World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

If you're looking to run through the newly busted-up Azeroth with a fresh character, you won't find a better excuse to re-roll than the inclusion of playable Goblins and Worgen in Cataclysm.

Cataclysm is a love letter to fans of World of Warcraft, as it celebrates everything that made the original game so successful while carefully updating the old game to the new standard of play that Blizzard has set.

Cataclysm polishes the game experience, but keeps all the basics that made it so successful. For those who have never played World Of Warcraft before, or are taking a break, there's never been a better time to get into the game.

Blizzard tears WoW to the ground and builds it up more skillfully than ever before. The new content is creative, has a tangible sense of story and progression that you wouldn't expect from an MMO, and is implemented so skillfully and smoothly that the bumps in the road are actually a bit jarring.

From the friendlier, better-executed early content to the high-end zones and dungeons that make you feel like a hero bringing about major changes in the world, Cataclysm shows how far World of Warcraft has come since its beginnings and why it's still the best fantasy MMO on the market.

Bravo, Blizzard, Bravo.

World of Warcraft is still the number one and Cataclysm shakes up the world for the better. Finally returns some proper challenge to the gameplay and provides a fresh new set of endgame content - just not very much of it. A must buy for all existing World of Warcraft players and with up-to-date starting content, a good reason to jump in.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm brings the excitement of a new expansion to much of the game and provides some exciting and engaging high-level content. If your account has lapsed, Cataclysm makes it worth the renewal cost. The expansion content raises the bar and re-establishes Blizzard as the reigning king of traditional MMORPGs.

What Blizzard has excelled at is taking ideas from other places, refining and improving them, and making them their own. With Cataclysm they've done something that has never been done before on this scale: they took one of the most popular and successful games in history, and utterly changed it. I, for one, love them for it. If you already love WoW, chances are you own Cataclysm already and have reached 85.

If it wasn't clear by now, WoW is still WoW. Cataclysm has the same merits and mannerisms that every expansion has separately shown and it's the same evolution on old mechanics.

A triumph. Competitors beware: this is the best MMO in the world. Once you're hooked it's impossible to stop playing. [Feb 2011, p.91]

Though five new levels are fewer than 10, Cataclysm is nonetheless the most radical game-changer the World of Warcraft has seen yet.

An essential buy for existing players. [Feb 2011, p.88]

A fantastic expansion pack. It shrugged off a lot of the easy game play that was introduced in the last expansion and requires you to have to work for the best gear. Add onto that quests that redefine what you should expect from an MMO, and you have a winner in my books.

After six years of life World Of Warcraft is still the top game in his category, Blizzard has done a great work revamping old zones and adding new content so that beginners and experts can enjoy the game in the same way. Maybe this will be the last expansion, or maybe in a couple of years we wil talk about a new game, but as of now WOW: Cataclysm is the game to choose in his genre.

The fact that Cataclysm has changed virtually every aspect of Azeroth forever is just mind-blowing for an expansion pack.

Finally Blizzard revives the classic World of Warcraft. With a new livery the shattered Azeroth becomes more challenging for returners and encourages newcomers to start off. It's about time to play the best MMO ever!

More of an evolution in terms of gaming experience, but it's the best World of Warcraft expansion so far. If you have never tried WoW or are thinking about returning in Azeroth – now is the time. [Feb 2011, p.66]

Blizzard has undergone an extremely ambitious effort with the Cataclysm expansion, razing the familiar to the ground and building something that proves both new and inviting. And while certain balance issues are being fixed via patches, thereʼs something good here for new players, veterans, hardcore and casual gamers alike.

The third expansion brings back on the stage old places. Game mechanics are improved a bit closer to perfection. Welcome to the new level of addiction. [Issue#200]

It's certainly done its share to bring the World of Warcraft into the modern era. [Issue#106, p.102]

The most successful MMO ever adds another thick layer of icing to its cake. [Feb 2011, p.100]

Blizzard has captures us in front of our desktop fantasy world once again.

While nothing is completely ground breaking it shows that for the most part Blizzard can take and refine a game to a point that very few other companies can.

Overall Cataclysm is the best of the three expansions so far, and still has plenty to evolve as many updates in the future will take advantage of the bases created by the greatest change ever to the world of Azeroth.

In the end, Cataclysm is a great expansion to World of Warcraft.

Without a doubt the most elaborate, polished and streamlined expansion for Blizzards MMO-monster yet. Cataclysm is so well-done that it makes The Burning Crusade, the first expansion for the game, look crude and old fashioned by comparison. At the same time, though, it has an odd feel of finality to it. Like World of Warcraft is reaching the end of what it's capable of doing. The game is aging gracefully, but you have to wonder where it can go after this.

There's no reason not to buy Cataclysm if you're already playing World of Warcraft. And if not, it's a great moment to discover this great universe.

Although it may look too short in content if judged only as an expansion, Blizzard has done an overwhelming job renewing the World of Warcraft universe.

Blizzard has been bold and their gamble seems to have paid off - while this latest add-on doesn't achieve a flawless encore it feels pretty darn Zen. Cataclysm fixes up an already deep game with more flair and substance than ever before.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is by far the best expansion of the set, and though it stumbles in its speedy progression from 80 to 85 and the Archaeology profession is boring and repetitive, the bulk of the content feels vast and polished.

Cataclysm effortlessly mixes the casual focus of Wrath of the Lich King with the decidedly more challenging endgame prospects of classic WoW.

Cataclysm's certainly not perfect, but it's the best World of Warcraft expansion so far and a damn near miraculous dip in the videogame fountain of youth for Blizzard's six-year-old MMO. Unless you absolutely, militantly despise World of Warcraft and all that it stands for, this one's a no-brainer.

If you include the vast changes to the core game, Cataclysm is far and away the most impressive expansion to an MMO ever made, but if you just isolate what Cataclysm itself gets you, it's ultimately less content than Wrath of the Lich King. It's also better content than Wrath, with engaging storylines, inventive quests, and some very striking visuals.

Whether you are a casual player looking for some new levelling experiences, a manic PvPer looking for the next challenge or a PvE progression player, Cataclysm has something for everyone. Like the expansions that preceded it, Cataclysm is growing and evolving.

Deathwing is back, and his emergence on the world of Azeroth has been plunged into a devastating cataclysm. However, the fate that we have is that with all this destruction comes the best expansion appeared to date for the MMORPG market leader.

Cataclysm is the best WoW so far. Perfect to welcome new MMO players and satisfy its core fanbase at the same time.

Cataclysm is perhaps not quite as awe inspiring as previous expansion packs considering this is all refinement and a reworking of original content but there's no denying the sense of sheer joy you feel rediscovering old yet familiar areas of Azeroth.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is sure to welcome many new MMO players and satisfy the core fanbase at the same time.

The third, and probably best upgrade to the vast lore of World of Warcraft. New races, new instances, a complete redesigned Azeroth and many more changes, all make this expansion worthy both for the newcomers and the hardcore players. Obviously, it's still WoW, so if you are full of it, you'll probably enjoy it just for a month.

Simply put, it is World of Warcraft 2.0. Everything seems to fit in: overhauled graphics, new landscapes, additional quests. Thanks, Blizzard.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is excellent but it's still the same kind of content we have played over and over. Players should not expect revolutionary ways to play the game, Blizzard knows well if ain't broken don't fix it and they managed to deliver once again a huge amount of highly designed content which will keep any kind of player busy in the months - if not years - to come. That said, there's not much to add: Cataclysm is the exact reason why World of Warcraft numbers ten millions accounts while other MMORPGs do not.

This is the best WoW so far and that's true in every aspect of the game. It's a bit too easy, but it has the most original quests of every other MMORPG.

Cataclysm delivers exactly the high-quality gameplay experience we've all come to expect from World of Warcraft. Complaints about class changes and extreme difficulty aside, this is a truly enjoyable expansion and an absolute must-have for any current player.

Only time will tell how long this can hold your attention, but the game's early moments promise an epic experience.

The majority of quests and locations are familiar, and stepping into Azeroth for the first time is sure to be mildly overwhelming. Cataclysm is an expansion for the veterans, and an amazing one at that.

Cataclysm doesn't improve World of Warcraft as dramatically as the free update that preceded it did, but it's still a great expansion pack for anyone with high-level characters.

A brilliant addition to WoW which has brought along significant changes to both the game and how the players will feel about it: Epic!

Cataclysm is a fantastic expansion of the populair MMO and can be bought by all fans without further questions. But new players can also gain much from playing Cataclysm, as the game is much more balanced.

There are very few fruitless, time-wasting missions here. [Jan 2010, p.50]

Will only get better. And while it might not be the best WoW expansion, what it has done is helped make World of Warcraft a much better experience for beginners, while providing more than enough to keep its hardcore fans happy.