At this year's E3 conference, we had an opportunity to take a look at the upcoming World of Warcraft (WoW) by Blizzard Entertainment. Our first look is summed up in one word: Wow!
In the arena of real-time strategy (RTS) games, Blizzard reigns supreme. With WoW, they capitalize on their Warcraft franchise by releasing a Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) version of the Warcraft universe. Other major competitors in this category are Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron's Call and Dark Age of Camelot. On an interesting side note, Blizzard's parent company, Vivendi Universal Games, also published Dark Age of Camelot.
Remember those units you were pushing around in the earlier Warcraft RTS games? Well, you will get to play one of them in a first-person, MMORPG setting. You get to be an Orc Shaman, Ogre Magi, Human Paladin, Dwarf Sapper (well, maybe not one of them), an Elvin Archer or a host of other races and classes from the Warcraft III real-time strategy game. Think of the warring armies of Warcraft III as Dark Age of Camelot-type realms, and you get to play one of those as your race/character class.
"World of Warcraft takes place four years following the aftermath of Warcraft® III: Reign of Chaos™, where a great tension has settled over the ravaged world of Azeroth. As the various races begin to rebuild their shattered kingdoms, new threats, both ancient and terrifying, have arisen to plague the world once again. Players must explore the lands of Azeroth, forge fellowships with other players, and build their strength in order to prevail" (Blizzard press release, May 22, 2002). Beyond that, not much has been decided upon. They are not certain if the environment will be player versus player, race-team player versus player or just smiting computer generated monsters in a mixed-race free for all. With a "planned" release date of January 2004, there is plenty of time for fleshing out the game mechanics and back-story.
What we did get to see was an amazing interface. The menus and operation were simple and easy to pick up. As with many other MMORPGs these days, Blizzard is using the NetImmerse engine by Numerical Design Limited. A few races and zones were online for the show, and we were impressed with the graphics and movement. With ample use of bright colors, the world is beautiful and in full keeping with the relaxed, entertaining and sometimes tongue-in-cheek Warcraft universe.
We will be keeping a close eye on the development of this MMORPG. If the artwork gives any indication of what is in store for the actual play, this game is going to be fun.
