Blizzard continues the WoW phenomenon with a panoptic expansion that harkens back to memories of the original.
With Cataclysm Blizzard decided to focus on reworking the main game and kill off many of the things that added unneeded complexity to it. Overall, they wanted to streamline the WoW experience and try to go back to what made the original game so great. They also wanted to refresh the base 1-60 experience because Azeroth has been largely untouched since the game launched 6 years ago.
Main Feature List:
Two new races (Goblin and Worgen, each with a new starting zone)
Vastly changed and reworked Azeroth
Level cap increased to 85
New story progression
Many new high level zones and raids
Enhanced graphics and water
Reworked talents, skills, level progression, and stats
Flying mounts in Azeroth
Core Experience and Azeroth:
One of the biggest changes in the game is the entirely reworked 1-60 leveling experience. The first thing people may notice is that 1-60 takes less time (can be completed in around 2 days without using a guide.) It isn't necessarily because there is less content, but it is because some of the boring time sinks have been eliminated. The quest flow is much improved and the quests are now mostly located in quest hubs. The quests actually give players good equipment now, so running to the auction house or running countless dungeons to gear up is no longer needed. With mounts available at level 20 the travel time is significantly reduced, combine this with more flight paths being added to obscure locations and it is a recipe for much less traveling time. The quests themselves are more interesting. Blizzard has learned a lot over the last 6 years and pulled from techniques learned in the making of WotLK and BC and used those to craft the quests in Azeroth. This means there are phased events, vehicles, story driven quest hubs, and more interesting ways to "fetch and kill."
Not only are the quests much better but the lay out and design of the zones are improved as well. Now the game feels more coherent and the zones have better continuity with each other. This is because there are no hard lines between zones anymore as fly mounts have been introduced into Azeroth. Therefore, every nook and cranny has to be rendered and designed with players being able to interact with them.
Graphics/Sound Overhaul:
The graphics engine hasn't been completely reworked but it has been refreshed. One of the first major things I noticed was the textures are much more vibrant and are of higher resolution. Everything looks more detailed and inviting. There have been a few graphical additions such as sun ray tracing, shadow engine improvements, and surface mapping improvements. These are subtle but definitely noticeable when looking at old WoW versus the new engine. Lastly, the water has been greatly improved. The old water was simply a transparent texture which had 2-3 animations. The new water is a good (though basic in terms of other games) water simulation model which looks impressive for how little computer time it takes.
The most important change is the advancement of the graphics design and imagination poured into the zones. Some zones have enormous volcanoes billowing lava and smoke into the air while others have massive tornadoes throwing all sorts of junk everywhere. They really stepped up the whimsical and fun art direction that WoW has always been known for.
The sound has been reworked and more music has been added. I used to not listen to the sounds, but after the changes it now adds a lot to the game.
High Level Content:
With this expansion the true winners are the players that just started or are coming back to begin again. Although Blizzard has added more high level zones, 5 more levels, and a new high end gaming experience it isn't quite as comprehensive as the previous expansions which focused solely on higher end content. With that said, what content they did add is of the highest quality Blizzard has ever produced. From an entire zone underwater to a massive vortex in the middle of the ocean which sucks the player down into an ancient ruin, Blizzard has gone all out to top what they have done before.
The 80-85 level experience doesn't take quite as long as the 70-80 in Northrend (original leveling scale), but while Northrend was mostly the same (snow, snow, snow), each high end zone in Cataclysm is much different though not quite like the mash up that Outland was. Gamer's with level 80 characters will be in for a treat and when they get to 85, there are plenty of things to do while Blizzard ramps up the progress to Deathwing.
Overall Comments:
This expansion is the largest ever for WoW and arguably the largest expansion in the history of games. Not only does it totally rework the old world and core game mechanics, but it also adds enough high end content to keep people happy for the coming months.
What really sets this expansion apart from the previous ones is the fact that there is literally something for everyone. A new person just starting out will be able to take part in the alliance/horde struggle that reignited after the shattering, and old players will enjoy the new high level content as well as the new races and the 1-60 leveling experience for an alt.
The best part is that new players don't even need the expansion! Just get WoW original and log in. The entire 1-60 leveling experience will be the all new even without the Cataclysm expansion (although you can't make a Worgen, Goblin, Blood Elf, or Dreanai.)
Rating:
Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 9.0
Gameplay: 9.0
Value: 10.0
Replayability: 10.0
Total: 9.5 (not an average of the above scores)
Great!
Note: If you did not like WoW before, you will probably still not like it. This is not a genre changing expansion, but a well polished rework of WoW's existing model.