting also allows you to cut specific stones to fit into socketed weapons. The new socketed items are only available in Outlands however, so low-level jewelers will have to wait a good long while before they can really make the most of their skills.
Players who have found themselves spinning their wheels at level 60 can now venture to the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands and pass through to the new Outland regions. These seven new zones offer a wide variety of new monsters, quests, dungeons, capture-areas and PVP-oriented gameplay. In fact, there's more than enough here to occupy you on your climb from 60 to 70.
Several quests revolve around capturing specific locations for your faction. While the PVP rewards for fighting for control of these locations are enough to motivate most players, there are some more compelling reasons to participate in the territory battles. In Hellfire, for instance, owning all three citadels at the same time gives all faction members within the zone (and related instances) a damage bonus. Obviously, players have to run the PVP risk to participate. What's particularly interesting about the new system is that it doesn't let stealthed players contribute to the control of a territory, so you'll actually be able to target rival druids and rogues who are trying to take over an installation.
The zones of the Outland are as stunning as they are unique. The scorched terrain of the Hellfire Peninsula gives way to the fantastic mushroom forests of Zangarmarsh. As you journey through the Outland, you'll have the opportunity to see the massive spires of Blade's Edge, the golden-lit scrubland of Nagrand and the bizarrely twisted Netherstorm. Each of these areas is rendered with all the detail and personality that we've come to expect from World of Warcraft and there are stunning vistas around every single corner. The small points of interest are also worth checking out, from the mechanical wonder of Toshley's station to the dread ruins of Auchindoun.
On the technical side, The Burning Crusade has performed very well. There are still some lingering issues with lag and population density depending on when you play but, overall, this has been a very stable expansion right from the start. We've seen a few hiccups here and there and a few queues during login, but nothing to worry too much about.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved