WOW TBC: Yet another review.. : World of Warcraft General Discussions

Make no mistake about it: Blizzard doesn’t mess around when it comes to expansion packs. The notoriously meticulous developer truly gives it their all when it comes to added content for their games, and each new update they release for their catalog of games is nearly as anticipated as the original games themselves. Therefore, when it came to their biggest success ever, an MMORPG by the name of World of Warcraft, you can bet they worked to the tailbone to make sure the expansion pack would live up to the lofty expectations that the original game had set. After several delays (a given for Blizzard), The Burning Crusade is finally out.

If you’re reading this right now and have even a passing interest in WoW, then chances are you already have the expansion. Therefore, you must know of the lump of fried gold that Blizzard has concocted. The expansion adds a ton of new content and great features to the game for players new and old, from the new level 70 cap to the two new playable races. However, there is a lot more to this expansion, which is as complete an expansion as you’re likely to find for any game, MMO or otherwise.



Perhaps the most well-known of the additions to WoW brought on by The Burning Crusade is the addition of two new races. The Blood Elves and the Draenei bring their unique traits to the Horde and Alliance, respectively.

The Blood Elves are arguably the more popular of the two, and were brought about by the developers in order to create a more “attractive” Horde race to counteract some balance issues on servers where the Alliance vastly outnumbered the Horde players. Cast out by their Night Elf brethren, the Blood Elves’ addiction to the arcane led to their downfall, and they are now bound to the area of Quel’Thalas in the eastern kingdom.

The Draenei joined up with the Alliance to combat the Burning Legion after they’d been forced to leave their homeworld. They currently hold up in at Azuremist Isles off of the coast of Kalimdor.



Aside from the new races, there are some new ways that you can tweak their development. There is now a new jewelcrafting profession that players can pick up. While this new trade is available to anyone, the Draenei get a 5 percent racial bonus if they pick it up. Another interesting element is that the Blood Elves can be Paladins. While the idea of a Horde Pally might sound oxymoronic like hot ice (or Microsoft Works), given the Blood Elves’ history, it does seem to make sense. However, in order to keep the class balance, there is no Warrior class for the Blood Elves.

While the new races and abilities therein are great, what about players who don’t want to create a new character, but want to keep honing their advanced character? The Burning Crusade has plenty for them as well.

As mentioned earlier, the level cap has been bumped up to 70. However, instead of just being a superficial bar set to make you run more and more raids until you hit the next level cap, those last ten levels are where the real good stuff and the meat of the expansion pack’s story comes in. For that trek, you’ll get to go through the Dark Portal into Outland and fight through a brand new continent with seven huge zones. Additionally, the expansion gives you flying mounts to explore the world from above.

Graphically, World of Warcraft may not be the most technologically impressive game ever and lacks the graphical punch of other MMOs like EQII or Guild Wars, but what it lacks in that department it more than makes up for in personality and adaptability. The game’s art direction is fantastic, and each area has its own unique feel and bright color scheme. Plus, the game will run on tons of computers with a broad range of system specs, which is more than I can say for EQII.

The sound is also pretty great. The voice acting and sound effects are spot-on. WoW’s score is great, and each area of the map has its own unique mood to it, and the music helps to add ambience. The new material for the new areas fits in very well with the overall theme of the game’s music and help to further draw you in.

The Burning Crusade is a fantastic way to extend your WoW experience, if you want to start a new character or continue to bulk up your existing one. If you play WoW in any context, then you definitely need to pick this up if you haven’t already.