World of Warcraft: Review

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was first released by Blizzard in November of 2004. WoW can only be played on Windows and macOS operating systems so if you are looking for the best mobile games it is not for you. Since its debut World of Warcraft has had 8 major expansion packs with the latest, Shadowlands, being released in November 2020.

Despite being almost 17 years old World of Warcraft has remained very popular with over 5 million active monthly players in 2021. It has inspired three board games, a comic book, a Warcraft movie and a trading card game in addition to winning several awards. So what is the state of World of Warcraft today? That’s what we will try and determine in this World of Warcraft review.

One of the nice things about World of Warcraft is that you can run it on most desktops or laptops. What you see may vary depending on the capabilities of your computer but WoW adapts extremely well to graphic cards of varying strengths and you won’t need a high powered machine to enjoy the game.

The World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion resolves some issues with the games storyline as well as leveling. First time players will start out on a brand new island, Exile’s Reach. After achieving level 10 on the island new players are funneled into the Battle for Azeroth zones which bypasses a lot of older content and keeps the narrative more focused on the most relevant content to the new expansion. Experienced players have the choice to begin the game on the island or can opt to begin in the starting area for their race. After reaching level 10 they can proceed to the Battle for Azeroth or visit older expansions using “Time Travel” with Chromie, the Bronze Dragon. This change in the timeline makes it much easier for new players to grasp what’s going on.

With Shadowlands, Blizzard did what they call a “level squish” on the game. Players now have a maximum level cap of 60. When a player reaches level 50 they can enter Shadowlands where all the new content is. The level squish greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to reach the max level cap. Rather than 80 to 120 hours it can be done in 20 to 30 hours. Leveling can now be done in a single expansion up to level 50 without leveling out too soon so the whole story arc can be experienced. Reaching a new level is more meaningful now with a reward for every increase. While leveling is now faster it can still be difficult for newer players but a WoW raid carry service can help you through the tough parts

There are six major areas in Shadowlands, a new capital city called Oribos, the Maw which is a Hades-like realm where evil souls are kept, and 4 zones: Bastion, Ardenweald, Maldraxxus and Revenredeth. Each of the 4 zones is home to a Covenant which you will be introduced to and learn about as you progress through the main quest.

After completing the Shadowland’s storyline players will have to choose one Covenant to join which will open up a new campaign at level 60. Being in a Covenant affects character aesthetics, abilities and talents. Each Covenant provides a unique set of challenges and travel enhancements for the specific zone, specific champions and troops for adventures and a weekly special event that is specific to a particular Covenant that offers cosmetics and other rewards. This sounds good, but you don’t really have enough information to make the best Covenant choice for your character. You can change Covenants fairly easily but you will lose any progress made when you start with a new faction.

There are 8 new dungeons as well as a new raid with the Shadowlands expansion. Each dungeon is unique and features different mechanics. The Castle Nathria raid is a large group encounter for 10 – 30 players and has 10 bosses. It is one of the more challenging raids to be introduced to WoW in some time and most players consider it a success.

Once you have reached maximum level there is still no shortage of things to do. Players can participate in covenant-specific campaigns and there are plenty of World Quests and Adventures. There are also weekly player versus player and dungeon quests where players can earn rewards as well as daily quests in the Maw.

One of the most interesting new features introduced by Shadowlands is Torghast, Tower of the Damned, a massive dungeon that is soon to be endless. As of now there are two wings that each has 8 basic levels which shift every week. There are six floors on every level, with the final floor providing a boss fight. The plan is for a new endless set of levels to be launched where players can earn different rewards. It is here that you also get the Soul Ash required to make Legendary armor. As players ascend the tower they gain temporary abilities that only last for the floors on a specific level. Some of these abilities are very powerful. The powers granted in Torghast are somewhat random and difficulty can vary a lot depending on your class. Torghast is probably the biggest issue players currently have with World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.

Overall it can be said that the Shadowlands expansion provided some needed improvements to World of Warcraft. The storyline is easier to follow and leveling is less difficult but not too easy. A lot of great content has been added to the game as well. A few of the changes could be tweaked a little bit. Not everybody is happy with the way Covenants work and there are some adjustments that could be made to Torghast. World of Warcraft is still about the best MMORPG out there and will provide hours of entertainment. When you are ready for a break from WoW read this Lucky Red Casino review and try your hand at some online gambling before returning to Azeroth.