Welcome to the underworld, mortal! – review of the game “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands”

Journey to the Land of Shadows

Let’s recall what Battle for Azeroth ended with. Well, Lady Sylvanas not only killed Varok, tried to kill Thrall, burned Teldrassil, left the Horde and the undead, but went to Icecrown to fight Bolvar there. After defeating the Lich Kinga, she opened the gates to the afterlife and escaped from Azeroth. It was certain that this was not merely an attempt to avoid the consequences of his actions. As you can guess, the Dark Lady already has another plan, which probably will not appeal to the inhabitants of the world in which the game takes place. Especially that using her faithful servants, our Queen Banshee managed to kidnap and take to the “other side” Anduin and Baine. Now the defenders of Azeroth must travel to the Shadowlands to save the Champions as well as the souls of the warriors to help fight the new threat, a man named Jailer.

Sky? Hell? It’s not for us!

In the world of Warcraftthere are underworld where the souls of the dead will end up. They fall into several plans. Ghosts are assigned to them according to their life actions and choices. The worst criminals who deserve eternal damnation end up in The Maw. For some time, however, there has been no judgment and even the good ones end up right here. It is in this zone that Jailer rules, and this is where Lady Sylvanas and the Champions she kidnapped moved in. Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall followed. Yet another mortal was required to save Azeroth. This is where the characters of the players enter the scene. Everyone becomes a hero on whom the fate of the world depends. At the beginning, we will have to help the most famous warriors, and then we will have to wander the Shadowlands ourselves and discover its secrets. We will move to Orbios and Eternal City, where the courts of souls are held. Later, our path will lead us to the Bastion, a heavenly dimension for noble souls full of winged angels called kyrians. Its inhabitants serve for the good of the Shadowlands, are willing to make sacrifices and know their purpose. They want to throw off the burdens of their mortal life and strive to attain the highest virtue. Then we visit Maldraxxus. Although evil necroopers rule here, this is where the old warriors will go. Like in Valhalla, duels are still fought here, and the dead strive for eternal glory with sword or ax in hand. Once we get to know the brave inhabitants of this place, we will move to Ardenweald. It is here that all those who were connected with nature during their lifetime come. The huge forest is a refuge not only for druids, but also centaurs, fey, spars or just animals. At the end, we also have a tour of the Gothic Revendreth. It is purgatory, ruled by vampires, preparing souls for service in the Shadowlands and eagerly torturing them so that they may be redeemed in return. Once proud and haughty warriors, now they must serve and suffer to enjoy eternity. However, it is not over yet. In the afterlife, there is also the mysterious Torghast tower, the layout of which changes every now and then. If we do not get lost in its labyrinths and manage to get through the next floors, we will receive extremely valuable rewards in return. Admittedly, life after death in Azeroth is interesting, isn’t it? now they must serve and suffer to enjoy eternity. However, it is not over yet. In the afterlife, there is also the mysterious Torghast tower, the layout of which changes every now and then. If we do not get lost in its labyrinths and manage to get through the next floors, we will receive extremely valuable rewards in return. Admittedly, the afterlife in Azeroth is interesting, isn’t it? now they must serve and suffer to enjoy eternity. However, it is not over yet. In the afterlife, there is also the mysterious Torghast tower, the layout of which changes every now and then. If we do not get lost in its labyrinths and manage to get through the next floors, we will receive extremely valuable rewards in return. Admittedly, life after death in Azeroth is interesting, isn’t it?

One level down, one level up

People who continuously play World of Warcraft know this very well, but for starters, information for those who return to the title after a hiatus. Don’t be surprised that your characters suddenly got several dozen negative levels. Blizzard decided to apply this procedure to everyone. And so, at the end of Battle for Azeroth, our level 120 characters were suddenly reverted to 50. From this moment we will start playing Shadowlands , and our maximum achievement in this case will be level 60. To get it, we will have to perform tasks. In this respect, in WoWpractically nothing has changed. Quests will still mainly consist of killing enemies, collecting items, escorting NPCs or moving from A to B. However, it will not be a monotonous game. This time Blizzard put a lot of emphasis on the development of the plot. Many of our missions will make a visible contribution to the development of the story, and along the way, we will have many cutscenes showing the results of our actions. The Land of Shadows will change under our influence and it will be felt. At this point, people who are not very good at the English language and will not be able to translate the content of the order, as well as players who constantly interrupt the video images posted in the game, will complain. It’s really not worth doing! It’s quite a pleasure to watch our hero appreciated by Shadowlands Champions,

What’s new in WoW ?

Of course, Blizzard has prepared a few novelties for players, although in fact we already know most of the things from previous additions. I have already mentioned new lands to discover and history. There were also new types of enemies, mounts, pets and NPCs. There will also be numerous achievements to get. As usual, raids were also introduced. In addition to the already mentioned Torghast, during the exp you will be able to visit The Necrotic Wake , Theater of Pain , Halls of Atonment and Mists of Tirna Scithe . Upon reaching the maximum level , Plaguefall , The Other Side , Spiers of Ascension and Sanguine Depths will also be unlocked. At the moment, it has not been decided to add any new battleground maps. As for the races, Vulpers and Mechagnomas had already been introduced, which is probably why we did not get any more with the addition. But we can modify our heroes for that. There are new hairstyles, tattoos, skin colors, eyes and other modifications. As for the classes, we didn’t get any new ones here either, but now any race can become a Death Knight.

In Shadowlands, we do not have to improve a given part of our gear, known from previous additions. We no longer need to upgrade legendary weapons or collect Azerite to strengthen the medallion. Instead, we will have to make a pact with one of the spheres in question. We will have to choose if we want to serve and help Bastion, Revendreth, Ardenweald or Maldraxxus. After making a decision, we will receive a power package from a given covenant. Later we will start doing the so-called world quests and get “anima” that allows you to build better and better relations with factions. In return, over time, we will acquire a unique outfit, a mount and we will grow in strength thanks to new, unique skills.

Don’t move without easter eggs!

Blizzard has already accustomed us to the fact that in the game we can find a number of references to other productions or the world of pop culture. Probably everyone has heard about NPC Harrison Jones or Haris Pilton. When reading quests, achievements or names of enemies and allies, we will always find something interesting. This time I managed to find a book called Necronom-i-nom , one of the escorted allies, hiding in the shadows, repeating Hello darkness, my old friend , I was led by a strange creature running on all fours and calling me Masterand I found the skeleton of a mermaid with a crab and a yellow-and-blue fish around. In turn, the most frequently mentioned easter-egg from the latest expansion is the opportunity to meet the grumpy Gwynceirw also known as The Winter Wolf and his singing companion Daffodil. It is for them that we perform a task called Toss a Seed to Your Hunter .

See you in Shadowlands

Talking to my guild mates (greetings to the Barbarians) and reading the comments on the pages, I conclude that Shadowlands has been very warmly received by the players. I also share this opinion. Some people felt very tired of the Battle for Azeroth endingand the new addition gave a certain breath of freshness. An interesting storyline, numerous choices that we have to make, quests, character development and interesting cutscenes make it difficult to leave the computer. The story is really captivating and you want to get to know it until the end. However, before it happens, we will have a long game and more patches to complement the Shadowlands lore. Until then, will we not get bored and will we still want to wander the afterlife? Well, we’ll see that in the coming months. So far, you can not complain. It’s time to take on the latest expansion from Blizzard Entertainment yourself!