World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King [PC]

Okay, in the fairness of full disclosure I'm probably the PC editor with the least amount of World of Warcraft time under my belt. So diving into the beta of the upcoming second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, was an interesting experience. This is, after all, an expansion that packs a lot of new content, as well as a new level 80 cap, for the most popular MMO in the world. How would a relative newcomer take to it?

Though I lack a high-level World of Warcraft character, I was still able to make a Death Knight, the new hero class that requires you to have a level 55 character, minimum. The Death Knights are basically the new badasses of World of Warcraft. Armed with a signature runesword, Death Knights were former heroes in life, but after death they've been resurrected by the Lich King to serve as his champions. Thus, you start your career as a Death Knight in Acherus, the grand citadel of death, which happens to be floating above the pastoral lands of New Avalon. It's time to get some war on.

First, however, you've got to do some basic quests to acquaint you with the nature of the Death Knights. Starting off, you must forge your runesword, a fairly simple task since Acherus is full of battle-worn swords. Take one, use it in the runeforge, and you've got a runesword. Next, you must engrave a rune onto your sword, imbuing it with power. There are a number of difference runes to pick from; cinderglacier will boost the power of your frost or shadow spells, frostfever will inflict disease and cause frost damage, swordshattering increases the chance to parry, and so on. Whatever you choose affects the look of your sword, as well as the effect on it, like flame or frost.

With sword in hand, you discover why Death Knights are so cool. You basically have to kill an unworthy Death Knight initiate in battle in order to join the club. So it's a bit like college hazing, only a tad more extreme. Take out the initiate and you prove yourself to the boss, who then gets you ready for the conquest of New Avalon.

Next up was a fairly interesting quest to "fly" giant magical eyeballs to scout the fortifications of New Avalon. Using a mechanism that basically gives you control of the orb, you launch the magic eye at the town below and then maneuver it. The mission is to analyze four key structures, which is done by floating over it and hitting the analyze button. The only problem is that the defending archers below are doing their hardest to shoot down the eye, so it'll take a few attempts to analyze all the structures.

Once the scouting is done, it's time to fly a bone griffin done to the ground in one of the shortest rides ever, talk to the ground commander, and get your first mission to start rolling back the defenders. This involves a typical MMO quest of kill X number of soldiers, but, Death Knights being Death Knights, you're also tasked with chopping down fleeing civilians, as well. Sure, it's evil and such, but if you couldn't figure out the side the Death Knights were on based on their all-black, hooded cloaks, then you probably need to read more fantasy.

Death Knights definitely have some cool abilities, such as being able to raise their vanquished opponents to serve as undead minions in battle. They also have Death Coil, which can dish out the damage. And this is just the start of the Death Knight career; over the next few weeks I'll try and give progress reports as to how my character is shaping up.

It's also interesting going back to World of Warcraft after quite some time. Sure, in terms of the graphics engine it is showing its age, but it's impressive the art design has held up so well, as the visuals still look imaginative and compelling. The interior of Acherus is a bit menacing while the overall look of some the landscapes remains eye-catching. And, of course, it's always helpful that your character looks awesome as he or she runs around with a giant flaming runesword strapped to his or her back.

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