World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Review – With Age Comes Experience

Editor’s Note: This review is based on the level 90 to 100 experience along with 30 hours at level cap engaging in both PvE and PvP. It does not include impressions of the new arena season or raids, as neither were available at the time of this review.

It’s been nearly 10 years since I began playing World of Warcraft. During the first week playing I knew that I was experiencing something very special, but if you told me that I’d be playing a full decade later I probably would have laughed. Truth is, there’s no video game in history that has aged as well as World of Warcraft. This is a game that has stood triumphant as the most successful of its genre for numerous years.

I’ve enjoyed each World of Warcraft era for its own reasons, but looking in hindsight Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria were mostly forgettable to me; nearly all of my lasting memories were forged during Vanilla, Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King. Given that my least favorite expansions are the most recent, it’s understandable that I’ve begun to question World of Warcraft‘s direction, and if it’s something that’s in an unstoppable decline. Then I played Warlords of Draenor.

Also See: My Epic 10 Year Journey Summarized in 50 Screenshots

Warlords of Draenor isn’t just great, it’s absolutely outstanding. I’ve spent countless hours playing it in beta and for the first week post-launch and have come to the conclusion that, unless something unpredictable goes wrong, this may be regarded as the single most well thought out expansion in World of Warcraft history. Those are big words, and you might be thinking that I’m out of my mind given how early on we are in the expansion, but there are several reasons for me thinking this. I hope that this review helps you understand why I’ve been flabbergasted by Warlords of Draenor.

A Whole New World

Draenor is the featured locale for World of Warcrat: Warlords of Draenor. Previously confined to its place in Warcraft history, it has now been brought to life in a way that not only works, but is deeply interesting. It begins with an escaped Garrosh Hellscream looking to take his goal of crafting an Iron Horde to a new level by traveling back to a time that presents the most ample opportunity. This is a world rich with Orcs, Ogres, and Arakkoa. A place where iconic leaders like Blackhand and Ner’Zhul earned their keep. Although Garrosh is the big name featured at the beginning of the journey, he’s not the endgame—thankfully. That would be his father, Grommash Hellscream, a legendary Orc that is a great threat to Azeroth in his alternate timeline.

The leveling experience from 90 to 100 is by far the best that World of Warcraft has ever seen. Enjoyable quests are in abundance, making the three or so hours needed for each level gain a joy to experience. The quests that are more “grindy” in nature (i.e. “kill 25 of these”) are pushed to the side as bonus quests, which reward a metric ton of experience but are entirely optional. Draenor has a great first impression.

For the first hour or two after stepping through the Dark Portal the game does a tremendous job of introducing key characters of Draenor, including Gul’dan and Kilrogg. A refined in-game cinematic engine makes interaction with these characters much more than just reading dialog; there are full-blown high-action narrative sequences similar to that of the Wrathgate Cinematic that are shown in each zone you progress through. These make Warcraft‘s intriguing story more tangible, and easy to follow. More than anything what this does is equip any player who has even the smallest interest in the game’s story with the knowledge needed to understand and care about what’s going on. Since this is without a doubt one of World of Warcraft‘s more thematically intriguing expansions, that’s a huge factor for the long-term experience.

The leveling experience from 90 to 100 is by far the best that World of Warcraft has ever seen.

The leveling system isn’t perfect, though. There are still quests that can feel unrefined, leading to hiccups in an otherwise consistently fun and rewarding journey to level cap. Additionally, there are several times where it’s easy to find yourself at a dead end, with no quests available in the quest log. In cases like these the reference of friends or online databases are critical to getting back on the path. If worst comes to worst, you can speak to the flight path fellow inside your garrison to send you to the next zone.

While World of Warcraft hasn’t undergone a complete physical transformation, it has never looked or sounded better. Environments are rich and diverse. Frostfire Ridge’s snow-drenched landscape feels cold and inhospitable, while Talador and Nagrand evoke nostalgia from the memorable era of Burning Crusade. The new character models have retained the personality of each race, while also granting them far more fidelity and animation complexity, two things that are critically important for the game’s abundance of in-game cinematics which many times include your character.

But if there’s one area where Warlords of Draenor delivers at an unprecedented scale it’s with its audio. New sound effects have brought the world to life; the shuffle of footsteps are different depending on character race and surface, while enemies sound ferocious. Made better, the soundtrack is simply phenomenal. The score aids in delivering immersion in environments that were told of only in legend. In Talador there’s peace and tranquility, but in Frostfire Ridge you should be prepared for battle at all times. The musical quality is particularly important during main story missions and dungeons where the audio experience syncs with great moments during gameplay to punctuate them. You won’t soon forget what has transpired.

Features for Days

Garrisons are arguably the best feature that has ever been added to World of Warcraft. They create a space that you can call home, offering opportunity to make important decisions that not only affect the gameplay experience, but are presented in such a way that you feel their weight.

No matter what kind of content you enjoy in World of Warcraft, you’re very likely to find interest in obtaining followers to inhabit your Garrison. These followers will live within your garrison and are capable of being sent out on missions. Follower missions are very important to the endgame environment, as they allow you to invest a very small number of resources to deploy units that, if successful, will return with gold, items, and more. These missions aren’t just click and go, though. There’s a lot of strategy involved, as the followers and their opponents each have attributes that can counter one other. In a way, it’s reminiscent of Pet Battles, but at a larger scale and more intimate.

As important as followers and follower missions are, the buildings that you choose to plot in your Garrison are even more important. At Tier 3, which is currently the largest size for Garrisons, you can have two large, two medium, and three small buildings. With several buildings to select from each with their own perks, you’ll want to choose wisely. For example, the Stable allows you to head out into Draenor and tame beasts in hopes that they can become a new mount to ride. Meanwhile, the Trading Post allows you to trade crafting reagents for resources, and can even be upgraded to enable auction house access from your Garrison.

Related: 10 Reasons I love Garrisons in Warlords of Draenor

Speaking of resource, it is a new currency that is very important in Warlords of Draenor. It is used for engaging in Follower Missions, in addition to plotting and upgrading buildings. It is relatively difficult to come by in large quantities, making it a highly sought after currency that is likely to lead to you expending time and effort to obtain it.

Blizzard learned a lot from Mists of Pandaria‘s Timeless Isle, and has integrated its sense of surprise into all of Draenor, one way of which is with treasure scattered around the world that commonly contains the precious Garrison resources you’re after. Additionally, there are rare monsters in every zone, spurring you to combat them in a fierce bout, or team up with other players, in order to acquire loot. These additions have huge implications for the sense of adventure in Draenor. With the inability to use flying mounts in the region, which is a very good thing, this is a place that grounds you in its immersive beauty, and begs you to explore it.

The Endgame Landscape

Dungeons are well tuned, offering a balance between difficulty and feasibility. It’s common to wipe on bosses and trash now, but not nearly to the extent of early Cataclysm. The mixture of well designed enemies and an increased difficulty re-introduce the sense of reward that has become lost during the past few years. It’s now exciting to earn loot, even when it’s only blue. This, combined with the significance of the places you visit, makes the gear treadmill far more interesting than it has been in years. You’ll find yourself looking in the Dungeon Journal to not only brief yourself on the encounters, but also read about some of the interesting enemies you face.

One interesting move by Blizzard was to remove the dungeon quests that have become a mainstay during the past several expansions. Consequently, the reward for completing them while leveling isn’t good; you’re better off grinding your way up unless you’re looking for a change of pace. With the introduction of dice rolls that can transform quest rewards to blues or epics, which is a great addition, as well as the placement of many rares around the world, it’s easy enough to stay up-to-date on gear that dungeons simply aren’t important until level cap. The only way to unlock dungeon quests is to build a Tavern in your Garrison. So, in a way, dungeon quests have been segmented off by Garrisons.

PvP on the other hand is a bit hit and miss right now. There are significant balance issues that have made classes like Druid and Paladin so powerful that many of their players don’t hesitate to engage multiple enemies at once. Additionally, 6.0.2’s drastic removal of skills to combat oversaturation has caused some specs such as the Arms Warrior to feel poorly tuned. Thankfully, the first arena season of the expansion hasn’t begun yet, so rankings haven’t been affected. Patches are sure to affect this, but time is of the essence.

The mixture of well designed enemies and an increased difficulty re-introduce the sense of reward that has become lost during the past few years.

Despite these PvP imbalances, combat between players is more enjoyable on a day-to-day basis than at just about any time during World of Warcraft‘s existence. One major reason for this is how loot is distributed. When playing in battlegrounds, if your team is able to perform well with objectives, you’ll walk away with a strongbox that contains either a significant amount of honor, or a blue PvP item. This system has already done a great job of focusing players on objectives, in addition to equipping players with a set of competitive armor without the need for dozens of hours of investment. Though, an epic set will require some time to obtain, so the gear grind hasn’t been completely eradicated.

In addition to Blizzard removing several stats from the game, such as hit and expertise, resilience has been foregone. In its stead is a system that makes a lot more sense. Basically, PvE gear scales to item level 650 as a minimum, while PvP gear scales to 675 (or at least this is what the tooltip says as I’ve seen it actually jump to 705). This has made it so even a fresh level 100 player can compete, but are slightly outmatched by those who have earned PvP gear. It’s a fantastic system that has made competition less of a headache, while also retaining the sense of progression as PvP gear is earned.

Conclusion

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor challenges the common belief that a game gets worse with age. This is an expansion that has signaled an era of World of Warcraft that feels more consistently rewarding with thoughtful systems in place to make gear acquisition as enjoyable as possible. It’s the first expansion that does Warcraft‘s compelling lore justice, breaking down the barrier between player and world with frequent cutscenes. It’s also the first to offer players precious real estate thanks to the Garrison system.

For new players, the well designed 90 to 100 experience and included level 90 character boost makes this the best time to jump in and see what the reigning MMO king is all about. For veterans like myself, it’s an indication that World of Warcraft isn’t going anywhere. This is an expansion that has an opportunity to become a fan favorite, and given the colossal heights of World of Warcraft‘s legacy, that’s saying a lot.

Jonathan Leack is the Gaming Editor for CraveOnline. You can follow him on Twitter @jleack.

Copy provided by publisher. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is exclusive to PC.