As of this writing, I’ve put about seven hours into World of Warcraft: The War Within – basically every moment between unlocking it and the moment I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And it’s too early to say anything definitive. But… I have a really good feeling about it, folks. From the story to the environments to the new features, this is World of Warcraft at full throttle. I’m not totally blown away or over the top, but compared to the releases of the last three expansions, the warm feeling of the new adventure hits me differently this time around.
I took my time – relatively speaking – and although some lunatics were hitting level 80 after just a few hours, I logged off for the night at level 73. This pace allowed me to collect three of my new hero talents for my Marksmanship Hunter, and I chose the Night Elf-themed Sentinel over the Tormented Soul, Sylvanas-inspired Dark Ranger. I’m not that keen on these talents yet; we’ll see how it feels at 80, but I don’t feel like there’s a significant change in my power or playstyle with each level like I’d hoped.
I do like that The War Within doesn’t add a ton of new buttons to my hotbar, though. One of the reasons I chose Sentinel over Dark Ranger is because the latter lets you add a new attack to your rotation, and I like that I have the option of not having to worry about it.
Setting the stage
In case you missed the big announcement at last year’s BlizzCon, The War Within is intended to be the first part of a trilogy of expansions designed to tell a larger, complete story. It’s something WoW has never done before, and I’m pretty excited about it. Without giving too much away, the first hour of the story definitely feels like we’re moving full steam ahead toward something sweeping and epic. Some of history’s most important sacred cows are actually on the chopping block (not literally—Baine is fine, don’t worry). And Xal’atath is a compelling new nemesis—and not just because she’s a hot goth mommy.
I mean, that’s partly the reason. But it’s not Only The.
I’ve only seen the first zone of The War Within, the green and picturesque Isle of Dorn, which is on the surface, just above where the other 80 percent takes place. It feels very familiar to a long-time WoW player in many ways, as do the Dragon Isles, and basically all of Dragonflight’s best features are back. You get Dynamic Flying (formerly called Dragonriding) almost immediately, which I’m still torn about because I think exploring new zones on the ground for the first time gives you a stronger sense of place and grandeur. But I’m not at all torn about the return of exciting air racing tracks and the expanded profession system.
Dornogal, the capital of the Earthen who protect Azeroth’s depths, is one of the coolest cities we’ve ever had thanks to its majestic titan architecture and an interesting political storyline to unravel. It’s also much better organized and easier to navigate than the sometimes confusing vertical layout of Valdrakken.
And the music! I can easily say that the Isle of Dorn has some of my favorite songs in WoW since, heck, maybe Wrath of the Lich King? With Blizzard’s composers always going above and beyond with their orchestral excellence, it’s truly special when they release so many tracks that stand out even by their high standards.
The long road ahead
Just like Dragonflight, the smaller zone quests are often memorable and touching. I believe the quest that everyone will be talking about this time is about one of the semi-immortal Earthen who realizes that his mind is beginning to deteriorate and asks you to help him get his affairs in order as he plans to end his life in the traditional way of his people. I never tire of being reminded that for all the earth-shattering, high fantasy shenanigans that drive World of Warcraft on the plot level, these kinds of emotional and relatable stories are actually what make the game so special.
I’m also pretty optimistic about Delves, the new solo content that’s meant to be a sort of alternative to raids and Mythic+ in the endgame for people like me who don’t like interacting with strangers and don’t have any friends who still play this game from the group I started with in 2004. They offer the same silly and ridiculous temporary power-ups that I loved about Torghast, including one that lets you double jump and another that massively increases your damage as long as you never drop below half health. If Torghast has one fan, it’s me. If Torghast has no fans, then I’m gone from this earth, so it’s great to see some of the things that worked about it come back.
One of the caves I’ve played basically features Sonic the Hedgehog’s jump mushrooms that allow you to explore vertically in a new way, and another has wall-mounted ledges that you can use a grappling hook to zoom up to. The only thing that dampens my enthusiasm for them is that so far they seem really, really short—less than 15 minutes in some cases. Part of that is because I haven’t unlocked the higher difficulties yet, so I can basically Arcane Shot spam my way through the whole thing without looking at my health bar. And I’ve only seen the first three. But I was hoping for something closer to the length of a five-person dungeon experience.
There’s much, much more of The War Within that I haven’t seen yet, but I’m having a lot of fun with it so far, and that’s about the highest praise you can give an expansion at launch. Check back next week for the first big update on my progress, and for a final verdict some time after Season 1 and the first raid unlock on September 10.
