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| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/54208/757 |   GatoRat (2) Dec 26, 2007 - 04:06 pm » Edited on Jan 03, 2008 - 04:09 pm
| When I read the first reviews of WoW, I wasn't that interested. At my son's insistence, I gave it a whirl about two months after it was released and have been hooked since. I've long puzzled why it holds my attention so well. I have a few observations:
1. The internal consistency of the world is simply amazing. I found myself wanting to level just to experience the sights and sounds of each new zone.
2. There is no set way to do quests nor order in which to do them. You can even skip the really annoying ones.
3. Creating and developing characters allow for a wide range of customization. I've discovered that the gaming experience is dramatically affected by what class you pick. For a given person, some classes are loads of fun when leveling solo, but a real drag in groups and deathly boring once maxed out. Conversely, some classes were boring to level, but have proven to be loads of fun when grouping in the so-called "end game."
One downside of this is that for the new player, there is no warning about the implications of picking certain classes when doing groups.
4. The realm you pick can greatly affect how fun the game experience is. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict this and changing servers is ridiculously expensive. Some servers start out great and end up stinking, others do the opposite.
5. Blizzard continues to modify the game mostly for the better. As has been pointed out, they accelerated leveling up and made it easier to do so solo (grouping at low levels on some servers has become almost impossible.)
One valid criticism touched on in the review is that the leveling experience isn't consistent. You can easily zoom through several levels only to stall due to lack of quests or really frustrating ones.
World of Warcraft isn't for everyone, but if you liked Dungeons and Dragons and/or Dungeon Siege, this is a great place to go next. Flag this | Edit this post |
| Matrix Blog Link » /matrix/blog.asp/38252/752 | GatoRat (2) Dec 26, 2007 - 03:23 pm
| I agree that the look was pretty dated for when the game came out and the AI wasn't great, but I still enjoyed playing the single player version of Renegade. (Above all, I rarely felt I was "on rails", which, for example, made Return to Castle Wolfenstein suck, despite it's superiority in all other respects.)
Where this game excelled was online. It's still one of the most enjoyable online shooters I've ever played, especially once aircraft were added. Flag this | Edit this post |
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