Post by Draco Falkor 777 on Apr 11, 2007 15:39:09 GMT -5
I am what you would consider a hardcore World of Warcraft player. Before that, it was EverQuest, with plenty of other games in between – from Dark Age of Camelot to Anarchy Online. One thing has been constant with every MMORPG I have ever played: Each expansion gradually destroys the thing that made the original game so fascinating.
There are many pitfalls that await an MMO expansion. Sometimes it’s the extra experience levels that ruin all the previous content; other times it’s a new race or class that throws off any semblance of game balance. Burning Crusade was unable to find a solution to the new levels and items that basically render the original content worthless (going back to the two old continents now feels like attending a funeral). However, it does manage to reinvent itself in many ways to make the expansion feel fresh and, on the whole, more engaging than the original.
This is obvious the moment you walk into Outland (the world where most of the new content is). The new zones are huge in comparison to the original game and graphically lush. But it’s the content inside them, the quests and the instances, that make the whole game tick.
There are many pitfalls that await an MMO expansion. Sometimes it’s the extra experience levels that ruin all the previous content; other times it’s a new race or class that throws off any semblance of game balance. Burning Crusade was unable to find a solution to the new levels and items that basically render the original content worthless (going back to the two old continents now feels like attending a funeral). However, it does manage to reinvent itself in many ways to make the expansion feel fresh and, on the whole, more engaging than the original.
This is obvious the moment you walk into Outland (the world where most of the new content is). The new zones are huge in comparison to the original game and graphically lush. But it’s the content inside them, the quests and the instances, that make the whole game tick.
Game receives 9.75, even in second opinion.
For full story, see here: www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/E87A93F0-A860-4B1B-ACD1-C9BB5D1CAC98.htm
