Showing posts with label warcraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label warcraft. Show all posts

World of Warcraft Review

World of Warcraft
Average Reviews:

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This game is, quite simply, the best Fantasy MMORPG I have ever encountered. Having played during the entire 11 day Stress Test, I can honestly say it will probably be around even longer than EverQuest. This work of art has all the magic of EQ, without the many frustrations that finally caused me to give up on EQ (such as extreme grind, a very punitive death penalty, and being forced to group at high levels).
The graphics in WoW are awesome. Some people complain about the "cartoonish" colors, etc. I find these graphics to be very pleasing to the eye, and extremely well detailed and arranged. Guess this just shows that it isn't possible to please everyone, particularly those who go out of their way to find a flaw in other people's creations. To me, it is just right.
I won't elaborate on the basics of the game, such as the 8 races and 9 classes. Others have already covered them. Rather, I will focus on some other areas that are important to older players (I will soon be 60 years old, and no longer have the lightning-fast hand to eye coordination and sharp vision I once enjoyed).
There appeared to be no need for extremely quick reflexes in this game, but instead a player needs to use strategy and planning to avoid getting in over one's head. The wonderful hotkey bar across the entire bottom of the screen was very helpful and well thought out. Kudos to Blizzard for making such a great interface. The screen is not all cluttered up like it is in most games.
The game runs on a 24-hour clock, so it is dark nearly half the time. Blizzard wisely chose to not make the game black as night in most locations. It is possible to play effectively in caves and other usually extremely dark areas, without benefit of an external light. I thought this was a very wise decision and really enjoyed playing in those locations for the first time ever in an MMORPG. Some players complain that it is too bright. I would say to them: Turn down your Gamma control in the game if you like. Many of us do not have your young night-vision, and we are paying customers too. I think that Blizzard got this part just right.
The quest system in this game is better than I have ever seen. I actually liked doing quests, something I haven't previously enjoyed. Also, quests give lots of experience, and since they can usually be done on a casual basis, they don't require the same level of one-track focus that they do in other games I have played.
During this "way too short" Stress Test, I decided to try a variety of different characters and locations, so played the following characters: Night Elf Druid, lvl 12; Tauren Hunter, lvl 13; Human Mage, lvl 8; Human Warlock, lvl 6; Gnome Warlock, lvl 6; Troll Shaman, lvl 6. Unfortunately, I have a full-time job and could only devote about 40 hours a week to the game. The initial leveling rate is quite quick, with it slowing down a lot at about level 12. Just about right, IMO.
The game is bug-free, for the most part. It is way more bug-free than SWG is even today. I would be willing to pay a subscription now, if it would "get me my game back!". There are only two problems I see with this game:
1. Even though the Stress Test ended at 6pm Sunday evening, three days later I am still going through withdrawal and still have no desire to play on my two City of Heroes and three SWG accounts.
2. World of Warcraft is still not out, so my pre-ordered copy hasn't arrived, nor do I know when that will happen. The sooner, the better, IMO. There is no doubt in my mind that this game will be way more popular that EQ2, which I also plan to try. Hopefully WoW will arrive first.
I for one really appreciate these Reviews that Amazon has. I find them very helpful. The only problem I see with them is that there are only FIVE stars in the rating system. This is a shame, for World of Warcraft certainly deserves a TEN.


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World of Warcraft Review

World of Warcraft
Average Reviews:

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This is a very long post, but well worth it if you're seriously considering this game.
Pros:
First and foremost this game is a milestone in the both the MMORPG and online gaming industry. With over 11 million subscribers, it's the largest online game to date, and for good reason.
The graphics, while cartoonish, indulge you in a moving work of art with flowing waterfalls, freezing tundras, and shadow-ridden caves. The world itself is simply huge (though surprisingly easy to navigate), spanning across four continents (one in outer space), and leaves the gamer with an unparalleled sense of citizenship. Once you log into World of Warcraft, you truly plug into a hidden universe.
The music is truly worthy of mention. When you first launch the game, you are met with a symphony of heart-pounding drums, violins, bassoons, or what-have-you. The music/ambience then changes frequently throughout the game depending upon your current location and really adds an element of class to the experiences of stepping into a haunted mine, or riding up to the gates of a citadel.
The gameplay ranges from simple to slightly complicated depending upon your class selection, but always maintains the smooth controls that are oh-so-user-friendly. You can select from 9 different classes at the start (another is available further on in the game), each of which have their own roles to fulfill by either Healing, Tanking (taking the hits for other less-hardy classes), or DPSing (DPS: Damage per second, a term used to explain classes adept at dealing damage). Also with the introduction of "dual-spec," a character is able to switch between two customizable talent builds (determines your main role: healing/tanking/dps, through the selection certain talents) at the drop of a hat.
The most basic gameplay consists of leveling your character from 1 to 80 via the completion of quests, invading of dungeons, and slaying of monsters, all of which grant "experience," and move you closer to the next level. If you grow wary leveling, it is possible to "que" into a battleground from anywhere in the world. There are four different types of battle: capture the flag, protect the resources, defend/attack the keep, and control the territory. You compete against real players controlling real characters on different computers, which is typically referred to as "PVP," or player versus player.
Once you have reached the maximum level, the fun has just begun. You will continue advancing your character by upgrading his or her equipment (or "gear"). Raids, dungeons and "heroics" offer thousands of powerful monsters that, when killed, give weapons and armor that strengthen your character. Dungeons and heroics are typically conquered by five players effectively working together to defeat the obstacles and creatures within. Raids follow a different suit, requiring 10 to 25 skilled players able to communicate and coordinate themselves in order to (hopefully) kill the most difficult monsters in the game.
Another option to the post-leveling stage (or "end game content") is coordinated PVP. Beside the four available battlegrounds, the game contains four "arena" maps offering extremely competitive play in the form of 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5. If you are successful, the rewards are some of the most powerful upgrades in the game.
Guilds, world events, seasonal events, mounts, professions, mini-games, parties, transportation and real-time economies are just a few more of the many other unnamed aspects to this game. Some things are simply best if discovered.
Cons:
In recent times, the game has found difficulties in PVP in terms of equality. Some classes seem to always be more powerful than others, however, the developers of the game promise that they're addressing this situation.
It is fairly expensive if thought of as simply a video game. The game runs at (I believe) $15 a month, or $12.99 if you pay for 6 months at once. By the time you've purchased the original game and the two expansion packs, you're out $100+, which doesn't include subscription fees. The cheapest route to take is to purchase the Battle-chest (the first two games), the second expansion pack (soon to be added to the Battle-chest) and a large chunk of game time.
A key thing to consider in terms of price is that you're buying much more than a game. You're paying for the new content which is released almost every two months, the server maintenance, and in-game customer support. Also, keep in mind, that this game will (probably) entertain you for much longer than a TV or DVD or Console game. Sure, an XBox game is only $59.99, very cheap compared to World of Warcraft, but within a few weeks/months the XBox game will become dull, whereas this game will have already released new content to be conquered.
*This is why I only gave it 4 stars*
The game is addicting. Extremely. Dangerously. No, seriously, if you have any history of alcohol/drug/gambling abuse, you should reconsider, or at least be informed prior to purchasing.
I offer to you this solution: first, download the 10 day free trial. Next, keep a log of the amount of time you spend on the game during these 10 days. It's expected that you will 1-3 hours a day initially, but will quickly fall into the 4+ hours as your trial nears its end. After the 10 day trial, take a look at how much time you've spent on this game. Some might find themselves in "good shape," with only a couple hours of play time. Most will find that they've spent an upwards of 30 hours (or much more) on the game in only 10 days.
Determine for yourself if you truly have that much free time to spend on a video game. If you do, wonderful, then this is the game for you, and I hope you enjoy your experience. If you believe this is too much time to spend on a game, don't fret! Within the account creation process, you will be able to set up "parental controls" for the availability of play. It is in this device that you can limit your playtime to a healthy and sustainable amount.
I hope this was helpful.

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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack Review

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
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I have been playing World of Warcraft since a month after it came out. Not quite consistently, as I've taken a couple of 6 or so month breaks in that duration, but I've been there through all the changes. Having started playing the game again 2 years ago when Burning Crusade came out and being pretty disappointed, I have to say that restarting the game again this time with Lich King has been a much better experience. At first, I only got the expansion because all of my friends and all the old folks from my guild were getting back together. So I figured that even though I wasn't really looking forward to getting into the game again, at least I'd have the fun social aspect of it. But I'm having more fun playing the game with this expansion than I have had since the game started and everything was new.
So does that mean that the game has totally changed and we're playing a whole new WoW? Not exactly. It seems that this is the expectation that a lot of people are having. I'm reading a lot of negative reviews saying that this is more of the same. Well, unfortunately for them, it is. It's the same game, just more of it. There are still plenty of obnoxious people with bad manners and even worse skills in English, still plenty of quests that involve killing mobs and gathering items, still an opposing faction that kills you while you're questing (for me there is anyways) and so on. But in my opinion, the new content in Northrend has much more depth, much more detail and is just plain more fun than anything I experienced with the Burning Crusade Expansion. It really seems that Blizzard took their time in making the quests much more unique and varied as well as many other aspects of the content.
A lot of people jump on WoW to plow through the quests and instances and get to level 80 as soon as possible. Why? There probably won't be another expansion for 2 years, so what's the rush? That's my feeling about that anyways. I find that when I play the game more sparsely, I'm able to appreciate the time that was put into it and also prevent myself from getting burned out. I pay attention to a lot of things in games that other may not care about at all, such as environment and music. The new zones in Northrend look really cool (at least by the standard that WoW looks considering the graphics are outdated in general, but with an MMO that's not really a problem for me.) With the first zone in Northrend, Borean Tundra, I was just impressed by the scope of the place: four flight points, 130 quests, NPC ships raiding NPC towns, undead crawling out of the earth, gnome planes flying all over the place... It was all a little overwhelming. And I didn't find that much annoying repetition as I did the quests there, despite the fact that there are twice as many quests in that zone as there are in the first zone of Outlands. In fact, some of the quests were pretty innovative. And the environment for the second zone I went to, Howling Fjord, was simply amazing to me. The boat ride into the huge cove with the towering canyons, waterfalls, all around was unlike any WoW environment I had seen. Continually as I go into each zone, everything about Northrend just seems bigger and more grand than anywhere else.
Another thing that's impressed me with the expansion is the music. Most of the up-tempo quasi Lord of the Rings style score has been replaced with more mellow and melodic fare. From the first boat ride into Northrend you'll hear a somber but really amazing fiddle tune and much of the music in the many zones matches that tone. It's sometimes a little odd to be in the midst of slaughtering enemies to the sounds of fiddle and pipes in the background, but somehow it all works. A lot of the music throughout the rest of the world has been changed and enhanced for the better as well.
These things aside, everything else about the game seems to be enjoyable. PVP is one of my favorite WoW pass times and there's no shortage of that here. Admittedly, the Wintergrasp PVP zone isn't quite as huge and amazing as I'd hoped, but it's still fun, as is the new battleground. The instances are more attuned for my liking, since I rarely get a time to play video games for more than an hour or two at a time. The new smaller, more easily accessible dungeons are much more fun and like a lot of the quest lines, they're actually pretty fun and unique.
So perhaps it was the fact that I bought it with low expectations, or maybe it's just because Blizzard really put out a good product, but I really like Wrath of the Lich King. If you're looking for the childish and a**hole players to disappear, looking for less questing to do, less... Warcraft, then you're looking for another game. This is still World of Warcraft, but now it's as good or better than it ever was.


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Fans of World of Warcraft, prepare for Blizzard Entertainment's next installment -- World of Warcraft: Wrath of King Lich. In this latest expansion, something is afoot in the cold, harsh northlands. The Lich King Arthas has set in motion events that could lead to the extinction of all life on Azeroth. The necromantic power of the plague and legions of undead armies threaten to sweep across the land. Only the mightiest heroes can oppose the Lich King and end his reign of terror.
Enter the Death Knight This expansion adds a host of content to the already massive existing game world. Players will achieve soaring levels of power, explore Northrend (the vast icy continent of the Lich King), and battle high-level heroes to determine the ultimate fate of Azeroth. As you face the dangers of the frigid, harsh north, prepare to master the dark necromantic powers of the Death Night -- World of Warcraft's first Hero class. No longer servants of the Lich King, the Death Knights begin their new calling as experienced, formidable adversaries. Each is heavily armed, armored, and in possession of a deadly arsenal of forbidden magic.

If you have a World of Warcraft account with a character of at least level 55, you will be able to create a new level-55 Death Knight of any race (if on a PvP realm, the Death Knight must be the same faction as your existing character). And upon entering the new world, your Death Knight will begin to quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way. This expansion allows for only one Death Knight per realm, per account.

New Environments in Northrend Await Journey through the remote, diverse lands of Northrend and explore Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills, Borean Tundra, and Howling Fjord. Named for bones of perished dragons and majestic shrines to the fallen creatures, Dragonblight is an arctic wasteland surrounded by dense forests.

Not everything is frozen in Northrend. The lush mountains of Grizzly Hills are the ancestral home to the furbolgs, who have grown accustomed to relative peace. Although their tranquility is being challenged by trappers, goblins, and ice trolls, Grizzly Hills remains a vast and dangerous wilderness.

The southwestern tip of Northrend is home to the sprawling Borean Tundra. The Horde has established a dominant presence in this icy portion of the continent and has formed a bond with the tuskarr, a walrus-like race of nomadic fisherman. Magical energy is afoot in the region, and it has caused increased tension.

High above the Great Sea at the southeastern tip of Northrend lies the Howling Fjord. Ancient mythology holds that a race of half-giant warriors, the vrykul, once inhabited the land, founding a prosperous civilization. They mysteriously vanished, leaving deserted villages and abandoned temples. In present times, the Alliance and the Horde have come to Howling Fjord to confront the Lich King. Strangely, this has prompted the return of the vrykul, who are attacking the Alliance and Horde settlements. Howling Fjord presents a difficult challenge on two fronts: withstanding the vrykul's onslaught and battling the evil Lich King.

A Multitude of Monsters Strange and terrifying creatures inhabit the frozen continent of Northrend, such as Nerubian Viziniers, Plague Eruptors, Shoveltusks and Flesh Giants, to name just a few. Half-spider, half-humanoid, the viziniers utilize sorcery and high intelligence to emerge as the rulers of Nerubians' underground kingdom. The Plague Eruptors are walking corpses created by the Lich King's evil experiments to spread horror and chaos across the living world.

Massive curved antlers make it easy to identify the Shoveltusks. These grumpy beasts are very dangerous, territorial, and best left alone. The Flesh Giants are nothing short of nightmarish abominations. Cobbled together from the pieces of giant body parts, the Flesh Giants employ tremendous strength to carry out the Lich King's wishes.

The World of Warcraft: Wrath of King Lich expansion pack allows you to engage in epic siege warfare. The pack presents the first Hero class and allows you to transform your Death Knight's look with character customization that even include hairstyles and dances. You'll enjoy exploring the Northrend and all its environments and dungeons, filled with some of the deadliest creatures -- and greatest treasures -- on all of Azeroth.




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