World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

"A continent full of grandeur, but gameplay that leans dangerously close to catering primarily for the lowest common denominator."

When the Burning Crusade was released on January 16 2007, it was met with applause globally. It was considered to be a major step towards immortality, and at first, Blizzard looked like it had developed the second chapter in an impending masterpiece. However, as the 22 month reign of the Burning Crusade went on, Blizzard made changes to the game, which were questionable at best. Instance simplifying, the Introduction of Welfare PvP equipment that ruined the balance of the raiding scene, The introduction of the Isle of Quel Danas, which contained numerous daily quests and had a disastrous impact on the economy, and confirmed that wow had simply gone one step too far in the soulless grinding direction. And soulless is the perfect word to describe the last 4 months of the Burning Crusade, tired and uninspired.

However, Blizzard had the opportunity to make a fresh start with Wrath of the Lich king, and so far, Blizzard have taken that opportunity with wide arms. Right from the moment the boat from menethil harbor sailed into the Howling Fjord, I knew that Blizzard were back to their best form. The thing that stands out the most is the amount of effort put into the landscape and atmosphere. In Northrend, you feel like a small part of a greater plot, Azeroth and the Outland had you questing for the sake of it. There is a genuine feel that you are in the land of the Lich King, his presence is widely felt. He even appears towards the ends of quite a few epic quest lines, which were few and far between in previous adventures.

Blizzard have also got it right in regards to the environments. With the exception of the desolate Borean Tundra, every Zone in the game is stunning in looks and atmosphere. From the Viking theme of the Fjord, to the Canadian wilderness inspired Grizzly Hills, or the evil Lich King's veins ever so present in Icecrown, its all here. Blizzard have done a mighty fine job with a 2004 graphics engine. It is a crowning achievement that after 4 years, you rarely question the seemingly out-dated graphics, and that is achieve by Blizzards tendency towards cartoonish graphics rather than realism. The Orchestrated music, as it has been from the start is A+ quality. As a side, just take a moment to listen to the epic title music before adventuring into Northrend. I haven't heard such musical pleasure in a game before, never.

However while Blizzard have got the feel of Northrend nailed down to a tee, you get the feeling that Blizzard is heading in a new direction with Wotlk, seemingly preferring to cater for the 11 million players rather than a few hundred thousand hardcore raiders.. It remains to be seen whether the end game will be yet another master craft for the World of Warcraft, but from my experiences, and the ramblings of various high end guilds, it seems as if Blizzard have toned the difficulty down across the board. Which is a good choice, provided they up the ante for the people who crave a challenge in later content patches. It would be a wise move to give everyone a taste of the end game cake before giving those who desire more an even more delicious cake to feast on.

I hope it doesn't fall away like Burning Crusade did, but WOTLK is looking very promising at this stage, with Blizzard seemingly determined to put together a much more structured experience this time around without the stinker decisions. Besides the difficulty tone down, which I am hoping blizzard will account for in coming weeks, and the occasional inevitable bug, it is really only the queues, which have me waiting up to three hours just to get levelling, which is to be quite frank, unacceptable. Besides the disgruntled 200000 people waiting in line to get another taste of Northrend, Blizzard are back in form, I am hoping it stays that way.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/08

Game Release: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (AU, 11/14/08)