World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria review
Paw choice?
Review A couple of years ago I was addicted to Farmville and I've always had a soft spot for Pokémon. As much as I hate to say, it the Mists of Pandaria is coming over all Pokéville 2. Everyone is battling minipets or farming, which all feels a bit twee but I can’t deny it’s also extremely enjoyable... except when I see my baby polar bear bashed to death by someone’s mini robot.
Pole dancer
Whether starting a Panda monk or levelling my Tauren to 90, there is a whole world of new content to explore. It's just a shame that right from the beginning, it all just feels and looks tired, leaving me yearning something exciting and surprising – did someone say Guild Wars 2 ? Indeed, a 30 per cent drop in sales from the last expansion indicates Blizzard needs more than just pandas to keep this franchise going.
Shrouded in mist for 10,000 years to escape the First Sundering, the Isle of Pandaria has been discovered and the new race, the Pandaren, are caught between the Alliance and the Horde.
Bugs Bunny's heaven
It’s not till level 12 that I choose sides and head to Orgrimmar – just call me bad panda. To be able to play a Pandaren monk as a class, I have to buy the expansion, while I can play a Panda without showing Blizzard the colour of my money. Apart from the one sore point, namely the monthly pay to play fee.
Pandaren Lore is complemented by quests, scrolls and objects scattered around this rich and fertile new landscape. The no-fly zone at the start of this expansion means I have to explore step-by-step (or yak-by-yak). No bad thing, as this encourages a sense of excitement while getting to grips with this large, living and breathing (literally) island.
Gimme a beer or I'll get bitter
Now here's where I would talk about the pretty-pretty – all subtle cherry blossom, jade bamboo shoots and Miyazaki makeover – but it just makes me sad to mention it. Yes, the Jade Forest shines but, ultimately, it’s not as visually stunning as GW2.
Next page: Panda to the audience
COMMENTS
I have never played WoW.....
....I played Eve Online for four years though, so can grasp tough concepts, but little of that review made any sense to me as a non-player.
I guess you have to be there.
<raises hand>
Can we expect an 'EverQuest: Veil of Alaris' review?
I demand an answer!
sez Jeanmirac Onxysablet - lvl 78 Drakkin Shadowknight (The Rathe server)
;)
Re: WoW could have been eternal
While I don't agree with everything you've said, the comments about dungeons really does ring true for me. Granted, it was a massive pain in the ass looking for the right class with the right cc for a dungeon and using "Fear" was often an amusing recipe for suicide but because the dungeons were hard, you *had* to talk to the other people in the group and sometimes you'd even make a friend in the process.
I'd like to see dungeons go back to the time time when CC was essential and planning careful pulls was the mark of a good tank. It is really is just "go nuts with you AoE, don't forget the loot on the way out".
I still remember the dungeon runs people did for the Warlock and Paladin epic mounts back in vanilla. They were ball busting challenges and truly deserving of the "Epic" epithet.
Now get the hell off my lawn you goddamn punk kids.
Re: WoW could have been eternal
It's a simple as the fact that years ago I could log on and play an actual game. When doing a quest and approaching a group of mobs I had to think about how to avoid pulling too many, for instance. These days no thought is required - in PvE your toon is an indestructible demigod, which renders the experience pointless. Dungeons also no longer require any thought - all those CC abilities, for example, just sit there redundant now that the bad guys universally drop like flies in seconds.
There's really nothing more to the death of WoW than this. If you can play in a coma, it's not a game any more, and its fate is sealed.
