From Amazon.com
World
of Warcraft didn't invent the online role-playing genre, but it
certainly benefits from the missteps of other titles that have come
before. A mind-boggling array of improvements in graphics, gameplay,
networking, and interface--really every category--makes this game the
crown prince of the genre, a great starting place for newbies, and a
challenge to any other MMORPG currently in the works.
 |
| The game's
beautifully rendered locations are filled with small details, such as
flying birds and flowing water. |
A
History of Conflict
WoW takes place just four
years after the real-time strategy
Warcraft series, which
chronicles a 25 year struggle between the Alliance (humans, dwarves,
gnomes, and elves) and the Horde (orcs, tauren, trolls, and undead).
Even though there's tons of accumulated story to the series, new players
should not be daunted. The background is there for you to explore, but
you don't have to tread a lot of Azeroth history to get into the action.
The
makers boast 2,000 existing quests with more being added, many of them
noncombat in nature.
|
The
game looks magnificent. There's plenty of detail and variety to the
landscapes and interiors, and the artwork has a refreshingly playful
style. There's not a lot of variety in the character creation process,
but with all the skills and proficiencies to combine in the game,
WoW
focuses its customization not on the appearance of your character but
rather on the character of your character. The game lets you adopt any
two trade skills, regardless of character race or class, and combine
those skills in useful ways. If you choose skinning and leatherworking,
for example, you can fashion bags from the carcasses of monsters you
defeat, which will allow you to carry even more inventory items.
Expanded
Commerce
You can sell the items you make, find, and loot
through a variety of outlets. Like any role-playing game,
WoW
has merchants who will buy your cast-off items for fixed prices, but you
can also sell to other players at your own price through in-game chat
or by leaving it with one of the auction houses located across the map.
This virtual free market is a game within the game, like Monopoly
somehow inserted into the middle of Chess. Heck, you can even send items
C.O.D. to other players via the game's mail system.
 |
| The game's
Quest Log keeps track of up to 20 quests at a time. |
In
other online role-playing games, starting players have to invest dozens
of hours whacking at small prey and doing other odd jobs one at a time
to gradually "level up" to more interesting challenges.
WoW
lets players accept a variety of quests--up to 20 at a time without
penalty for abandoning any of them before they're complete. The makers
boast 2,000 existing quests with more being added, many of them
noncombat in nature. Where some games only grant experience through
battle,
WoW grants experience for exploring and fulfilling
quests too.
A Level Playing Field
There's
also a built-in handicap for casual players where your character enters
a rest state when you log off from the game. The longer you're logged
off (up to a week), the bigger the experience bonus you'll get when you
return to battle. An enemy tagging feature--the player who lands the
first attack on an enemy claims the loot for himself or his
party--prevents onlookers from swooping in and pilfering items from a
monster that you brought down. That resolves a common complaint of other
titles.
 |
| Icons and
pop-ups help put complex controls easily within reach. |
Most
games severely penalize players when they die in-game, usually by
shaving experience points, funds, or both. In
WoW, death just
relocates your ghost to the nearest graveyard, and the only penalty is
the time it takes you to get back to resurrect your character's corpse.All
of this makes for a very complicated game, but the well-designed
interface puts all the game's elements into icons either visible framing
the action or within a simple keystroke. The enemy's artificial
intelligence is quite strong too: Monsters will join nearby fights to
aid their comrades, switch targets strategically midbattle, and ambush
players. The map system fills in details on places you've visited, so
you always know where you are and where you've been.
Overall,
World of Warcraft is a game that's easy to learn, challenging
to master, beautiful to watch, and tons of fun to play.
--Porter B.
Hall
| System
Requirements |
|
| Minimum | Recommended |
| Operating System | PC: Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista (with latest
Service Packs)
Mac: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer |
| CPU | PC: Intel Pentium 4
1.3 GHz or AMD Athlong XP 1500+
Mac: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core
Duo processor | PC: Dual-core processor, such as Intel Pentium D
or AmD Athlong 64 X2
Mac: Intel 1.8 GHz processor or better |
| Graphics Hardware | PC: 3D
graphics processor with Hardware Transfor and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM,
such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce2 class card or better
Mac:
3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB
VRAM, such as ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or
better | PC: 3D Graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader
capabilities with 128 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA
GeForce 7600 GT class card or better
Mac: 3D graphics processor with
Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM, such as ATI Radeon
X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better. |
| Memory | PC: 512 MB (1 GB
for Vista)
Mac: 1 GB | PC: 1 GB (2 GB for Vista)
Mac: 2 GB |
| Hard Drive Space | 15 GB of free space |
| All
Platform Requirements | Keyboard and mouse,
required for controls. Other input devices not supported. Active
broadband Internet connection required to play. |
Amazon.com Product
Description
For the first time, players can experience the
lands of WarCraft's Azeroth from a new, in-depth perspective. As heroes,
they explore familiar battlefields, discover new lands, and take on
epic quests and challenges in Blizzard's massively multiplayer online
role-playing game. Blizzard has taken care to make the game accessible
and fun both for hard-core 60-hour-a-week players and for more casual
adventurers.
Game Informer Review
Having
had the privilege of playing in the World of Warcraft beta for the last
several months and logging several days playing in the retail version, I
feel qualified to say this to all the haters and the doubters: You are
wrong. Blizzard has done it again, succeeding in epic fashion to craft a
title that once again makes me fear for my social life. Though WoW
doesn't radically differ from the tried-and-true MMORPG formula, the
subtle tweaks, additions, and special layer of Blizzard polish make it
an amazing and fresh experience.
From the moment you log in to
WoW, it draws you in and keeps you enthralled with its endless content,
entertaining combat, and delightful presentation. Perhaps the single
thing that makes adventuring and crafting in WoW so captivating is the
way that you can choose your own pace and style of play. Whether you are
popping in for half an hour before dinner or pulling a 16-hour power
session on the weekend, you'll be able to find something to do,
accomplish it, and feel like you actually got somewhere. This has
largely to do with the quest system – throughout my playtime, I was on a
variety of quests, ranging from simple delivery to intense dungeon
crawls. Unless you're trying to get a crew together to do something very
specific and all of your friends are offline, it's awfully unlikely
that you'll be sitting in town looking for a group like some other MMOs
are infamous for.
The sights of the world of Warcraft are anywhere
from grandiose to chilling to simply beautiful. While the Forsaken (my
race of choice) battle to keep the evil Scourge and do-gooder humans
from eradicating their fledgling undead society in the corrupted
Tirisfal Glades, the night elves work ceaselessly to purify the towering
forests of Kalimdor of the aftermath of the great war against the
Burning Legion. These struggles are epic, and the way that they are
presented hammers the point home. Also, the world is drawn in the
slightly off-kilter Warcraft style, which lends that extra little
immersive touch. Though WoW doesn't sport the sheer bleeding-edge
technology of EverQuest II, it nonetheless is one of the best-looking
games I've ever played. Plus, this allows WoW to run acceptably on even
low- to mid-end machines.
WoW also does many more things that
almost completely remove the tedium and "grinding" commonly associated
with the genre. Tradeskills are easy to learn, simple to use, and allow
you to craft useful items. Combat is fast and fluid, with little "sit on
auto-attack until the monster is dead" going on. Travel times are not
bad at all, since all of the towns and cities are linked by quick
transit. Basically, nothing ever feels like a timesink that's just there
to keep you playing and paying the monthly fee. It really says
something when I've yet to be bored or annoyed for a single moment after
playing an MMORPG for weeks.
Some people have been afraid that
WoW sacrifices its long-term appeal in favor of ease of use, much like
the way certain folks think of City of Heroes. To this criticism, I say
humbug. WoW offers both depth and breadth of content for players to
experience, and I seriously can't imagine anyone getting bored with the
game before the inevitable expansion comes out. Between tradeskills,
questing, exploring, high-level dungeons, and player-vs-player combat,
there is so much to do in WoW that it seems silly to think that there's
not enough content. What really blows my mind, though, is that it's all
fun. This truly is the best online role-playing game to date. Now if
you'll excuse me, I have to defend my people from a filthy human
invasion.
Concept:
Perfect the model that EverQuest
made popular
Graphics:
Colorful, diverse, and a
gorgeous fit for the Warcraft universe
Sound:
Mood
music, thundering effects, and limited Warcraft 3-style voices make a
rich environment
Playability:
The default user
interface has its limitations, but there are already wonderful mods out
for it
Entertainment:
Simply the best, most
polished, and flat-out fun MMORPG to date
Replay:
High
Rated:
9.5 out of 10
Editor:
Adam Biessener
Issue:
February
2005
2nd Opinion:
Blizzard didn't do it first, but
they've done it the best. While most of the standard massively
multiplayer conventions are in place, all of the non-fun fat has been
trimmed away, leaving behind a wholly unique and absorbing experience
that is simultaneously simple, deep, and incredibly engaging. The game's
acronym of "WoW" may be the first word that escapes your mouth when you
emerge into the gorgeous artistic beauty of Azeroth. The epic grandeur
of the setting combines with continually entertaining activity. You
never feel bored or disinterested . Every turn of the corner brings a
new sight, sound, battle, or wonder. Combining many of the best
qualities of Blizzard's former games, along with the finest aspects of
MMOs, World of Warcraft's only major fault is that it may make playing
other similar titles seem like a chore. It's quite simply phenomenal as
it solidly sets a new high bar for the genre.
Rated:
9.5 out
of 10
Editor:
Matt Miller
Subscribe to Game Informer
Customer Reviews
Awesome Game, Even For Older Players
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.
WoW is more than it's cracked up to be
I just spent the last week
playing the World of Warcraft Stress Test Beta, and I can tell you that
it was better than I expected. Even though the game wasn't finished, it
still has many features that make it head and shoulders above every
other MMORPG I've played.
Now, I, like many others, have been waiting
in ancicipation for this game to come out, and when I had the chance to
play the stress test, I was elated. Considering the majority of my MMOG
experience is in EverQuest, I will list a few of the improvements (at
least what I see as improvements) over the MMORPG "norm."
1)
Experience from completing quests is noticable, and the rewards from
completing them are worthwhile. I was always frustrated with EverQuest's
quest structure, and the only reason to do a quest was for the item
quested for, not for the experience gain. In WoW, it is possible to gain
more experience from completing a quest than from killing a monster.
2)
Experience progress is anything but vague. Every time a character kills
a monster or completes a quest, the experience points are clearly
given, and a meter with the character's progress within a level is
clearly marked with numbers. So it's impossible not to tell how much
experience killing a monster was worth. No more questionable meters with
random values.
3) The world is easy to get around in. And it
doesn't take an hour to get where you need to be, if you know where
you're going. This was one of my biggest problems with EverQuest,
because, as a semi-casual player, sometimes I don't have the time to run
for an hour to complete a quest, or, in some cases, die, then have to
make a corpse run and take twice as long as it originally was supposed
to take. Which leads me to my next point.
4) Death is reasonable.
If your character dies, its ghost spawns at the NEAREST graveyard, so
there is no need to manually bind your character somewhere. Also, there
is no XP loss if you choose to run your character over to its corpse. In
my opinion, the death system is one of the best, as you can choose to
lose XP by ressurecting right at the graveyard, or just run to your
character's corpse and revive there with no experience loss. And before
you can ressurect your character in a graveyard, it will let you know
exactly how much XP will be lost. This replaces the 3 hours of grinding
time needed to replace the lost XP.
5) An XP grind is perfectly
possible, but not necessary. It is very possible to level up
consistently without having to play for 5-7 hours a day. Between XP from
killing monsters and the great quest completion XP, I was able to level
a character to 17 in 3 days of semi-casual play. Now granted, those
were the first 17 and the easiest, but it's also possible to gain a
level a day, almost unheard of in EverQuest.
To make a long story
short, this will be a great game, but there is still a lot of work
needed to make it release-ready. Since there is no official word yet on
its release, I wouldn't hold my breath, but it's certainly something to
keep an eye on.
-Bullroar
Surprisingly
good game!
I've played by subscription
or beta tested ten MMO's now, and I was very shocked to find that World
of Warcraft blew them all out of the water. I seriously only checked the
game out at first because a friend of mine was going to play, but the
more I read into it, I was hooked (so much so, that I now work of the
Stratics staff for this game!). I was lucky enough to get into the
stress test, and I do not believe I am exagerating when I say that every
other MMO out there is going to have a serious run for its money.
Even
in Beta, this is the single most stable, lag-free game I have ever
played, and I am on a three-year old gaming system. I did find the
learning curve a little steep for first timers, but I think that will be
rectified with a manual. The questing system is so far beyond any other
game, it is truely in a class by itself. Grouping is optional, and does
need some work (its actually harder to get XP in a group than soloing)
but the implementation of all group members receiving quest items
practically eliminates the need to camp an area to get your quest drop,
if everyone in the area is smart enough to group up, that is! And as
items only drop if you have the quest, there's no people hanging around
just to make money.
The PvP system is INCREDIBLE, and this is
coming from someone who completely avoids PvP unless there is a true
point to it. WoW has implemented a full ranking system with real
rewards, such as special mounts, titles, weapons, even elite barracks
for high-ranking PvPers. There's even a useful honor system, where you
are punished in rank for killing people below your level, or non-violent
NPC's. You're a jerk? No goodies for you!
This one will be very
worth checking out. A word of warning, the newbie zones get very crowded
when a new phase starts and its easy to give up at first based on that.
If you are planning on checking this game out in open Beta, wait two
days, THEN log in if you think this will be an issue. You will get a
much truer population level to play with at that point.
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