Burning Legion Defeated...What now? World of Warcraft - Battle for Azeroth Review

INTRODUCTION

With the Burning Legion defeated, Azeroth stabbed and Azerite being the new great resource for war, the Alliance and the Horde are again at war. After the War of Thorns in which both Lordaeron and Teldrassil are lost, the Alliance and the Horde leave for new islands to recruit new allies while also requiring players to level up to level 120. I will try to keep the review as spoiler free as possible. while focusing on the technical things that come with Battle For Azeroth.

Boralus, Capital of Kul Tiras and Alliance hub.

CONTENT

The story takes us now to two new locations. Well, new in WoW, not in the Warcraft universe. Kul Tiras for the Alliance and Zandalar for the Horde. The design of Kul Tiras feels like place from Victorian England mixed with plenty of Lovecraftian inspired creatures. Zandalar on the other hands takes you through an Aztec like world with plenty of dinosaurs. Along with the new zones Battle for Azeroth also launched with 10 new dungeons and a raid which will open in early September.

Dazar'alor Capital of the Zandalari Trolls and Horde Hub

Along with the already released for pre-order Allied Races with the launch of Battle For Azeroth we also have access(after we complete some achievements) to the Dark Iron Dwarves for the Alliance and Mag'har Orcs for the Horde with the Zandalari Trolls and Kul'Tiran Humans to come at a later date.

The Heart of Azeroth

In Legion we had Artifact Weapons. Now they're gone, powerless, Instead we get a sort-of-permanent neck item/amulet called Heart of Azeroth. As we gather Azerite(a new type of ore/crystal that is said to be Azeroth's blood) so does the ilvl of the Heart of Azeroth increase which also unlocks different upgrades for Azerite Armor which replaces in a way the powers unlocked in the Artifact weapons in Legion. It has 3 rings, each unlockable at a certain Heart of Azeroth level. Of course the champion system persists with new champions, minions and new missions focused on the BfA zones together with a new research tree.

Azerite Armor Menu

Battle for Azeroth also brings two new other types of content. Warfronts and Expeditions. Warfronts are 20-man PvE Scenarios inspired by the Warcraft RTS but so far only one is featured, taking place in Arathi Highlands. Expeditions are 3-man PvE Scenarios focused on finding Azerite in random unexplored and uncharted islands before the 3 members of the opposing faction, which depending on the difficulty chosen can either be AI controlled or players.

 

The Great Seal, Horde base of operations inside Dazar'alor

AUDIO & GRAPHICS

Since we're talking about an expansion for World of Warcraft, the changes in this department aren't usually that big. The Soundtrack is well done, as usual while the ambient sound and the voiced characters are keeping up to the classic blizzard standards. Animations are slightly improved, some spells have reworked effects, quite a lot of old creatures/NPCs have been remodeled to more modern standards. The new areas are of course quite impressive, you can see in different screenshots along the article, but the graphics won't receive such an high score since it can show the game is sort of old at different points and Blizzard could have done a wee bit more remodeling in older areas and with more older creatures/NPCs. BUUUUT Don't forget to take a break in a Boralus Inn as the music is quite relaxing there!

Stormsong Valley, Kul Tiras

WRAP-UP

With Blizzard trying to teach an old dog some new tricks, Battle for Azeroth proves that it can be a very interesting and entertaining expansion pack. Should you buy it? Well if you like MMOs, don't mind a monthly subscription and love warcraft yes. In fact even if you hate monthly subscriptions, don't like MMOs you should still buy it.

 Overall Score 9/10

•     Graphics 7/10
•     Audio 9.5/10
•     Story 9/10
•     Content 10/10
•     Gameplay 9.5/10

Alliance Harbor in Vol'dun

Game details:

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: Windows, macOS
Release Date: Aug. 13/14, 2018
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Launch Price: 44.99 Eur

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