14153

Genre: MMORPG

Format: DVD

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Minimum System Requirements: Full version of World of Warcraft, 933MHz G4 or any Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.3.9, 512MB RAM, 32MB VRAM, ATI or NVidia graphics processor, 2.5GB hard disk space, broadband connection required for multiplayer play via Internet

Review Computer: 1GHz PowerPC G4, 1.25GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon 9000, Mac OS X v10.4.3

Network Feature: Yes

Price: $39.95

ESRB Rating: T (blood, suggestive themes, use of alcohol, violence)

Availability: Now

Version Reviewed: 1.0.3

Official Website: www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade—the first expansion to the popular multiplayer game—has been out for a few months now, and here I am just now writing a review on it. Why now when everyone and their brother has already bought it? While those reviews are good, they couldn't talk about much beyond what everyone knew at the time: new races, new instances, new items, and new areas to explore. I'll take you to the parts of Burning Crusade others didn't see so you can decide whether this is the game for you.

The vast majority of what Burning Crusade offers is in Outland, which is for players level 58 to the new level cap of 70. New players and those below that level will find that little has changed on Azeroth (from the original game) aside from two starting areas for the new races (Blood Elves and Draenei) and some new quests here and there. The old content is still fun and exciting, but you won't see anything dramatically new until you're able to step through the portal into Outland. In addition, you will probably never see the old 20-man (Zul'Gurub, Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj) and the 40-man (Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Naxxramas) instances because everyone is busy with the new content and has left the old behind.

Once you do get into Outland, you'll find yourself in Hellfire Peninsula, very appropriately named since the ground, sky and orcs are all orange and red. There, you'll be given quests to fight against the Burning Legion and Fel Orcs, which have been seen around Hellfire Citadel and have mysterious origins. The quests guide you around the zone and, most importantly, have gear upgrades so that everyone can easily improve their character....well, those people who didn't pvp for the rewards or go to the old raid instances for the gear. If you didn't, then the quest rewards are excellent so that everyone can get ready for the first 5-man instance, Hellfire Ramparts.

Burning Crusade has fifteen 5-man instances from level 60 to 70, and you can also unlock heroic mode of the same instance once you get the appropriate faction to the revered status. Heroic mode instances are tougher versions of the same instances with stronger bosses which will provide a bigger challenge even to skilled players. This is a shift in World of Warcraft from needing a lot of people for instances (20 and 40 people) to only needing 5 or 10 or 25. This makes it easier to go to an instance for an hour or two, get some quests done or get some good gear, and still have a real life. Even the only 10-man instance, Karazhan, is friendly to casual people since you have a week to finish it and many of the bosses are optional so you can go at your own pace.

Not all is roses, though, because many of the instances require getting attuned before you can enter, just like the old instances such as Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, and Naxxramas. Some of them require quests done in instances on heroic mode, which means you need to get revered with the factions which require going through instances repeatedly to get enough reputation. Some instances require you to go to other instances and complete a quest in order to get a key. Although, in these cases, you only need one person in the party with a key to get in. Getting attuned for Karazhan requires you to go to four instances and complete quests in order to be allowed to enter. Getting attuned isn't really difficult, but it is time consuming and it means you just can't walk into some instances without working for it.

Along the way, you'll find gear with sockets, which is new in Burning Crusade. You fill them with gems which are crafted by the jewel crafting profession or found in instances or purchased from pvp for various effects. You can have spell damage gems or stamina gems or attack power gems or many others. If you match the colors of the sockets with the colors of the gems you'll be rewarded by additional bonuses. What socketed items provide is a way to personalize gear for what you think will best benefit your character.

Outland, both in the instances and outside, is very visually striking. From the red desert of Hellfire Peninsula to the wet marshes of Zangarmarsh to the rolling green fields of Nagrand to the floating islands of Netherstorm to the massive ruins of Terokkar Forest to the dragon graveyard of Blade's Edge Mountain, every zone is strikingly different with a unique story to tell. Exploring them by ground or by air always reveals something new I haven't seen before.

For those who like pvp, there are arenas which are similar to battlegrounds in that they pit you against other players...but with a twist. You form arena teams (2v2, 3v3, or 5v5) with your own name and flag design and are pitted against other teams who can be Alliance or Horde. Unlike battlegrounds, you can fight against your own faction, which can be harder than you expect. The team who can kill the opposing team wins and earns points to use for arena armor and weapons. For those who like battlegrounds, there's a new one called Eye of the Storm for 15 people which combines capture-and-hold style gameplay with capture-the-flag. There are also new world pvp objectives in some of the zones with rewards of their own.

Burning Crusade offers everything that was in the original World of Warcraft and a lot more of it: more instances, more skills, more items to get, more places to explore, more factions, more raids, more pvp and more fun. What it doesn't offer is anything dramatically new in how we play World of Warcraft. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because if you like WoW then you'll like Burning Crusade, but if you didn't or just got tired of it, Burning Crusade only offers more of the same.

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