After shipping players off to a new continent and even an entirely different planet over the last couple of years, Blizzard has gone full steam ahead with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion, which brings the world's most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game back to its roots. And then it takes those roots, grinds them up, and serves players an entirely fresh experience in the world of Azeroth. Join GameSpy columnist and WoW-head Leif Johnson as he travels through this whole new world (of Warcraft), exploring new zones, beating new dungeons, and enjoying what may turn out to be the happy medium to unite diehards and casual gamers alike.
Over the Moon
Beside me, the object of my first quest was dead, his body brutally torn by monstrous claws. Behind me, I heard Gilneas City's merchant square erupt with rifle blasts, and the snarls of worgen spilling out of nearby homes. Atop a white stallion, Prince Liam Greymane barked out orders as his magnificent city fell ever further into chaos -- and I hadn't even hit level 2 yet. Put simply, after years of hunting down ornery pigs and delivering beer for quests in Alliance starting zones, I was completely unprepared for this. The new World of Warcraft: Cataclysm starting zone was epic, exciting... and I wanted more.
Fortunately, Blizzard doesn't disappoint. An orgy of terrain phasing ensued as I followed King Genn and Prince Liam (and the ever-so-snooty Lord Godfrey) through the darkened, drizzly streets of Gilneas City, slaughtering worgen and seeking the aid of a brilliant rebel locked up in the city's prison. Along the way, I fought off dozens of worgen as they scrambled toward me over the rooftops. Elsewhere, in a quest reminiscent of the Grizzly Hills' "Escape from Silverbrook," I rescued an alchemist trapped amid a rapid pack of lycanthropes. The pacing kept me interested and on my toes; at times, I worried that some new horror would befall the city if I didn't turn my quest in soon enough.
And, of course, a worgen bit me. I'm sure that will heal up nicely.
Gilneas proves that Blizzard's increasingly prolific phasing technology (which dynamically shifts the zone's conditions based on your quest progress) is awesome if used effectively. Instead of non-player characters that stand glued to their spots as throngs of players move around them, we have characters that speak their lines aloud and retreat while worgen overrun the capital. More so than any quest-givers in previous starting zones, these characters seem real -- and their various characterizations make them intensely memorable. On a more mundane level, it also makes turning in quests more convenient. Wrath of the Lich King players got a glimpse of this in Icecrown's phased zones and in the Battle for the Undercity, but Gilneas takes the concept into hyperdrive. With the reformed rebel Lord Darius Crowley, I mowed down wave after wave of worgen with heavy cannons, and we made our last stand in the city's cathedral as the wolf-men burst through the doors and fought their way to the altar.
After the cathedral battle, I woke up as a wild worgen, imprisoned in the stocks outside of the village of Duskhaven after having succumbed to my nasty bite (seriously, who didn't see that coming?). The city had been abandoned, and the dwindling survivors gathered here to defend the rest of the country as best as possible. Without revealing too much, let's just say that I regained control of my senses and was set free, although now I was stuck in worgen form. Save for Lord Godfrey, my companions were surprisingly nonchalant about this. To make matters worse, I stumbled across a dead Gilnean guard while gathering the herbs necessary to maintain my condition... and by the time I returned to Duskhaven, the attackers responsible had arrived in full force. It was the Forsaken, invading in Gilneas' weakest hour.
Pinned in the back by the worgen and endangered on the front by the Forsaken, we attacked the latter as they made their way inland. Using catapults, I launched myself onto the invading ships and slew their captains, taking time along the way to rescue some children who were still in danger. Assisting the suspicious Lord Godfrey, I also scored a minor victory against the force's elite commander with the help of a pack of Gilnean mastiffs (Gilneans really have a thing for dogs).
By the time I dinged level 7, it was clear that poor Gilneas just couldn't get a break. As if worgen running wild through the city and invading Forsaken wasn't bad enough, the building buckled heavily as I reported the good news to Godfrey. Rushing outside, I found that the entire landscape I'd just quested through was utterly gone -- claimed by the sea by a devastating earthquake (note my bugged human form above; Blizzard's still ironing out a few kinks in the shapeshifting part of the worgen storyline). Sure, the Forsaken were delayed, but now I had to help Liam rescue and evacuate survivors before the earthquakes claimed even more land. It also meant that we inched ever closer to a final battle (and the attempt to take back our proud and beautiful city).
All of this occurs before level 10, and this fast pace and heavy use of scripted events sets the tone for the rest of the expansion. The old "get five of these" gathering missions still exist in a somewhat limited form, but they're well-integrated into the stories and usually aren't much of a bother. Blizzard instead focuses on the vehicle- and phasing-based quests that were more common to endgame missions in the last expansion, resulting in new characters starting off on a stunning high that Blizzard can't afford to let down for the rest of the game. Disappointingly, Gilneas is currently a lifeless and empty husk to other races that happen to fly over, and I hope Blizzard adds some interactivity to this unforgettable zone for higher-level players before Cataclysm slides out of beta and into stores.
And fear not, Horde players -- next time, I'll take a look at the goblin starting zone!
Leif Johnson is a trained medieval historian, ex-cowboy (really), and recovering academic who left his graduate studies at the University of Chicago to get a real job -- and now he writes about video games for a living. A devotee of World of Warcraft since launch day in 2004, Leif is also a former longtime member of the early world-class raiding guild Risen. Visit his blog at JeremiahLeifJohnson.com.