20 years down the line, the World of Warcraft franchise is still going strong. The series has had veterans come and go. Meanwhile, newcomers have been joining the series at different points. Still, some gamers may feel intimidated to start the journey this late, and with the latest expansion, Dragonflight, that sentiment couldn’t have been any more justified. But the developing team has always been keen to listen to players’ feedback, and you’ll be happy to know that World of Warcraft: The War Within is just as good a starting point as any. So buckle up veterans and newcomers to the WoW franchise as we delve deeper into our World of Warcraft: The War Within review.
Is the Story Any Good?
Let’s just get it out of the way that The War Within’s story is excellent. It’s hardly the kind to skip over, with great pacing and well-spaced-out cutscenes. Previously, newcomers were often lost trying to piece together story beats from 2007’s The Burning Crusade through to 2022’s Dragonflight. You were expected to have previous knowledge of the series, even though you were just joining the series.
But The War Within gets rid of all expectations, ushering in newcomers to a story they will easily follow through. And before long, you’re pulled into the plot, thanks to intriguing characters with believable expressions and voice acting. You only need to be a little more patient to allow the plot to pick up pace. I won’t give any spoilers; it's simply top-notch through and through.
What About the Music?
Meanwhile, the music is spectacular, as always. The War Within has the pleasure of inheriting solid works from previous expansions while also adding some new compelling music pieces. Dramatic moments enjoy a more energetic piece, while exploration across the world provides an auditory means of escape.
Welcome to Khaz Algar
You venture out below Azeroth to dangerous lands known as Khaz Algar. The game kicks you off on the Isle of Dorn, and the landscapes take your breath away right off the bat. Remember Dragon Riding in Dragonflight? It’s back, and at the start of your campaign, too. Tagged “sky riding,” you can explore the world from the skies, covering massive distances in short bursts of time.
Perhaps a minor con there, where you’d probably appreciate the beauty of the environments a lot more if you were exploring on foot. Still, sky-riding runs smoothly, without any annoying loading screens, even between vast biomes. From mountains to flourishing nature, The War Within has it all. The expansion crafts four zones, each one vibrant, intricately detailed, and, overall, packed with atmospheric vibes.
The Earthens
The War Within’s new race is the Earthens. Humans are very rarely given much attention in fantasy worlds. But the expansion takes a moment to appreciate the nuances that make the Earthen race special. They can be allies or enemies just as soon as you unlock them while progressing through the campaign. Thereafter, learning the lore and backstories of the race adds an extra spice to the campaign.
Laidback Delves
Apparently, delves are another new feature in The War Within, yet they play a lot similar to Scenarios. They’re essentially endgame activities that earn you some pretty exciting rewards and gear. But the eye-catching factor is that you can take them on solo or in a team of up to five players, and that’s game-changing, the solo part, I mean.
The WoW franchise has been around for decades, and you’ll likely join players who have mastered the gameplay system. And yes, veterans can sometimes put pressure on you to perform, even when you’re just wrapping your head around the controls or possibly want to take your time to appreciate the world around you. With the solo option, you can practice in your free time and team up when you feel confident. And the best part? The War Within isn’t pay to win.
Alts Now Have Warbands
So, remember how you leveled up a single character at a time? And if you wanted to switch to another character, you would have to level them separately. Yup, that’s done now. With Warbands, you can upgrade a single character and have their progression carry over to all of the characters you have in your Battle.net account. Pretty neat, right? It saves you a lot of time leveling up one character at a time and allows you to experiment more.
Class-specific Hero Talent Trees
Plenty of The War Within’s gameplay will be familiar to fans of the franchise. It retains the same fun and satisfying combat system the series has perfected over the years. The best part of a long-running series is the developers have the time to fine-tune and polish any issues. As a result, the talent trees on offer here are so incredibly in-depth.
But beyond deep systems, the expansion introduces hero talent trees, which adds to the character progression system. All classes have three distinct hero talent trees (except druid, which has four, and demon hunters, which have two). It allows every character who has upgraded to level 71 to enjoy further extra boosts in their builds, talents, and abilities.
By the time your character reaches level 80, they will have unlocked every talent in their chosen hero trees and just in time to take on the vicious multiplayer battles. As much as it can sound daunting, The War Within finds that sweet spot of simplicity: upgrade character, scoop up a new talent, allocate talent to class, and that’s it.
Healthy Population
One thing you can always be sure of in any WoW is that the population will flourish with online players. You’ll hardly ever join a multiplayer server to play the MMO section of the game and find it empty. That said, the competition can be pretty stiff. Yet, you now have somewhat of a level playing field to sharpen your skills in the solo campaign before jumping into the MMO.
In any case, while The War Within is the first expansion in an upcoming Worldsoul Saga trilogy, it still looks and plays like a capable expansion in itself. You hardly ever run out of things to do, and with the upcoming eight-boss raid in Azj-Kahet and many more raids to come, The War Within is sure to hold steady for the next couple of months.
Upcoming Schedule
The War Within’s schedule is already out now, so you can keep track of the dates. On September 10, 2014, Season One will kick off, opening up the Normal and Heroic Raid difficulties to everyone. Further, you’ll play Raid Finder Wing One of Nerub-ar Palace, Mythic Zero Dungeons, Heroic Seasonal Dungeons, and the new and first World Boss. On the multiplayer front, PvP Season One will kick off then.
On September 17, 2024, you’ll access more Mythic raids, Mythic+ dungeons, Raid Finder Wing 2, and Raid Story Mode. And September 14, 2024, will usher in Raid Finder Wing 3. So, you have quite a ton of content to look forward to, making it all the more paramount to hone your skills to show off your prowess when the Raids and Mythic+ dungeons go live.
Verdict
Perhaps surprisingly, World of Warcraft: The War Withincrafts a story worth paying attention to. It’s easy to skip over the cutscenes, but once you get the hang of the story, it digs its teeth into your soul, holding your attention through to the end. You enjoy genuinely surprising moments you won’t see coming. Meanwhile, the storytelling, from the writing to the acting, is believable. Couple that with the engrossing soundtrack, and the expansion achieves a deeply immersive story campaign that is sure to keep both newcomers and veterans busy over the next couple of weeks.
The story campaign prepares you for Delves. It allows you to upgrade your characters up to Level 80, just in time to compete on the same level as friends and online players. This time, you have less pressure to master the game, with a more lenient story campaign that you can play as leisurely as you like. For the vibrant and fantastical world portrayed here, you’ll be pressed to take your time to enjoy the flourishing nature and deeply enriching biomes. You easily take your time appreciating the beauty in Khaz Algar, which takes all the best parts about previous expansions’ brimming worlds and elevates them.
When you finally are ready to play with long-term fans of WoW, you enjoy a flourishing population of online players on standby. You’ll almost always find other players to jump into Raids with, which, with the upcoming content updates, will come in handy. Overall, The War Within has plenty of pros going for it. It has immense content to keep you busy for months and years to come. Its combat systems have been deep and polished over the years. You really witness characters progressing in story and abilities. If there were any gripes, they’d be nitpicked based on personal preferences.
