World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft grabs you from the very moment you start the game. The character creation screen features 2 factions, 10 races, and 8 classes. It also allows you to customize the face, skin color, hair, and features of your character such as earrings. Surprisingly, every single one of the classes is fun, and all though not perfectly balanced, Blizzard did a great job considering the variety of the classes and talents.

The game world is huge. Bigger than almost any game ever made barring the original Everquest. Tons of zones and areas to explore, each one feeling unique. There are thousands of items and quests in the game, which will keep you coming back for more constantly. Each class has 3 "Talent Trees" that allow them to specialize in a certain aspect of that class, which have roughly 50+ talents each, and each time you gain a level, you get a talent point to place wherever you like - adding tons of depth and replayability to the game and it's classes. There are also professions you can choose, such as Enchanting, which allows you to permanently modify gear with status bonuses and effects, or blacksmithing, which allows you to craft weapons and armor. Every item in the game that isn't "soulbound" to you (all uncommon and up items that you have equipped, and most raid items), can be sold in the game's Auction House. Items range from potions, to weapons and armor, to minerals, herbs and other various materials. All of which are put up by other players, adding a living economy to the game, and yet another exciting dynamic.

Perhaps best of all is the sheer amount there is to do. You can do anything from go anywhere in the world you like fishing, to gathering herbs, working on your professions, look for groups to run 5 person dungeons (instances), raid with up to 24 other people in the game's highest end dungeons, or engage in player vs player combat, either anywhere in the world, or in "instanced" battlegrounds you can queue up for. All kills of other players award you honor points that can be spent on PvP specialized gear and other PvP related items.

World of Warcraft is one of the most user friendly MMORPG's out there, but is also one of the most deep, polished, huge, and rewarding games out there.

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Visuals - 9
Although not cutting edge, the cartoonish graphics in World of Warcraft are polished, highly diverse, and work extremely well for the game.

Sound - 7
Most of the time the music is fitting background music for the zone you're in, and sometimes it's very atmospheric and enjoyable. In most cases it is fitting and easy to listen to. The sound effects are what you'd expect, good, but nothing amazing.

Gameplay - 9.5
The combat in this game is extremely fun, and intuitive, yet deep if you have the skill and understanding for it.

Story - 9
The lore in World of Warcraft stems back all the way through the Warcraft RTS series, and is very well written and engaging. It has even been written in to multiple books and mangas.

Lasting Appeal - 10
This game has enough content out of the box to literally keep you interested for months. The expansion nearly doubles the amount of content, and Blizzard constantly patches in more additions of content and gameplay/tweaks and changes. This game has the potential to keep you playing until the day it goes offline. You won't find a game with more lasting value.


Overall - 9.5


-Chronous