Overview

There are some games out there that grab you, demand your attention and don't let you go until it hurts to close your eyes because they're so red and dry. World of WarCraft, or WoW, is one of those games. Right after World of WarCraft sits you down, it also grabs you by the short and curlies and makes sure you don't leave even long after your eyes are begging for mercy.

Bathory, my dude

Fighting ye olde swamp monsters

Whack attack

The most surprising part about World of WarCraft is that it doesn’t actually try to deviate from the MMORPG formula all that much. It's like Blizzard did delicate plastic surgery on the whole MMO idea, not changing the actual core but touching up all the rough spots and adding rather generously in the areas where the genre could use such enhancement.

Another factor that increases WoW's appeal - one that certainly can't be underestimated - is the familiarity of the world. Odds are you've visited Azeroth before, perhaps as many as five times counting expansions. World of WarCraft obviously draws heavily on the WarCraft universe, particularly the third installment. There are legions of fans already familiar with the war between orcs and humans, which extended to include the night elves and undead. There's a great deal of comfort in knowing the characteristics of Tauren, Trolls and Undead. Classes like the Shaman, Hunter and Warlock seem as familiar as the more traditional Warrior, Priest and Mage.

WHAM! Special move

Check that out, a fighter DoT

Oh yeah, cheap healing stuff

These classes and races retain the characteristics that made them stand out in the real-time strategy games. Hunters, although not playable yet in the beta, we saw last year at E3 and they could tame and train their pets. Warlocks still play with demon summoning, as they have since the original WarCraft, and Paladins still have auras. The Rogue is the only element foreign to come into the game, bearing a rather striking resemblance to his EverQuest counterpart.

World of WarCraft borrows heavily from EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot and a bit from Asheron's Call. The combat and skills are quite reminiscent of EverQuest - skills even progress at up to 5 points per level. However, crafting is more along the lines of Dark Age, since it's not limited by character level (well, to a point). In fact, why don't we cover crafting on its own page, since it's such a big part of the game.

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Close fight

Skinning's fun

Who is this dude?