As of this writing, I’ve spent about seven hours on World of Warcraft: The War Within – basically every moment between the moment I unlocked it and the moment I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And it’s very early to say anything definitive. But… I have a very good feeling about this, guys. From the story to the environments to the novel features, World of Warcraft is firing on all cylinders. I’m not completely thrilled, nor am I exaggerating, but compared to the releases of the last three expansions, the sultry glow of a novel adventure hits differently this time around.
Relatively speaking, I’ve been putting enough time into it, so while some crazy people I’ve already hit 80 in a few hours, I logged out for the night at level 73. This pace allowed me to pick up three novel hero talents for my Marksman Ranger, and I chose the Night Elf-themed Sentinel over the Sylvanas-inspired, tortured-soul-themed Dark Ranger. I’m not thrilled with these talents yet; we’ll see how I feel at level 80, but I don’t feel the significant change in my power or playstyle with each level that I expected.
I like that The War Within doesn’t add a ton of novel buttons to my quickbar. I chose Sentinel over Dark Ranger in part because the latter makes you plug a novel attack into your rotation, and I like that I have the option not to worry about it.
Preparing the scene
In case you missed the gigantic reveal from last BlizzCon, The War Within is set to be the first in a trilogy of expansions that aim to tell a larger, more complete story. It’s something WoW has never done before, and I’m very excited about it. Without giving too much away, the first hour of the story definitely feels like we’re barreling full steam ahead toward something sweeping and epic. Some major sacred cows in the story are actually on the chopping block (not literally—Baine’s fine, don’t worry). And Xal’atath is a fascinating novel nemesis—and not just because she’s a sizzling goth mom.
I mean, partly yes. But it’s not Just This.
I’ve only seen the first of The War Within’s zones, the lush and picturesque Dorn Island, which sits on the surface just above the other 80 percent. It feels very familiar to a long-time WoW player, much in the same way the Dragon Islands did, and basically all the best features from Dragonflight are back. You get Dynamic Flying (what used to be called Dragonriding) almost immediately, which I still have mixed feelings about, because I think exploring novel zones for the first time on the ground gives you a greater sense of place and size. But I don’t have any bad feelings about the return of the stimulating air races and the expanded profession system.
Dornogal, capital of the Earthen who protect the depths of Azeroth, is one of the coolest hub cities we’ve ever had, with majestic Titan architecture and an compelling political storyline to unravel, and it’s much more organized and easier to navigate than the sometimes disorienting vertical layout of Valdrakken.
And the music! I can safely say that Isle of Dorn has my favorite WoW music since, damn, Wrath of the Lich King maybe? Since Blizzard composers always kill it with their orchestral excellence, it’s really something when they release so many tracks that stand out even by their high standards.
There’s a long road ahead of us
Like Dragonflight, the smaller zone quests are often memorable and moving. I think this time everyone will be talking about one of the semi-immortal Earthlings who realizes his mind is starting to deteriorate and asks you to support him sort things out as he plans to end his life in the time-honored way of his people. I never tire of reminding you that for all the world-shaking, fantasy intrigue that drives World of Warcraft on a story level, these kinds of heartfelt and relatable stories are what make it special.
I’m also pretty confident about Delves, the novel solo content that’s meant to be a sort of endgame alternative to raids and Mythic+ for people like me who don’t like interacting with random people and don’t have any friends who still play the game from the group I started with in 2004. It includes the same stupid and ridiculous fleeting power-ups that I loved in Torghast, including one that gives you a double jump and another that significantly increases damage as long as you never drop below half health. If Torghast only has one fan, it’s me. If Torghast has no fans, I’m gone from this Earth. So it’s great to see some of the things that worked in it coming back.
In one game I played, they were basically Sonic the Hedgehog’s bouncy mushrooms, allowing for a novel way to explore vertically, and in another, they were wall-mounted ledges that you could climb to with a grappling hook. The only thing that’s dampening my excitement is that so far, they seem really, really compact – in some cases, they last less than 15 minutes. Part of that is because I haven’t unlocked the higher difficulties yet, so I can basically spam Arcane Shot my way through the entire game without looking at my health bar. And I’ve only seen the first three. But I was hoping for something closer to the length of a five-player dungeon experience.
There’s a lot more to The War Within that I haven’t seen at this point than I have, but I’m having a blast so far, which is probably the highest praise I can give the expansion at launch. Check back next week for the first major update on my progress and for my final verdict sometime after Season 1 and the first raid unlock on September 10.
