Over almost 17 years we have been able to see how the world of Azeroth in World of Warcraft has gone through its pluses and minuses , with expansions to frame and others that could perfectly be forgotten. The truth is that Battle for Azeroth could be placed somewhere in the middle, so we wanted Blizzard to develop an expansion of those that made us want to get up from the chair to applaud non-stop.
That is what he has tried to achieve with World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, with which he left us speechless since his first official trailer came to light, in which we were able to witness a combat between Sylvanas and Bolvar as King with an epic cinematic Lich, which already anticipated that something quite fat was coming .
Well, after having played for a few (quite a few) dozens of hours, we are ready to tell you in the following analysis what exactly we found to be the eighth expansion of one of the most important MMORPGs in the world.
Entering the Shadowlands, with a formidable plot
As we have previously pointed out, the first Shadowlands video already offered a preview of what we were going to find in this new adventure. When Sylvanas defeated the Lich King, he snatched his helmet, destroying it in pieces, which caused a crack to open in the sky of Icecrown, thus appearing a portal to the Shadowlands , a place that we could define as the afterlife because It is where all the living beings that end up dying go.
Not content with it, Sylvanas manages to capture some of the most important figures in all of Azeroth. It is there when the members of the Alliance and the Horde will get down to work to travel to the Shadowlands, rescue their allies and above all stop the Machiavellian plans of the former war chief of the Horde. However, Sylvanas’ plans go beyond all this, because she has allied herself with the Jailer , one of the most powerful beings that inhabit the other world.
All this corresponds only to the first minutes of this expansion, on which it must be recognized that it is the one with the greatest plot weight of all those that have been published to date. Already it is tremendously extensive and little by little, as we visit the different kingdoms of the Shadowlands, we will get to know the motivations, the objectives of those responsible for these places and the fate that awaits the souls of those who die. , although it must be said that not all areas have impacted us equally to the point of suffering some ups and downs in a few moments, such as Bastion.
The best of all is that, unlike in the last expansions, here the story is linear and it is something that is sincerely appreciated, because it helps to understand it much better in depth. Especially because it forces you to have to go through each and every one of the five kingdoms that exist, the four main ones together with Las Mauces, ruled by the Jailer. In addition, all this also serves as a tribute to the history of World of Warcraft , because sometimes a protagonist or villain will appear who has died or has been eliminated years ago, which makes it curious (and logical on the other hand) to find with them in the afterlife.
But if there is something in which you can see that Blizzard has put a great effort into it, it has been in the endgame , the content that will be unlocked at the end of the main campaign, because it has been done in such a way that it is unlocked little by little as Weeks go by , with new main missions. To this day the plot continues and has not ended, which serves as a great motivation for players to continue entering every week, because this way they have the guarantee that they will always find new content and news.
The election of the Curias
In the four key kingdoms of the Shadowlands we will meet countless new characters. Each one has its own Curia , which is why before we highlighted that it was essential to know each one of them, because at the end of the campaign it will be necessary to make one of the most decisive decisions of the entire expansion by having to choose one of the four Curias . From that moment it will be when a totally new and exclusive campaign of that particular faction will start.
Therefore, it could be said that Shadowlands has five campaigns in total and that you will need four characters to see them all. Even so, if you create a secondary character, the game will give you the option to skip the main campaign directly and be able to enjoy the expansion at your own pace, having to choose a Curia from the beginning in order to increase your reputation with it as you go up. level to your champion. However, at any time you can select a different Curia than the one previously chosen, although this carries a series of penalties, hence it is advisable to pull other characters to see them all.
That said, apart from the new quests that appear weekly, the Curia campaign is also slowly unlocking , so all players have been encountering new surprises so far. Without a doubt, it is something to be thankful for because in the end other expansions became excessively repetitive and did not offer enough motivation to connect daily, but here, between the main missions, the secondary missions, the daily ones, raising reputations, professions and much more, you will have give and take entertainment .
In turn, another reason why you have to think carefully about which Curia is the most suitable is because they will grant their own pieces of equipment, mounts, allies, advantages, zones and abilities that will not fit exactly the same with all classes. . Of course, the latter only applies if your objective is to enter the mythical dungeons or raids for numerous groups of people, while if your intention is simply to play your ball alone, then you can opt for the one that most catches your attention, because in this sense it is not that one or the other matters in excess.
By the way, I haven’t enjoyed completing dungeons so much for a long time, because each of the dungeons in this expansion is different enough from the rest to present a real challenge , especially when played on Heroic and a whole lot more on Mythic difficulty. It is certainly impressive that after almost 17 years Blizzard still has enough ingenuity to create battles with mechanics never seen before , with the most original final bosses that will make us want to face each other again and again, apart from to further improve the pieces of equipment.
Going back to basics with level 60 as a cap
When World of Warcraft began its journey, something that can also be revived in World of Warcraft Classic, the maximum level that existed at that time was 60. Since then this limit has been increased with each of the expansions that has been posting. However, Blizzard was aware that this situation put many players back by imagining that they had to climb 120 levels to get to see the most current content. For this reason, with the arrival of Shadowlands, the maximum level has been cut in half and returned to 60 .
This has been accompanied by two very significant developments. The first of these is that newcomers to the MMORPG, or those who want to put a new class into practice, will have the opportunity to travel to a totally new and highly entertaining starting area that will serve to climb a few levels in just a while. From there it is up to each one to choose the following areas in which they will level up to 50, the amount necessary to visit the Shadowlands of this new expansion.
That is where the second great novelty we mentioned comes into play, because now it is tremendously easy to climb the first 50 levels . The experience required has been reduced substantially so that it now costs practically nothing to achieve while being a lot of fun. It is clear that Blizzard wants players to see the Shadowlands as soon as possible and it is indisputable that these decisions that have been made in this regard have been a success.
Likewise, the reduction in levels has implied another big change and that is that the damage caused by all characters by decreasing it, naturally, has been modified, as well as the statistics granted by the different pieces of equipment. Regardless, the Californian company should take a good look at the damage caused by all classes in general , especially in PvP mode, where Rogues and Hunters are real beasts that can annihilate you in the blink of an eye. . Someone who has the war mode (PvP) activated permanently and has suffered it in his own flesh assures you, while from other classes I have been able to get away without any problem.
It is understandable that many people do not like having to deal with players from the opposing faction who will often decide to kill you just for the sake of it. Even so, the world of the Shadowlands earns infinitely more points if you opt for the war mode because it shows that the different kingdoms are more alive at the same time that they present an added challenge to be sure that at any time you can be stalked from behind a member of the Alliance or Horde.
Hell of the Maw and Torghast
We previously mentioned in passing The Maw , one of the key kingdoms of the Shadowlands and without a doubt the area that introduces one of the greatest challenges in all of World of Warcraft. The best way to define this territory is with the word hell , apart from because it seems so because of its number of demons and powerful creatures, because you will feel that it is where you are as you try to advance while completing the missions. In fact, it is essential to have reached level 60 to enter Las Mauces, where it is said that every mortal who goes there does not return alive .
At every step you take you will see for yourself, because this kingdom is full of enemies and it does not help the fact that you can not use the mount to go from one place to another, so you have to be aware that many fights await ahead going to leg. As if that were not enough, there is another danger added to all this, which is the gaze of the Jailer . This means that as you defeat their minions they will notice your presence, which will increase an alarm warning with different levels (up to a maximum of five), so that with each one the dangers and risks of this area will increase up to that it is practically impossible to survive.
Luckily the alarm is reset every day , which means that sometimes you have no choice but to wait until the next day to carry out that mission that you had pending. In any case, another way to hang out in The Maw without having to pay attention to the gaze of the Jailer is with Torghast, the Tower of the Damned and one of the biggest new features of the expansion, since it is a kind of All-new dungeon whose content is randomly generated each time each of its rooms is traversed.
Roguelike fans will be very satisfied with this tower by bragging that there will never be two floors the same , because the corridors change, the rewards, the enemies and the final bosses that inhabit them. To counteract these threats, either alone or in a group, passive upgrades can be obtained so that the characters temporarily become more powerful. Exactly until the moment when the dungeon is left.
Despite everything, all that glitters is not gold and one of the problems that Torghast sins is that it can sometimes be a bit repetitive. Reaching the final floor can take between half an hour and an hour if you play solo. In turn, when you have already completed dozens of rooms, they no longer impact so much and are practically only worth it for the main missions that force you to visit one of their rooms in particular.
This year will mark 15 years since I began to take my first steps in World of Warcraft and of course I cannot help but affirm that Shadowlands has been one of the expansions that I have enjoyed the most , if not the most of all. Battle for Azeroth ended up ditching it and coming back to it constantly over the months, but with Shadowlands every day it makes me want to play to complete quests, dungeons, level up, or do anything.
At the content level, what Blizzard has achieved is masterful, with a plot that hooks you from the first moment and that does not stop leaving you with the bug of wanting a week to pass to discover how the main story will progress, as if from a series television will be discussed. In addition, the kingdoms of the Shadowlands are tremendously different from each other and on an artistic level they are fascinating, making us never tire of visiting them on a daily basis. And of course it should not be overlooked that from time to time the most spectacular cinematic sequences also appear.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has set such a high bar with its dozens of new features that all we can do is ask Blizzard that the quality of future expansions, if any, is at least that of this new one. because without a doubt this is on the right track and it would not be surprising if the MMORPG still has a long life ahead of it full of new adventures for all Azerothian champions of the Alliance and Horde.
Essential
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
| Platforms | Pc |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Yes (MMO) |
| Developer | Blizzard |
| Company | Blizzard |
| Launch | November 24, 2020 |
| Price | 39.99 euros |
The best
- A long campaign, one of the most complete and full of surprises.
- The choice of the Curias and how different they are from each other.
- Exploring new areas and dungeons.
- So much content that it can take several weeks to see everything.
Worst
- Not all classes are equally balanced.
- The plot weight of some areas suffers ups and downs.
