"As the World of Warcraft turns..."
Blizzard is one of the best developers, not only for PC games, but for all platforms in general. You might know Blizzard for games such as Warcraft II/III, Starcraft, and Diablo I/II. Blizzard has always been known to put out amazing games and to have amazing customer service. This trend continues with World of Warcraft. WoW is Blizzard's first attempt at a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). Critics were wary of whether Blizzard could put out a game that could rival that of it's competitors such as Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, and Neverwinter Nights, to name a few. What happened was the greatest incarnation of MMORPGs to date not to mention the fact that WoW crushes it's competition in terms of sales. (My numbers may be a little off but WoW is at ~8 million subscribers right now where it's nearest competition, Everquest 2, has ~300, 000 subscribers.) With the expansion slated for release in January 2007, now is the best time to get into WoW.

Gameplay: 24.5/25

Gameplay in WoW is like your standard MMORPG but it has many simple features that other games lack. You kill monsters and complete quests to level up your character. Every ten levels you can leave the current area of the world you are in for another one. For example, the human 1-10 area if Elwynn Forest, at level 10 you can move to Westfall to do more quests, at level 16 you can go to Redridge Mountains, and at 20ish you can head to Duskwood. There are very few times where you need to grind to level up. You can do quests and instances all the way to 60 if you wanted to.

I talked about instances before but I never went over what they are. Instances are zones that you through by portal. Usually they require a group of 5 people (some require more). Instances are great for loot and there are usually some quests for you to finish in these instances. Starting from about level 15 there will always be an instance for you to do. A lot of the instances are set in completely different places. The Deadmines are in mines where you fight to overthrow a bandit kingpin. In Scarlet Monastery you fight against the Scarlet Crusade, a faction dedicated to the extermination of the undead. In Blackrock Spire, you fight against commanders of the Black Dragonflight (Rend Blackhand and General Drakkisath) which can continue on into the raid instance Blackwing Lair where you fight against the leader of the Black Dragonflight, Nefarian. There are two types of instances, normal 5-man instances and raid instances which can range from 20 players to 40 players.

In addition to the Player vs. Environment (PvE) game, there is a Player vs. Player (PvP) side to WoW. There are many ways to do PvP in WoW. If you are on a PvP server, once you hit contested territory (all non-instances zones that are not 1-10 or 11-20) you will be flagged and are fair game for the opposing faction. This is what is known as World PvP to WoW aficionados. As it stands right now, world PvP is hard to find. The best places to look would be Silithus or the Easter Plaguelands because there are PvP objectives in both zones. When the expansion hits, expect a revamped World PvP game, but don't get your hopes up. There is also duels, where you can fight one vs. one against anyone you want. Duels are not real PvP however and they are really just for fun. Then there is the meat of PvP, battlegrounds. Right now there are three battlegrounds to play from: Warsong Gulch (Capture the Flag), Alterac Valley (A large scale 40 vs. 40 warlike battleground) and Arathi Basin (Capture the nodes and gain resources). Battleground are the best way to PvP, you can even join battlegrounds on PvE servers. Battlegrounds require coordination and teamwork, which sadly, most PuGs (pick up groups) lack. Guilds thrive on battlegrounds however. It is immensely fun to go Guild vs. Guild in AB or WSG. Especially if they are of equal gear level.

When you do PvP you fight against the opposite faction. There are two factions in WoW: Horde and Alliance. Alliance is made up of Humans, Dwarfs, Gnomes, and Night Elves. Horde is made up of Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and Undead. Playing each faction is almost like playing a completely different game. The environments in each faction are completely different. The Alliance towns are full of huge, sprawling cities filled with people and technology. On the flip side, Horde cities are more barbaric and low brow in nature. When comparing Orgrimmar (The main horde city, the orc home) and Ironforge (The main alliance city, the dwarf home) you will see where I'm coming from. In addition to the aesthetic differences, there are gameplay differences as well. Horde and Alliance cannot talk to each other when they meet in the field. This makes PvP a little awkward considering you can't trash talk the other side, but who wants to have to deal with little 15 year olds screaming, "ZOMG I PWN J00!!1!". Also, Alliance has exclusive access to the paladin class while Horde has exclusive access to the shaman class (soon to change with The Burning Cruade). This makes PvP interesting as paladins can do things shamans can't and vice versa. This makes opposing factions hate the exclusive classes. On the flip side however, the PvE game is affected by this as certain encounters that would be easy with paladins are harder because shamans do not have the same abilities. That is the main reason for the change.

There is so much to go over in gameplay that it would take me all day just to go over it. I will say that this game is ever changing, every couple months Blizzard releases patches to fix problems in the game. If you check the WoW forums you will see developers respond to gamers' pleas and attempt to reach a compromise. We asked for more raid instances and we got Zul' Gurub, Blackwing Lair, Ahn Qiraj Ruins and Ahn Qiraj Temple, and Naxxramas. Blizzard is always attempting to balance the game to keep it fun for both casual players and hardcore raiders.

Graphics: 10/10

Depending on your machine you will be able to make WoW look great. The environments in the game are so rich and immersing in addition to being varied. There are the lush forests of Elwynn Forest, the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale, the desolate plains of Desolace, the eerie forests of Ashenvale, the mountains of Thousand Needles, the deserts of Tanaris, and snowy plains of Dun Morogh, the decaying lands of Tirisfal Glades, and the fiery landscape of the Burning Steppes. There are many more areas than the ones I listed, each with it's own art style. In a recent patch, Blizzard added weather effects to some areas which help bring life to each area even further. There are sandstorms in Silithus and Tanaris, rain in Strangehtorn Vale and Feralas, and snow in Dun Morogh in addition to more I haven't listed.

The cities in the game look down right spectacular. Stormwind looks like a bustling human town full of activity. It seems very sophisticated with it's mage tower and sprawling towers. Ironforge is always bustling with players running back and forth in addition to the massive forge in the middle of the city. Darnassus is teeming with wildlife and stray wisps running around. Orgrimmar is full of orcs and the many horde adventurers getting ready for their various trials and tribulations. Thunder Bluff is reminiscent of a Native American city with it's music and teepee-like houses. The different rises help give it that Native American feel as well. The Undercity feels like the bottom of the barrel with slime rivers running thoughout the city and abominations guarding the city.

Each major city also houses each races faction leader: Bolvar (Human), King Magni Bronzebeard (Dward), High Tinker Mekkatorque (Gnome), Arch Druid Staghelm (Night Elf), Thrall (Orc), Vol'jin (Troll), Cairne Bloodhoof (Tauren), and Sylvanas Windrunner (Forsaken Undead). Do those names sound familiar? If you've played any previous Warcraft games they will. World of Warcraft does a great job of bringing all the history of Warcraft to life. Many of the places you visit during your adventures have been in previous Warcraft games such as Stormwind, Alterac Mountains, The Barrens, Tirisfal Glades, etc. Being able to actually walk up to Thrall and talk to him is a humbling experience and truly helps immerse you into the game.

All the characters and spells look great. Depending on your armor set, it will be hard to find someone who looks just like you as your leveling up. At 60 however, you might someone of the same class who looks like you because they may be using the same armor set. The spells and abilities animate very well and there are no signs of clipping or glitches.

Sound: 10/10

The music in this game is very well done, especially in the new areas. The music is ambient as not to overtake the other experiences in the game. In areas such as Ashenvale and Teldrassil, you will hear Night Elf style music that really helps you remember that you are in Night Elf territory. The same goes for places like Stormwind, Orgimmar, etc.

The spells and abilites sound great and many buff/debuff spells have sound counterparts to them to help you know when you have them. Although there is no voice acting, it really doesn't matter. A few character say something when you click on them and if you continually click on them they will spout out their "angry" response which usually results in something hilarious.

In addition, each character race and sex combination has a saying for /flirt, /silly, /cheer, etc. /flirt and /silly also usually end in something funny and is usually a pun on something well known. Blizzard always puts in little easter eggs and puns in their games and that is one reason why I like Blizzard games so much.

Value: 5/5

I played this game for a year non-stop so I will warn you right now that this game can be very addicting. It will take you around maybe 150+ hours to level to 60 the first time if you take your time. Once you do it the first time you will get faster the next time. Once you hit 60 however the game completely changes. There is so much to do once you hit 60 you could literally play this game forever. You could start farming gold for an epic mount, start raiding to get better gear and beat encounters, start PvPing with your friends for fun and better gear, level up your trade skills, etc.

Overview:

Gameplay: 24.5/25 - The finest MMORPG gameplay.
Graphics: 10/10 - Beautiful environments and art.
Sound: 10/10 - Nice ambient music and voices.
Value: 5/5 - Almost impossible to put down.

Overall: 49.5/50 = 99% = A+
Bottom Line: This game is hands down the best MMORPG to date. If you like MMORPGs then you are depriving yourself of a great gaming experience.