kenjisan

WoW: Initial Impressions

Pat was right: an hour means nothing. I sat down to play for the first time last night at around 6:30 or 7, and before I knew it, it was 10. In fact, when I was told that it was 10, I didn't believe it and had to look for myself.

WoW does a very good job of making me feel like I'm playing a Warcraft game. Like all the other reviewers have said, it's like the RTS game, only zoomed in. The game runs fairly smoothly on medium settings on my 12' Powerbook, and if I punch it up to max, it only struggles in a few spots. I did encounter some lag from time to time (along with the other players in my area), although this is to be expected.

Character creation is very good—even in these early stages—reminding me of an EA sports game. I created three characters: Pachinko, a human paladin; Banock, an undead cleric; and Banana, a nightelf druid. I played as Banana for the majority of my time last night. I spent most of that time running quests for people: collection quests and delivery quests, for the most part. While there were a number of other players online, it never felt too crowded.

I think the most lasting impression I had was the expansiveness of the world. I never felt like I was being boxed in by artificial barriers. If I wanted to run off the path into that darkened wood, I could (although I did once and paid dearly for it). The areas transition smoothly into one another with no noticable loading time, giving the game a further sense of realism.