With another expansion already in the works, can Blizzard breathe life back into their aging, yet addictive game?
User Rating: 7.5 | World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria PC
Good:+ New Monk Class offers different combat mechanics.rn+ Talent revamp balances and makes things more exciting.rn+ New Battlegrounds offer new PvP game-modes.rn+ Scenarios offer dungeon-esque encounters for groups without Tanks or Healers.rn+ Pet Battling System is enjoyable and adds plenty of pets to obtain.rnrnBad:rn- Same formulas as previous expansions.rn- Disappointing number of world bosses.rn- No World-PvP again.rn- Doesn't offer much in terms of replay-ability.rnrnWhen I heard there was another expansion coming out, I of course was excited as well as a bit skeptical. There was already a lot of content in World of Warcraft and I didn't think there was anywhere else the game could go. However, Blizzard managed to pull some excitement back into me. Cataclysm had grown dull so fast and a fresh expansion was desperately needed - but was Mists of Pandaria a good choice?rnrnI went into this expansion a little different than I had with Cataclysm. Before its release I barely read previews and tried to keep myself from becoming too familiar with what was to come. The reason for it was because I remember how when I first played World of Warcraft that everything was new and I had basically no idea of the world I was in. Every zone I went to was interesting and everything I did seemed to spark another bit of ecstasy. With that feeling in mind I set up my subscription and continued playing the game that would soon consume most, if not all, of my free time.rnrnAs I neared level 60, the game started growing weaker in intensity. Every level seemed to drag on and my main goal was to get to 58 so I could venture into The Outlands and experience the content of the current expansion (I started playing during the Burning Crusade), and that's when my curiosity seemed to come back.rnrnAs I played through the many zones of the expansion, everything seemed to grab at my interest and soon I was overcome with that same feeling as when I first started playing the game. New flying mounts, new heroic dungeons, exciting new terrains, and I also had my first bits of raiding in Karazhan. The game was fun and never once was there a dull moment from then on.rnrnHearing of the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion, I was extremely excited as I was hoping for the same types of experiences as I had with Burning Crusade, the exploration, the intensity, and the joy of raiding. And in fact, the new expansion did offer some of that, yet something seemed to be missing.rnrn"Why are you saying all?" this you might ask. "Why do I need to know this?" It's just part of the process. Series in games need to be compared to their predecessors in order to understand what's new and what's changed. So after all that, let's skip talking about Cataclysm and move straight into the new expansion, shall we?rnrnOther than the new looks of the launcher and title screen, I was pleased to know that there is a new character slot for each realm increasing the maximum number of characters from 10 to 11. With the new slot I started a Pandaren monk and began working through the starter zone, gathering quests and gaining new abilities for my monk. Playing through it is nothing spectacular however - quest objectives are recycled and it isn't as climactic or exciting as the Death Knight starter area. Quests are the standard kill and gather tasks that there have been since the game's launch and the only major differences seem to be the terrain and the enemies that you face. Other than that I was just pushing through waiting to finish and choose my faction. Afterwards I continued on for a while, performing the same tasks I had before on another character in order to see how a new class would feel - of which I have to say it is nice to play a new class after not having one since the Death Knight and it does bring a new flair to the game, but it's disappointing to have to play through the exact same content again.rnrnMoving on to a higher level character, I logged on my level 85 Druid and worked my way to 90 in Pandaria. The first zone you encounter, The Jade Forest, is quite beautiful and the quests at first seem to be fun and engaging, even though they are the same kill and fetch quest mechanics. After venturing into the next zone however, things instantly took a downside. Other than possibly wanting to know how the story goes and getting to level 90, there's really no motivation from this point onwards to continue questing. Terrains seemed to be unoriginal and a lot of the same things were recycled, seeing the same types of enemies in every zone. I'd say that most of the time you're either fighting the Sha, the evil energies of Pandaria that manifest from negative emotion, the Mantids, humanoid mantis enemies, evil Pandaren (mostly in dungeons), and depending on your faction either the Hozen (monkies) or the Jinyu (humanoid fish).rnrnFighting them can get boring fast and even with the new talent system and moves it doesn't get as exciting as you might hope. In dungeons there's nothing new or interesting either. There's the same types of things as previous expansions and nothing truly will make you entranced in amazement for long. Scenarios do offer a bit of an alternative to dungeons however, as you really don't need a tank or a healer to do them. Challenge mode dungeons offer a challenge to players who are looking for it and across the board it's quite easy to get your item level high enough to start raiding with the "Looking For Raid" option. I will say that I haven't yet done any raiding but it is one of the most fun parts of WoW and I do feel like it will be as exciting as it was in Cataclysm, at least the first 3 raids of that expansion.rnrnPlayer-Versus-Player combat is probably the main feature that has been upgraded. With the new talent system there are many new moves and combinations of abilities to try out and the new battlegrounds offer new and enticing game modes. Switching your talents is easier than ever and you no longer are forced to go to your trainer to reset them all if you only want to change one. This makes the game much more playable not only in PvP but also in raids and dungeons where on one boss you might be better off with one move and on another boss another move would be better.rnrnAside from combat there is still a lot to do with the expansion. There are new factions and mount-types to get such as the Cloud Serpents and Yaks and there are lots of new pets to get with the addition of the pet-battling system. Most other reviews and feedback I've read regarding it has been purely negative but I feel like it's a welcome addition to the game. Most of those critters you once saw running about are now capturable and trainable. Most pets that you create, buy, are dropped, or are gained from an event can now be traded and once gained are available for use on all characters in that server (factions apply). Along with pets this also includes mounts and a lot of achievements and titles that can be used by other characters. Although, this does eliminate the need to gain exalted reputation towards a race's faction in order to use their mounts, as long as you have a character of that race that is at least level 40 - and that you have enough gold to purchase them.rnrnProfessions are mostly unchanged except for the addition of fishing books - Bind On Account items obtainable through a faction that raise your character's fishing level by 50 - and cooking specializations, all of which you can use on one character but have separate levels to train. You can raise each profession to 600 as a Zen Master and there are new types of ores, herbs, leathers, and cloth to obtain but other than the cooking specializations, nothing is really available as far as innovation. Everything else seems to follow the same recognizable formula that was in the previous expansions. Even some of the things you can make with crafting professions look like old models of gear and the graphical flair of new equipment isn't really there. Gear looks old and colors are washy and dull.rnrnGraphics don't really matter to me all that much unless there's not much variety such as if you're going through the same environments over and over again and nothing seems to change. Mists of Pandaria does a good job of making the world look interesting and realistic (as far as fantasy goes) at the same time and zones blend together rather nicely. The world looks enchanting and some places sparkle where other don't but mostly the new continent along with the Pandaren starting zone are both well-designed and easy on the eyes.rnrnWith all that in mind, Mists of Pandaria doesn't offer too much as far as new types of content goes but of the few additions, they are well-received. Without much to offer to keep you coming back for more however, it's unclear how much farther Blizzard can take their nearly 8 year old game. With another expansion already in the works, it will be interesting to see what they add next.
