World Of Warcraft: Warlords Of Draenor
Orcward encounters
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Format reviewed: PC Price: £ 30 (£ 10 monthly subscription required) Publisher: Blizzard
Warlords Of
Draenor is Blizzard going back to its roots, if hardly back to basics. Orcs. Humans. The raw power of the Horde, in a land of blood and fire. It’s also some of the best MMO content Blizzard has ever made, combining the raw ambition we saw exhibited in previous expansion Wrath Of The Lich King with the expertise earned from another six years of practice, refinement and technological progress.
You’re now officially one of Azeroth’s heavy- hitters; where once some random guard in a nowhere outpost could have you go get him lunch, now you’re given proper respect wherever you go. You have full control of your faction’s main garrison. The whole garrison system is simple but effective, the physical presence of recruited followers and the general sense of life making it feel like your own place, despite everyone using the same instanced map.
It’s still reassuringly World Of Warcraft at its core. There are bear asses to collect and ten of these to kill followed by twenty of those, and nothing you encounter is going to cause any real trouble. But if Pandaria felt a bit like Blizzard flapping around after such a good run, this feels like there actually could be another ten good years in the old girl. A triumphant return to form for both Blizzard and its world. Richard Cobbett Warlords Of Draenor is the first expansion pack to take place primarily before the main timeline, in a branching reality.