Reviewed by
Greg Kasavin
Review date: 11/29/04
Release date: 11/23/04
Though massively multiplayer online role-playing games have been around for years, it has taken this long for the genre's breakthrough hit to finally emerge. Here is the online role-playing game you should play, no matter who you are. This is because World of Warcraft brings out all the best aspects of this style of gaming, if not many of the best aspects of gaming in general. It also features many of the specific characteristics that have made Blizzard Entertainment's previous games so entertaining, memorable, long-lasting, and successful. Of course, the company's past track record did not guarantee that World of Warcraft could have turned out this well. Such high quality simply cannot be expected, nor should it be missed.
World of Warcraft is amazing in many ways, but above all, it's a really fun game.
In World of Warcraft, you create your alter ego by choosing from a variety of colorful races and powerful classes, and then you begin exploring, questing, and battling in Azeroth, the fantasy setting featured in Blizzard's Warcraft real-time strategy games. Fans of those games (especially Warcraft III and its expansion pack) will spot tons of references here, and they will be impressed at how faithfully World of Warcraft translates so many of Warcraft's little details and even some of the finer points of its gameplay into such a seemingly different style of game. Meanwhile, fans of other online role-playing games will be impressed at the sheer breadth and volume of content on display in World of Warcraft, whose setting seamlessly connects a bunch of wildly different-looking types of places and somehow makes them appear as if they all belong as parts of a whole.
World of Warcraft is superficially similar to numerous other games that came before it, and it clearly draws inspiration from some of them. The fundamentals are all here, such as fighting dangerous creatures (optionally including other players), exploring the countryside either alone or in the company of other players, undertaking various quests, gaining experience levels and new abilities, and acquiring powerful items. However, directly comparing World of Warcraft with any of its predecessors would be almost like pitting a professional sports club against a school team. With all due respect to the other online role-playing games out there, World of Warcraft is in a league of its own. The game clearly benefits from not being the first of its kind, as the design issues that plagued previous online role-playing games are handled extremely well in World of Warcraft. In addition, the game's own subtle innovations turn out to have a dramatic impact on the flow of the action from minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, and beyond. So the particulars of the game's design--along with its incredibly vast, beautiful, majestic world--translate into a one-of-a-kind experience that seems fresh and original in its own right.
Fortunately, the game is very approachable. World of Warcraft is a complex game whose complexity is carefully disguised by a simple, highly legible, uncluttered interface and an impressive 3D graphics engine, which delivers high performance on a wide range of systems while not skimping on pure flash. The game's interface is so slick and easy to learn and understand, and the gameplay itself is so quickly intuitive, that there isn't even a tutorial to wade through; there are just some helpful, optional pop-up tool tips, as well as an excellent printed reference manual that goes into specific detail about most of the various aspects of play. It's also important to point out that World of Warcraft runs fast and smooth. You can go from your desktop to being in-game in just seconds, and it's virtually just one great, big, seamless world. Loading times are as rare as they are brief. They only crop up when traveling across the game's enormous continents or entering some specific higher-level zones that are instanced for each player group, which guarantees you a fresh challenge.
So World of Warcraft is painless to get into--with the possible exception of you needing a credit card or prepaid game card to create an account, as well as initially deciding on which sort of character to play, since so many of the options seem like they could be interesting. And it turns out they are. So why not try them all? The game lets you create multiple characters on the dozens of different available "realms," each of which is a unique instance of the gameworld that is capable of hosting thousands of simultaneous players. Some of the realms cater to role-playing fans that prefer to play in character the whole time, while other realms are custom-tailored for player-versus-player action. Regardless, World of Warcraft's realms are nicely (if not densely) populated already, and the unfortunate issues with login and lag that plagued the game when it first launched were mostly taken care of in a matter of days. The game just has a solid feel to it that's uncharacteristic of the genre, and for an online RPG, World of Warcraft is surprisingly responsive. Actually, no qualifications are necessary: World of Warcraft boasts the tight control and polished presentation that's desirable in any kind of game.
The imaginative world of Azeroth is already teeming with players.
After countless hours spent playing, the great first impression doesn't wear off. This style of gaming is notorious for being a time sink and for effectively forcing players to engage in repetitive, monotonous gameplay for hours on end in order to make progress. But in contrast, World of Warcraft will keep throwing variety at you, and the combat system at the heart of it features fast, visceral, action-packed battles that are fun and intense, whether you're fighting alone or in a group. Furthermore, World of Warcraft finally achieves that long-sought-after goal of many massively multiplayer games, which is to make the player feel rewarded regardless of how much time he or she invests in a single sitting.
This is due to several key reasons. For one, World of Warcraft has a nice, brisk pace to it, and the fast-loading, seamless world obviously has a lot to do with this. But, in addition, recovery times between battles are minimal, as even those characters without healing spells can still easily recover from their wounds by using bandages, eating a quick meal, or just from natural healing. The battles themselves are quick, too, and they scale nicely so that higher-level encounters don't just seem to drag on. Yet the pacing of the combat seems to strike a perfect balance, because it's not so hectic that those unaccustomed to fast-paced action games will feel overwhelmed. You can also look forward to facing some fairly intelligent foes that will do such things as flee when injured, tag-team with their comrades, and use some dastardly special abilities against you.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Amazing game, but is far from the end all...
I've prowled around MMO's for quite some time now, and I was suprised at how quickly I grew ...
I've prowled around MMO's for quite some time now, and I was suprised at how quickly I grew tired of WoW in relation to other games I've played....
Great interface, graphics, and the client runs smooth even on low end computers.
There is a mind numbing 2200+ quests in the game, but most are simple "go kill *x* creature type and return." I was very impressed in the beginning, but then I started to notice that it was just the same "kill, deliver, and escort" over and over.
Crafting system is fun, and most players seem to find it worthwhile if their willing to put in the time. I came from Star Wars Galaxies, and it has an incredibly complex crafting system, so I was not very impressed with crafting in WoW. High level equipment takes weeks, or sometimes months to assemble all the rare materials for one finished product. That was a big yawner in my opinion.
Endgame... I was happy to reach the level cap of 60, and I did a little dance around the room for 20 or so minutes. Then the repetitiveness of 3 high level raid instances came into play. I was handed the endgame, and it entitled running these instances 10 or 20 times looking for one item, and then rolling against others looking for the same item. The lack of a PVP honor system, and the absence of the promised battlegrounds gaveway to little reward at the end of the game.
PVP... Its a good all around system, and the addition of PVP servers should be enough for anyone who plays MMO's for the PVP element. There are blatant 1 vs 1 class imbalances, but there is nothing gamebreaking.
My bias: I quit in favor of a hectic class schedule, and because of the lack of enjoyable things to do ingame. Massively Multiplayer Onlines have become the great escape, but I think its better to choose life.
WoW the end all? Nope, nice try. Close though.
** This is my opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree. Respectfully submitted.
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by Ebonfire (see profile) -
February 26, 2005
10 out of 10 - Perfect Beware of this Game!
I'm a game player, I wouldn't say a fanatic. I played Counter-Strike since it came out and I ...
I'm a game player, I wouldn't say a fanatic. I played Counter-Strike since it came out and I lost my first wife to Counter-Strike. I've since given up on my beloved CS-Source so I can invest more time in this game. Never would I thought that would happen. Now my new wife is playing this game, she's even worst than me. She practically plays 24-7, now I have to cook for myself, wash my own clothes, take care of the baby, basically I'm doing all the house work and she's playing MY game. I'm just waiting to give her the news that you have to pay monthly, it'll be funny because she's a level 32 Rogue in a week. Funny how it took me nearly 3 weeks to get my Paladin to level 37. Can't wait to see the look on her face when she finds out you need to pay monthly to keep on playing. Hopefully she doesn't demand that I keep up with the monthly services too or I'll lose my 2nd wife. Perhaps I should build me another computer and have another game install with another account so she can play along with me? Might be a good idea but all the money I'm spending, can't make a clear decision on this issue.
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by ti6er (see profile) -
April 29, 2005
2 out of 10 - Terrible Blizzard Support is horrible, absolutely HORRIBLE
Heres the story, I began playing WoW about 2-3 months ago and leveled up a character to level 60. I ...
Heres the story, I began playing WoW about 2-3 months ago and leveled up a character to level 60. I come home Friday night, with a just bought copy of burning crusade in my hands so i can level up past 60 only to find my accounts been locked??!?! and for CHEATING?!!?? I had never cheated, and it cited that I was using some sort of Gold exploit, and funny thing is I've been hurting for gold in game, as I needed to buy an epic mount which costs untold amounts of gold. So I try to contact blizzard by phone, the guy tells me he can't help me as its under 'investigations' and he cannot even tell me why it was suspended. (This, I would really need to know, as it seems my system was compromised in some way, and I only use that computer for WoW and WoW alone. Its been almost 72 hours and I still have not received a reply from the 'accountadmins', 72 hours of minutes I PAID FOR. The people I have so far talked to on the phone have been very, VERY arrogant, even when I was nice at first. To say my account is in 'investigations' is a little over kill, plus given the fact I DON'T cheat and the fact they have all the game logs should be like less than a one hour process to remove my suspension and send me an apology.... yet not even a 'we're looking into this, sorry for your inconvenience' email has been sent.
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, OR ANY BLIZZARD GAME UNLESS YOU PLAN ON FLUSHING 2 MONTHS OF HARD WORK DOWN THE DRAIN ONLY TO END UP WITH A SUSPENDED ACCOUNT FOR NO REASON BUT PLAYING BY THE RULES.
THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD WITH A GAME AND HAS BEEN THE WORST, THE WORST!!! CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER RECEIVED FROM ANY!!! COMPANY.
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by agntb83 (see profile) -
June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Absolutely Most FUN game EVER!
By far the game I've played the most. I've played pretty regularly for over 3.5 years - ...
By far the game I've played the most. I've played pretty regularly for over 3.5 years - started in Nov 2004 and still enjoy it in June 2008! I used to play daily, and now probably just 5-10 hours per week. When the 2nd expansion comes out, I'll probably be back to 2-3 hours per day.
I like that Blizzard makes all of their games PC/Mac compatible from the beginning. I also like how it gets updated all the time. After years of PVE adventuring, now I mostly enjoy Player-vs-Player. Blizzard developers apparently have good senses of humor as my brother and I are always discovering funny puns and such in names of quests, monsters, npcs, etc.
My brother and I live on opposite coasts, and it's fun to play a game like this together all the time... even though we're in our 30s, it's like we're still 10 years-old playing with toys! Read more
by Liberalguy (see profile) -
June 20, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular EQ2 has nothing on this game
I bought EQ2 first and I was liking it but the solo playability dries up fast in that game and ...
I bought EQ2 first and I was liking it but the solo playability dries up fast in that game and the people seem very snobby. I played EQLive for 5 years and I have to say I have never had as much fun as I have been having in WoW! So much to do and so engrossing. Nothing is forced on you to do like EQ2. Want to do your own thing and not be stuck doing endless quests for little to no reward? Buy this game.
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by sloglets (see profile) -
March 6, 2005
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
6 out of 10 - Good Great Game! Bad Servers!
Well, when WoW first came out it was loaded with bugs. The game would crash constantly, servers were always being ...
Well, when WoW first came out it was loaded with bugs. The game would crash constantly, servers were always being taken down for repairs, it was a hell of a mess. Now they seem to have a good chunk of the servers fixed, but the lag is still there.
Overall World of Warcraft has the standard feel of what has become the world of MMORPGs. Like City of Heroes, Final Fantasy Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and the MMORPG's that came before those, WoW has the same look and feel even though it's a different setting. While I do agree that the graphics in WoW are extremely beautiful, if you've already surcome to boredom with one of the affore mentioned MMORPG's then this isn't for you.
On the other hand if you have played one of the mentioned games and are an old fan of Warcraft then this game is definately for you! That is, if you don't become angered by lag. Unless you are an extremely well off individual using a T1 connection and a state of the art computer you will notice some stuttering in gameplay when moving through some of the more popular cities, and sometimes even some of the half-empty ones.
My only real issue with the game, besides having to pay every month, is the fact that the server lags. In this day and age there is no reason for it. There are known "private servers" operated by the average "joe" with an average PC running up to 1000 players with little to no lag, which leaves me wondering what is wrong with the billion dollar company hosting this one? Doesn't make much sence to me, unless they're running on the cheapest server they possibly can get away with, thus the rating.
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by Jay R___well (see profile) -
July 12, 2005
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect World Of War Crack
This game is honestly too fun for its own good. Luckily I have RL friends to play it with who ...
This game is honestly too fun for its own good. Luckily I have RL friends to play it with who crack out more than me so I dont feel as bad when I play all the time. If you like computer games or MMORPGS play this NOW!!
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by JediMstr2044 (see profile) -
June 16, 2005
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best game of all times!!!
I have played the warcraft series since the first version. WoW is the best gamer ever, well above any other ...
I have played the warcraft series since the first version. WoW is the best gamer ever, well above any other MMORPG.
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by cassio.grasselli (see profile) -
May 10, 2007
WoW is exceptionally easy to get into. Many older (40+) and female gamers are very active in ...
Firstly, the positive:
WoW is exceptionally easy to get into. Many older (40+) and female gamers are very active in this game, presenting a much wider gamer demographic than the standard one - the standard one of course being predominantly male, and in the mid teens to late thirties age range. This should tell the observer a lot - the ability of this game to attract people who usually would never go near such an evironment is a true credit to its design and accessability. ? Jameson Thottam -
That really is both the game's strength, and its weakness - its accessibility and ease. WoW is not a hard game to get into - you learn your skills, get your items, and develop your character via standard progression. Your skills are described to you in depth on your skill tab, and all descriptions are intuitive enough that even the very young or the very computer illiterate could easily master playing the game.
The effort required to reach level 60 (the end of this game) is also easy and intuitive, if time-consuming. There is very little penalty for death from 'mobs' (you have to repair your items, but there is no skill loss) and no penalty at all from dying to players in PvP. This means that the 'frustration' the game can generate is relatively low compared to more 'hardcore' MMO's, where death can literally mean the loss of the investment of hours, weeks, or months of play time as money, your ship/armour/weapons are destroyed etc. This therefore contributes greatly to its accessability, as less 'hardcore' players do not want to endure the hassle of losing so much of their time/effort. ? Jameson Thottam -
On to the other positives, the game environment itself is stunning. The music, sound effects, graphics, and indeed the world itself are meticulously constructed. Warcraft has always had a very unique atmosphere and 'feel' to it, and it is seemlessly translated into the first-person perspective from the previous RTS (real time strategy) games of the Warcraft series. Ther are chairs to sit in, stairs to climb, 'colour' characters who serve no purpose but to bring the world to life, alcohol to buy - even flower shops. True RP fans will appreciate this depth - even non RP people will appreciate it for its attempts to provide a real 'world', and not just a base environment to quest from. ? Jameson Thottam -
Last amongst the positives, the replay value. I've played the game since Beta - Beta ended nearly three years ago. I have never in my life played a single game for this long - usually I grow tired of games after a month or two. The replay value of this game is what keeps me here. Re-playing the game from the perspective of a different faction (horde versus alliance) or a different class (there are eight) truly does change the experience of the game, leading to different quests, different roles to play within a group, and a whole new way to have to learn how to play. The game 'content' might not change much, but every time I have levelled up a character, I have discovered at least a dozen different quests or locations that I had never known of before on past characters. After three years, and likely close to a dozen characters, this says alot about how deep and replayable the world is. ? Jameson Thottam -
To the negatives... ? Jameson Thottam -
There are very few I feel, but the few that exist are to some people 'game-breaking'. Perhaps the one the game is most often (and perhaps rightly) accused of is that the game "ends" at level 60. This is undeniable in a host of ways; you can no longer gain levels, you can no longer gain 'experience', there are no new world-areas that become accessible, there are no new skills to learn, and there really is no 'point' to continuing to play a character at level 60 unless you want to access a handful of very challenging 'dungeons', or have that desire to get the best gear possible in the game. ? Jameson Thottam -
It would be thus fair to say that the game at level 60, if it doesn't 'end', changes fundamentally. One spends levels 1 - 59 questing, discovering new areas, learning new skills, and feeling a sense of accomplishment when one achieves a new level. At level 60, all that is left is attacking hard dungeons in large groups of people, PvP'ing, or collecting loot. None of these things generally appeal to the more casual gamer, and so the casual gamer is forced to 'roll' a new character, or quit. ? Jameson Thottam -
The concensus is that the 'end game' level 60 experience is thus for hardcore people only. It cannot be denied that the best gear/hardest dungeons can *only* be accessed by large groups of at least twenty people. To coordinate such a large group of people naturally requires a commitment to a schedule for raiding, and the investment of many hours at a time to defeat the very hard dungeons. One does not simply log in and find a random group for the 20 and 40 man instances in this game - you need a seriously organized and skilled 'guild' to access this content. ? Jameson Thottam -
It is unfortunate that a game that is so accessible, "solo-able", and developmental throughout 99% of one's time suddenly and so drastically changes at level 60. It literally becomes a case of joining a massive raiding guild for a miniscule chance at fantastical gear, or making a new character. The last option of course is to quit. ? Jameson Thottam -
It should also be noted that one distinct 'negative', is that all "new" content is soley for the 'end game' party of warcraft. No new lower-level areas or dungeons have been added since the start of the game nearly three years ago. In all honesty, I do not know why. It would appear that Blizzard is solely focussed on providing content to level 60's (or those close to level 60) despite their claim that their game is mostly aimed at the more casual MMO player. This is the one factor that bothers me the most. ? Jameson Thottam -
Well, what a long review! To conclude, if you're a hardcore person - this game is for you. The levelling up process is relatively quick, and if all you care about is bragging about your latest pixelated toy, there are many pixelated toys a-plenty for those who join the harcore raiding guilds and who are willing to put in the hours-on-end to get them. For the casual person, I'd say this game is also for you, despite the fact that at level 60, you might suddenly become very frustrated with the fact that to accomplish anything significant, you suddenly need 19 or 39 other people to help you. The game is intuitive and diverse enough that the level 1 - 59 experience is worth it, and the varied classes and factions means you can always just level a new character again, likely with a very similarly high level of enjoyment. ? Jameson Thottam -
All in all, WoW does its best to please both casual and hardcore gamer alike, and even the people in between those two polar opposites - people like myself. It has enough "hardcore" content to keep power-gamers coming back for more, and enough simple and purely 'fun' content for people who would never even consider playing a computer game to suddenly find themselves playing WoW for hours on end. ? Jameson Thottam -
I find myself starting, only now after nearly three years, to be tiring of the game. It is still fun, but I know everything inside and out! It took me, a person who can play as much as 30 hours per week (university student) nearly 3 years to truly and finally feel "been there, done that" in regards to all of the game content... and even then, I still find the game enjoyable, and have no intention of cancelling my subscription. ? Jameson Thottam -
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Been sucked in....
Being a player of the original Warcraft game back in the late 90's then going on to play Warcraft ...
Being a player of the original Warcraft game back in the late 90's then going on to play Warcraft 2 and 3 getting into the WoW has be a very pleasant surprise! Blizzard has done an awesome job of keeping the story line and Warcraft world alive and kicking in WoW. You get that Tron feeling of actually being in the game you once controlled with Warcraft 1,2 & 3. Once I was a user, now im the player... (Tron reference for you old skool guys) Once you get sucked in there is no turning back with WoW, I started out playing after the LOTR Online beta went from beta 1 to beta 2 and was off for two days I needed somthing to keep me entertained. So I tried the demo, then got a 60 day player card at best buy and now Im addicted..!! WoW is immersive, expansive and just plain HUGE...!!
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by Vdub032 (see profile) -
February 11, 2007
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