World of Warcraft
by Blizzard Entertainment
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Category: Video Games
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Product Summary
Brand: Blizzard EntertainmentVideo Games: Region Code 1
Release Date: 2004-11-23
Platform: Mac OS X Intel, Windows, Windows XP
Model: 72212
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Product features:
- This game requires a monthly fee, and an internet connection to play
- Create and customize your own hero from the unique races and classes of the Warcraft universe
- Explore an expansive world with miles of forests, deserts, snow-blown mountains, and other exotic lands
- Visit huge cities and delve through dozens of vast dungeons
- Adventure together with thousands of other players in an enormous, persistent game world
- World of Warcraft Atlas, Second Edition
- World of Warcraft Series 3 Human Priestess Action Figure
- World of Warcraft Series 3 Undead Rogue Action Figure
- World of Warcraft Series 3 Blood Elf Paladin Action Figure
- World of Warcraft Series 3 Draenei Mage Action Figure
Video Game Reviews of World of Warcraft
Customer Review: WoW isn't an Orwellian utopia, but neither is America.
Summary: 4 Stars
The first day I stepped into the world of Azeroth, I was quite pumped to play WoW. A few weeks prior to its release, an old friend mentioned this "World of Warcraft" game coming out. I looked at a few websites, and was actually interested. Many other MMO's simply fell short of entertainment, in my opinion. It felt like paying money to a comapany to literally "work". The terms "Treadmilling" and "Grinding" make me want to shove bamboo shoots under my fingernails. At least that is less painful, and hell, it costs a whole lot less.
So I install, and patch my game. All the normal expectations. It took quite sometime to install, given the game occupies four CD's worth of data. There is also a DVD version to purchase, but I'm unsure wether that would have installed any faster or not. I don't have a DVD-Rom :/ The patching system was a nightmare. Blizzard employs a Peer to Peer file sharing system. On my cable modem, the patch downloaded at about the same speed at 56K modem would on a direct FTP connection. Thank God patches are not an everyday occurance.
The game loads up, and I'm sucked right into it's introduction movie. These movies always make every game seem like they are the best thing since sliced bread, don't they? I log into my newly formed account, and begin playing WoW. Luckily I'm more or less experienced in MMO's. The learning curve was not very steep for me.
I created a Tauren Shaman (There are 8 races and 9 classes to choose from). In the beginning, the User Interface (UI) was a very pleasant thing to manipulate. It was not bulky, and did not feel like it dominated my playing space. There was a bar of Hot-Keys I could place my spells and simple actions into. I could also create macros and assign them to my hotbar as well. Experience gain was clearly shown as a bar along the bottom of my screen, and target information was compact and unintrusive. The fact that windows I opened were locked down are, and continue to be, and irritation. As I progressed, I realized that the UI, athough functional at first, becomes severely limiting in later levels. Blizzard wisely allowed for ambitious home-brew programmers out there to create custom UI's. There are many to choose from, and there is a UI out there for everyone. Smart move letting me customize my game!
I talk to the nearest NPC who gives me a quest to go kill a certain creature, and loot a certain amount of items off of it. Good enough, I was going to go kill those creatures for experience anyway. I begin to notice the sounds and music, and I'm pleasently pleased. The music is unintrusive, yet adds perfectly to the atsmosphere of the game. It fits into the theme of each area I go to, and smoothly transfers from one song to the next. The game sounds are not spectacular, but they aren't horrible either. At times, it is repetetive, such as combat. It doesn't bother me much, because just how many sounds can a mace make bashing into MoB skull anyway?
I get a good look at the general area, and the graphics are quite pleasing to the eye. There is neither too little, nor too much to look at. The lighting is well done, as it's bright enough to see without thinking the Rays of God were penetrating your skull. Likewise, even in the murkiest swamps, at night, the light is still bright enough to see functionally. I want to feel like there is a day and night (Which runs on an accurate, real time 24 hour cycle), but night time need not replicate the darkest corners of hell. I also remark at how well Blizzard has replicated the look of Warcraft. Warcraft never went for realism as did Command and Conquer. There was always a fantasy, cartoonish look to it. WoW Certainly has a fantasy look to it as well. While it does not look like a "Looney Toons" cartoon, it also doesn't look like the "Final Fantasy" movie. Good balance all around.
With my somewhat old system (1.3ghz/512DDR 2700/GeForce FX5200 128DDR), I also notice the game runs well. I check the video settings, and it seems the game had chosen the optimum settings for my computer. I'm not sure if that is what it truly did, but it's nice that I never had to fiddle with the settings. It seems that I'm at about 1/3 of the engine's capability, and I think the world looks quite good. I set it to its highest just to see how smooth it was, and I was very pleased, visually. Crisp graphics. The 2D textures on 3D skins was a bit off, but only if you pay attention. At full capability it was too choppy, so I went back to default. I have never felt like I was "missing out" on anything.
I continue on, and keep doing quests. Some quests have me talk to certain people, others to kill certain things, and lastly, some to merely collect things. During my questing, I don't see any real point to them. Then it dawns on me. Besides the fact that most quest have me killing things I was going to kill anway, the quests also ensure I kill some of every creature. Not only do I experience all the MoBs there are to kill, I'm also exploring every part of the map. By the time I leave the level 1 to 10 newbie zone, my map has every portion of that area explored. I suppose I could have just killed the same creatures in one spot over and over, but the experience would have been dull. Besides, the rewards for the quests were very appropriate. All give extra experience. Some give some cash. Others give armor, weapons, or some other wrothwhile item. By the time I leave the newbie area, the armor and weapon I had were all from quests, and all were very appropriate, if not pretty nice for my level. Further on in the game, some randomly dropped items were better, but quests have never ceased to usually have something I can use if its reward is a tangible item.
As I continue to experience the game over time, I eventually meet some interesting people. Many people in the general chat channels are ingnorant people, but not any more so than other MMO's in my experience. I have a few RL friends who are playing, my wife is playing, and some good people online that I like to adventure with. I joined a large guild, which has provided more support grouping wise. I love to solo in games, but sometimes I need a little extra support. Guild members are a great way to meet up with the same people regularly. This helps greatly, becuase you learn how they play, and can adjust accordingly. Some pick-up groups with strangers can be rewarding. Its those times when some group members are reckless, greedy, or otherwise irritating that make you appreciate making some reliable friends.
I also have chosed to play on a PvP server, as this is the ultimate MoB for me. Always has, always will. Blizzard has created three types of servers. First is the PvP Server. The races are diveded into two factions. Alliance or Horde. In PvP servers, Horde and Alliance are enemies. Thusly, the opposing faction are the one to kill (If you choose or dare to!). Members of the same faction cannot attack each other without consent, by dueling. If you don't like having players be able to randomly attack you, Blizzard has created two other types. The Normal server, and the Roleplaying server. Both these server types require consent to PvP before a fight can be initiated. Normal server are for your average non-PvP player to play in. RP servers are for those who take roleplaying very seriously, and wish not to be bothered by talk about the last football game, or wether the Wopper is better than the Big Mac.
I find leveling to be challenging enough to keep me interested, but not so fast that I have nothing to look forward to. Now this statement has to be put into perpective. I play three chracters, so that I never feel like I'm getting "too much" of one character. This is a personal thing, I just feel that I can only play a character so long before I need a break. I'm more of the hard-core casual. I go days without playing much, or none at all, then I get a few 12 hour days in. Some people play 12 hours a day, every day. They are all at the max of level 60. Its actually humurous to hear that they are bored. If you play the game simply to level, and level alone, expect to be bored. The game wasn't intended to be a race to the finish. If I chose to, I could level once per 12 hours of hard playing. I just don't.
The game does have some up and coming things that I am very much looking forward to. At the time of this writing, there is no reward/penalty system for PvP. Blizzard has plans to make items for high ranked PvP'ers, ranks, and other bennies for those who like to bash each other's skulls in. They also are developing battlegrounds. These grounds are reported to have territory that can be gained, or lost. This also will help those who do enjoy alot of PvP, as the PvP will be consolidated into one easy to find area.
I also want to talk about the issue of the monthly fee. Would I prefer to pay $50 once, and let it be free from then on? Yes and no. Yes, if I like the status quo. I don't. Many complain about paying $15 a month for a game they paid $50 for. This is simple economics. You are paying $50 for the effort in creating the product. This game was years in the making. Did Blizzard NOT pay its employees to make this game? Does Blizzard have servers and bandwidth for free to beta test this game? Is Blizzard's electricity, rent, payroll, travel expenses, etc free? You get my point. As for the ongoing costs, it again is simple. Servers cost money. Maintaining them cost money. Pipes to the internet cost money. Developement, and employees cost money. I'd bet that for every 15 dollars Blizzard gets, 14 of it goes to costs, not profit.
Lastly, is server performance. Luckily I play on a low population server. Such is the nature of most PvP servers. This is one reason why so many people are finding that the game is sold out. Blizzard has sold hundreds of thousands of copies of this game. Even with close to 50 servers, the demand is too great. Here's where all the $50, and $15 are going. There will be more powerful servers. The bandwidth will be better. There will be more servers to choose from. Even with days of spotty server performance, queue's to login, and extended downtimes, those that complain still can't get enough of this game. That in itself speak volumes. Buy the game and stick to a low population server, and you'll be asking yourself "What problems". Losing connection is not as common as many would lead you to believe.
I can go on and on about other virtues of this game, but I don't want people to scream "How long winded is this guy??". If you have some time and little extra cash, give this game a try. Heck, if after the first 30 days, you don't like it, sell it. There is a HUGE line of people waiting to get thier hands on this game, so finding a buyer will not be hard.
-Gameplay: ****/***** Somedays there might not be anything to do, but that's not a common occurance
-Sound: ****/***** Beautifully done score, some repetitive sounds. Not distracting at all.
-Graphics ****1/2/***** Not a new engine, but not one with tons of problems either. Can run on a Porsche or a Yugo. Visually pleasing, and not straining to the eye. Creative and appropriate artwork.
-Cost ***/***** More expensive than some of it's predecessors, but not breaking the bank, either.
-Engineering ****/***** Not alot of "new" ideas, but smart enough to take the best of its competition, and do it well. Although safely played, it's paid off in that it hasn't taken a patch a week to fix all the "new" stuff.
-Support ***/***** Some complaints regarding lack of communication. GM calls not always swiftly handled. Some "fixes" snuck in during patches that nerfs certain players.
Overall: ****/*****
Description of World of Warcraft
Vivendi (72212) World of Warcraft PCWorld of Warcraft didn't invent the online role-playing genre, but it certainly benefits from the missteps of other titles that have come before. A mind-boggling array of improvements in graphics, gameplay, networking, and interface--really every category--makes this game the crown prince of the genre, a great starting place for newbies, and a challenge to any other MMORPG currently in the works.
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| The game's beautifully rendered locations are filled with small details, such as flying birds and flowing water. |
WoW takes place just four years after the real-time strategy Warcraft series, which chronicles a 25 year struggle between the Alliance (humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves) and the Horde (orcs, tauren, trolls, and undead). Even though there's tons of accumulated story to the series, new players should not be daunted. The background is there for you to explore, but you don't have to tread a lot of Azeroth history to get into the action.
| The makers boast 2,000 existing quests with more being added, many of them noncombat in nature. |
The game looks magnificent. There's plenty of detail and variety to the landscapes and interiors, and the artwork has a refreshingly playful style. There's not a lot of variety in the character creation process, but with all the skills and proficiencies to combine in the game, WoW focuses its customization not on the appearance of your character but rather on the character of your character. The game lets you adopt any two trade skills, regardless of character race or class, and combine those skills in useful ways. If you choose skinning and leatherworking, for example, you can fashion bags from the carcasses of monsters you defeat, which will allow you to carry even more inventory items.
Expanded Commerce
You can sell the items you make, find, and loot through a variety of outlets. Like any role-playing game, WoW has merchants who will buy your cast-off items for fixed prices, but you can also sell to other players at your own price through in-game chat or by leaving it with one of the auction houses located across the map. This virtual free market is a game within the game, like Monopoly somehow inserted into the middle of Chess. Heck, you can even send items C.O.D. to other players via the game's mail system.
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| The game's Quest Log keeps track of up to 20 quests at a time. |
A Level Playing Field
There's also a built-in handicap for casual players where your character enters a rest state when you log off from the game. The longer you're logged off (up to a week), the bigger the experience bonus you'll get when you return to battle. An enemy tagging feature--the player who lands the first attack on an enemy claims the loot for himself or his party--prevents onlookers from swooping in and pilfering items from a monster that you brought down. That resolves a common complaint of other titles.
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| Icons and pop-ups help put complex controls easily within reach. |
All of this makes for a very complicated game, but the well-designed interface puts all the game's elements into icons either visible framing the action or within a simple keystroke. The enemy's artificial intelligence is quite strong too: Monsters will join nearby fights to aid their comrades, switch targets strategically midbattle, and ambush players. The map system fills in details on places you've visited, so you always know where you are and where you've been.
Overall, World of Warcraft is a game that's easy to learn, challenging to master, beautiful to watch, and tons of fun to play. --Porter B. Hall
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating System | PC: Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista (with latest Service Packs) Mac: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer | |
| CPU | PC: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlong XP 1500+ Mac: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor | PC: Dual-core processor, such as Intel Pentium D or AmD Athlong 64 X2 Mac: Intel 1.8 GHz processor or better |
| Graphics Hardware | PC: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transfor and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce2 class card or better Mac: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB VRAM, such as ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or better | PC: 3D Graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capabilities with 128 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT class card or better Mac: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM, such as ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better. |
| Memory | PC: 512 MB (1 GB for Vista) Mac: 1 GB | PC: 1 GB (2 GB for Vista) Mac: 2 GB |
| Hard Drive Space | 15 GB of free space | |
| All Platform Requirements | Keyboard and mouse, required for controls. Other input devices not supported. Active broadband Internet connection required to play. | |
For the first time, players can experience the lands of WarCraft's Azeroth from a new, in-depth perspective. As heroes, they explore familiar battlefields, discover new lands, and take on epic quests and challenges in Blizzard's massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Blizzard has taken care to make the game accessible and fun both for hard-core 60-hour-a-week players and for more casual adventurers.
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