Ah, the ever present MMORPG. For those who happen to still be under the proverbial rock, MMORPG stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The entire genre has not exactly done well to keep my attention span. Since the days of Neverwinter Nights on AOL (KORT, for the good of the realms…you’ll know what I mean if you played it), the last online only game I truly enjoyed, the whole idea hasn’t exactly gone anywhere. Even the “innovations” of Ultima Online and EverQuest were nothing more than taking what was done in much older titles, like Neverwinter Nights, adding more players into the server, and making you pay monthly for the whole experience.
Because I was on a much lower ground floor than many, even lower considering I played MUDs and their ilk (MOO, etc) when I was on the Prodigy ISP in 1988, exciting me with an online game is going to take a lot of work. Since the first MUD showed up on early, early networks, the entire MMOG idea has been stuck in what I call the first generation. Nearly 30 years of first generation. Everything from text MUDs to Lineage 2 is a first generation game. Limited storyline and the primary concern of killing stuff are the signs of a first generation game. Yes, I know, I speak on content level. Visually, we are around the 5th generation, but then again, I don’t give two flips about visuals if the content is the same old thing from years past.
The recent offerings, Earth and Beyond and City of Heroes had absolutely nothing to keep my attention. Earth and Beyond lasted five months for me and City of Heroes a measly three weeks. City of Heroes was critically acclaimed, so that goes to demonstrate my high standards and desire for that second generation title. Basically, if there every is a MMORPG on the market that can keep my attention and not feel pained during that time period, then just about anyone can like it.
Fortunately, that time has come. I am ecstatic about it as well. That title is World of Warcraft. The first Second Generation MMORPG.
Initially, the gameplay is exactly like every other MMORPG you’ve ever played. Movement keys, monster selection, attack, kill, take loot. What sets WoW apart from the competition is the vast storyline in the game. Sure, other titles like EverQuest have players swearing there is a deep storyline in there, but even to players like me who hit level 45 in that game and played for two years never saw it. EQ even stated in an early chat discussion, by McQuaid himself, that questing and story were only secondary and anyone trying to go through them would find themselves at a disadvantage due to minimal experience gained and the fact that you’d not gain skills hacking at monsters all day.
World of Warcraft went in the complete opposite direction. Questing is the key to getting anywhere in WoW. Not only is questing the prime direction of advancement, but the quests are actually very good. Each individual quest has mountains of back-story behind why you are killing a pile of raptors and bringing back their heads. Not only that, but there are chain quests. Complete a quest and you are given a second, third, fourth, and so on. The questing system develops a multitude of deep storylines. There is more story in the Orc city of Orgrimmar than there is in the entire game of EverQuest. That is a good comparison to make.
The characters are broken up into the old mainstay class system. This, to my personal dismay, was quite worrisome. Classes tend to limit how the players can advance their characters. Luckily, Blizzard fixed that problem. Each class has three paths they can take, or even mix things up within those paths. For example, a rogue can move along the assassination, combat, or stealth paths, and can take skills from one, two, or all three. The player can decide if he will use his limited points on one sub-skill and get the ultimate skill or be a jack of all trades and pick up to middle level skills in everything.
On the combat side, Blizzard doesn’t disappoint. Many of the older MMORPGs have a click and wait combat system. Click the mouse, watch while your character uses the same attack animation over and over again to kill the enemy then repeat. Blizzard again goes in the other direction. They give you a multitude of skills and abilities to use during combat, so much so that you likely won’t beat things without using them. No more click and wait; the game instead requires strategy, as the player must decide how to use limited mana or energy, and what skills to use in what order. Using the rogue again as an example, when parrying an attack, the rogue then has to quickly follow up with a riposte to get extra damage.
The guild system isn’t all that spectacular, though. This is the same old thing as every other game; in other words, it is just a way to get a private chat room. The only cool thing is you can tell who is in what guild by just looking at their avatar. WoW offers custom tabards that guild members can wear which adds a personal touch to guilds.
The best part, however, comes in the PvP servers. WoW is broken up into two sides: The Horde and the Alliance. The Horde is made up of Orcs, Tauren, Undead, and Troll, while the Alliance consists of Gnomes, Humans, Night Elves, and Dwarves. WoW allows warfare to go on between the two factions. This is not just lame “kill the other player” warfare, but to the point where, if you get enough high level players together, you can actually capture regions of the world for your side. There is an actual purpose for PvP.
Visually, the game is very artful. There is nothing spectacular in a technical way, but the art direction is impressive. Everything is unique, has flavor, and makes the world alive. From Orgrimmar’s presence to Undercity’s creepiness, everything is quite impressive. The atmosphere is second to none. Other things like effects are pretty good, and I love the way things look when you die.
The sound is also pretty good. There are random voice clips throughout the game which are well done, as are the monster effects. Attack and spell effects are also pretty good. Unfortunately, actual effects are quite limited in scope. The music is also very good, to the point I was willing to pull a few tracks off the soundtrack and onto my iPod.
World of Warcraft has done it. WoW is officially the first online only game in twelve years that I can actually enjoy for a long period of time. The vastness of the story, the volume of things to do in combat, the art direction, and the realm combat all rolls up into a wonderful package. World of Warcraft is the new standard that MMORPGs in the future need to live up to.