World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade game

With eight million players signed up and a cacophony of media exposure, it’s clear that World of Warcraft (WoW) has shifted from being the bastion of fantasy nerds into the mainstream.

So it’s no bolt from the blue that an expansion pack has arrived, offering new races, new trades and new quests, and it’s equally unsurprising that it’s another masterpiece from Blizzard.

In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade you begin with two new races to contend with – the Blood Elves (Horde clan) and the Draenei (Alliance), with each having a whole new world as its base. The former preach a kind of dark arts, while the latter preach a different kind of dark arts.

It’s that kind of game, but they are certainly no simplistic clones.

It all looks wonderful of course, with the same stunning visuals and brilliantly crafted characters. And in a genre where dodgy voice acting and scripting are as ubiquitous as dubious financial arrangements in football, in WoW they’ve never been anything less than polished to a shine.

This expansion pack, which requires the original game to play, might not sound enough to get WoW vets back on the saddle, but The Burning Crusade is more than just a few minor additions. It’s obvious that the most interested will be the sizeable hordes that are already keen players.

Thus it allows veterans that achieved level 60 on Warcraft (extremely experienced battlers who have been playing more than is healthy) and those who battle up to such a prestigious standard, to enter a new world, called the Outland, where the level cap is now 70 – one louder for WoW fanatics.

It should be noted that this new arena can’t be entered until you reach level 58.

So get working, for here is where the game really excels, featuring a myriad selection of wondrous tasks and new regions, such as the ominous sounding Hellfire Peninsula and the excellent Netherstorm, which also features another great addition – the Eye of the Storm.

This player vs player arena contains spirit towers, which operate as a kind of MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) capture the flag, allowing you to seize control of rival structures and defend your own in order to garner mucho bonuses.

This whole new area is more than enough to get the WoW factor back again.

If you still find words like Azeroth frankly terrifying, then Burning Crusade won’t do much to change your persuasion, but for the rest of us, this is genius gaming.

At 35 Earth pounds it may seem a tad pricey for an expansion pack, but once you’ve delved into this world, you’ll realise that this is one of the bargains of the year.

Also consider:
Warhammer: Mark of Chaos
Almost a hammer horror but this doesn’t quite nail it

Lord Of The Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
More strategic swords and sorcery for Tolkien fans

Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy
Adds new content to Empire Earth II but nothing eye-opening

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