by Brian - December 16, 2004

World of Warcraft is finally upon us. After four plus years in development, and almost a year of beta testing, we finally have the game in our hands. Few game companies these days can boast a track record as good as Blizzard�s, and with the release of World of Warcraft, they have once again outdone themselves by creating the best Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) ever. Period.

Most Befitting Acronym Ever

Wow. Let me start by saying I have never been a huge fan of the Warcraft series, but this game hooked me from the second I logged in and started playing. The best part is that the amazing first impression of the game hasn�t worn off yet, and I�ve got over 100 hours played time as of this writing for the retail version (more if you count open beta).

The first thing you will do upon logging in and picking a server is create your first character. As with all Warcraft games, there are two sides, Horde and Alliance. The race you pick determines your faction, and there are four for each side. On the Alliance you can be Human, Night Elf, Gnome, or a Dwarf, and the Horde has Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and the Undead. Each race has unique abilities not available to other races, and this should be taken into account when choosing your class and professions. For example, Gnomes gain a 15 point skill bonus to engineering, Dwarves gain a 5 point bonus to the gun skill which makes them excellent Hunters, Trolls are able to regenerate health faster than any other race, and Undead can breath underwater four times longer than anyone else. Of course, just because you choose to be a Gnome doesn�t mean you have to be an engineer, or a Dwarf has to use guns. You can really do whatever you want with whatever race you choose, with a few exceptions. Not every race can be every class. For example, because the Tauren and Night Elves are very in tune with nature, neither are able to use arcane magic, and thus cannot be Mages or Warlocks.

Also, each faction has one unique class that only their side can use. The Alliance has the Paladin, and the Horde has the Shaman. The Paladin is like a mix between a Warrior and a Priest. He can deal good damage, has lots of armor, and is able to buff and heal his party members. The Shaman is the jack of all trades, master of none class. Shaman are able to use melee attacks, magic, and healing fairly well, but are outclassed in each by the classes that were made for each, namely the Warrior, Mage, and Priest. They also use totems to give buffs to their party or harm enemies, and have less armor than the Paladin. Warriors, Mages, and Priests are pretty much standard for any MMORPG, and they fill their classic roles. The other classes include Rogues, Warlocks, Druids, and Hunters. Rogues use stealth and quickness to gain the upper-hand in battle. They are also the only class able to pick locks. Warlocks use powerful demonic magic to harm foes, and are able to summon pets for help in combat. Druids are great healers and are able to morph into different animals for different situations. Hunters are the ranged weapon class. Similar to Rangers in other games, they excel in bows and guns. They are also able to tame animals as pets and set traps.

After creating your character you will begin doing quests in your homeland. Each race starts in a different area with the exception of Troll and Orcs, and Gnomes and Dwarves who share a homeland. There are literally hundreds of quests available in the game for each side, and what sets them apart from a lot of games of this type is that they are actually interesting and fun to do. Most of all though, they are rewarding. Depending on how difficult the quest is for your level, you will get a good amount of experience for completing them, as well as money, items, or both. They also give you a sense of purpose. They make you feel that by doing these quests, you are helping your faction in the overall scheme of things rather than simply doing them to advance in levels. Another great thing about this game is that every class is able to solo most quests if they aren�t able to or don�t want to find a party to play with.

Another interesting feature in WoW are the instanced dungeons. When you enter one of these dungeons (and there are a lot of them), a fresh instance of the dungeon is created for you and your party. What this means is that only you and your party will be there so you don�t have to worry about getting your kills stolen, being killed by the opposing faction, or waiting for the monsters to re-spawn because another group just finished going through the area. These are often where the most difficult as well as most rewarding quests take place. Quests that take place in instances are marked by the word �Elite� in your quest book, and almost all enemies in instances are elite, which means although they may be a few levels lower than you, they can easily kill you one on one. They also usually have a unique boss at the end of the dungeon that drops exceptional items. Instances can take anywhere from one to eight hours to complete, and that number is only based on the ones I have been through. Luckily, some of the longer ones have sectioned parts you don�t have to do it all in one run if you don�t have the time.

Unlike almost all games in this genre, World of Warcraft�s gameplay does not get repetitive. This is partly because the types of quests are extremely diverse, and also because the world is so big that even if you get bored with a quest, exploring the massive world of Azeroth can be just as exciting as becoming a hero for your faction, if not quite as rewarding. You do get experience for discovering new zones, but not much. It adds up in the end though. There is no �Grind� associated with combat in WoW either, nor is there a lot of downtime between battles like other games. Battles are fast paced, intense, and most of all fun. World of Warcraft definitely benefits from those games that came before it, because Blizzard was able to make the biggest complaints of its predecessors vanish without a trace.

If I were to name one thing that really sets WoW apart from other games, it would be that death isn�t really a big deal in WoW, and that is most definitely a good thing. Games like EverQuest and Shadowbane have huge penalties for death such as massive experience loss, loss of items, or resurrection sickness that leaves you pretty much useless for set amount of time. In WoW, the only penalty for death is a short run to your corpse, and a slight item degradation. That�s it. If you don�t feel like running to your corpse, you can be resurrected at the graveyard by a spirit healer. This does have some downsides, such as item degradation and a ten minute resurrection sickness, but the times when you will need to use the spirit healer are far and few between.

Another of WoW�s innovations is the rest system. MMORPG�s are a real time sink, and Blizzard realized that not everyone who wants to play the game would be able to commit to the game enough for it to be worth their monthly fee, and so they added a system that gives casual players an experience bonus when they haven�t played in a while. If you log out in a town, you will become rested while you are logged off, and the longer you are logged off, the longer your rest state will last when you log back in. During your rested state, you will gain double the amount of experience points for every enemy you kill.

The game also allows you to specialize your character class by the way of talents. Every level past 10, you will gain a talent point. These can be used to give you bonuses to certain skills, and each class has three branches to specialize in. The talent trees work much the same way the skill trees did in Diablo 2. In order to gain access to higher level talents, you will need to have a certain amount of points invested in that branch already. The best part about it is that there really are no useless talents. Each one will appeal to you depending on how you play your character, and if you want to start over on another talent tree, you can reset your points and redistribute them for a price.

Then there are professions. Everyone can have two main professions and all of the secondary ones (cooking, first aid, fishing). Main professions are separated into two types: Gathering and Crafting. Gathering professions such as herbalism and mining allow you to gather the components needed to make crafted items. Some crafting professions include Engineering, Alchemy, Smithing, Leather working, and Tailoring. Although some gathering and crafting professions compliment each other (herbalism / alchemy), you can have any combination you please. Having two gathering professions can be a good way to make money or help out guild members, while having a nice combo can be useful for those who like to be self reliant.

Its so... so beautiful!

Although not the most realistic looking game out there, World of Warcraft sports some of the most awe inspiring visuals I have ever seen in an MMORPG. Warcraft has always had its own aura of style when it comes to graphics, and WoW is no different. The world is so incredibly varied and vast, and yet it somehow manages to come together to form one cohesive realm to adventure in. Part of this likely has to do with the fact that there are virtually no load times, and the few that are in the game take about 5 seconds to load. Just yesterday I discovered the Searing Gorge for the first time, and I was reminded of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings movies. The ground was a charred black, mountains rose thousands of feet into the air, and liquid hot lava seeped through the ground forming magma streams. Another area called Ashenvale is quite the opposite. The trees are massive, barely any sunlight makes its way through the thick cover of leaves and branches. The forest has a purple aura about it that leaves you in awe of its beauty. Then there is the unforgiving, seemingly long forgotten Desolace. This area is the most barren land you will ever see. The entire zone is nothing but grey earth, grey rocks, and grey ruins of ancient cities, and yet somehow it still manages to be beautiful in its own way. I could go on and on about each and every zone, but I�ll leave some of it as a surprise incase you get this game.

Blizzard certainly didn�t skimp on any details either. As you travel the world of Azeroth, you will see birds flying overhead, schools of fish and reefs below the waves, flocks of Gazelles roaming the Barrens, and even a real-time day-night cycle. Speaking of the day-night cycle, the real-time lighting effects are equally breathtaking as the environments. Seeing the moonlight reflect off of the water or a grassy knoll as I pass by is awe inspiring.

That said, the game is not a perfect ten in terms of graphics, no matter how beautiful it is. In some areas, textures are stretched a bit too far and look muddy. Also, some people may not appreciate the art style in the game because its somewhat exaggerated. Those looking for more realistic graphics may want to look at EverQuest II.

I Wish I had Bought the Collectors Edition...

So that I could have the game�s soundtrack. World of Warcraft has one of, if not the best, soundtrack of any game I have ever played. The game features dozens of thematic orchestral pieces that play at exactly the right time and place for them to have their full effect. For example, the Orc capitol of Orgrimmar features hard-hitting percussion that makes you feel as though the entire city is preparing for war. On the flip side, the Night Elve lands of Darnassus features a majestic, soft rhythm. The soundtrack is almost as varied as the environments, and is up there with the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in quality.

Sound effects are equally amazing as well. There is a horde of ambient noise you will hear that really helps the world come alive. Birds chirping, distortion when underwater, and echoing in caves are just a few of the effects you will hear in your travels.

More like World of Warcrack

If there�s one thing Blizzard knows how to do, its how to make games addicting. World of Warcraft is the most addicting game I have ever played, and although I haven�t skipped classes or work because of it (yet), my grades have suffered a little since I got this game. There simply isn�t enough time in the day to play World of Warcraft as much as I�d like to. If I could, I would be playing it 24/7, but unfortunately I am still in the real world where we have to eat and sleep and have responsibilities. If only I was a robot...

There are some problems, but not many.

As good as I have made WoW sound up until now (and it is, believe me) there are some bugs. Not as many as a lot of MMORPG releases, but they are there. The amount of polish in WoW shows that their extensive beta testing paid off, but a few things didn�t get fixed in time for release. Fortunately, none of these issues are anything more than minor annoyances, like when dead creatures sometimes appear to be alive, and some quests that are undoable because of a bugged drop. Overall though, the game gets a huge thumbs up because it has fared better than a lot of MMORPG releases.

You should be playing this game.

If you aren�t, go buy it. Don�t like monthly fees? No game has ever deserved it more than this. Not a fan of Warcraft? Neither was I until I played this game. Seriously, this game is a must have for just about anyone. The only excuse for not playing it is if you don�t have a computer capable of running it, and in that case, get a new computer and play this game.