World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack (PC) > Reviews (9)

World of Warcraft is a physically enthralling, highly addictive video game series which has lasted more than 6-years and hopes to continue on into the future with the latest expansion pack release, 'Cataclysm'. this however, is the second to last expansion release, 'Wrath of the Lich King'.

After having lots of fun over the years, playing and talking about this game with friends I have so far never got round to expressing in detail the illuminating ice-world of the Wrath of the Lich King (the expansion between 'The Burning Crusade' and 'Cataclysm' release).

~ SO WHO IS THE LICH KING? ~

In essence, the Lich King is an undead human death knight who rules the scourge (an evil race) telepathically from the Frozen Throne of the Icecrown Glacier in the arctic (new) region of Northrend. Basically, he's the most powerful NPC (non-player-character) to enter the world of Warcraft since its creation.

The Lich King features heavily in and around the main quest lines, instances and raids of the expansion pack, which ultimately culminate in the inhalation of his being in the final raid of the game - Icecrown. His appearance is not dissimilar to that of a giant (about 3-times the size of man) age-less human, iced in silver body armour, and wielding a humongous magic infused two-handed sword as old as the ground
he engulfs.

His presences is truly terrifying, and when you do finally face him along-side a band of 25 allies, defeating this monster is as emotional as any film, game or TV series I have witnessed. You see, the Lich King's character dates back to Blizzard's (the makers) pre-world of Warcraft days, with the Warcraft series. His story evolved him from, Arthas a Prince of Lorderon, to the evil king he becomes in the expansion.
People who played the original Warcraft games in the past are extremely critical of this particular Warcraft story development, but most are accepting of how blizzard handled the Lich King and his end.

~ WHAT NEW PLAYER FEATURES DOES THE LICH KING AND HIS LAND BRING? ~

A new class, the Death Knight, which can only be activated and played if a person has a character over level 50, plus new class-to-race combinations have been released since the last expansion (The Burning Crusade) with the WOTLK (Wrath of the Lich King). This new class combines magic influenced physics (the ability to drag enemies from a distance to your exact location before attacking them with fist weapons, swords and axes) with basic weapon moves and further magical spells and auras to create a ferocious character which can be recruited by both the Horde and Alliance (Bad and Good factions in the game).

When you first start your Death Knight character it begins at level 55 and is born in the shadow of the Lich King himself. This gives players a chance to look up close at the king and test out his ghostly voice, commanding walks and stance as he parades around the fortress. You then begin an opening (and highly interactive) quest line which sends you all around the Lich King's place of invasion, and the region he has descended upon.

Quests here include turning humans to plagued undead, and finding key objects throughout the several villages at your disposal. There are also a few culminating cinematics played at the end of this quest line and many others throughout the expansion. I feel Blizzard have finished off this opening sequence to the game very well indeed, with a lot of new content being shown off in the first 5-hours of initial play.

Along with the expansion comes many new armour, weapon, trinket and material items previously not in the game. With a recorded item amount in excess of 10,000 prior to WOTLK's release, the total will most probably raise to near enough to the 15,000 mark as character customisation reaches a whole new and exciting level. There really is no other game with the same amount of contrast available.

As well as item improvements, a new profession, inscription, and new reputation tabs (areas in the world which you can become hated or loved by after performing certain actions) have been included in the new game to much avail. The more depth added in these sort of areas, the better, and more addictive the game becomes with so much to collect and improve upon - hours of fun!

~ WHAT ABOUT THE LANDSCAPES, VILLAGES, TOWNS AND CITIES? ~

Well, for a start the actual graphical level within the game has been improved, with added effects and detail which alone increases the appearance of Northrend. However, experimentation with new terrains and terrain colourings, better looking buildings, roads and bridges, as well as higher detailed NPC's and player characters has made WOTLK's landscapes, villages, towns and cities a lot more appealing.

Blizzard has got the balance between urbanisation and rural woodland, frozen waste and grass land areas spot on. There are many new towns and general settlements with new species of neutral being and aggressive humanoid alike, which only adds to the depth of the game as a whole!

Within these new towns are new styles of building and road to suit the specific settler which belongs there. You can then perform quests for that race and earn their respect (linked to the reputation improvements mentioned earlier).

The forests of the Grizzly Hills, a region within Northrend, are tall and vast, expanding across several settlements controlled by both the horde and alliance who have united in certain areas to take down their common enemy, the Scourge and the Lich King himself. Lumberjacks are in operation foresting for the building of siege weaponry needed in the war effort, and rock elementals are searching for lost secrets beneath the surface! All of these events and places come together to form the fantastic environment you can explore and aid freely.

~ DO I NEED THE OTHER EXPANSION AND ORIGINAL GAME TO PLAY? ~

You can only enter into the continent of Northrend after you achieve level 68, so there's not much point buying the WOTLK until you have reached this level. The Burning Crusade's region (which is actually a separate planet you have to teleport to) can only be accessed after level 58, so basically, buy the original and wait until you've progressed.

However, Cataclysm will transform the starting environment (levels 1-60) and add new areas to the original two continents, Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdom's. So you can experience new content as you progress through every level of the game with the latest expansion!

~ ANYTHING ELSE? ~

Just buy this game and you won't regret it, though you may regret having a little less time out of the house! That really is the only downside though - The monthly subscription of £8.99 should not put anyone off (even though Blizzard could easily lower it and still make billions) because the game is really, really worth it!

Thanks for reading!