World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)

The best MMO gets better.
2/7/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

In 2004 Blizzard released World of Warcraft, the company's first foray into massively-multiplayer online gaming. Most expected the game to be good, but nobody could have predicted the game's enormous success. With millions of subscribers around the world, World of Warcraft rapidly became the gold standard for online role-playing games. Now, three years later, Blizzard unleashes their first expansion -- an add-on that introduces two new races, raises the character level cap, and opens the portal to a huge new continent. This brief list doesn't come close to describing the avalanche of new content that comes with the expansion. If volume were all it took to deem an add-on worthy, this huge series of additions to an already big game would be an immediate home run. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade's biggest boon is the way it doesn't just build onto but improves upon an already awesome game.

The starting areas for the new Draenei and Blood Elf races are great illustrations of the kinds of positive tweaks players will find in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. These lovely, sprawling and dramatic areas contrast sharply with the game's original newbie zones. Not only do these areas feel more artfully executed, but they're also crammed with quest lines and story that easily trump most of the game's older content. These are the best first 20 levels in massively-multiplayer gaming and well worth creating alternate characters to experience. Sunstrider Isle puts players in a massive Blood Elf city that is under siege by the scourge. Those who follow the story may detect subtle parallels to American politics woven into the plot. The Draenei's Azuremyst Isle, on the other hand, isn't the least bit shy about trumpeting its themes. This space-born race, recently crash-landed in Azeroth, proves the perfect delivery system for a string of playful Star Wars references. The story, quests and the actual physical journey that players experience when leveling are so good that it's a bit of a bummer when you disembark the ship from the new zones to the old content. The only real downside of these two new starting areas is that they make players wish there were new quests and areas to span the huge gap between levels 20 and 60.

The biggest chunk of new real estate in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is Outland -- a slice of rock literally floating in space. Stepping through the Dark Portal offers an amazing first impression of adventure to come. Players find themselves in a truly alien place. Moons, planets and eerie glowing trails hang in the sky. The pitted landscape is populated by dozens of fascinating, new monsters. Again it's easy to tell that Blizzard has learned a lot in the years since it launched the game. New zones aren't just made larger to accommodate players with speedy mounts -- they're also designed vertically for the flying mounts that adventurers score when they hit level 70. And just like the two new starting areas these newly discovered lands also feel more organic and dramatic. The towering stone spires that jut from the ground in the Blade's Edge Mountains create a sense of impending doom. Giant mushrooms blooming from the bubbling Zangarmarsh swamps dwarf even the burliest Tauren. From end to end Outland is crammed with breathtaking sights.