World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)

It's not about hitting level 80; it's the journey getting there.
11/26/2008 8:10 PM | 4 Comments | Page 3 of 4

My progress? Four zones fully explored; my fishing, cooking and mining skills increased respectably; and about three-fourths of the way through level 70.

I got my first taste of the new instances in the Howling Fjord. Calling upon members of my guild (thanks, Mail Enhancement), we stormed into Utgarde Keep, a huge Norse-style dungeon that would have made Erik the Red and Leif Ericson proud. The instance was quick and not that difficult, as many of us were still in our Epic gear from farming level 70 instances in The Burning Crusade. But it showed how Blizzard has tried to tune the instances for a more casual approach. The strategies for bosses are less intricate, and can probably be accomplished easily by new level 70s in non-Epic gear with minimal difficulty. (Of course, what made this zone for me was the quest that allowed me to ride "surf-style" on a harpoon back to my base -- definitely out of the ordinary.)

Being an anal achievement whore, I didn't leave Howling Fjord until I had hit level 72, become friendly with some walrus folk, and completed all the quests. OK, I missed one quest -- where you have to fly an airplane and pick up sacks on the ground -- which was either buggy, or I was incredibly inept. I'll go with buggy. It was my first look at the new mechanic that allows players to utilize "vehicles": In other zones, players can ride mammoths, hop on the backs of giants, or ride dragons; each "vehicle" has its own unique attacks and abilities. In PvP, players can use tanks or gun emplacements. These provide a novel layer of involvement that breaks up the level grinding.

Later, I found that a few guildies had made their way into Dalaran, the new neutral city of the expansion. Normally, you can't get into the city until you hit level 74, but if your group leader enters you in a battleground from the city, you are teleported to the city once you leave the battleground -- a quirky little trick that allowed me to enter and explore Dalaran at level 73. Among Dalaran's offerings are silly little achievements that can keep you busy for hours (yes, I maxed out my fishing trying to gather all the coins in the fountain).

Perhaps my favorite zone has been Dragonblight. It's here that you begin to get a feel for the epic nature of the storylines involved, and the sheer size of the buildings and creatures -- which make you, a supposed hero, feel incredibly small in comparison. (Storm Peaks and Icecrown -- where the story begins to focus on the Lich King and the war to defeat him -- are also tremendous in size and scope, with creatures about 10 times your size and buildings and mountains so huge it takes a while just to fly over them.) The sub-stories and plots here also become more compelling, and if you care anything about the history and mythos of Azeroth, you are driven to complete them. It's hard to go into detail without spoilers, but some of the quests make you a more integral part of the story without seeming cheesy.