VGGEN.com

> PC Gaming

• Home
• Games Index
• News
• Reviews
• Previews
• Release List
• Features

> Xbox 360

> Xbox

> Nintendo Wii

> GameCube

> Nintendo DS

> Game Boy

> PlayStation 3

> PlayStation 2

> PSP

The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of VGGEN.com as a whole or any of its affiliates. This is simply one writer's opinion, and should be accepted as such.

It looks like Blizzard did it again! After my first feverishly excited 15 hours of playing The Burning Crusade, I can finally relax a bit and sift through my initial reactions. In a nutshell: I am having a blast exploring Outland! I loved the early “get to know Outland” quests, especially the Area 52 bombings. I laughed out loud when I threw bombs on the different targets from my wyvern. And I love the fact that you can go back and repeat that quest after a long, frustrating day at work. Just picture your boss’s face on one of the Overlords that is whipping the peons into shape. Very appropriate!

I also noticed that Blizzard starts your journey into Outland with a lot of gear upgrade quests. In many ways, this feels like newbieland all over again, where each quest is designed to give you some “let’s get you started” gear. If you are a relatively “new” level 60, most of the quest rewards will be an upgrade for you. Although the gear is “green” or uncommon, it really compares more to a rare; in some cases slightly below a tier 1 epic item from Azeroth. The other noticeable difference in Outland gear is that the stats are much higher. This gives you a nice boost.

The first city you encounter is also very reminiscent of the first town you enter while leveling your newbie: all the profession and class trainers, as well as trade merchants are conveniently located nearby. So it’s easy to upgrade your profession skills and go out to mine/herb/skin new items almost immediately. I find that truly refreshing after playing at level 60 for so long: everything looks and feels new. There are new herbs, new ores, new hides, new cloth materials, and they all look pretty cool. As a warlock, I feel truly at home in Hellfire Peninsula: everything is demonic or has been twisted by demonic magic.

My major gripe is the quantity of people trying to finish the same quests. Not only is the game a bit laggy, but also there are constant battles over the same mobs. So if you get those annoying “collect 10 ___,” you and 10 other players will be running around the same small area for quite some time trying to tag as many mobs as you can. This type of competition takes the fun out of the game for me and makes the whole game feel like a blur. I can only imagine the chaos on a PvP server! I heard that on some servers, people who have not yet received the expansion are ganking those that are trying to pass through the portal. An original twist to world PvP!

In terms of in-play gripes, there are surprisingly few at the moment. I appreciated the fact that you get your first flight paths quickly and easily upon arrival. No seeking them out blindly or dying along long stretches of road as you cross new territories.

I also find myself enjoying the game on a new level: I feel much more immersed in an ongoing, dynamic war. On Azeroth, even though the war is often mentioned in quests, it feels more remote and more static, as if your actions can’t really influence the outcome. There are many more NPCs roaming about and enemies surrounding camps in Hellfire Peninsula, which makes that area feel much more alive. Maybe it’s also due to the way Blizzard designed the landscape: everywhere you look you see fortifications, war equipment in various states of combustion or ruin; even the earth seems scarred and burnt. For those that played Diablo II, it reminded me a bit of the town siege in Act V…

Most of the early quests (level 60-63) are, from what I can tell, centered on war efforts: things needs to be built, enemy efforts disrupted, fortifications blown up and, of course, bosses deposed. Even the new instances are part of this overall theme. So my initial reaction was that the storyline, landscapes and quests are more seamlessly integrated then in the initial game. This is very enjoyable and makes the game that much more fun to play.

I play mostly on the Horde side, so it’s fun to find the same familiar factions in Outland. The concerned druids from Cenarion are everywhere, trying to fight a losing battle against the seeping corruption of Nature. One of my favorite “associations,” the Royal Apothecary from Undercity, is also well represented. These vicious and uncaring undead are always looking for rare and painful ingredients to mix new deadly elixirs. I love those quests, since they are always very entertaining, and you know that at the end of such a quest line, an alliance NPC will be killed in a horrible manner. As one apothecary puts it, “there is always work for someone with my charming personality” in Outland! It’s this attention to detail from Blizzard that makes the continuity and immersion into The Burning Crusade so much fun.

One other thing that really bothers me is that unless you are a mage, shaman or druid, you really can’t shuttle back and forth between Azeroth and Outland easily. Purists may say that this was done on purpose because Outland is, well, far out there in the universe. But in reality, it gets old very fast having to fly back to the portal, go through it and then fly to the nearest boat/zeppelin to get to a capital. That’s a lengthy 4-step process! Sure, you can bribe someone for a portal to a capital city, but that’s just annoying and expensive. I’m told that there are portals in Shattrath, but no Auction House. Personally, I was hoping that we would get another hearthstone for Outland. That way you can set one to a city in Outland and still port back quickly to a capital in Azeroth. Although I’ve only completed 15 quests so far, I would have loved to put items into the Auction House more frequently… A girl’s gotta make a living in Outland too, you know?

One final thought: I used the portal from Undercity to Silvermoon, and was impressed with the design and look of Blood Elf capital. It is stunning! It truly feels, to quote an NPC visitor, “magical.” The feel of the city reminded me a bit of Stormwind and of the Alliance, which surprised me. Also, since I did not read up on this before the expansion was released, I was surprised that the city is located in Azeroth. I (wrongly) assumed that it would be in Outland. This brings me back to my earlier gripe: it would have been much more convenient to have a capital city with an auction house in Outland. Again, I could be wrong, since there may very well be such a city in Outland; my character just hasn’t progressed that far yet. So don’t ruin the surprise for me! I really want to enjoy the new world and discover it through the eyes of my character.

All in all though, I find The Burning Crusade to be thoroughly enjoyable. Many of the quest mechanics are familiar, but the more intense immersion in the war efforts against the Burning Legions more then compensate for this. It’s fun to quest again, upgrade your professions, and fight new monsters. I am hooked all over again!!!

As usual, if you have any comments, complaints, concerns, or fan mail, send them to weeklywow@vggen.com. I’ll try to answer all E-mails personally, and you may wind up in a future mailbag column.

Posted: 01/23/2007

Copyright © 2010, VGGEN.com - All Rights Reserved. All content contained herein is property of VGGEN. VGGEN is not affiliated with any video game developers or publishers. Logos, trademarks, names, and images are property of their respective companies.