World of Warcraft Hands-On

2004 is shaping up to be the year when Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) flood the market like never before. (Wait, you're saying that didn't happen in 2003? - 2Lions) With the release of Final Fantsy XI and Horizons in the waning months of 2003, and with titles like Lineage II, EverQuest II and World of Warcraft (WoW) set to elbow their way into an already crowded market, players (and their monthly subscription fees) should be able to pick and choose from the title that best suits their play style and tastes.

Okay, so I’m pregnant and I don’t know who did it!

Even minions have basic needs, so quit starring!

The fine folks at Blizzard were nice enough to invite me into the Beta for World of Warcraft on Friday of last week. At E3 last year, WoW looked and played good enough at Blizzard's booth that it seem ready to be shipped then. However, in typical Blizzard style, the company tends to be its own harshest critic and they refuse to release anything until they feel it combines the right blend of style, fun and polish that ensure it will be a hit with the intended audience. Bear in mind, all other game companies would do well to emulate this unerring dedication to excellence Blizzard has cultivated, so the previous thought was in no way meant to be an insult.

The game client was slightly over 2 gigabytes in size and I found it very hard to wait the 5 hours it took me to download the client, but I spent some of that time going over the beta manual (located here). Just from reading through the basics, it is clear to see that old Blizzard knack for polish had been applied to their first MMORPG. I was pleased to find many well thought-out features already implemented to the game in the beta, which some MMORPGs do not get to until months after their initial launch.

An intuitive series of prompts and tutorials help the player that may not only be new to WoW, but to online gaming as well. Player skills are explained right in game so you do not have to go digging through a manual and interrupting the fun of play. An in game map is set into the upper right hand corner of the screen, right inside of a compass so you can find your way around. Also, you can accept quests from NPCs. They are listed in a handy menu that keeps the quests organized AND keeps their requirements up to date as you fulfill them. Some NPCs scattered around the land will have question marks over their heads clearly identifying them as having a quest to perform, should you choose to accept it.

One of my first quests as young human Paladin was to clear out some Kobold Vermin (actual monster's name) that had infested a nearby field. I was promised a reward of some copper (needed for some better equipment) and some experience as well. Following the direction given by the quest giver, I was quickly able to locate the field that the Kobolds had invaded. I targeted the closest Kobold vermin by hitting the tab key (which I could remap if I so chose. That's right. key remapping is already present and working in the game), I ran toward the beast using the standard W S A D keys and rotated the camera using the mouse until I had the angle of attack that I felt would best suit the situation. The Kobold fell quickly under my onslaught and as he hit the ground, in the middle of my screen I was informed that I had killed the first of seven Kobold Vermin. Looting the corpse I was rewarded with some copper and tattered chain shirt that I quickly equipped. I liked the way things were going already. After a few hours as a fighter I exited out and created a Night Elf Priest so I could experience what spell casting was like.

I think I’ll meditate here for a while...

What the hell happened here?

The game will ship with eight races and nine classes to choose from. Currently only a few races and classes are available to us in this phase of the beta. Each character will have a wide variety of skills and spells or techniques (depending on their profession) to choose from. I really like this system as it allows players to have a very unique character even if it is a profession that many other people have chosen. This allows the player more freedom to create the character they really want to play and therefore in my opinion, have more fun in the process.

The graphics are true to the last rendition of the WarCraft series. Colors are vivid and are liberally used in characters, monsters, NPC's and structures. Character and monster animations are fluid and are effectively implemented. From a spider jumping across the screen as it engages in combat to the way the characters move their arms and bodies as they engage in conversation with one another, these little touches show how much thought and work went into the creation of a fantasy world. The stylized models and colors are impressive regardless if you are running n 640x480 to 1600x1200. This is important because like all of Blizzard's past games, the game engine should not be so overwhelming as to make it inaccessible to people not running bleeding edge technology.

While the bulk of the game is made up of Player vs. Enemy (PvE), it has been reported that there are areas where players can engage in Player vs. Player (PvP) combat, I have yet to find one of these areas. Frankly as of right now, I am having too much fun to go looking for PvP combat areas. There has been plenty for me to do. Even thought I have only been fulfilling quests, they have been varied enough and have supporting background stories, that so far, they do not feel contrived. Looking back on my six hour play session yesterday, it did not feel like I was completing menial tasks. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the wonder of discovery that comes with any new game but somehow this just felt different. Perhaps it's because the game does not play as though it's a beta, but rather a finished game that has been on the market for several months already. While I am sure some things will change as they near the ship date, such as character adjustments usually called Nerfs, I am happy to see that Blizzard is so obsessively concerned with quality and the main reason we all play games: to have fun.