Burning Crusade Uncovered (ign.com)

- ign.com -

Australia, November 29, 2006 - Unless you're one of the people chained to the pipes in the IGN basement, ever tenderising, chances are you've at the very least heard of World of Warcraft - Blizzard's powerhouse MMO with over 6 million subscribers worldwide. Maybe you're even one of those subscribers. Maybe you've rumbled with Ragnaros, challenged C'thun, and banished Kel'Thuzad to wherever unholy floating skeletons of pure evil and ice are banished to (possibly our basement again).

Well, prepare to insert that ego of yours firmly between your buttocks, as The Burning Crusade - that is to say, the first expansion for World of Warcraft - will put all your achievements to shame.

With the level cap being raised from 60 to 70, you can forget you have to eat actual food all over again. With the grind to 70 likely to take at least a couple weeks for even the most hardcore players, it's quite exceptional that Blizzard has managed to keep it feeling fresh. This is in no small part thanks to many creative new talents, special abilities and spells that you gain as you progress.

Blood Elves are one of two new races in The Burning Crusade.

If you're a lore-buff, you're probably up-in-arms about the addition of the Blood Elves to the Horde, and the Draenei (who are from space, no less) to the Alliance; that's completely understandable as they did a pretty crummy job of 'seamlessly integrating the new races into the game world' - especially when Blizzard announced that Draenei could become Shamans (previously a Horde-only race) and the Blood Elves could become Paladins (previously Alliance-only). But if you can get over that little bump in the road, you'll learn to love the new races just as much as the old. Except for the male Blood Elves, who feature a jump animation that is particularly wince-inducing.

Somerset Isle, the starting location for the Horde's Aryan Allies is a beautifully rendered forest, splendidly refreshing from the otherwise gloomy or sparse Horde zones. But immediately you learn everything is not as ideal as it seems. Your race has an addiction to magic, and a brutal way of treating traitors.

Meanwhile, far west of the continent of Kalimdor lies the home island of the Draenei, a noble race of blue-skinned beast-men who, after fleeing from the Burning Legion who wish to enslave them, have crash-landed on Azeroth. By contrast, the Draenei starting zone is somewhat creepy, with the remains of your broken ship and the wounded bodies of your comrades strewn across the forest floor. From the very start it's just a fight for survival.

South of the battle-scarred blasted lands lies the Dark Portal, a gateway to a torn world that will be reopened with a massive world event culminating in the unlocking of Outland, the brand spankin' new continent. Stepping into the swirling abyss puts you face to face with the armies of both the Horde and the Alliance just barely holding the expansive army of the Burning Legion at bay. You've just entered the scarred and broken lands of Hellfire Peninsula; a fiery, jutting landscape that makes The Burning Steppes look like a holiday resort.

From there you are thrown headlong into brand new quests with particularly engrossing storylines. New enemies - the Burning Legion, The Shattered Hand Clan, The Naga - all desperate to wipe you and your allies off the face of Outland and eventually Azeroth too, all the while your main enemy (the Alliance if you're Horde, the Horde if you're Alliance) poses a constant threat. Luckily, you also gain a couple new allies.

In particular is the enormous city of Shattrath, located in the Terrokar Forest. A neutral town (a lot like Booty Bay and the other goblin towns) run by the Naaru, gigantic sparkly crystal beings of light and sparkliness, all fighting is banned within its walls. Inhabiting this city, however, are two rival armies, the Aldor and the Scryers, and you must choose one to align yourself with, at the risk of becoming hated (very hated mind you) by the other. Each has its pros and cons, and the choice can actually be very difficult to make.

There are a couple bugs that may need to be addressed in regards to this, however, as many NPCs are flagged as being with one army, while there are actually relatively few of the other. We would expect that, come release, this will be fixed though.

Especially impressive are the new instances, far more balanced than many in the original release of the game both effort, reward and fun-wise. They range from short skirmishes to long dungeon crawls, through crypts, laboratories and slave encampments, but what remains common to them all is, in fact, the originality and refreshing feel each encounter has. Nothing beats that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you first hear Magtheridon - a high ranking demon from the Burning Legion who was supposedly killed - yelling for help from the pits of Hellfire Citadel.

More fantastic magic effects at work within Blood Elf territory.

But enough about Outlands; what of Azeroth? Is everything just fine and dandy all of a sudden? Heck no. Deep in the deserts of Tanaris lies the Caverns of Time, guarded by the Bronze Dragonflight, and they have some severe problems. We don't want to ruin it for you, but basically you're going to have to mess with the timeline and, in doing so, discover the humble beginnings of some of Azeroths greatest heroes, as well as your role in their survival.

For those of you who like slaughtering hapless gnomes, we have good news. The Arena - a team-based slaughter-fest - brings whole new challenges and amazing rewards for those able to stay at the top of a very competitive ladder, while the new battleground Eye of the Storm revives the classic King-of-the-Hill style gameplay of so many FPS, but with a few twists (you're fighting on a big, purple, floating landmass, instead of a hill, for one).

And most exiting of all is that with the introduction of slotted items and Jewel-crafting as a profession, the options for customising and specialising your characters are far vaster than in the original. Additionally, Blizzard has done a great job of creating extremely useful skills for other trades and professions, with buff items for leatherworkers, new weapon enchantments for enchanters, and nets for tailors, just to name a few.

Even with a large portion of the beta still locked out for more focused testing, Burning Crusade is truly an 'expansion' in every sense of the word, and will undoubtedly be as much of a success both critically and financially as its predecessor. Have your poopsocks and mini-bars ready, as you won't be leaving that mouldy, windowless room of yours for a while.