User Reviews (1 - 11 of 502)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

WoW is more than it's cracked up to be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 626 / 714
Date: September 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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

Awesome Game, Even For Older Players

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 502 / 575
Date: September 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

Surprisingly good game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 82 / 91
Date: September 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

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.

Collectors Edition rules.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 96 / 115
Date: October 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Until somebody writes the official specs for the Amazon ad, here's what they have on the WoW website that comes with the collectors edition.

# The full game on both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM
# 1-month subscription to World of Warcraft
# The Art of World of Warcraft, 200+ page hardcover art book
# World of Warcraft Behind-the-Scenes DVD
# Exclusive in-game pet
# Official soundtrack
# Cloth map charting the continents of Kalimdor, Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lordaeron
# Signed Collector's Edition game manual
# 10-Day Free Guest Pass - invite one of your friends to join the epic quest

The list is amazing all the extra stuff you get. A 200 page hard cover book, and the sound track easily are worth the extra $30. But they go on with 2 versions of the game in both CD's and DVDs. Plus, the ability to give a friend a trial version and the DVD of behind the scenes. If they are still available, I recommend buying this version over the regular if you really love the Warcraft series. It may be a risk to wait and see when the actual release date is, but they are nearing Open Beta, and my only guess is before Christmas.

not for the casual gamer anymore

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 63 / 70
Date: January 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In 2004, this game was advertised as 'being for the casual gamer' but also having content in which the 'hardcore gamer' could strive for. Anyone who did not have 14 hours a day to sit and play video games could have a lot of fun with this game in both PvE (player versus environment - you against the computer's monsters) or PvP (player versus player - players going head to head against one another). Originally the content was meant to be such that 'casual gamers could experience the full richness of the game and hardcore gamers would get a little bit extra out of the game, but the differences would be small.' On levels 1 - 59, this remains the case. However, upon reaching level 60 (which doesn't take anywhere near as long as other games, but is still a lengthy journey), the story completely changes. Hardcore gamers are rewarded with items which allow them to kill another player with just 1 swing / magic spell / shot, and armor that makes them so powerful that fighting them becomes like 'fighting a tank with a toothpick.' The developers of this game have effectively stopped releasing content for the "casual gamers" one year ago - and now spend the majority of their time catering to the "hardcore" players - which by the way, accounts for approximately 8% of their player base.

Levels 1 - 59 can go solo or fight in 5 man groups fighting quests or doing instances (dungeons in which only members of their party can enter) to get items or to level up. At level 60, to get the "hardcore" items which allow superior status, one must join 40 person "raids" (a raid is a combined coordinated collection of 2 or more groups, in this case, 8 groups) to fight the "hardcore" instances - which can take 6 - 14 hours ... or more.

World of Warcraft is a game that brought the masses in by its appeal from casual gamers and the differences that set it apart from EverQuest, whose end-game content also required very long "raids".

A recent New York Times article author recently described "casual" (generally non-raiding) gamers as being 'lazy, having no skill and not having partying (grouping) skill', to which the lead designer of the content of World of Warcraft effectively agreed.

Be warned about this "raid or die" mentality before you make the purchase of World of Warcraft.

Next - don't think that if you purchase the game that you will be able to play with your friends or family members. Blizzard's success with World of Warcraft has brought them far more subscribers than they bargained for, leaving them with game servers that have filled up to the max, leaving players with large amounts of lag and *long* waits to even log into the game. Blizzard's "queue" system sets a maximum number of players on each server, so if you try to log on at peak times when the server has reached its maximum number of players, you may have to wait - up to 2 hours - to play. To attempt to solve this problem, they have instituted a ban on all new character creations on certain servers for people who do not already have a character on that certain server (so if you don't already have a character on say, server "Dalaran", then you can't make a new character, you have to pick another server). If all of your friends or family are already playing on one of those servers, then you are out of luck. You will be playing all alone on a server in which you know nobody while the people you wanted to group with are on another server. Blizzard has been tightlipped about as to whether or not this new 'character creation ban' will be temporary or permanent. Thousands of people have bought this game since mid-December of 2005 and have been extremely irate by this issue. If someone bought this game under the assumption that he or she would be able to play online with friends and that person can't - that person ned not expect a refund from Blizzard. Their reply to this - "Working as intended. Cancel your account if you don't like it."

Combine this horrible customer service with the fact that almost all the servers have queue lines, many of them even during non-peak hours. Servers with huge loads of players experience unreasonable amounts of lag which hinders even basic movement throughout the game, much less talking to quest givers, getting loot from dead monsters and any other trivial task attempted to be undertaken. One thing that will really make any gamer mad is to be running through the forest, be lagged so badly as that it appears nothing around you is moving, then for the game to catch up 3 minutes later and you find yourself dead from monsters you couldn't see. This customer service has left many fans and players of World of Warcraft with their heads spinning, wondering where their $15 monthly subsciption fee goes.

This game was absolutely wonderful a year ago, and the content from levels 1 - 59, and the first few hours of level 60 is marvelous. The casual gamer can have lots of fun getting up to level 60, but once level 60 is attained, very little content exists for the "casual" gamer. This game is beautiful, has wonderful sounds / music, fun action and even requires thinking on the most basic "hack and slash" warrior by using abilities which must be planned and strategized versus just using one or two buttons for every fight. However, word has it that all the initial designers have long since left, leaving new designers which have changed the direction of the game.

My rating for World of Warcraft would be 5 for fun and 5 overall were it not for the terrible customer service, horrible server structure, new character creation ban and complete lack of end game 'non-raiding' content (it feels really bad to put many many hours of online play into a character only to have to abandon it simply because there is nothing else to do if you aren't a hardcore raider gamer). However, there is no fun at all when you have to wait 1 to 2 hours looking at a computer screen that says "Position in queue: 952. Estimated wait time: 1 hour 43 minutes" only to come back 10 minutes later to see the "Estimated wait time" at "1 hour 44 minutes." Some queues have even gotten up into the 1500s.

Please consider this before buying this product or referring this to a friend. Please go to the World of Warcraft website and look at their "general" forums. Then make a decision.

Fun, easy to level. At level 60 you better have 40 hrs/week.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 52 / 62
Date: May 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game starts with the premise that the casual gamer can advance relatively easily and in a fun, meaningful way. You can, even as a casual gamer, reach the current level cap of 60 (Will be 70 when the expansion comes out later this year). The quests are fun and grouping is fun. The scenery is wonderful and the animations are quite good as well.

All of that changes at level 60.

Thanks to the game designers Jeff Kaplan and Alex Asfrasiabi, 2 ex-EQ1 hardcore guild raiders, this game shifts into overdrive at level 60. These two 16hr/day EQ1 idiots have managed to turn this game into a HUGE timesink raidfest at level 60. To put it mildly: If you don't have a hardcore raiding guild and aren't willing to put in anywhere from 4-6 hours nightly EVERY night, you'll be sitting around the capitol cities with your fingers up your rear doing absolutely NOTHING. Let me state that again: If you don't have 30-60 hours per week at level 60 to put into this game, you will be running the same low level instanced dungeons over and over...and over..and over..and over..and over..and over..and over again.

They keep adding content but for whom? You guessed it: The hardcore elite. There is a ton of content that you, if you are a casual gamer, will never see. Nice of them to introduce new dungeons, bosses, loot etc that 80%+ of the playerbase won't see, eh?

Thanks Jeff! Thanks Alex ASSfrasiabi!

Comment on just the additions of the Collector's Edition (CE)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 41 / 47
Date: July 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Having already penned my thoughts on WoW itself this is exclusively on the CE additions since I own it. Rated how fun the game is as 5 stars but the CE additions warrant 3 stars. The CE contains (as listed above):

The full game on both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM

-- Somewhat useful. If one breaks you have a back-up.

One-month subscription to World of Warcraft

-- Nice addition to have. I would have put a 3 month subscription in it soley based upon the initial price. Mainly considering anyone purchasing the CE is going to be a long-term player so give them more perks.

The Art of World of Warcraft, 200+ page hardcover art book

-- This was a really nice little book. If you are interested in the Warcraft Universe or just have a passing interest in artwork (As i do) then it's neat to look through.

World of Warcraft behind-the-scenes DVD

-- This has a lot of content and has so much material it's almost as full and rich as the behind-the-scenes DVD that comes with a Lord of the Rings Special Edition DVD.

Exclusive in-game pet

-- Meh. Mixed thoughts. There are much cooler pets you can get ingame. The pet you get gives you only three choices. Either a Panda Cub (has a severe case of narcolepsy and falls asleep everywhere), a Mini-Diablo (A mini-me Diablo that occasionally breathes fire), and a Zergling (from the Starcraft games..occasionally it clicks its claws). I would have rather had more pets to choose from.

Official soundtrack

-- Soundtrack is well done and decent atmosphere music.

Cloth map charting the continents of Kalimdor, Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lor daeron

-- Whoopie doo. It's very very very small. I have washcloths bigger than this thing. It also smells like the inside of a Burlap sack after two rats just got done having relations in it.

Signed collector's-edition game manual

-- Who cares.

10-day free guest pass invite for one of your friends to join.

-- This was a good little addition. I gave this to a friend so they could check it out without having to spend any money by lending him the CD-ROM copy to check out.

Overall a 3 stars. There is a lot of good content, but based on the price there should have been a little more.

The Holy Grail? maybe...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 52 / 65
Date: October 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is probably the closest thing you are going to find to the holy grail of mmogs. It is the Half Life 2 of MMORPGS (I repeat OF mmorpgs, nothing comes close to Half Life 2 in its own arena). If WoW has one fault it may be its player vs player and player vs enviorment balancing issues, but no mmorpg is going to come close to what this game already has in those terms.

So what does WoW offer you? Lets see...

Exp is maily quest based and if you can't spend as much time in game as your friends, resting in an inn gives you an exp bonus when you log back in so that you can keep up. (translation: you dont have to be hard core to have a nice high lvl character, but the system doesnt hold back hard core players from reaching their highest potential).
Items degrade/repair like diablo 2, anoying but you dont have to replace them and it keeps the economy from inflating.
You can warp to your bind point once an hour with an item, useful if you get lost, need to log out, inventory is full, etc.
Ingame maps.
Auction houses.
Warlocks can summon you to them selfs (with two helping players, great if you are in a rush)
Boats, trains, blimps, gryphons, etc rides to get you around the world.
Death system is not harsh most of the time (three choices: player rez, npc rez at graveyard at a cost of exp, or you can run back to corps in spirit form and self rez)
You have your own mount ( be it horse, gnome machine, wolf, cat, etc).
Food and drink (health/mana regen items)to bring down time to a minimal.
A USEFUL crafting system. (no making lots of junk you cant sell or use for crafting points)
Ritual spells involving lots of players.
PvP and PvE servers.
PvP honer system (gives you penalties for ganking low lvl players).
A PvP reward system.
One of the very few MMORPGs that has blood effects and alcohol (taverns) in it (finaly something that doesnt completely look like its scared senceless to get something higher then a E (everyone) rating).
Content that can only be compaired to the likes of games like Never Winter Nights and Elderscrolls story wise. (even though that hardly does it justice) Not to mention Warcraft's famous comedy.
A completely hand generated world (all the models fit together, everything blends into one complete world, that looks realistic in a Warcraft way)

And one last thing BUFF BOTS DONT WORK IN THIS GAME!!!! <CHEERS> Most characters can only put one type buff on the entire group at one time, one group buff and one single buff (on another person, not inclueding self buffs) at most, so to get a complete set of buffs you need a compete group. Also most buffs last any where from half an hour to an hour, so no rebuffing every 10 minutes, this inclueds buffs you get from potions.

Other things to compair it to? Uh, got me, I honestly dont think there is anything that compairs, if you dont like the art style of WoW you are just going to have to sit it out, Zelda Windwalker is a great game, but lots of people (not including me, but this has no baring on why I like WoW) hated its cell shading.

DAOC? Very good game, but no personal character stablity (they change the rules 'nerf' to often and to hard)
EQ2? has EQ1s extreamly crummy track record, thats it (good graphics! not realy, faster exp then EQ1!and that means what exatly? nothing, it still takes your whole personal life to lvl up at a slow rate, we got rid of the user interface! um ok you got rid of an eye sore, but you didnt replace it with anything -.-; )
SWG? Too much space, no content, to many jedi wannabes
AC2? Pretty, but not much else (you didnt play this game, you exploited it)
SB? PvP and no other content just didnt hack it
FFXI? Sorry, but it felt like a little kids game (when compaired to other mmorpgs)
and the list could go on....

GuildWars? Like a complicated version of Dungen Siege played online, it was actualy alot of fun for the small amount of time I played it, wether it holds attention for the long haul is yet to be seen.

On a last note, I have played a lot of MMORPGS, I still play DAOC (I consider it the lesser of all evils). I liked WC3 because of its story line. I am NOT a big fan of stratagy games, so if that is keeping you from buying this title stop hesitating and go for it. And do remember, take everything any one says with a grain of salt.

Virtual Drudgery

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 43 / 51
Date: June 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Loved this game until I hit 60, then it all fell apart.

This game requires that you make it the number one priority of your life. It's also true that you don't have to, but you won't have fun when you hit 60. As a casual gamer, I found post-60 to be depressing.

The battlegrounds suck, and on the server I played on, be prepared to wait at least an hour before you can even get in.

The rank system is a joke, and be prepared to spend at least a couple hours every night to maintain your current rank (if you don't play pvp you'll drop rank so it takes time in the bg's to even maintain the current rank you have).

Guilds are a joke. If you don't belong to a high-end raid guild then be prepared to join one, unless you want slaughtered by someone with epic gear/weapons. Be prepared for elitism, a $ $ kissing, and for your gameplay to be dictated by a guild leader with a god complex. Also be prepared to spend 3-4 hours a night at the very, very, minimum to satisfy your guild. You also have to get DKP points to even be eligable to go on a raid, so you're enslaved to your guild (otherwise there isn't any point being in it, and the point of being in a guild is to get top end items).

PvP is a joke. If you join a PvP server and go into contested territory (which is something you will find yourself in the majority of the time) be prepared to get ganked by higher levels alot. Stranglethorn Vale anyone?

The Community is a joke. This is by far the worst community I've ever seen. If you're new and ask any question, or if you're a vet and ask any question, be prepared to suffer the consequences. The elites of WoW were born with knowledge of how to play this game encrypted into their DNA, and anyone who dares ask a question is a "noob". Oh and learn your acronyms!!!!

You also have thousands who stand around and don't want to group, and those that do usually bail after THEY complete what THEY have to do. This game is full of self-absorbed, greedy, little babies.

Grinding sums this game up perfectly. All you do is grind, grind xp, grind honor, grind faction, grind for gear, grind your life away. With all the time this game requires to learn a virtual skill, you could pick up a real life skill and be somewhat proficient at it, or at least to a good start. Whatever you practice at 3 hours a day, most every day, you'll become good at, and it's a real-life, tangible skill.

But the bottom line is that this game REQUIRES you to spend hours a week, to the detriment of your love life (unless you can't get one), your job, and your social life. Don't get hooked, pass on this one.

Best MMORPG Ever -- Buy NOW!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 33
Date: December 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

World of Warcraft is simply put, the best MMORPG ever created. Blizzard spent a good amount of time creating and testing this masterpiece, and it shows off. No matter what type of games you like to play, you'll like playing WoW. Even if your PC isn't blazing fast, you'll get perfect quality out of WoW. Everything in the game just feels right.

Let me split my review into sections;

GRAPHICS
--------

The graphics in WoW are a splendor to behold. The textures and geometry are excellent and really show how much detail Blizzard put into this game. The visuals aren't DOOM 3 or Half-Life 2 in extreme quality, but this is a MMO with quite a bit of people and low system requirements. The shadows, weather and particle effects, and 'bonus' graphical work (such as footprints in the snow, etc) are above average. With all the visual settings maxed out, along with my graphic card's hardware AA/AF maxed, the game does not stutter, even on my mid-range PC. I'm amazed I can have everything maxed, having my screen look gorgeous, and have perfect v-sync frame rates constantly.

SOUND/MUSIC
--------

Music in WoW is, of course, spectacular. Blizzard is known for having awesome scores that are dynamic and suiting. There's a ton of different scores that dynamically change depending on where you are and what's going on, and they're all near-godly and memorable. The sound design is also great: each individual sound effect and voice sounds like what it should. No complaints in the sound department.

SERVERS
--------

Blizzard has a good amount of servers setup. Quite a lot of them, in fact. Not only that, but there's specific servers for PvP, so you can be on one of those if you enjoy dueling. PvE servers can have PvP game play as well, but both parties need to agree beforehand. The servers are lightning fast and I've yet to have downtime.

COMMUNITY
--------

So far, I've experienced a nice community in-game. I've played three different races and the communities in each of them (almost each race has its own starting location in the world of the game) have been very nice, considerate, and helpful. Granted, not everyone acts as they should, but I've had an enjoyable time with the community so far.

INTERFACE
--------

I really can't think up a way Blizzard could improve WoW's interface. It's mildly complex and takes a bit to get used to, but once you get over those first minutes it feels like second nature. Chatting is simple and fun, with numerous functions. Everything about the game is clearly described, explained, labeled, and shown in the manual and in-game. There are also tips that help you with just about everything as you experience it the first time.

GAMEPLAY
--------

The most important part of a game and WoW does it great. There's so much to do in the GIGANTIC world that you won't want to stop. Just a few of the 'professions' you can do: cooking, fishing, mining, blacksmithing, first aid, and alchemy. Besides all those you can just do the 2000+ quests, level up your character, join groups, create or join a guild, and more. It really is like an online world, and it's addicting. The quests range from extremely simple to very advanced, with plenty to choose from. The races are distinct but balanced, and each one has its own feel and flavor. The classes are well balanced also (except for Warrior, which is pretty underpowered, but Blizzard has said they're already working on it for the next patch). There's enough classes and races to suit anyone's taste, and there's definitely enough so that you can have multiple, different characters without feeling bored. The pace of the game feels just right; not too fast, not too slow. Death isn't a huge hassle, quest rewards are actually rewarding, the races are cool and different, the classes are exciting and aren't disappointments or unbalanced, the game is as simple or nearly-overwhelmingly complex as YOU want it to be, Blizzard's support is fantastic, and there isn't a single feature left out of the game. In a word: perfection.

All in all, WoW is definitely one of the best gaming experiences I've had, and I haven't even come close to experiencing it all. If you like Blizzard's previous games, role-playing games, and/or other MMOs, you'll love WoW for sure. Even if you don't like those, there's still a very high chance of you falling in love with it, since it's just so damn fun to play.

The monthly fee is well worth the countless hours of bliss you'll receive, and they provide discounts when you pay in bulk, like 3-months and 6-months.

I recommend buying the strategy guide (more like strategy tome, it's over 400 pages!) if you're new to MMOs, since there's a lot to learn. The game's manual is thick too, and there's plenty of in-game and online resources available.

If you can find it, purchase the Collector's Edition since for $30 more you get quite a lot (the game on 4 CDs, the game on 1 DVD, the soundtrack, a large making-of book, an exclusive in-game 'pet,' and more).

World of Warcraft is a game I very highly recommend for everyone to buy and experience, even gamers who don't like online play.

GET WORLD OF WARCRAFT NOW!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions