Gameplay:
The world of Draenor, once thought to be completely destroyed has been found again. In the hopes of joining Illidan or for whatever purpose, Lord Kazzak, once right hand of the great Demon Lord Archimonde has reopened the Dark Portal. Now the shattered world of Draenor now known as Outland is accessible to all races of Azeroth. To find kin thought to be lost forever or to help defeat The Burning Legion, all races of Azeroth are now venturing into the unknown world of Outland.
The dynamics of PvE have greatly changed from 'WoW' to 'TBC'. Raids no longer require 40 people and instances can now be ran on normal or heroic mode (heroics are only accessible by level 70 characters). Raiding (depending on the difficulty of the dungeon) can now be ran with 10 or 25 people. Just like in the original release of WoW skill, gear and a unification of the whole group is extremely important to have a successful group. The dungeons can still take a couple of days to clear all depending on your group. The main goal in 'TBC' raiding is to defeat all the opponents in league with the burning legion (and of course get awesome leet gear). As your raid group progresses you may eventually find yourself face to face with Illidan himself.
As far as mounts go this one I must mention. Flying mounts have been added to the game! Of course, you can only use them in outland but they go just as fast as a normal flight path mount if not faster with any speed boosts (trinkets, paladin powers etc).
Two new races have been added to the game. The Draenei and Blood Elves. The Draenei have crash landed on Azeroth trying to escape from the burning legion. The Blood Elves were once known as High Elves and have decided to align themselves with the Horde. I'm sure you can guess the Draenei are with the Alliance.
PvP has been greatly improved. There are still battlegrounds to go to new and old. But you no longer have to compete against everyone on your server for a rank to get awesome gear. Granted old ranking titles can no longer be achieved (like High Warlord) but its now easier to get better gear. You get honor points per kill but also at the end of each battle you get tokens. Collect enough tokens and or honor points and you can now buy gear instead of having the proper rank to get it. Also Blizzard has added Arenas to the game. Basically you get into groups of 2, 3, or 5 players and go try to win battles against other players of the same number and also same skill level as you. In Arenas you also get set gear that looks just like the set gear for raiders but tailored in stats for PvP.
Graphics:
The graphics look just as good as in the first release of 'WoW'. Smooth, polished and of course cartoonish. But like I said in my first review of the game, the graphics fit the story and how the game is played very well. I must admit though that I love the different color themes for each area. In Hellfire peninsula its a dry earthy red but in Zangermarsh the whole area glows blue and purple.
Sound:
The soundtrack for 'TBC' is good. There is of course new music for each area that sounds beautiful and also familiar sounds like for casting spells and fighting. No complaints for the sound.
Replay Value:
This game has an on going story line and there is so much to do in the game that some people only play one character for years.
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Rating:
Story: 8
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 10
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Replay value: 10
Overall: 9.2
Own, Rent, Avoid:
Own: If over eight million people own it, you can't go wrong, as long as you don't mind be addicted for several years at least. As this game is the editor's choice on many gaming websites, it's vital that you don't pass this one up.
Last Thoughts:
The Burning Crusade' is a very fun expansion to play. Another world opens up to all players and new experiences. The lore of the game continues on and the game gets more finely tuned. 'TBC' while I'm glad did those things is still not nearly as fun and grand as the 'World of Warcraft' and makes me feel nostalgic for when I first started to play back in 2005.
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Written By
Deborah Jones
2/02/2009
