World of Warcraft Review
Posted on May 31, 2006 by This game simply cannot be summed up into one short article review. Remember that as you read the rest of this review. There is just simply too much content to cover; I'll only be covering the most important topics.I used to be a huge fan of the Warcraft series. I played through all three games (and expansion packs) and loved every minute of it. So when I heard the news that Blizzard was launching a Warcraft MMORPG? I went nuts. It was my dream come true!
I didn't actually get the game untill over a year after it was released, though. Some of my friends had finally got it and I bought it too, immersing myself into a fantastic world. This world had everything Warcraft - the races, the settings, the skills, the characters. It was great.
Four Horde members sit tall on their mounts.
Before I get into the details, let me say this - WoW is truly an MMORPG. With millions of players, it feels like this really is a world of its own. But be warned - you'll only appreciate this game fully if you have a lot of time to dispense on it. As much as Blizzard denies that, and having played it myself, I know that much to be true. But if you can give up plenty of time, you will be glad you spent it on this game.
First I'll start with the graphics. Everything is, in every sense, massive. Once you load up the game, you don't load up any other areas (except for a few certain areas, but that's a different story). You could, if you so desired, run from one side of a continent to another without be hassled by loading zones. If you did that, though, it could take several hours to get there. It's like a real continent. It's amazing how there is to do! Everything you see in the backdrops of areas are explorable. Everything. Mountains, streams, and forests. It's all there for you to tackle. And with two continents and a large island to go to, the explorable areas are almost endless. And just in case your computer can't handle it, you can always turn the detail down.
The character models are also incredibly well done. Each character looks different from another. And with a heaping helping of different details, the world is full of diverse characters, even inside the races. And, each race has different emotes to watch and hear and have fun.
The audio is also truly amazing. It is a fully orchestrated soundtrack that changes depending on your environment or actions. When you're in battle, the music changes to more intense music. It helps to give a very immersing feeling to the game. All of the characters have voice commands, too. From shouting "I need a heal," "I'm out of mana," or "Mooo," if you happen to be a Tauren, each phrase is different depending on your race and gender, providing an even more authentic feel to the game.
Tauren-to-cow lovin'.
Everything controls very naturally, too. All the skills that you set are assigned to a number, so you don't actually even have to move your mouse while playing. Just use the W, A, S, and D keys to move, the number buttons to cast spells, and tab to select enemies, and you're set. And if you don't like that way, the game allows you to reset certain leters on the keyboard to certain actions.
Obviously the game has an enormous lifespan. I know people who have been playing the game for no less than 3 hours a day for the last 3 months and are only level 40 or so out of 60. It's amazing how much you can do in this game. Say you get tired of grinding (which, unfortunately, happens all too often). You can just go to a town, into a Battleground, and start duking it out with players of the opposing faction in a well-designed Capture the Flag scenario.
There really aren't many complaints here. The Blizzard team responds very well to problems. Rude players are dealt with. Cheating is fought very heavily, as is gold farming. The only complaint I have - the classes are unbalanced. But if you really, really, want to get into that right now, which I'm not going to do, go here, to the WoW forums. Feel free to open up the class' forums and read their complaints all you like.
A beautiful Night Elf scene.
While I don't play it anymore due to lack of money, Blizzard really got this game right. This game is the standard to which all MMORPGs need to live up to. I'd be willing to say this is the best MMORPG out on the market for die-hard players. While it isn't for casual players, there are some things to do for those who only have 15-30 minutes. And Blizzard is constantly fixing, thanks to the ability to patch the game via downloads. So congratulations, Blizzard, on a job well done.
| Audio | 9.5 | |
| Controls | 10 | |
| Gameplay | 10 | |
| Graphics | 9.5 | |
| Lastability | 10 | |
| Overall | 9.8 |
Also my mind casts back to the news story of the girl who died, death stemming from lack of nutrition and sleep, due to the amount of time she played WoW. And her online 'friends' held a faux funeral in her honour on the WoW.
To me, it seems like all too much hype and way too much attention for a game to recieve. But i must also accept that there is a part of me that wants to witness it for a while, just to see what its all about!
Remember people, its only a game!
If you want to play this game, or any Warcraft game, try and ignore what other players do or say, and pretend it's singleplayer.