World of Warcrap?
December 18th, 2008 by park
As anyone who knows me, knows…I play video games. It’s a condition I am fairly certain at this point. My new wife however has dragged me back to an old nemesis, World of Warcraft. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Blizzard for years. On one hand, they make some fantastic games, with cinematic scenes that have single-handed changed the way I see video games as a story telling device. But ever since they moved into the MMO market with World of Warcraft, something has been lacking. Mostly, the story.
With the new expansion Wrath of the Lich King many new promises have been made. A compelling storyline, a new class with a detailed history, a soundtrack that’s actually worth standing on its own; and that compelling writing that made the original games worth playing.
Well, 2 outta 3 ain’t bad I guess. Yea, the storyline for the new Death Knights starts out hot. I mean, it’s everything you wanted to be. Powerful, a single-handed weapon of pure rage and destruction. But the story isn’t yours. And it ends…well…rather stupidly. So we start off wondering what to expect.
So you finish up what you’re doing, go on to Outland, level to close to 70 so you can get back to the new promised content. Fantastic. The first thing you notice is the new soundtrack. The moment you set foot on the new Zepplin, you get a taste of what’s to come. And the music is truly epic. You really can listen to it in your car and people will ask “Oh cool, what movie is that score from?” Apparently my friends know I buy movie scores on a regular basis now, so it has become expected I suppose.
Then you hit the new zone. WOW. The visuals are astounding. Immediately you are thrust into action, a storyline. You follow one of two initial tracks, helping out the Forsaken or starting from Warsong Hold with the Orc forces. And that, my friends, is an epic area. You feel compelled to complete quest lines to find out just what the chaos around you is. You escort turncoats back home. You meet strange new races who inhabit the foreboding cold north. You even learn to pilot the new PVP created siege engines to battle your NPCs and get a taste of what’s to come. Yea, this part gets you. It sinks its teeth into you and hangs on like a pitbull.
At a certain point you hit a cinematic in the quest chains. All action on your part ceases, and a short movie plays. They use the in-game graphics, but pull it off very well. So well, in fact that you can overlook it for the REALLLLLY neat turn of events that leaves your view of the world completely in shambles. It’s just…that cool.
Immediately following this, you join Thrall in Orgrimmar to complete the quest chain which involves the taking of an entire city. (I will leave the surprise for you.) And beginning here, the game turns to slag.
The quest that you run has your character joining the epic heroes of the Horde in a city take-over. During this time, however, you can literally get up, go make a pizza, come back, eat it and still have time to go to the store for more soda. You do squat. Oh, you’re impossibly powerful during it with Thrall’s blessings on you, sure. But honestly there’s just no point in your being there. It’s essentially a cinematic that you stand around in and watch unfold. And it takes FOREVER. Apparently, you run automatically. Thrall…strolls. VERY VERY slowly.
After this whole craptastic let-down you go back to your regularly scheduled quest chains. Back to the fun, right? Well, it really is I suppose. But now you’ve got this taste in your mouth. The Death Knight intro quest, the Cut-scene quest…it is the storyline, yes. But it’s not YOUR story. It doesn’t feel personal. It doesn’t feel…heroic? You’re like Jimmy Olsen. You’re there, you see Superman, you take great pictures and even shake his hand. But then Clark Kent (who vanished) gets to steal the limelight and write the article…you meanwhile have a bi-line of “Photos By-”
I will say this, it’s compelling ENOUGH for what it is. Some new technology is allowing the stories to change the environments around you. So your actions can have lasting impact on your surroundings, meanwhile your friends get to experience the same story. So while YOU save the giant king, and for you the giant king is thankful and no longer where you first found him (as though you did nothing) your friends will still find him there, ready to respond for their chance to shine.
So, insofar as MMOs go…this expansion paves the way for us all to enjoy games more than we’ve every had the opportunity to in the past. This in itself is amazing. Since their beginning Blizzard hasn’t done much that I consider “original”. Most of their art assets are ripped directly from Warhammer, even the big rift in the middle of the water. Starcraft was just a retelling of Warhammer 40k. The difference is that while it’s painfully obvious where they draw influence, they make it distinctly their own. And now, they’ve moved past what other games have done, and created something whole cloth new. I, for one, am rather excited about what the future holds now for gamers.
So, if they continue their ways, let us hope the storylines gets sharper, the stories become more personal, and we see this kind of innovation from Blizzard for some time to come. They may yet warm my heart back to them.
In the meantime…death to the Alliance and their gnome lapdogs.