Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Release date: August 26, 2024
Platforms: Windows PC
Genre: MMORPG
Game Pass: No
Price: $49.99 & $11.99 monthly subscription
Buy at: Blizzard
World of Warcraft turns 20 in November. That means I've been playing World of Warcraft (often known as WoW) for 20 years. I am old, and so is its player base. Blizzard seems to have acknowledged some of that in a big way in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
Indeed, as mentioned, the latest expansion is called The War Within, and takes place within Azeroth itself, the planet over which all sorts of interdimensional horrors and outer gods seem obsessed with fighting for. The previous expansion Dragonflight was well received overall, with a big overhaul in playstyle-defining talent trees, heaps of added depth to profession systems, wrapped in a lower-stakes conflict that set the stage for the latest bout of nightmares eager to devour World of Warcraft players from beyond the great dark.
Since the game's launch, I've been playing almost non-stop. I've completed every single main and side quest. I've kitted out two characters, obtained rare mounts I thought would take me months to acquire, and beaten every boss the game has to offer in its pre-season state. Ahead of the Season 1 launch, I thought it was appropriate to put my initial thoughts to paper, and then update this review over the coming months with each content update to see how The War Within evolves over time.
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This review is both for veteran players as well as interested potential newcomers, but also Blizzard itself. This review is as much for you as it is framed for (hopefully) constructive feedback for one of the most successful and intriguing video game projects in history, and what is undoubtedly one of the best PC games of all time. It's also the first World of Warcraft launch expansion since Microsoft purchased Activision-Blizzard last year, which is of particular interest, given that Activision meddling was often blamed for World of Warcraft's more recent declines.
Either way and make no mistake, The War Within proves that Blizzard has absolutely no intention of slowing down. My issues with WoW: The War Within do little to dent the overall experience right now. Honestly, I haven't been this invested in a World of Warcraft experience since vanilla itself, and for me, that's a huge achievement in of itself.
The War Within represents a big leap in immersive story telling, a vast expansion of solo and alternate-character play accessibility, and an exciting overarching saga set up that could define the next decade of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft: The War Within Review — Story delivery
The headline act here, for me, is the story delivery. World of Warcraft's central gameplay loop hasn't changed in an enormous way for the most part (save for solo play, and we'll get to that in a minute), but I would argue that The War Within represents a huge evolution for how Blizzard thinks about story telling in its flagship product. Arguably, The War Within has the best story delivery the game has seen since Legion, and potentially, maybe ever.
It's hard not to draw some comparisons here, as there are only really two major subscription based MMORPGs that remain popular in any capacity. One is Final Fantasy 14, and the other is World of Warcraft. A couple of years ago, I wrote an editorial about how Final Fantasy 14 was on the cusp of eating World of Warcraft's lunch, owing in part to a more thoughtful delivery on story beats and character development. I certainly wasn't alone in thinking that, either. After the middling reception of the Shadowlands expansion and the way the poor writing unravelled some of Warcraft's most iconic characters, I feel like Blizzard really had to begin rethinking how it treats its story beats. The War Within builds on the improvements Blizzard made in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight in a big way, with a far more thoughtful approach on character building, coupled with boosted cinematic tech investment.
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The War Within kickstarts a new saga that Blizzard has dubbed "The Worldsoul Saga," presumptively named after the planet Azeroth itself. In the Warcraft universe, we've discovered that planetary bodies can carry powerful souls, in essence, which the godly Titan pantheon have used to nurture new Titans into existence. Titans certainly aren't infallible, though, with the leader of the apocalyptic Burning Legion, Sargeras, being a Titan that fell to demonic influence. Thus sets the stage for The War Within. A shadowy agent of the void, Xal'atath, is seemingly seeking to usurp Azeroth's Worldsoul for her nefarious own ends. Although much of her plans remain utterly shrouded in mystery.
Players and major story characters like Alleria Windrunner, Anduin Wrynn, and Magni Bronzebeard answer the call of the planet itself to seek out the lands of Khaz Algar, built atop a large Titan facility. It's the home land of the Earthen, a faction of proto-dwarves that are made of rock and stone, animated by the Titans themselves. Here, we learn about their diverse culture, inter-civilization conflicts, and ultimately help them overcome internal political conflicts to face the bigger threat — Xal'atath, and her various proxies.
The journey into the deep caverns of Khaz Algar represents some of World of Warcraft's greatest character building to date, with all characters wrestling with their past in different ways. I won't spoil it, but the resolution of a 20-year sub-plot between Magni Bronzebeard and his family had me tearing up for the first time across almost 20,000 hours spent in this game world. This felt like Blizzard's writing team at its absolute best, paying careful attention not to make the same mistakes of previous expansions while also balancing the need to acknowledge those previous, potentially unpopular writing decisions.
Blizzard made certain to add a lot of additional optional dialogue beats beyond the main cutscenes too for those that are interested, further developing its characters and shaping our understanding of their motivations. Blizzard's under-investment in story development seriously harmed the game across the Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands expansions, with character decisions and motivations lacking explanation or appearing contradictory in practice. However, some of those "rushed" writing beats do still appear at times in The War Within, which I hope Blizzard continues to work through.
Some of the game's zones have a great arching sub plot that usually culminates in a dungeon story event, complete with a mini antagonist being taken down. The Ringing Deeps has its dysfunctional Titan machines and a seemingly tyrannical, corrupt steward to deal with. Dornogal on the surface sees two factions of Titan-loyal and Titan-disloyal Earthen fight through frosty relations. Hallowfall represents a lost human faction of Arathi in constant war with void-empowered Nerubian spiders, and in Azj-Kahet, we help rebel spiders fight against Xal'atath's usurping of the throne.
Some of the beats here are quite familiar territory. Azj-Kahet is unmistakably similar to Legion's Suramar, where players help rebel Nightborne reclaim their city from The Burning Legion complete with espionage and subterfuge. It even has a similar dungeon, complete with a "find the spy" event. Hallowfall, while absolutely stunning, deals with human void cultists (Twilight's Hammer from Temu), and overzealous Holy Light users (Scarlet Crusade from Temu, although they have much better uniforms).
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Some of the pacing of these areas clearly fell on the wrong side of development timing, too. In Hallowfall, the dungeon "The Dawnbreaker" has a lot of flying mechanics inside it which is quite fun (depending on who you ask at least), but it also has some inexplicable story beats. In the dungeon, the entire city has been overthrown by Nerubians, carrying very little story explanation as far as I could tell. I feel as though seeing the entire city overrun by Nerubians should've had a bit more tie-in to the story outside of the dungeon, unless I somehow missed some of the beats there.
Additionally, the fighting Earthen factions put aside their millennia's worth of differences almost immediately after the player shows up. I feel as though some of these story beats are an example of "gameplay over story design," which Blizzard has long admitted to prioritizing, for better or worse. But it's all the more jarring when other aspects of the story delivery have been so good overall.
What remains true is that this is the first time I've gone through and completed every quest in the game right from the first week of play. Besides a couple of minor gripes with certain aspects of pacing, the overall delivery has been fantastic. There's tons of additional story beats, lore items, and optional dialogue scenes that add believability and weight to proceedings. The cinematic treatment has been top tier, with incredible music and big moments that are among some of Warcraft's biggest beats. I'm intrigued by the villain, immersed in the mysteries, and once again feel like I'm playing an MMORPG and not just an cosy MMO from my nostalgic past purely out of habit.
World of Warcraft: The War Within Review — Art and Performance
One aspect of World of Warcraft that once again, firmly fires on all cylinders, is the art department. Blizzard's art and design team are world-class, and the fact they're still able to squeeze so much juice out of World of Warcraft's decades-old engine speaks to the team's talent, tenacity, and technical wizardry.
I already mentioned the recent tech that improves World of Warcraft's facial expressions and dialogue delivery, but even beyond that, Khaz Algar and its environs deliver in a way that I wouldn't have expected from an expansion set almost entirely underground. Somehow Blizzard managed to perfectly balance the uniquely harrowing setting that is Tolkien-esque caverns and great deeps, while also delivering a subterranean world that feels vast in its expanse. Hallowfall is on the edge of a massive underground ocean, complete with its own "sun" crystal protruding through the ceiling. The flora all angles towards the crystal, known as Beledar, which shows great attention to detail and a willingness to build consistency rather than develop a fantastical backdrop for the sake of it. Indeed, everything in Khaz Algar feels like it has lived-in depth. When the Hallowfall crystal cycles between light and shadow, the citizenry all rush to get in doors before the shadowy void creatures emerge. Every three hours for half an hour, the entire zone cycles into a dark mode, offering unique gameplay opportunities but it also just looks incredible to witness. I'm really excited to see what else Blizzard does to marry its gameplay elements even deeper with its environmental treatment.
The Ringing Deeps delivers a bit more of that dwarven cavern fantasy, complete with large steampunk Titan facilities, gigantic fungal colonies, and wax-laden Kobold settlements. It culminates in one of my favorite dungeons in the expansion, where players find out the true meaning behind the famed Kobold phrase "you no take candle," with eldritch gameplay elements designed around staying well within the light.
I feel as though World of Warcraft's music delivery has taken a leap forward too in this expansion. Some scenario events and zones look spectacular visually, but I found it was the music that added that thumping sense of urgency. The huge war between the Xal'atath Nerubians and Hallowfall Arathi is a particular high point of the expansion for me, with a large amount of detailing and inspired design feeding into it. The Nerubian species may look like 8-legged monsters, but they're among Azeroth's most advanced civilizations, and the ingenuity of Blizzard's art direction really emphasizes that here. The vast array of spider silken technology is incredibly well realized, from floating silk mines to gigantic airship-destroying web traps, the Nerubians are a true force to be reckoned with.
Indeed, that sense of "RPG" has really returned to World of Warcraft in recent years. Blizzard has shown an proficiency in delivering on this premise throughout the game's history, but I really felt as though The War Within represented more investment in this area than the game has seen in years, perhaps since Legion almost ten years ago. There's a meticulousness in the art direction that adds layers of immersion and believability throughout Khaz Algar, and even after dozens of hours spent at level 80, I keep finding new delightful details that make me feel ever more connected to the Worldsoul Saga and its future.
World of Warcraft: The War Within Review — Gameplay
World of Warcraft's core gameplay loop has been viciously addictive and rewarding even during some of the game's worst expansion cycles, but The War Within continues Blizzard's recent change in philosophy of improving the entire game at a systemic level. To that end, The War Within has some of the best changes we've seen from the franchise to date, and represents something that could make the game more popular than ever — at least potentially.
Before I dive deeper into the core endgame loop, it's important to note that this review is based on pre-season content. The pre-season is effectively up to "heroic" 5-man dungeon difficulty, and isn't really representative of the full slate of progression players will have access to after this review ships. I plan to update this review over time as the expansion progresses, to record how the game ebbs and flows and provide feedback therein. I have to say, though, this pre-season cycle has been a breath of fresh air for various reasons.
For World of Warcraft: The War Within, Blizzard has massively, massively improved the experience for solo players, which has been a long-time weakness of the game for decades. It remains to be seen how well some of these gameplay systems land over time, but early signs are very positive.
The first big change here is what Blizzard is calling your "Warband," which essentially refers to all of the characters on your account, regardless of server or faction. Now, many of the game's more "grindier" systems like Renown / Reputation gains are now per account, rather than per character. This makes playing alt characters far more friendly, as that sense of "progression" you experience is now across your entire account, rather than any single character. You also have access to an account-wide Warband bank, and can even share account-bound gear between characters to speed up the gearing and progression process. This makes dipping into other specs, characters, and experiences far more easy than it has ever been. I've already managed to gear up my main and a secondary alt healer to raid-ready levels, without feeling like I had to invest choring amounts of time to do so.
I mentioned in the intro that Blizzard seems intent on delivering shorter gameplay loops where possible. There's a consensus in the industry in general that players have less time to invest in any single game these days, owing to work constraints, evolving user behavior, and competition from other forms of entertainment. To that end, Blizzard has created a new soloable dungeon tier called Delves, which are miniature experiences taking place across 10-20 minute runs, for anywhere between 1 and 5 players. These Delves seem quite fun so far, and in Season 1, they will also reward high-end gear for tackling higher difficulty versions. They will also culminate in a special 13th Delve boss battle, which Blizzard hopes will allow solo players to showcase a mastery of their chosen class, similar to things like the Brawler's Guild or Mage Tower of expansions past.
It remains to be seen if Delves can stand up to the test of time. Blizzard has dabbled with this kind of content before, but if seasonal Delves land, it could open World of Warcraft up to solo players for the first time in a big way.
Another new system added to World of Warcraft are "Hero Talents," and it's here where I have the most criticism for Blizzard right now. This entire system just feels rushed out the gate, with some talent trees firing on all cylinders with great class fantasy, animations, and functionality — while others languish bereft of animations or, in some cases, basic logic.
As a Demonology Warlock, I've been blessed with two Hero Talent trees that are not only cool as hell, but are also fun to play through and experience. I can summon a Pit Lord demon, something I've dreamt of doing since vanilla, who appears out of a radioactive firey haze to blast my enemies with a powerful nuclear laser beam. Conversely, my Dark Ranger hunter gets an ability they already used to get as part of their talent trees, with the most basic shadowy sliver of special effects as compensation.
There are tons of examples where Hero Talents for some classes just fall way below the standards set by others, missing out on thoughtful designs or special effects that are crucial for adding flavor. In some cases, they even detract from the flavor. Many of the Druid Hero Talents, for example, are all elven themed. What if I'm a troll druid? or a Kul Tiran druid? Furthermore, I'm incredibly nervous about how these abilities will be balanced over time.
It reminds me of Shadowlands' hated Covenant system, where players had to pick between optimal power over aesthetic choices. Blizzard acknowledged the mistakes with the Covenant system in that capacity, yet here they are, apparently making the same error again with Hero Talents. What if I don't want to choose between an Elven-themed or a Shadow-themed Marksmanship Hunter? What if I'm a goblin hunter who doesn't feel like either Hero Talent tree fits my class fantasy?
It's clear Blizzard hasn't thought some of this stuff through with Hero Talents, and we even have evidence as such. The Dark Ranger Hero Talent tree I mentioned has a full-bore complete revamp in the works right now, changing literally every aspect of it. I suspect other trees will see similar reworks as well down the line... but what if they don't? What if you're stuck with lameness forever? That's a big question mark many people have over the system right now — even if I'm quite happy with the ones offered to my warlock main. Blizzard could solve some of this by expanding the Glyph system to give players more control over the aesthetics of some of these abilities. Sadly, Blizzard seems to hate the cosmetic Glyph system it previously designed, despite players' desperation for it to return.
As I mentioned, parts of this section will need to be updated once the true endgame begins, which is Season 1. Delves will open up into deeper difficulty modes, Mythic+ dungeoneering content, freshly streamlined, will also open up. The first raid tier will also become available, set inside the traitor Nerubian Queen's palace. We'll have a better idea of how Delves will factor in to the game's new focus on solo player options, and also how Khaz Algar will feel for veteran players hoping to call Azeroth home for the next several weeks. Over all though, I've had a ton of fun already with the base expansion experience.
Across World of Warcraft's elevated story experience, decreased restrictions on alt-character play, potential in Delves, and intriguing overarching saga, I haven't been this immersed or optimistic about WoW's future in a very long time. Blizzard is already on hand to fix some of the Hero Talent system's shortcomings (hopefully), and has already revealed plans for a WoW 20th anniversary celebration in November 2024 (just don't look at the new shaman ascendant form...).
There's a vast amount of potential to be explored in the depths of Khaz Algar still. Perhaps we'll see new zones open up in deeper cavern systems. We have no idea who the second raid tier antagonist will be. Will we get additional allied races, such as the heavily-teased Harronir? Will Blizzard finally add player housing (sorry)?! Only time will tell.
Either way, The War Within has made me incredibly excited about WoW again, building on the foundation from Dragonflight, while learning from the mistakes of Shadowlands. Long may Warcraft live.
World of Warcraft: The War Within Review — Conclusion
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I mentioned in the intro that this review was feedback oriented for Blizzard, but also to inform both veteran and returning players. It's hard to cover every corner of such a huge game without writing a 10,000+ word thesis on the topic, but hopefully there's some good overview in here about whether or not it's worth giving a try.
The biggest downside of WoW remains its new player experience. World of Warcraft now puts new players into the Dragonflight expansion, which is still a far cry from the immersive experience of vanilla, where players can experience their full faction fantasy and grow in power and experience in a gradual, low-stakes way. Instead, Blizzard will throw you into an endgame experience essentially, with random characters acting like they knew you all along, while calling you "Champion" and referring to your past deeds that new players had no hand in. WoW is desperately crying out for another base game revamp, but The War Within ain't it, at least this time around.
For veteran players, The War Within represents a great moment to return to the fold. It's the start of a fresh new story complete with returning characters, deep story beats, and elevated technical delivery. The new zones are compact and dense with lore and interesting biomes, and the variety of endgame activities seems solid, even without the seasonal complement.
If you're not overly concerned about the story, there are still tons of reasons to play. And frankly, if you're a new player, not caring about the story might be a help rather than a hindrance, since it doesn't do a great job of introducing and immersing new players into proceedings. The new Earthen race is a fun fresh face for creating alts, especially on Horde, who previously had no dwarves of their own. The profession systems are heavily involved and rewarding for those who enjoy that type of gameplay. Delves have massive long-term potential, and the tried-and-tested dungeon, Mythic+, and raid content will continue to be as infectious as ever.
Hero Talents could've used more time to bake in the oven, and there were a range of irritating bugs and glitches in the early days, but the overall experience is among the best I've had at the start of a World of Warcraft expansion. I'm curious to see if Blizzard can keep up the momentum.
World of Warcraft: The War Within is available now at Battle.net for $49.99 with a required monthly subscription of $12.99 per month.
