Review: Mists of Pandaria! My Road to Level 90!

In a year thick with new MMORPGs, perennial favourite World of Warcraft is facing many challenges. Saddled with an aging engine, all-too-familiar mechanics and an increasingly rare pay-to-play model, WOW has been steadily losing subscribers. And the announcement of Mists of Pandaria, an expansion set on a continent of anthropomorphic martial arts pandas was enough to send Warcraft’s more embittered critics over the edge.

But let’s not get too crazy. Warcraft still has millions of more subscribers than any other MMO, subscribers who have invested a great deal of time and energy into levelling up and kitting out their characters, and aren’t going to stop now. And I’m one of those subscribers. Neither excited nor disappointed by the pandas themselves, I was more keen to take my main character on the journey to level 90 and see what this new chapter had in store. And there’s certainly no shortage of things to do.

To find out what I thought of all this... join me after the jump!

Let's Talk About That New World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Cinematic...

The new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is bouncing its furry little body into our lives in about a month so, as is customary at this time, Blizzard has released the new fantastically rendered cinematic to get our pulses racing. But this expansion, arguably more so than any other before it, has faced a fair amount of mockery and/or criticism. So this trailer answers the inevitable question... How do you showcase an expansion about pandas while showing the absolute bare minimum of pandas. Observe...

I think it's pretty badass as a short film, and I think that the style is incredible. I know there's been a billion false-starts at making a live action Warcraft feature film, but I don't think many fans would be disappointed if they instead released an animated movie that looked more like this. Horde versus Alliance has never looked better. And when the contentious panda shows up to bamboo everybody's ass I think they've handled the reveal about as well as they could. Plus it has mist in it. (Unlike the beta).

The glaring problem, however, is that it doesn't suggest how this reveal might change the landscape for the players. The previous expansion, Cataclysm, teases a world-wide threat and shows that every aspect of the game will be altered permanently. Everything you think you know is about to change. Conversely, this trailer says... "Well... there are pandas." But we knew that right? What are the long-term ramifications of pandas? I guess we'll find out in September.

What do you make of this? I ask, knowing full well I won't receive an answer.

Mists of Pandaria - We have an ETA

And it is September 25th, 2012 - completely throwing me off. The prediction had been for Christmas, but Blizzard has been mighty coy and sneaky and will be springing it out earlier.

Whilst I'd been initially a bit - iffy about the premise of Pandaria, I've warmed to it. And it makes sense; Lich King was the Warcrafting equivalent of a Shakespeare play, Cataclysm reached a completely untoppable level of chaos and destruction - where could they possibly go from there? You can't just keep trying to outdo the previous bad guy.

Blizzard official press release can be found here, and click on the pretty picture for pre-sale. That special edition mount looks SWEET.

My panda will completely pwn your panda.

World of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria Beta Part 2: Level 85 and Beyond!

Back in Part One I tried out the Pandaren starting area and bemoaned the fact that the Mists of Pandaria beta wouldn't allow me to import a level 85 character into the world to test the larger level 85-90 content. Well all that has changed since the last time I logged in! I was able to choose a pre-made level 85 Pandaren monk and begin questing in the brand new continent of Pandaria. (Which, to be fair, is still not very misty).

If none of that made sense, then I've probably already lost you. But, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, then join me after the jump for my next bouncy panda foray into the wider world of Warcraft!

First Impressions: World of Warcraft Mists of Pandaria Beta Demystified!

Blizzard has earned a fair bit of Internet snark for following up its death, dragons and destruction-based expansion, Cataclysm, with the upcoming rolling, Kung Fu panda-based expansion Mists of Pandaria. In a fantasy world of orcs, goblins, dwarves and werewolves, playing as a cutesy, walking panda bear does seems a little out of place. You may as well just call it: World of Warcraft: Ewoks of Asia.

That said, having recently committed to a 12 month Warcraft subscription, I was gifted a special mount, a free copy of Diablo III on release, and guaranteed access to the Pandaria beta. Yes, I have now officially donned my panda skin and traversed the suspiciously non-existent mists of Pandaria! Seriously... I don’t remember much mist at all. Misleading, Blizzard! Disappointing!

So what do I think having actually played (a very early) part of the game? Join me after the jolly, chubby panda jump to find out!