Review: World of Warcraft expansion

Long-time fans and those new to the game can enjoy warcraft’s expansion pack.
Photo courtesy of Blizzard

Battle for Azeroth begins

The Horde and Alliance are back at it again, in a war reminiscent of the early days of the World of Warcraft mythos when players were first introduced to its expansive lore back in 1994.

In the 20+ years that the series has been active, there have been many events that have made the aggression between the two factions take a back seat at times in the history of Azeroth, with a demonic invasion being one of the most recent events.

Mix in some skirmishes to prevent the opposing side from getting control of the new material and a giant tree full of innocents being burned, and you have yourself the ingredients for rekindling a war and taking it to new heights.

The introduction of new playable areas, the revamp of the Player vs Player (PvP) or Player vs Environment (PvE) dynamic, an instant character level boost, and new races have made this an expansion that both long-time players and those new to the game can enjoy.

After the initial battles that made up the events before the Battle for Azeroth, both the Horde and Alliance make the obvious choice to bolster their forces and look for more allies. This brings players to the new playable zones of Kul Tiras for Alliance and Zandalar for the Horde, both containing three zones for questing with their own storylines.

The plots are fun and intriguing with the music and scenery making it a worthwhile experience to play the game, as opposed to a painstaking grind to the milestone of reaching level 120. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t for the intriguing stories and aesthetics, the repetitive quests the game is known for would sting a lot more, especially after 14 years of kill this and fetch that.

Fortunately, the new Warmode was introduced, which did away with one of World of Warcraft’s oldest settings and added more opportunities for excitement.

Before Warmode, a player had to make a permanent choice between a PvP or PvE server. Now servers are no longer categorized, and instead, regardless of server choice, players can toggle on Warmode, which makes the game play PvP and grants 10 percent extra experience for non-player kills. This function can also simply be turned off to only interact with those of the player’s faction.

Be wary of Warmode though, players will be hunted. There are also foothold quests, which allow players to travel to the opposing continent, making its quest lines accessible and facilitating encounters with enemy players.

A wonderful perk is the inclusion of another character boost similar to the last two expansions, with in-game trades being leveled up, removing the need to go back and grind for things like crafting.

As far as a first impression goes, Blizzard Entertainment still has the ability to provide customers with a fun game that has more pros than cons.