Breaking news
- May 28, 2023
The fight between the Covenant and the Horde is gaining momentum. Blizzard invited players to the seventh addition to World of Warcraft, which in the previews proclaims a great conflict between the two warring factions. Does Battle for Azeroth really introduce the expected war? I invite you to impressions after the first month on the servers.
I started my adventure with World of Warcraft in 2004 and for the first years I couldn't tear myself away from this production. I've been coming back, buying expansions, developing new characters, but with time and the release of the next adventures, I visited the servers only out of sentiment. Each time I checked the most important content, ran with friends, but due to various responsibilities I could no longer devote every free minute to the game. I mention this for a reason, because Battle for Azeroth is for me a sentimental return to this world. After changing my hardware, I can afford to play more, so I was eager to get back to the game and check out the content prepared by Blizzard.
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth for a good start welcomes players with completely new lands-islands. Wanting to follow the storyline after a while we get to Zandalar (Horde) and Kul Tiras (Alliance), where we have to convince the surrounding communities to join our faction. The creators didn't decide to create one, big area, so at the beginning we don't have to worry that we'll encounter rivals who want to put oversized swords into our bodies. When I started the adventure I thought that it's a good idea, but in a month's time I felt like a certain wasted potential - if we could run through the common areas from the beginning, the name of the supplement could take on a deeper meaning. Of course, Blizzard has prepared tasks during which we have the opportunity to visit enemy areas, but the intensity of such visits should be much greater.
The division makes more sense for another reason - Blizzard is well aware that Battle for Azeroth will encourage players who haven't run around the world of World of Warcraft in recent years to return to the servers, so they'll be able to easily refresh their memory with the production, develop their character and prepare for the next attractions. At the same time, I'm aware that this move allows beginners to get acquainted with the title - the developers are facing an extremely difficult challenge in this case, because WOW, despite its age, is still supposed to be an attractive title for new MMORPG fans, and the creation of two separate paths is somewhat reminiscent of the very beginning of the game, when years ago I took my first steps in World of Warcraft and only after several hours I had a chance to come face to face with the representatives of the second faction.
I won't reveal too much, but World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth begins with a really powerful war, in which 20 players participate at once. There may be a lack of more integration between players here, and the enemies aren't much of a challenge, but this is exactly how this great addition should start. Blizzard knows how to introduce you to their new world, and some of the interlude scenes made me want to immediately reach for my axe and fight for the glory of the Orcs. After impressive introduction as a Horde follower (the only right option!) I started my adventure on Zandalar. Location enchanted me with the climate - it's where we have the opportunity to meet trolls who live in the jungle filled with, among others, huge dinosaurs. The prepared surroundings look beautiful, which in my opinion look much better than Kul Tiras - Covenant runs on fairly standard islands, the cradle of sailors, and at the same time on the hometowns of Jaina Proudmore. On the plus side, we can certainly count the story missions, because the developers deviate more and more from the standard MMORPG quests, and exceptionally often during the game we watch spectacular cinematic interludes - Blizzard representatives are well aware that they have to refresh this fossilized world and expand the plots in a very interesting way. Of course, this is still not the level of typical RPGs for singles, but it's not difficult to notice the inspiration of the developers. Very often we have the opportunity to watch videos explaining the situation on screen and frankly? I would love to play a decent RPG in the world of Warcraft. Story for 25 hours with well-known characters? Battle for Azeroth shows that Blizzard has great writers in its ranks, who show character and skills in this expansion.
