One quest had my warlock enter into a village where I was asked to enter into the realm of shadow to find out some of the goings on. Aside from having to dodge spirits as otherwise I’d get booted out, there’s an entirely scripted scene with the Lich King but some may never even be discovered. Curious and believing this is what I went there for I got just a little too close to his majesty and he more than let me know it. He pulled me close and pinned me to the ground, then had a little chin wag with his spirit wenches before having a good laugh and killing me, yeah, thanks buddy.
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| Death Knights are welcomed home, after a good pelting with vegetables | Blizzard are giving iconic characters more of the spotlight |
Aside from all the extra levelling on offer, the ton of new gear and factions to suck up to, it’s the lore that’s gotten a real upgrade and suddenly it’s a heck of a lot more interesting to read and find out what’s going down in Northrend. This was always an area Blizzard kept in mind but now with what they’re delivering here it makes everything else before look diluted and shallow in comparison.
The Death Knight is the new class and it’s getting the poke and prod from the community as they test the waters with this new addition. Unlike any of the other classes though the Death Knight will accept any race and you begin at level 55, what’s more you’ll be serving the scourge as an undead champion. You’ll be kneeling before the mighty Lich King himself as he has you and other Death Knights wipe out a scarlet crusade stronghold from existence. It’s likely you won’t find a better series of examples of exactly how much Blizzard has honed their skills as an MMO developer than here. It introduces so many new elements and the new found diversity of quests and scripting, like pinching a steed by hopping on and bolting for it, or flying an undead dragon and bombarding the smug crusaders from the skies while they try and shoot you down. The ‘vehicles’ in whatever form they take are somewhat tricky at first to get used to and they tend to come with abilities much like your own characters and pets.
It can be said that Wrath of the Lich King offers much more in the way of a traditional setting for World of Warcraft as it moves forward in the timeline. Burning Crusade was something of an oddity and not just in terms of the weird Outland; fragmented chunks of dirt some holding itself together. The land of Northern is teeming with life, whether that’s peaceful stag-like deer grazing or hawks soaring overhead. There’s even more interaction between the wildlife itself as some animals will clash with one another. One quirky quest has hawking what’ll have you feed a caged hawk and then give it a target to swoop in on. It all ties up nicely as you ‘become’ the hawk and have hit and run eagle eggs on the side of a rather steep cliff face. Your little hawk is no match for the matriarchal eagles though if they catch you pinching their eggs, if that should happen you end up using some abilities to ditch the angered mum before trying again.
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| The beautiful and serene Crystalsong Forest, still deadly mind | Northrend has two areas to begin your journeys (68-72) |
When it comes to world design the teams have Blizzard prove they know what they’re doing, the zones tie in one with another majestically. What’s even better is that if an area gets a little stale for your tastes you can visit another side of Northrend that will offer the same level of enemies but help keep things fresh. This is always a problem for any MMO, if you’re kept questing in the same zone time and time again it’s bound to lose that spark – Stranglethorn Vale is case in point. One of the most serene and majestic of zones is Crystalsong Forest which is home to the floating city of Dalaran. It’s in stark contrast to more expectant woodland and icy plans you’d expect from Northrend and even the accompanying music helps lift the zones impact. Dalaran is Wrath of the Lich King’s equivalent of Shattrah city from the Burning Crusade and it allows you to portal to all the major cities throughout the game, so it’s a great choice to call home.
Achievements are the new hot thing for Warcraft and some even come with goodies as part of the reward for unlocking them. In true Blizzard style they range from the more expectant and mundane of completing ‘X’ number quests, to tongue-in-cheek gems like giving /love to all the critters in Azeroth, and finally for pulling off the near impossible of tasks. Titles are increasing their presence in World of Warcraft and so it’s quite common now to see other players as the ‘Champion of’ such and such, and some are also achievement rewards like after you’ve managed to scour all the lands; ALL the lands, let that thought sink in for a moment.
Aside from the unique ability for Death Knights to imbue their weapons with certain bonuses at their special Ebon Blade hideout, which is actually a floating ex-Scourge base, all characters now have access to Glyphs. These are the result of the new Inscribing profession and are similar to Jewel crafting except it’s not a weapon or piece of armour that’s the target but you yourself as they help boost abilities and talents. There are major and minor glyphs with the full six slots opening up as you ascend the levels and you can remove or overwrite ones you already added, but they will be destroyed in the process. It’s a great way for any character that’s generally unable to either afford the gold or time to get pristine gear with socket able slots. Major glyphs have more of an effect but the minor spaces should never be discredited as every little helps.
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| Some NPCs never change but others have thrilling new quests types | The Death Knight quests are a fantastic ride so hop on quick |
With the opportunity of now reaching level 80 the talent trees for all classes have gotten another revamp. I found the Death Knights abilities to be the most interesting of the bunch as it includes things like Shadow of Death which not only increases your strength and stamina but will also raise you as a ghoul for 45 seconds to keep fighting. Much like the warrior or rogue, the Death Knight builds up its own power bar it calls runic power. These let you fire of some of the better moves that really give an opponent a hard time for it. I did begin to wonder though if the new class was just a bit too powerful especially when you can be accompanied by a pet ghoul, if you invest the talent points, and cut a swath of destruction with little down time. Every class once in a while falls out of favour with the community en masse and it’ll be interesting to see when the new cool kid on the block gets his turn.
Wrath of the Lich King is nothing short of proof that Blizzard still knows how to keep things fresh and still has the thinking power to serve up the creative, and the crazy. The more ‘ordinary’ Northrend surpasses the great works the team poured into the fantastical Outland zones. It’s still early days though with the Lich King but I’m certain that this is a great step in World of Warcraft’s future, don’t miss out on it.
Top Game Moment:
WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WRATH OF THE LICH KING VERDICT
Wrath of the Lich King is nothing short of proof that Blizzard still knows how to keep things fresh and still has the thinking power to serve up the creative, and the crazy. The more ‘ordinary’ Northrend surpasses the great works the team poured into the fantastical Outland zones. It’s still early days though with the Lich King but I’m certain that this is a great step in World of Warcraft’s future, don’t miss out on it.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Working for the new badass boss in town, the Lich King himself, before expectedly getting betrayed and given the cold shoulder. No pun intended.
