World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Updated Hands-On - New Zones, New Quests, New Story Elements

By Alex Sassoon Coby, GameSpot UKPosted Aug 4, 2008 6:53 pm PT

In this hands-on look at Wrath of the Lich King, we explore the Borean Tundra, one of the two starting zones in the new continent of Northrend.

So far we've brought you the latest on the Death Knight and a look at one of the starting zones in the new continent of Northrend, Howling Fjord. Now that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is finally in beta, we've been able to sit down for an extended period of time with the new content and have plenty to report back on. So far we've spent most of our time in the Borean Tundra--the second starting zone, which has plenty of quests to get experienced players going from the current Burning Crusade character-level limit of 70 to the second expansion's level limit of 80. First off, a caveat. Because this is a beta, many things are subject to change. Oh, and another caveat: We were playing as the Horde this time around. The next preview will be from the Alliance point of view, but this look at Wrath of the Lich King comes through the eyes of a troll.

The back of a dragon is generally the best place to be.

Getting to Northrend is a simple affair for Horde citizens: Jump on a zeppelin from the new landing tower near the gates of the orc capital Orgrimmar, and you will soon find yourself gliding peacefully into the very heart of Warsong Hold, the Horde's foothold in the Borean Tundra. If you opt to get a zeppelin from the new tower by Undercity, you will find yourself in the Howling Fjord, which we saw at BlizzCon last year during our first proper look at this expansion.

The first thing to note about the Borean Tundra is how large it feels, especially considering that no one--not even those people who have shelled out several thousand gold to max out their riding skill at level 70--will be able to fly around Northrend as they arrive. The intemperate weather requires specialist training, apparently, and this will not be available to those fresh off the proverbial boat. The zone contains six flight paths and more than that number of distinct areas and factions seemingly fighting for control. The central Horde fort, Warsong Hold, is under siege by the spiderlike creatures of the Scourge, which are running rampant through the surrounding quarry, while the coast is shrouded in dense fog and sees battles between the walrus-esque Tuskarr race and mysterious raiders from the mist.

To the far west the Blue Dragonflight hold an island called Coldarra, under the watchful eyes of both red dragons and the mages of Dalaran and Kirin Tor. North of the Red Dragonflight's base of operations you have another quest hub in the form of a smaller Horde village, itself under attack by a number of restless spirits angry at the passage of a caravan over an ancient burial ground. To the west of them is a ruined temple that overlooks a Murloc encampment, now ruled by a well-meaning druid in a Murloc suit originally there to do some anthropological research. Among the ice floes off the coast near these friendly Murlocs are a number of more hostile ones, not to mention an orca or two out to make your life that little bit more confusing.

Several of the expansion's environments offer subzero temperatures...and new dangers.

Moving across you have a crashed Scourge ziggurat in the far north, spewing out undead to make war on the Mechagnomes and their mechanical defenses who occupy a good chunk of the region's hot springs. The Nerubians--those spiderlike Scourge creatures--hold a good chunk of the springs too, sandwiched between the Mechagnomes, a number of elementals born from the steam itself, the Horde village, and an Alliance airstrip.

On the eastern coast there is a wrecked Tuskarr village--complete with the misty raiders from earlier--as well as, in the far northeast, an ancient temple city that has been overrun by the Scourge.

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171 Comments

  • Oni

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 4:09 pm PT

    I'm sort of torn. Even though this expansion sounds amazing, the thought of having to spend another 100 hours doing raids/Heroics to get my toons geared to the point they are now sounds excruciating. Even though I'd love to see it a graphics update, that's out of the question. Might as well just start working on a sequel to WoW if yer gonna do that. WoTLK will be fun and offer alot of content I'm sure, but like others have stated, the new MMO's on the Horizon could steal away some of WoW's thunder. We wont know till the game comes out. Good luck Blizz!

  • Sir-Sharkman

    Posted Sep 6, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    WOW is an amazing game, but I believe blizard is simply using it as revenue to fund future projects. Graphics: Outdated
    PvP System: It's Old News Everyone Has it Now
    Gameplay: Everything has it The fact is, WoW was so easy to copy that literally hundreds of new games like LOTRO took its design and made a better game.The game was great while it lasted, but after ten years, somthing always pops up that destroys an MMORPG's player base. Warhammer will probably be WoW's downfall, amazing grahics, amzing gameplay, best PVP of all tiome will be WH's stereotype. But even Warhammer, after another decade will be defeated. It's a cycle, and WoW will be the cycle's next victim.

  • mj23foreva

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 2:14 pm PT

    WOW has three things going for it that other companies will find hard to compete with.

    1) Already having such a huge subscriber base Blizzard does not need to massively market this game to reach its intended audience. Everyone in the world has probably heard of WOW. I've met 60 year old grandmothers living on a farm that play this game. Other companies will have a hard time duplicating this.

    2) Blizzard's name is HUGE. There is simply no other gaming company that can compare to Blizzards resume. For such a small company that Blizzard was before the merger, it still outsold everything EA pushed out. Its fans are diehard and absolutely trust the company with their lives. This is what got WOW so big in the first place.(Mythic is a great company but does not even come close to WOW)

    3) Simplicity(both gameplay and graphics), the game can be extremely simple for a casual gamer. Other games just dont understand how to attract people to MMOs. And most of the world dont have Core 2 Quad CPUs with 8800Ultra in SLI. WoW found a way through its ART to bypass the huge computer requirements. I mean after 4 years the game is beautiful to look at. Sure it doesnt have the phyics that todays game process, but its art direction is second to none. Thats how theyve gotten by all these year without updating their graphics.

  • thedeluxe

    Posted Aug 13, 2008 9:56 pm PT

    How about a high definition content pack like the old half-life had for those with a machine capable of running it. Maybe throw a dx10 shader or two at the engine with the option to turn them off. While the art direction is beautiful and nearly seamless, it really does look dated. With no regard to visuals it should still be a pretty impressive expansion. Nothing wrong with more content. All in all...I can't wait to get frostbite.

  • deviant9

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 12:16 pm PT

    Yeah I agree, its just the same old same old... I think i'll cancel my account. The game just needs a major face lift! For the graphics not to have change since launch is a real shame. Great game and had fun over the years but I think ill call it a day and leave it to the hardcore players to stomach! Maybe they could make a new WoW for the very few ppl that have more than a pentium 3 and a 16MB vid card

  • jp-gnr

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:39 am PT

    I think blizzard should think of graphic improvements , the game looks like s*** in terms of graphics.... In my opinion blizzard is milking the game completely until the release of diablo 3.

  • Phoenix73nj

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 6:52 am PT

    Blizzard really does a nice job with Wow. Sadly, I can't play anymore Wow. Just sort of oversaturated having played since launch till about a year ago. Glad to see the expansion looks neato. It'll be a long time till I get a real FPSMMO I guess... sigh.

  • tawagivercetti

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 2:26 am PT

    glavin'

  • sammoth

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 7:53 am PT

    Ok there is a flaw with your statement your comparing a video game to Real Life. You have to work to pay your bills esp that $15 amonth for WOW. You have to eat 3 times a day so you don't drop dead. Also I know taking a bath is hard for some WOW players but, you need to do that too. Here we go again with someone taking offense to what we have to say. It's an Opinion nothing more. If you don't like the comments or opinions then don't read it. I never said anything about people enjoying it or not. It'sjust an opinion about it. Grind that one into your fanboy heads for a bit and think about it. Why is it ok for people to praise the game but, not people to dislike it ?

  • enofr

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 6:12 am PT

    The human mind thrives off repetition (and comfort). Thats why more and more people will admit to enjoy their daily grind (called work). Why they turn on the TV everyday when they come home. Eat 3 times a day. Pick thier nose. Take a bath every morning rather than every night. Enjoy catching the same old blockbuster cookiecut action movie. Prefer one genre of game towards another. Bash people here over and over.

    Bottomline, lifes a grind. Get used to it. Enjoy what you enjoy. And let other people do the same. People might say - well what about the joys of discovering something new? Well. Yeah. It feels great at first. Until everyone starts doing it. Then you just love it for the comfort it gives your everyday life. "ahh. Hard days work. Looking forward to a bit of wow when i get home, yes indeed!"

  • graavigala

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 4:30 am PT

    still looks boring and repeating of same old...

  • maximaxi4eva2

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 3:08 am PT

    meh

  • AlfaxD_Centauro

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 2:31 pm PT

    Lol, he's a immature.

  • sammoth

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 8:41 am PT

    Ok Mr. Fox, I am kind of done with you at this point about this. If you can't take criticism about a game then so be it. We are allowed to state opinions abut games if we choose. If you have read anything I said I quit WOW and this is not going to bring me back because it looks like the Same Ole Same Ole. I played since Beta and was in one the of the first horde guilds on my Sever to finish MC, BWL, AQ so don't tell me what I can say or not say about this game.I know the same ole grind for the crap i had to do in Wow jut to raid time and time agian. I never said WOW was a bad game I just stated that the expansion looks like the Same Ole Stuff. Most MMORPG'S are but, some are different you just find the one that works for you. I have also played alot of PNP and MMORPGS before WOW even came out. UO and EQ are just 2 of the many. Also if you think Wow is so original maybe you should take a look at some of the Old Warhammer stuff that was a PNP over 10 years now you will see alot of similar things. All Wow did at it's time is make it work most companies where already doing what they where doing. Then it became "popular" Key Word. and it still is "kudos" to them. Get over it and get over yourself.

  • Onnipotente

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 4:16 am PT

    gg blizzy great game

  • foxjackass

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 12:35 am PT

    Yes I know you kill the same monsters over and over. But they always add new items, new quests, new boss fights. So its not always the same thing over and over in WoW. And not only that but they keep up with the up to date things as well. Such as if its Easter they put easter eggs in the game for you to find. Halloween you kill the Headless Horseman. Christmas, thanksgiving, etc. etc. And WoW isnt the only MMO I play. LOTR, Guilds Wars, City of Heros. And why is everyone telling me to move on. Is it a crime to play this game for to long? I keep in touch with my cousin in Iraq with this game. Now we dont always use WoW to talk to eachother but its a funner way to do it. And Weitojor if paying $15 a month for this game is a idiotic thing to do then there are 11million users that are idiots? And one top of that every MMO you got to pay for... So basically you are calling even more people idiots.

  • Gamesterpheonix

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 9:12 pm PT

    Looking at the screens...I think its looking pretty impressive from a new stuff point of view. I think it will last just a little bit longer. Its a very nice touch as it comes to an end.

  • Weitojour

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    Fox, I played wow for almost half a year. Until I realised how ridiculously addicting and repetitive it really was. You say that in shooters all you do is shoot people in the head? Well yeah, thats the premise, but all you do in wow is kill the same god damn monsters over and over while they constantly switch their skins. Oh, and you pay 50 cents a day for that priveledge. Only an idiot would pay $15 dollars a month for WoW while all these great MMOs are coming out. Age of conan anyone? I'm not saying WoW is a bad game, I'm merely saying "Been there done that.", and I think you should move on as well.

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