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PC | RPG | World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Boxart for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade 73 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.50
  • SOUND: 5.00
  • CONTROL: 5.00
  • FUN FACTOR 5.00
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.9
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.7
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Update: World of Wacraft: The Burning Crusade (page 3 of 3)

Update by The Gamepros | 08/11/2006 | 18:27:26 PM PST

We also got a peek at the upcoming dungeons. Some of them were populated, and others were more like enormous, eerie mansions. Karazhan, a 10-man, level 70 raid dungeon, is stocked full of ghosts and other undead and is reminiscent of Scarlet Monastery and Scholomance. The art style is very Gothic and also carries traces of the Undercity's thematic resemblance to The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Then there's Shattrath City (careful how you spell that!); it's not a dungeon, but a capital-sized city shared by the Alliance and Horde. They don't plan to implement an auction house, but they are planning to place portals to the main cities back on Azeroth. Its art style is like a dark version of the Draenei buildings.

Last but not least, all expansion dungeons will give level 70 players the option to return at a higher difficulty level. Chilton didn't expand on this -- would this mean new monsters and new encounters, or just more hit points? -- but the premise sounds cool on paper. With a high-level character, one sometimes wonders what it would be like to go back to the Deadmines or Wailing Caverns and encounter a real challenge... though Chilton cautions that Blizzard doesn't plan on implementing this feature in existing dungeons.

And if that isn't enough, there's some good news for crafters. You've probably already heard about jewelcrafting, but Chilton also tells us there will be at least one new ore type and cloth type -- which should mean lots of new recipes. While the new crafting mats will likely be oriented towards high-level gear, jewelcrafting will benefit anyone with a socketed item. Also, Chilton introduced us to the "light gem." This will go in a helm's gem slot and will have a meta-effect on all gems currently slotted on that player's gear. The one we saw adds 4 agility for every different color of gem the player has slotted. And as you may have heard, the Draenei have a +5 racial bonus for this profession.

With a huge slab of new real estate, a revamped and arguably improved honor system, increased de-buff slots for warlocks, and new "snap aggro" for paladins, it looks like The Burning Crusade offers a little something for even the most seasoned WoW players. Not only more content, but improved content. You won't have to reach level 60 and go to the Outlands to get more de-buff slots, for example. And when you're finally ready to venture into the ancestral home of the Orcs, you'll have a boatload of new dungeons and zones to explore.

Blizzard hasn't set a date to start the official beta phase, but we expect it to come pretty soon. So keep your eyes peeled here for more info. And in the meantime, enjoy some new screenshots and artwork.


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