by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

The term savage has been beaten to death, but it’s really the most fitting adjective  available 90 minutes into Warlords of Draenor. Frostfire Ridge is for all intents and purposes an inhospitable wasteland dominated by gripping cold, cauldrons of boiling magma, gronn, ogres, wolves and more. It’s made clear right from outset that this expansion is not about finding your inner zen, assisting pandas or chasing down vermin. It’s a brutal story about a land dominated by violence.

Personally, I love it. I’m an avid reader of military fantasy and the grislier the story gets, the more I tend to enjoy it. Warlords’ tone is a total departure from Mists of Pandaria, at least initially. While Mists eventually delved into some dark stuff later on in the narrative, Warlords starts out as an all-out fight to survive. Durotan and his people are desperately trying to stake their claim against gronn and ogre warlords. It’s very much reminiscent of the Horde campaign in Warcraft III. The land is uninviting, and the locals want the orcs dead. It’s up to your character to even the odds. Prior expansions might have had you playing as ‘random quest doer #1923971’ but Warlords immediately establishes your character as a seasoned battle commander, respected by legends like Thrall, Durotan and Khadgar.

After spending some time learning about garrisons, your character is called to assist Durotan and his allies in the capture of Bladespire Fortress. I was not initially enthused about the prospect of hunting down ogres, but Blizzard made it feel like an epic experience. You essentially fight your way through the fortress one quest at a time, aided by Thrall and Durotan. The whole experience is reminiscent of a story-based instance and the narrative compels you to want to move forward. In order to keep the experience of murdering ten ogres fresh, Blizzard also tosses in some larger than life moments, such as Thrall commanding the winds to destroy a whole ogre brigade all by himself.

It might sound like an oversimplified analysis, but what I’ve seen so far is metal. Thus far, it’s the sort of story and setting that makes me want to crank up Metallica, grab a drink and get lost in a savage land where survival is not guaranteed, even if deep down I know it basically is because this is an MMO. There’s definitely a lot of mechanical aspects that need polishing before the game goes live, but the content itself is promising. I only have one real concern, thus far.

After four days of playing Wildstar, Warcraft very much shows its age on the mechanical level. Fighting mobs is just not fun. It’s something I subject myself to in order to get to more sweet narrative. While Wildstar has me constantly flitting around to try and dodge telegraphed skills, Warcraft combat remains stale. I have three buttons. If another mob shows up, I have a fourth and fifth button I can use. The addition of minor skills seems to suggest that Warcraft’s combat could become more position based down the road, and that would be a welcome change. Otherwise, I fully expect PvE to remain tedious to me.

If you’ve been playing Warlords or watching streams, what are your initial impressions of the upcoming expansion?