Product Features
- Genre
- Role Playing
- Publisher
- Blizzard
- Release Date
- December 07, 2010
- Available Platforms
- PC
Related Items
World of Warcraft Cataclysm Expansion Pack PC Mac DVD
Please note: Requires World of Warcraft Original to play. Internet Connection Required. Registration to Battle.net required. Additional Online Fees Apply.
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Peter Czechowski January 26, 2011 PC
Activision-Blizzards' World of Warcraft is an MMORPG the most popular in its genre with over 12 million subscribers winning multiple world records on its way. The game is popular for a reason and with many people calling it the nerdiest game on the planet for "social outcasts" the game has proved otherwise with its extensive social mechanisms it incorporates keeping players socialising. The fact that it's 6 years old with aging graphics but still the most subscribed MMO on the planet elevates its supremacy.
The latest instalment Cataclysm, which finally introduces the father of all evil dragons Deathwing to World of Warcraft, (who doesn't want to fight a huge dragon who can eat you in one, right?) After a highly disappointing expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King which concluded the highly anticipated King Arthas storyline, Blizzard must have felt that they needed to repay their customers long standing loyalty with extra effort on cataclysm. With some believing that blizzard couldn't improve the game feature wise anymore, they manage to excel themselves by introducing an underwater kingdom complete with a sea horse mount! The entire island which included three levelling maps is under water which huge sea monsters and giant octopuses! But I won't spoil too much. They've included innovative ideas to the game such as introducing strategy where players can control multiple units to fight incoming armies. They have also introduced two new playable races; the wolf-man like race called the Worgens for the Alliance faction and the Goblins race for the Horde. The have also introduced new playable classes to different races which wasn't available before such as a Human Hunter. Also to coincide with storyline, Deathwing the games Antagonist has destroyed everything that the veteran player remembers about Azeroth (the planet in which the game is based on) this creates the opportunity to experience the game from the beginning with a brand new perspective. All the questing has been well thought out in this expansion pack. I went from 80-85 without feeling like any of the levels were dragging on, as every quest was different, even if the difference was minor it still makes the game feel constantly fresh. What's also great about the questing is the humorous side of it. A lot of the quests introduced in cataclysm are entirely light hearted such as a particular quest where the player is shrunk to ant size and asked to mount a rat to scare a huge rock giant. They serve as a "comic relief" to the games serious storylines as Blizzard has sent out a stern message to the players that it is essentially only a game. The daily questing which are quests which you can redo everyday to gain extra money also change everyday so that the players won't feel like they are doing the same quest continuously. The new end-game gear which you achieve through raiding (which is when you group up with numerous other players for a 10 or 25 man setup to fight bosses together tactically and socially) is well rewarded with new unique looking gear with new visuals to the game and they have also returned the armor and weapons balance. In the previous expansion pack "Epic" items, which were considered very rare and hard to find, became extremely common and useless. But is the change too late? Putting a lot of effort for anything less than an epic now just seems pointless but that's my opinion.
Now for the veterans. In PVP There are two new Battleground maps; Twin Peaks which is another capture the flag map like Warsong Gulch and a zone control map much like Arathi Basin called The Battle of Gilneas. They have also made a major change to the currency system. Now you can get arena points which are now known as conquest points from winning a daily Battleground and also instead of gaining points based on rating, they have introduced a system like honor points where you can keep gathering points until you hit a certain cap (around 1.3k a week). They have also introduce a new outdoor PvP raid zone called Tol Barad which the attackers have to capture all the buildings while the defenders have to defend them for a certain amount of time. If your faction wins there are also unique daily quests for controlling the island and another raid like Wintergrasp.
It's not a game without its flaws however, playing a couple weeks into its launch with all the changes it had made the game was prone to bugs. They had continuous problems when it first launched and had to release a patch immediately. I have heard rumors that they are carrying on the franchise with a new expansion based on the Emerald Dream. Cataclysm was a success but after playing the game for nearly 6 years I'm getting fed up of hitting cap levels and grinding non stop for new gear it gets highly tedious and I'm sure many veteran players would agree they should stop now. I believe they should end the game on a high before it runs out of steam.
I believe the game is a brilliant addition to the long running series nearly as good as the Burning crusade! Lets hope Blizzard surprises the players with more innovative ideas in the upcoming patches and remember boy and girls play in moderation. Thank you for reading
Peter Czechowski
