"Yep, Blizzard sold their souls to the devil in exchange for being able to make great games"
Ever since Blizzard started out way back when with titles such as Blackthorne and the first Warcraft, any intelligent gamer knew that this young company had some serious potential. And, unlike many other companies, they knew to tap into that. Hit after hit with titles such Warcraft II and III and Starcraft, it became known that Blizzard truly has what it takes to make a game.

And now they've proved that yet again with their first MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game): World Of Warcraft.

Graphics
These are, by far, the best I've seen for a MMORPG. Beautiful lighting, great atmospheres, nicely done anti-aliasing. You don't get graphics like this on any other game in its genre. Of course, you'll need a pretty high-end computer to see World Of Warcraft in its full glory, but even on low to medium settings, the graphics still shine.

Now, there are games which have far better graphics than this (Half-Life 2, Doom 3), but as I said, this being a MMORPG, it has to sacrifice a bit on the graphics department to avoid big laggspikes.

This easily gets an 8/10

Sound

Now, there's already a beautiful atmosphere set by the landscapes, but the sound is simply perfectly added. From soothing music in the forests of Ashenvale to almost tribal music in the almost deserted Thousand Needles, everything has fitting music to further emphasize the atmosphere. Very nicely done.

Sound effects are the basics. Sword swooshes, some sound effects for your special skills, and some grunting. Nothing new on this department, yet it gets the job done.

This gets a 7.5/10

Gameplay

This is the essential part. What good are graphics and sound, if you have a terrible game to put it in? Well, don't worry about that.

In total, there are 8 races divided over 2 factions, and you'll have a total of 9 classes to choose from. Each class is unique to play as, and some can even summon a minion or pet to help.

Contrary to most MMORPGs, the quests you'll receive are instructed properly, so you'll know what you'll have to do. These are also nicely varied, ranging from simply killing a number of beasts to performing a test of faith by jumping off a cliff.
The quests also give you a decent reward most of the time, ranging from cash to useful items, or sometimes even both. Of course, the reward is always coupled with a lot of experience you'll receive for completing the quest.

Speaking of experience, this is the fundamental part of the game. Fight a lot, complete quests, and you'll get experience. The more you get, the more you'll level up, and of course the stronger you'll become. Each 2 levels, you'll be able to buy skills or spells for your character. Also a nice perk are the Talents which you'll receive once you hit level 10. These are sometimes minor, sometimes major boosts to some of your skills. You don't have to buy these, but you only get one talent point to distribute each time you level up. Now, you can't distribute into all of your talents (seeing as how the max level you can get is 60), so think wisely about what you want to make stronger.

Aside from the experience and quests, there are also professions. You can learn 2 primary professions out of a total of 9, and as much secondary professions as you want, out of a total of 3. These vary from enchanting your items to make them stronger, or even making your own armor/weapon sets.

Now, all this is nice and all, but they're not much fun if you have a cramped up world to be roaming around in. Again, not the case. World Of Warcraft's play area is HUGE. There are 2 continents, both divided into zones, of which some are Alliance territory, some Horde territory, and some Contested territory.

Which brings me to another beautiful part of the gameplay: PvP (Player versus Player). On Normal servers, you have the choice whether you want to enable this or not. On PvP servers, you don't. At least, you don't have that choice if you're in Contested or in the opposing faction's territory. When PvP is enabled, members of opposing factions duke it out for something called Honor Points. The more you get of these, the higher rank you'll become, and the more special goodies you can buy at a reasonably low price.

But it's best not to venture into enemy territory on your own. Best to form a raid (a very large group of people) and storm in there. This way you'll have a much better chance of surviving, not to mention it's very cool to watch several raids, which sums up to about 120 people, storm into enemy villages. You'll need a high-end computer for that not to get jittery though.

But wait! There's more! Aside from venturing into enemy territory, there are Battlegrounds. Special PvP areas where opposing factions can duke it out.

And lastly, there are the special goodies such as an item to transform into a pirate/skeleton/ninja, buying pets (non-battle), auctioning items off, a special fair which tours the continent.

Now, all this is beautiful to read, I hope, but still useless if the lagg is killing you. Good news: even if you have a ping of 350 and up (which is a rare occurrence, the servers are pretty stable), you will barely notice it. Don't ask me how they did that, but it's true. Compared to other MMORPGs, it's running so smoothly, you'd think you're playing offline.

All in all, the gameplay is a masterpiece, aside from the few bugs that are still in the game.

Conclusion of gameplay: 9/10

Overall

Blizzard's first try at a MMORPG is a good one. A very good one, to say the least. They've proved yet again they haven't lost their touch. Beautiful graphics, a great atmosphere, and masterful gameplay all make this a game that's well worth the monthly fee.