World of Warcraft: The War Within Review – A Promising New Era

The War Within isn’t my first tour around Azeroth. I was there at the beginning of Cataclysm and stood around until Shadowlands. I took a break during Dragonflight and played on and off with my faithful Paladin and my cunning Rogue. And while the last expansion grabbed me due to its gameplay additions, it didn’t hook me much. However, World of Warcraft: The War Within does something contrastingly interesting. All our heroes are heading to the planet’s depths, but ironically, this is the expansion that makes the legendary MMO soar high. While a few things still need work, this is the most fun I’ve had in World of Warcraft in years.

The War Within is the beginning of the Worldsoul Saga for World of Warcraft, which, according to the team, is a story that has been years in the making. At first, I was skeptical because storytelling has always taken a bit of a backseat in retail WoW, at least in recent times. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. This expansion is mostly cohesive and packed with epic moments. Also, it opens the stage for this three-expansion arc that I’m eager to play in the coming years.

Heeding The Call of the Planet

Ever since Battle for Azeroth, I felt WoW lost some of its storytelling touches. It all lacked cohesion, impactful moments, and identity. In Dragonflight, things got much better. Even if it wasn’t the most shocking plot we’ve seen, it made sense and avoided convoluted story points. With that in mind, it feels as if The War Within learned from all that and delivered an enjoyable campaign.

The War Within kicks off with a literal bang. Our heroes head to Dalaran to move the floating city to another dangerous location to save the day. However, this time, the city doesn’t leave unscathed. In one of the best and most surprising cutscenes, the iconic locale explodes, taking one beloved character from WoW‘s history with it. This little bit I’m describing left me in shock for many minutes, even after I landed in the new zone. I kid you not. My jaw dropped—and I loved it. It’s been years since WoW surprised me with its story, and thankfully, this continues throughout the expansion.

While the questing formula of going to a new zone to help its denizens and fight a big baddie remains the same, it felt different this time. Knowing there’s an overarching danger that will be impactful after this expansion made me feel more invested in the story. Furthermore, each new zone has terrific storylines, with my two favorites being the Ringing Deeps and Hallowfall.

Beyond that, the small campaign questlines in these areas are extremely memorable. Whether it is the struggles of the earthen or the oppressed kobolds and the inhabitants of Hallowfall, everything is executed flawlessly. In a way, this shouldn’t be a surprise, as WoW‘s strongest point is how friendly yet deep its lore is. However, the worldbuilding is top-notch this time, and it hooked me more than Dragonflight or any previous expansions.

An Evergreen Expansion

To this day, I keep missing my Legion artifacts—Azerite, not so much. Still, World of Warcraft had this tradition of borrowed power. You get a cool new item to use in this expansion, and then you’ll forget about the next one because we’re bringing an even cooler item. I didn’t like that. Luckily for us, it seems those days are over. When I interviewed members of the team behind the expansion, they mentioned the focus on evergreen features, which already took place in Dragonflight. Things such as dragonriding, which is skyriding now, profession revamps, and more didn’t go away in World of Warcraft: The War Within. On the contrary, most features stayed and were expanded upon. We even got new systems that will likely stick for more time.

Two of these new systems are warbands and hero talents. The former is the most alt-friendly feature we’ve had in years. If you’re leveling up a second character, you can see which quests have already been completed by your main character and maybe go away and try something different. Also, the many things that characters share now, such as reputation, are amazing and make the leveling process of other characters less grindy. As someone who is planning to eventually level up all classes, I’m extremely thankful.

Secondly, we have hero talents. While I was already enamored by talent trees, hero talents take the class fantasy to new levels—quite literally. Each class can pick between two new mini-talent trees that lean on what makes a class iconic. For instance, a Retribution Paladin can follow the way of the Sun Herald or call dozens of hammers down as a Templar. Since I picked Paladin as my main, I loved raining rightful destruction down on my enemies in the shape of an exploding hammer. The last time I saw a class identity as strong as this one was in Legion, so hats off to the team for doing this.

Still, there are winners and losers in the expansion. My main class has always been Rogue and I just didn’t feel attached to the new talents for this class. I understand the reasoning behind them, but they didn’t appeal to me. The same goes with a few of the Druid hero talents my wife was trying out. However, there are only a few cases where I felt some talents were underwhelming but not enough to dampen the excitement. Overall, it is a fantastic new addition, and something I hope continues to expand as the saga progresses.

Rolling Solo in the Deep

Lately, I’ve been more of a solo MMO player. Yes, I’m aware that sounds extremely contradictory. But after the tenth time of being insulted for missing one pack of mobs, you just reach a boiling point and don’t want to play with random players. Thankfully, this is the most solo-friendly expansion I’ve seen in WoW.

World of Warcraft: The War Within features my now favorite instances: Delves. You, accompanied by an NPC and other players, can queue for these small dungeon-like places, which have different variations. The first one I did with my wife and Bran as a third wheel was amazing. I was helping a group of earthen escape on a minecart as I used a grappling hook to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Brann just threw potions around for me to pick up, but it was nice to have this small dose of instanced content without the fear of being insulted by others. And while follower dungeons are already there, Delves are much more dynamic.

Furthermore, these places are a great way to increase your gear level. Once you eventually hit level 80, you can grind Delves to get new gear, with even better pieces coming throughout the expansion. This is encouraging as I always found heroic dungeons scary, which usually deterred me from properly gearing up my characters.

However, while I love doing certain content solo, World of Warcraft: The War Within felt a bit lonely. Let me elaborate. In previous expansion launches, you had the new hubs full of players and zones packed with adventurers questing. Yet, The War Within felt barren. It might’ve been a phasing thing to mitigate lag or technical shenanigans, but it felt strange. I also don’t think the early access period for the expansion was a good idea, as many of my guildies and friends felt left behind. Still, this is sadly the new standard for the gaming industry, so there’s nothing we can do about it.

The Beauty of Khaz Algar

World of Warcraft‘s art team never disappoints, and that is clearer with The War Within. At first, I didn’t feel excited about Khaz Algar. After the vast, clear skies of the Dragon Isles, I didn’t think going underground would work. I was wrong. The team nailed it. While I thought I’d feel restricted when exploring, the opposite happened. Each new zone was a marvel to explore, especially with any of my mounts. Soaring through the mines of the Ringing Deeps or watching the light of Hallowfall in the distance for the first time was jaw-dropping.

In contrast, certain character models stain what could be a perfectly painted landscape. With so much focus on storytelling and the seriousness of this plot, I can’t tell you how immersive-breaking it was to see my Paladin’s goofy face in every cutscene. I understand our heroes are now part of the whole gang and not just the one who brings drinks to Thrall, Jaina, and friends, but why the heck was my Paladin smiling all derpy after Dalaran’s explosion? At least make my character have a sad expression. Also, I know I can’t expect the quality of CGI characters in-game, but some need a bit of work. Looking at you, Anduin.

While I’m aware WoW has always leaned toward a more goofy side, I think it’s time for a bit more polish with certain animations and in-game cutscenes. For instance, in the Ringing Deeps, there’s a mission where our characters hang on to a flying robot. What was supposed to be a serious and epic moment was clunky due to the transition in animation. I know it might be difficult to animate each race for a cutscene, but a bit more dynamism wouldn’t hurt, especially when looking at serious situations or action-packed sequences.

A Light at the End of the Nerubian Tunnel

As I finished the campaign and prepared myself for the max-level grind, I felt encouraged to keep playing. Previously, I felt staying around after finishing the story was more like a chore. I would log in to play mindlessly and get new gear until a new patch came out. But not this time. I actually want to level all the classes to try new hero talents and all the Delve tiers. It is something refreshing and a great first impression for the beginning of an exciting trilogy.

While there are a few things that need some ironing out, such as character models, certain quest bugs, especially when in a party, and fixing a few hero talents, The War Within is a promising new era for World of Warcraft. If the evergreen features keep rolling, I can see the Worldsoul Saga as some of the best content in WoW. And even if you’re joining the journey for the first time, there’s no better time than now to visit Azeroth.

Review copy provided by Publisher.