BlizzCon Hands-On: WoW: Cataclysm - Preview
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 24 October 2010 / 4,796 Views
Letting a World of Warcraft virgin play the latest expansion, Cataclysm, for fifteen minutes is not the best way to introduce a new world to the... world. However, I'll do my best to give it justice!
I sat down with Cataclysm at BlizzCon yesterday to try out the new Goblin class and explore a bit of the island of Kezan. Cataclysm is so named because of the cataclysmic effect it has on the existing landscape of Azeroth. The giant black dragon Deathwing has resurfaced, and his reemergence has caused far-reaching changes to the world. Entire villages have been leveled or destroyed by volcanoes or other tectonic activity, towns are on different continents now, worlds are divided, black is white, up is down. The world is in chaos.
To offset all the craziness, Blizzard has introduced two new races to the WoW universe: Goblins (who have to use their engineering ingenuity to make up for their lack of physical intimidation) and Worgens (werewolf-like creatures). I was a Goblin as my first Warcraft experience, and I was immediately jealous of the sweet rocket cars zooming across the landscape, driven by other, more skilled Goblins. Sadly, no matter how many times I clicked on one driving by and/or right through my character, I couldn't ride shotgun. Maybe I was doing it wrong. So I headed down to the beach to fight some crabs.
Combat isn't too dramatic when you're one-on-one with a fearsome crab as a low-level Goblin, but the pro-level live raid I saw at BlizzCon where members of the original Blizzard dev team would ally with members of Paragon to take on four beefed-up bosses at once proved just how intense the game can get when you have 25 teammates coordinating at once. As it was, I fought some crabs, then did a mission involving killing six cave worms to help out a miner. Nothing too exciting, and it didn't really showcase what makes Cataclysm different or better than the other two expansions.
The graphics don't seem to have gotten much of an update, either, and besides a few new classes, rearranged locations, and a slightly more streamlined gameplay experience, it appears to be more of the same. If you're a World of Warcraft addict, you'll probably love the updates and new locales, abilities, and races. If you're a WoW hater, Cataclysm won't change your mind.
If you're on the fence, well... check out this new trailer that debuted a few days ago. Maybe it'll help you decide.
For teh hardcorez, here's a quick rundown of the big changes to the tried-and-true WoW formula:
- Two new races and starting zones.
- Geography shifts: some places are a lot less tedious to return to now.
- Old familiar towns will have new life injected to them, giving you a reason to check out that town you haven't been to since Wrath of the Lich King.
- Specific low-level and high-level question areas make it easier to find a place to level up.
- Level cap raised from 80 to 85.
- New secondary skill: Archaeology.
- You can fly EVERYWHERE.
- New rated battlegrounds and PvP areas.
- New high-level areas like the sunken city of Vashj'ir, which is almost entirely underwater. (And a seahorse mount?)
- A guild leveling system, allowing you and guildmates to earn up to twenty levels for your guild, earning perks along the way, including mass resurrections and lower repair fees.
It seems that Cataclysm is less about delivering brand new content and more about reshaping what already exists into something even better, both to ease new players into the world and as a gift to longtime devotees. World of Warcraft is the biggest MMO in the world right now. Let's see what new tricks Blizzard has in store when Cataclysm hits the world on December 7.
