Preview Body

Previewed: April 27, 2004
Previewed by: Miguel Cervantes

Release Date: 2004
Genre: MMORPG
Players: Online
ESRB: Pending

Don’t bother checking your compass Toto, we’re not in Azeroth anymore.

As a young gamer growing up in Irvine, Blizzard always seemed like the rich uncle you never got to meet. Its renown as a premiere game developer and publisher had begun to grow with successful titles like The Lost Vikings, Starcraft and Warcraft II, and there were many close opportunities throughout my formative gaming career where I came this close to gaining sneak peeks, early copies and other free Blizzard goodies from numerous friends and contacts. And yet, despite my close proximity to both those who played Blizzard games and those who made them, the fates always conspired to keep me on the periphery of Blizzard’s hits. Thus it was that Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft III passed me by, with nary so much as an early peek or advance copy. The rich uncle had jetted off to Bali for Christmas once again, leaving the space underneath the tree conspicuously bare.

This time around however there’s been a family reunion, and now both the boy from Irvine and one of his favorite game companies have been paired with World of Warcraft, the latest up coming MMOG from Blizzard.

It’s been a long time in coming.

Having spent years in its development, the much-heralded MMOG (Massively Mutliplayer Online Game) from Blizzard is currently in its beta testing phase. During this time Blizzard is taking a long hard look at the online world that millions of Warcraft aficionados will soon be inhabiting, and yours truly was given the opportunity to preview this undiscovered land of adventure, complete with Paladins, Dwarves, Knights, Orcs, Trolls and all. For those new to the genre, MMOG’s are role-playing games conducted exclusively online. Most employ a role playing system and similar interface that allow the player to interact with players online, build up their own characters, and journey cooperatively throughout the online world.

With World of Warcraft (WoW), Blizzard’s aim is to take players from the bird’s eye view they’ve traditionally had with the hit strategy series and immerse them in the world from the ground up. That’s right folks, you heard correctly. For the first time ever, players will be able to journey throughout the lands made famous in the Warcraft series from the perspective of someone inside them. Resource gatherers need not apply.

Sights and Sounds

Diving into World of Warcraft feels a bit like taking a ride alongside Alan Grant and company inside Jurassic Park – you are witness to a vast, vibrant world full of beauty and life, completely enraptured with the sights and sounds of this exotic, yet oddly familiar place. You are also aware of being privy to a land in its infancy, a primal place swathed in the cloak of fantasy and adventure, where both the land and its inhabitants are evolving daily. The visuals, of course, are absolutely gorgeous and highly in keeping with both the colorful oversized nature of the Warcraft universe and the high caliber presentation one has come to expect of Blizzard.

Whatever race you decided to play as, absolutely none of the charm and detail of the RTS series has been lost in translation. In my own initial journeys through Elwynn forest I found myself captivated by the grand imposing oaks with their majestic foliage obscuring the sky overhead, impressed by the faithfully reproduced uniforms of men at arms and charmed by the woodland creatures and the ambience they helped to create. Blizzard has done an outstanding job capturing the look and feel of the Warcraft series.

Speaking of ambience, Blizzard has also implemented a thoroughly enchanting musical score that pipes up at odd intervals (and yet seemingly always at the right moment), helping to set the mood and feel of an epic fantasy adventure and reminding me at times of the original score to Dungeon Siege. At this point my only concern about this facet of the game is system requirements. In the past Blizzard was ever the champion of the common PC (and Mac too!), releasing mega hits whose maximum 800x600 resolution not only allowed greater, more democratic access but also mocked competitors whose ultra-high resolution Diablo-clones languished beneath Blizzard’s shadow.

In fact, it wasn’t until the release of Warcraft III that Blizzard made the jump to 3-D (and hence opening the door to higher more demanding resolutions), so perhaps it is appropriate that the next iteration of the Warcraft saga takes system requirements (considering that it is an MMOG) to the next step. At beta you can currently tweak quite a number of settings, including resolutions from 640x480, to 800x600, to 1024x768 and skyward, and although my 3ghz test system is running the game quite acceptably at 1024x768 I can’t help but wonder how other systems with mellower CPU’s, less ram and less powerful video cards will fair.

After all, if you’re going to pay a monthly fee to Blizzard for access to the game, are you really going to be content with the lower, blockier resolutions? I’ve decided to reserved judgment until the final product is released. Blizzard’s track record in this regard is among the best in the industry; so don’t tell grandma to ditch her E-machine just quite yet.

Nuts and Bolts

Those who are new to MMOG’s or RPG’s will find a lot to like about the interface and control setup. Borrowing elements from Diablo and Warcraft, World of Warcraft utilizes a control system that is both easy to use and intuitive. I was able to jump right in without any documented instructions and within minutes was hacking and slashing my way with aplomb. W-A-S-D controls your directional movement, while clicking and holding the right mouse button allows you to rotate the camera. It does take a bit of getting used to, but holding the right mouse button down while moving is a good compromise, allowing players to exercise control akin to a single player third person based-RPG. Letting go of the mouse button produces a gloved icon that lets you highlight and select objects in the game world.

Acquiring and manipulating objects in your inventory is very much like Diablo – an intuitive click and drag, easy to comprehend experience. Leveling up, tweaking your stats and changing items is equally as easy. Blizzard has learned the lesson of Star Wars Galaxies well, and never once did I feel overwhelmed with too much information at once.

I would like however the help-tutorial messages to stay on screen longer and a small, unobtrusive chime to alert the player to important topics when they’re first encountered and have direct bearing on game mechanics. In many cases I didn’t notice that a help-tutorial message was available until I had wandered out of the area it was relevant to. There also needs to be a better quest indicator on the mini-map in the right hand corner. World of Warcraft is a pretty big place and I can’t slay all those pesky Kobolds if I can’t find them.

I also miss the fact that NPC’s don’t use audio voices; communication is still done through text. Combat is turn based, allowing plenty of time to pull out those spells, special combo attacks or come to the aid of a comrade in need.

We are Family

Another important aspect of World of Warcraft that bears mentioning is its community. The type of people that inhabit your online world can make or break the entire experience, and I’m happy to say that everyone I’ve encountered so far has been helpful, friendly and good natured. Though its almost certain that a few bad apples will find their way into the barrel once the game leaves the blissful state of beta for the raucous world of retail release, Blizzard has restricted Player vs. Player combat to certain areas so the spirit of the game is largely cooperative. Diablo TK’ers need not apply.

On a more personal note, I should say that the cooperative online experience has been a refreshing change from the carnage filled online shooters I have been evaluating lately. WoW just seems to leave one with a much greater sense of accomplishment; having fun, enjoying the (virtual) company of others and contributing to an online community of like-minded players can be a rewarding experience.

Pay to Play?

It’s a darn shame that Blizzard isn’t releasing a single player or offline component to WoW. Despite the gains and successes of the past years Blizzard’s biggest challenge will be to convince the legions of non-fans to cough up their hard-earned copper each month in order to play. Right now I’m sitting on the fence – I didn’t even last past my free month trial of ‘Galaxies’, but from what I’ve seen Blizzard may have the MMOG to trump all MMOG’s on its hand. Only time will tell, and in the meantime I’m off to slay those Kobolds.

Stick with GCM as we follow the World of Warcraft through BETA all the way until it releases later this year. Meanwhile, check out our updated collection of exciting new screenshots in our Preview Gallery.