World of Warcraft Cataclysm - Beta Preview

We stepped into the Cataclysm beta to bring you the digs from inside the latest expansion on the Blizzard franchise, with insights on the new races, places and game changers of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
 

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish more really bad things would happen in Azeroth”? Do the terrible events portrayed throughout the Warcraft lore leave you feeling like you have been short changed in misery and pain?

Then boy do Blizzard have a treat for you!

With Cataclysm, the latest WoW expansion, they really are serving up pain for the poor inhabitants of Azeroth. Towns destroyed, areas of the map competely gone, while other places have opened up (and this I assure you is not necessarily a good thing). The closed off kingdom of Gilneas has opened it's gates and it's people have ventured forth. The snag is that these people are almost all werewolves. It’s not all bad though, they are a mostly friendly bunch and have been taken in by the Night Elves. Known as Worgen, they are an interesting race because they can transform from a werewolf to human at the touch of a button (note: when you enter into combat you are automatically changed into your werewolf form.) Why someone would want to be a human when they can be an 8 foot tall wolfman in a top hat is beyond me, but each to their own.

The other of the 2 new races, the Goblins, have also come into the new and (arguably) improved Azeroth! So prepare to lose that nice Gadgetzan feeling of safety when you see a Goblin running over to you. The Goblin starting area is like a metropolis with highways and cars all over the place, very different from what you'll be used to in the World of Warcraft. It's an interesting change, most of the starter quests see you bumming around, driving your car, picking up mates to go places. Of course it all inevitably goes sour but it hints at a stronger emphasis on story telling than past iterations.

Environments

When I talk about towns being destroyed, don't think I mean little inconsequential towns like Starbreeze. I mean Auberdine for example, and a large chunk of Rut'Theran. It's wierdly troubling to see these places you've visited a hundred times in tatters. Even really serene seeming starting areas like Northshire are half burned to the ground and under invasion by the Orkish Horde.

Alongside carnage and destruction there are changes that are less drastic. The Gnomes no longer live with the dwarves, for example. They are now set on taking back Gnomeregan as their home so it will be interesting to see what comes of that!

With regards to the Horde, Ork and Troll lands are under attack by Northwatch (aren't they the people who don't want Nolan North to voice so many videogames?) a human group who have established a beachead near the trial grounds. This beachhead is about 100 metres away from the Trolls.

Getting Started

Another change that has been made to the starting areas is that they've been streamlined and shortened, probably with the goal of getting people into the game faster. For example, in the Night Elf starting area there is an Elf named Iverron who has been poisoned by spiders. Originally you were asked to find him by an elf who was on the opposite side of the map from him, now they are in the middle of the starting area together. This is a good example of the small but significant changes that Blizzard are making to the World of Warcraft formula.

Game Play – Character Customisation

Blizzard have seen fit to switch up the talent trees. You can no longer dabble in different trees, you must choose a tree and stick with it. Alongside this they've changed many of the existing talents and removed others. Of course you can't take some away and not replace them - that would be less than tidy! So Blizz have blinged us up with shiny new talents to spec with!

My personal experience with the game was that it was very enjoyable. I've been a World of Warcraft player for a little over 3 years now and can confidently say that I approve of almost all of the changes and additions to the formula. The new starter areas feel more like you're playing a game due to the heavier emphasis on narrative that's been adopted (think Death Knight) and the smoother levelling system is a good incentive. I'm not much of a fan of grinding, which is why WoW has occasionally turned me right off, so for me the faster levelling is a big upside.

Of the two new starting areas I prefered the Worgen, partly because I love the idea of playing as a wolf-man and partly because I kept getting lost in the Goblin starting area. It seems like a petty gripe but it's hard to enjoy something when the lack of viable landmarks means you often don't know where you are and can't work out how to get where you're supposed to be.

All in all I tried out many different races and classes over the course of about 13 characters and while it does seem like everything is easier, it's not at the expense of enjoyment. You still need to think too, I am used to playing a fury warrior so when I left my Mage battling in close combat to look at some menu's he was obliterated. Don't expect a smooth ride with this game difficulty wise, it can and will smack you down.

If you're a veteran World of Warcraft player then Cataclysm is a must. Injecting fresh ideas and ethos into the game while expanding it in new and daring ways. Not to mention the raised level cap, new high level dungeons and improved PvP. That's not to say they're swindling you in to buying it by removing content. The wealth of new dungeons, weapons, abilities and areas are more than enough of an incentive for this fresh spin on an old world.

What you thought:

Blarno - Ork - Hunter

I like the Worgen and Goblin starting areas they feel really fresh and intuitive. Bar a few hiccups they flow really well and feel like less of a grind than some of the original starting areas.

It really feels like they’ve tightened up the game but at the same time it feels easier, for example Hunters now have Pets at level 1. This is a small change, sure, but it does effect the whole dynamic of starting off with a hunter. Gaining a pet used to be like an aspiration when starting a new hunter, now there’s nothing like that. Hunters can now also call any of 5 pets from the stables from anywhere, which is neat but a little overly convenient. I don’t think veteran players will like how much easier the game is getting.

The changes to the environment are brilliant. Subtle changes that improve the whole experience, like how they’ve moved the front lines of battle around slightly but it seems like a new landscape battle-wise. Now we have more lands to travel around in too, and that is awesome!

VeRychard - Night Elf - Priest

I’m glad they’re making such a lot of changes with Cataclysm, I’ve been playing WoW for a long time and it’s nice to see something fresh. When you’ve been playing it for as long as I have you start to get bored with the same old talents , places and races.

They seem to be diluting the game in order to make it more accessible to newer, younger players. Some could say that this is a good thing, but I’m not so sure.

The game is getting too easy. When you learn a spell now you don’t have to upgrade it, it gets stronger as you level. The Guild skills also make things a lot easier. Again this is diluting the game, by making it easier it wont scare off trial players and will keep the subscriptions rolling in.

That’s not to say it’s not a challenge in places though.

Yaruha - Blood Elf - Warlock

I think Cataclysm is the best of the expansion packs so far. It offers so much new content!

I really like the new talents they’ve added, much better than the old ones. Some of the old ones didn’t seem very useful. It’s good that they’ve made the talent system more focussed, helps new players too, who would otherwise mix their talents and end up average at everything.

The Goblins are very funny and I love the Worgen starting area. It’s a good evolution of the game that the starting areas are becoming more and more story based.

Alilsneaky - Gametrailers.com user

The game runs a lot better despite the increased draw distance and lighting quality (the game now has some actual dynamic lighting, which adds a lot to the atmosphere.)

Damage right now is silly, they specifically said that they wanted health bars to go up and down a lot more gradually like in Burning Crusade when it comes to Player vs Player, yet they buff player damage for all classes almost every patch, right now damage is way more bursty as opposed to the steady feel I thought they wanted.

New low level quests are more interesting than the old ones (questing was always wow's biggest weak point, though much of it still boils down to kill x, collect x, but it feels less generic now)

Many new features feel like they could have/should have been added months or even years ago but were simply held back to save them for the expansion.

Things like the new glyph UI, proc alerts, or even basic matters of convenience like removing the need to level up weapon skill or train separate spell levels should have been changed a long time ago.