The World of Warcraft expansion looks promising, and should be a good addition to this popular game.

The World of Warcraft expansion, named The Burning Crusade, is set for release in 2006, and Blizzard has now released details about this title. The expansion’s plot has players travelling through the Dark Portal to confront the Burning Legions, an evil force that is threatening Azeroth. The expansion offers new races and new territory to explore, and looks like a solid improvement on the original.



World of Warcraft is a brilliant game, which has proven hugely popular. For the most part, The Burning Crusade looks very promising too, with much to offer Warcraft enthusiasts. It should continue the storylines that were last featured in WarCraft III, and allow us to catch up with the main characters. It will expand the game considerably, opening up the world of the Outlands, as well as the Blood Elf region of Quel’Thelas, and various other dungeons and caverns. The game promises at least two new races, with the Blood Elf race joining the Horde, and another unknown race joining the Alliance. This all looks great and it should enrich the WoW experience.



If there have been some questions raised about the expansion, it mainly concerns the addition of Blood Elves. These Elves have been added to the side of the Horde, as opposed to the usual Alliance, and their presence means that the Horde will finally have some ‘pretty’ villains (usually they are ugly). This could either be viewed as a mistake or as a bold attempt to give the game some complexity. It depends on how tolerant you are to change, really - it is possible that mixing things up could produce some nice results.



One other issue is whether raising the level cap to 70 is really enough. The one flaw with the original game is that once you have completed all 60 levels, there’s not much more to experience. While some people might feel that you just can’t have enough of this game, and wish for a higher cap than 70, increasing the level cap is still a good move and should prolong enjoyment of this title.



Overall, this looks to be a good expansion, which should enhance and deepen the World of Warcraft universe. Expect it to sell like hotcakes when it is released!

Preview by Michael Gordon.