World of Warcraft: The War Within Review in Progress

At the time I’m writing this, I’ve put about seven hours into World of Warcraft: The War Within – basically every moment between when it unlocked and when I could no longer keep my eyes open. And that’s very early to say anything definitive. But… I have a very good feeling about this one, you guys. From the story, to the environments, to the new features, this is World of Warcraft firing on all cylinders. I’m not utterly blown away or anything that hyperbolic, but compared to the last three expansions’ launches, the warm glow of new adventure is hitting different this time.

I’ve been taking my sweet time – relatively speaking – so while some bedlamites had already hit 80 inside of a couple hours, I logged off for the night at level 73. That pace allowed me to collect three of my new Hero Talents for my Marksmanship Hunter, and I chose to go with the night elf-themed Sentinel over the tortured soul, Sylvanas-inspired Dark Ranger. I’m not super thrilled with these talents yet; we’ll see how it feels at 80, but I’m not getting the sense of a significant change in my power or my playstyle with each level like I’d hoped.

I do like that The War Within doesn’t add a bunch of new buttons to my hotbar, though. Part of why I picked Sentinel over Dark Ranger is that the latter makes you incorporate a new attack into your rotation, and I like that I have the option not to have to worry about that.

Setting the Stage

If you missed the big announcement last BlizzCon, The War Within is intended as the first part of a trilogy of expansions that aim to tell a larger, complete story. This is something WoW has never done before, and I’m pretty excited about it. Without spoiling too much, the first hour of the story definitely feels like we’re going full speed ahead into something sweeping and epic. Some major sacred cows in the lore are actually on the chopping block (not literally – Baine is fine, don’t worry). And Xal’atath is a compelling new nemesis – not just because she’s a hot goth mommy.

I mean, it’s partly that. But it’s not just that.

I’ve only seen the first of The War Within’s zones, the verdant and picturesque Isle of Dorn, which exists on the surface just above where the other 80 percent takes place. It feels very familiar to a long-time WoW player in a lot of the same ways the Dragon Isles did, and basically all of the best features from Dragonflight are back. You get Dynamic Flying (what used to be called Dragonriding) almost immediately, which I’m still conflicted about just because I think exploring new zones for the first time on the ground gives you more of a sense of place and grandeur. But I’m not conflicted at all about the return of thrilling aerial race courses and the expanded profession system.

Dornogal, the capital of the Earthen who protect Azeroth’s depths, is one of the coolest hub cities we’ve ever gotten thanks to its majestic Titan architecture and an interesting political storyline to unravel. It’s also quite a bit more organized and easier to navigate than the sometimes disorienting vertical layout of Valdrakken.

And the music! I can easily say the Isle of Dorn has some of my favorite music in WoW since, dang, Wrath of the Lich King maybe? Since Blizzard’s composers always kill it with their orchestral excellence, it’s really something when they release this 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 think the one everybody’s going to be talking about this time involves one of the semi-immortal Earthen realizing that his mind is starting to deteriorate, and asking you to help him set his affairs in order as he plans to end his own life in the traditional fashion of his people. I never get tired of being reminded that, for all the world-shaking, high-fantasy shenanigans driving World of Warcraft at the plot level, these kinds of heartfelt and relatable tales are what actually make it special.

I’m also quite optimistic about Delves, the new solo content that’s meant to be something of an alternative to raids and Mythic+ in the endgame, for people like me who don’t like to interact with randos and don’t have any friends left who still play this game from the group I started out with in 2004. They feature the same kinds of silly and ridiculous temporary power-ups I adored from Torghast, including one that gives you a double jump and another that greatly increases your damage as long as you never fall below half health. If Torghast has only one fan, it is me. If Torghast has no fans, then I am gone from this Earth. So it’s great to see some of the things that worked about it coming back.

One delve I played has what are effectively the jump mushrooms from Sonic the Hedgehog, allowing you to explore vertically in a new way, and another features wall-mounted ledges you can zip up to with a grappling hook. The only thing hurting my excitement about these is that they seem really, really short so far – less than 15 minutes in some cases. Part of it is that I haven’t unlocked the higher difficulties yet, so I can basically Arcane Shot-spam my way through the entire 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 way, way more of The War Within I haven’t seen at this point than what I have, but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself so far, and that’s just about the highest praise one 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.