World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1290 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 477 out of 1290
  2. Mixed: 426 out of 1290
  3. Negative: 387 out of 1290
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  1. Th3laugh1ngman
    Dec 9, 2010
    6
    There's multiple ways to go about reviewing Cataclysm.
    The actual event, and the content itself that was distributed for free is utterly excellent and some of the quest chains are so well excecuted that the quests would have you believe that it's been written like a standard, non-mmo while still maintaining excellent functionality. Under that rule, Cataclysm is a solid 10/10.    There's multiple ways to go about reviewing Cataclysm.
    The actual event, and the content itself that was distributed for free is utterly excellent and some of the quest chains are so well excecuted that the quests would have you believe that it's been written like a standard, non-mmo while still maintaining excellent functionality. Under that rule, Cataclysm is a solid 10/10.

    Unfortunately, that is not the only thing to consider. What "Cataclysm" is, as a boxed product, is a meager amount of content that costs as much as a full priced game. £30 for a couple of extra zones and a couple of new races is just utter robbery which they will easily get away with. It's unjustified to give out such little content for such a high price without using the reason "We want the money and we can get away with it".

    So it depends on your stance on Cataclysm. Do you interpret the game as being one solid package, including the content which does not require you actually own the game this review is based around, or do you base it upon the game you are receiving in the box? As far as the boxed copy goes, it's a solid 5/10 for extremely poor value for money. As far as the full content including free content goes, it's a solid 10/10. If you don't own Cataclysm, just get yourself patched up to 4.0.3a and you can enjoy the majority of the content for free without paying a penny.    … Expand
  2. spoocaptain
    Mar 22, 2011
    5
    The 'professional' critics don't even need to be bribed at this point; they're likely all addicted fanboys. I have been playing WoW since a few months after release, so I guess I don't have room to talk. However, this has been, by far, the most lackluster expansion to date. I enjoyed the competitive rush of the first two weeks or so, but now it's slowed down to the exact same sluggish ****The 'professional' critics don't even need to be bribed at this point; they're likely all addicted fanboys. I have been playing WoW since a few months after release, so I guess I don't have room to talk. However, this has been, by far, the most lackluster expansion to date. I enjoyed the competitive rush of the first two weeks or so, but now it's slowed down to the exact same sluggish **** as WotLK, just with less content. This quickie expansion heralds the cry that the peak of WoW's dominance has waned. Say goodbye to the WoW of yore, but hold on to the good memories; WoW was actually good back then. That said, I will certainly look into future Blizzard releases, even this 'Titan' project. Blizzard is by no means a bad company, WoW has just gotten old and far too streamlined-yet-grindy.… Expand
  3. CheyTacGamer
    Jan 1, 2011
    5
    Cataclysm is just the same old stuff. Sure Azeroth looks different and now, but nothing has changed. Original Wow, and BC where 1,000 times better. They actually took skill, time, effort, and knowledge to be good at. What Blizzard has done with WotLK and Cata is almost a shame to WoW. People hit 85 within 8 hours of the release, so leveling was a complete joke. Blizzard tried to makeCataclysm is just the same old stuff. Sure Azeroth looks different and now, but nothing has changed. Original Wow, and BC where 1,000 times better. They actually took skill, time, effort, and knowledge to be good at. What Blizzard has done with WotLK and Cata is almost a shame to WoW. People hit 85 within 8 hours of the release, so leveling was a complete joke. Blizzard tried to make instances harder, but the only people they were hard for were people who joined during WotLK. If you were an original or BC player these instances were a breeze because we know how to CC. When it comes to raiding people should not be able to clear raids the first day they are released. The Tuesday of the raid release patch I logged on and instantly saw someone with 6 epics. People had the Drake mount you get from raiding in the first week. That is just a joke. PvP doesn't take skill like it used to. It's who can do the most burst damage. Most PvP arena teams don't have healers anymore because of the whole mana issue, and lets face it, only being able to heal for 10-15k with most heals is a joke when people crit for 20k+. I've been playing WoW for 6 years now, and the only reason I'm still playing it is because I hope that Bliz will changed it back to original and BC some day. People giving this game a high rating are the people who came into it during WotLK. The original WoW players know this game to be a shame. I have yet to find anything good about this game. I'm going to go back to Starcraft 2, and wait for the release of Dead Space 2 in a month. GG Blizz...… Expand
  4. Etreum
    Feb 1, 2011
    5
    I love World of Warcraft. I have played for over four years and have 11 level 85s.

    I am not criticizing Cataclysm. I loved the new zones and the questing, but... I think Blizzard is really shoving guilds down our throats. Yes, in WOTLK, if you wanted the absolute top of the line gear, you needed to be part of a raiding guild and spend the time. Fine, but if you did not want to raid,    I love World of Warcraft. I have played for over four years and have 11 level 85s.

    I am not criticizing Cataclysm. I loved the new zones and the questing, but...

    I think Blizzard is really shoving guilds down our throats. Yes, in WOTLK, if you wanted the absolute top of the line gear, you needed to be part of a raiding guild and spend the time. Fine, but if you did not want to raid, there were still quite a few ways to improve yourself through heroics, PvP and achievements and still have fun.

    Now, everything from achievements, to PvP, to heroics are guild-centric, so as a solo player, your options for advancement have been pretty much destroyed.

    I have raised all my alts to level 85, but now what? I hardly got my guild (consisting of my alts) to level 3. So many of the achievements are guild related. Doing heroics with a Pug? Impossible. Rated battegrounds without being part of a PvP guild? Can't do that either.

    So you get to 85 and that is it, nothing more to do unless you are willing to join and spend the time with an active guild. And what do I have against guilds? The drama, the power games, etc. Why play a game to reproduce the idiocy that takes place at the workplace?    … Expand
  5. gamegeek
    Mar 5, 2011
    5
    I have been playing World of Warcraft since its release, lots of changes have happened and 3 expansions later we have arrived at Cataclysm. For me, Cataclysm looked great, it seemed that WoW was going to move up another step in the MMO ranks. For me, its the same old stuff, to get to 80-85 its tons and tons of quests. The story line...well, I kept doing so many quests I started to justI have been playing World of Warcraft since its release, lots of changes have happened and 3 expansions later we have arrived at Cataclysm. For me, Cataclysm looked great, it seemed that WoW was going to move up another step in the MMO ranks. For me, its the same old stuff, to get to 80-85 its tons and tons of quests. The story line...well, I kept doing so many quests I started to just accept the quests without reading them. If your an avid WoW fan you will love it. If your new to the game, there isnt any reason to buy Cataclysm unless you want a different looking avatar (Worgen, Goblins). The new starting zones are beyond great, the story lines are VERY well done. But thats just until level 20ish, when your around level 80-85 the quests just keep coming and there seems to be no end to it. If your looking to advance the next levels in WoW go for it. But once you hit the level cap, its the same old story of PvP and 5 man dungeons and play your eyes out until you have the correct gear score to do 10 and 25-man raids.… Expand
  6. fanficbug
    Jan 2, 2011
    6
    Cataclysm is great fun, if you have the time for it. For new users, the expansion has improved the leveling experience so that it feels cohesive and flows better. The use of in-game cinematics also makes the whole experience much more fun and immersive. There really is no better time to get into the game than right now, IMO. Be warned, though, that the user base tends to be a bitCataclysm is great fun, if you have the time for it. For new users, the expansion has improved the leveling experience so that it feels cohesive and flows better. The use of in-game cinematics also makes the whole experience much more fun and immersive. There really is no better time to get into the game than right now, IMO. Be warned, though, that the user base tends to be a bit sociopathic. Just try not to let random players being mean ruin your fun, and you'll be fine.

    For users that are already into the franchise, views seem to be mixed. I actually found leveling from 80-85 to be much harder than previous tiers, but then again I'm not geared for dealing damage--I'm geared for healing as a paladin. Your mileage may vary here. Leveling from 80-85 didn't take much time at all. That being said, I hate leveling, so this is a good thing. The new zones are also amazing, using brand-new quest mechanics with great story lines. One of my favorite zones in the game is one of the new ones--Uldum. Pretty much all of the content I've played has been spot-on.

    Here's where my low score comes in. I found that once I hit 83 and began to do semi-max to max level content, difficulty increased steeply. (Again, because I'm a healer, YMMV. Healing difficulty has certainly sharply increased.) I found that very jarring, personally, because earlier content is very simple to complete. Groups in the 80-85 range must be coordinated if they want to get through heroic dungeons, and to some extent regular dungeons. While this is much less boring than the Wrath model of dungeon running, it takes much more time. Most heroics take groups on my server around 3-4 hours to complete at this point in time. My server (Zangarmarsh) is about average on the side of progression--not good but not bad, either. I can imagine that it would be better or worse, depending on the server.

    Since I'm working, going to college, and raising a (currently) 1-year-old girl with my husband's help, I simply do not have time for that much gameplay in a week. The Wrath model would have allowed me to keep playing, but sadly, this was not to be. Since the only way for me to get gear to raid would be to run one regular dungeon a day for a very small amount of currency to get gear, my estimate gear up time is going to be several months. I think perhaps I will take a break until I either have more time or the content takes less time to do.

    Pros: Much better leveling experience, great zone redesigns as well as new areas, story lines generally improved, much better gameplay at max level.

    Cons: Time sink at max level. Difficulty curve sharply steepens around 83 or so (at least from a healing perspective.)    … Expand
  7. thebenjster
    Jan 10, 2011
    6
    Smaller scale than the first two expansions and not as well tested. Some of the PVP content, Tol Barad - the new Wintergrasp- in particular, is very poor. Its a far cry from the days Blizzard delays the burning crusade because they wanted to releases as polished a product as possible. The concept is great and when its good it really is but it just feels far to rushed in places.
  8. Dyskresiac
    Feb 25, 2011
    5
    This may be the hardest ame to review. Cataclysm's gem comes for free. Get Vanilla, get to level 60 a few times, find another game. You will love every minute of it. 60-70 was like getting teeth pulled, and 70-80 dragged on towards the end. Cataclysm (strictly speaking) 80-85 content was wonderful. Wonderful, but disgustingly short. It can be done in just a few hours. Imagine aThis may be the hardest ame to review. Cataclysm's gem comes for free. Get Vanilla, get to level 60 a few times, find another game. You will love every minute of it. 60-70 was like getting teeth pulled, and 70-80 dragged on towards the end. Cataclysm (strictly speaking) 80-85 content was wonderful. Wonderful, but disgustingly short. It can be done in just a few hours. Imagine a roller coaster where you get to the bottom of the first hill and- woop, ride's over. Not horrible, but not exactly what you were expecting after waiting out that long line. It's not worth the torture of 60-80 to play 80-85 content, but 1-60 was great, first second and third time.… Expand
  9. dondon
    Mar 7, 2011
    7
    I've played WoW since the BC days and seen the changes. The old classic world is revamped forever and quests have become linear. The storyline for this expansion is not the best compared to previous expansions. Compared to WoTLK the dungeons and raids have been made a bit harder. Probably for the outrageous numbers of players in forums complaining how easy Wraith was. Graphics are neverI've played WoW since the BC days and seen the changes. The old classic world is revamped forever and quests have become linear. The storyline for this expansion is not the best compared to previous expansions. Compared to WoTLK the dungeons and raids have been made a bit harder. Probably for the outrageous numbers of players in forums complaining how easy Wraith was. Graphics are never high end because Blizzard tries to get as many people as they can get. Be it that people have a crap computer to high end users. This game is a bit shorter than usually for the start of a expansion but more content will come in the months ahead.… Expand
  10. mjwilliams84
    Apr 10, 2011
    6
    Revamped areas, two new races, new instances/battlegrounds and a general streamlining of the levelling process make Cataclysm a fairly decent expansion to the series. However, as much as Blizzard sugarcoat it, it still results in a lack of end-game content if you're not in a huge raiding guild. This alienation of the player base that prefers playing in small groups or solo is unforgivableRevamped areas, two new races, new instances/battlegrounds and a general streamlining of the levelling process make Cataclysm a fairly decent expansion to the series. However, as much as Blizzard sugarcoat it, it still results in a lack of end-game content if you're not in a huge raiding guild. This alienation of the player base that prefers playing in small groups or solo is unforgivable in a game that promises so much. The new heroic mode provides a few hours of challenge which sadly doesn't last once you've seen them all at least once. Battlegrounds are, as ever, down mainly to pot luck (being in a decent server group) or the gear you have on. Level to 85, check out the areas, talents and instances, but don't expect anything much different from previous offerings or even anything particularly challenging. What was once an endless grind to the next piece of gear has stayed relatively unchanged.… Expand
  11. Welterweight426
    Jun 10, 2012
    5
    The weakest expansion so far. The new content seemed mostly cosmetic to me and it was not even on the disc. It was patched. Also, the Worgen were awesome but the Goblins sucked. I couldnt stand them. I thought that the destruction aspect was kinda cool but overall it was a waste of money.
  12. MrMT
    Dec 16, 2010
    6
    The game gets a 6 for some lovely new zones, a fun reworking of Azeroth, but essentially a failure to move forward in terms of gameplay or design. In other words, it is more of the same old endless grind. If you enjoyed it before, you will enjoy it again. It's worth a trip to fly round Azeroth, enjoy a couple of the new zones; but it is not fresh and not innovative.

    The new high level    The game gets a 6 for some lovely new zones, a fun reworking of Azeroth, but essentially a failure to move forward in terms of gameplay or design. In other words, it is more of the same old endless grind. If you enjoyed it before, you will enjoy it again. It's worth a trip to fly round Azeroth, enjoy a couple of the new zones; but it is not fresh and not innovative.

    The new high level world content is fun while it lasts, but quickly finished. After that it's the same old sit in a city and wait for dungeons to pop, pray your gizmo drops so you can do a more difficult version of the same dungeon; grind reputation, grind honour, grind justice points by endless repetition.

    I can't wait till we see a new breed of MMOs which emphasize dynamic change, and interaction in a living breathing world, rather than a treadmill of instances and limited battleground. A game which focuses upon random surprise, rather than perfecting scripted predictability. A game which finally shatters the - go to quest hub, kill 10 of these, 10 of those, 10 of the other.

    Cataclysm makes strides here - some of the new quests are fun. But too many repeat the same old formula. Basically, get it, play for your month, and then delete.    … Expand
  13. LongtimeGamer
    Mar 3, 2011
    5
    Ok cool. Its another wow expansion that adds a fairly good amount of content for your money but overall it grows old very quickly. Its the same old wow. GO here, quest, get max level, enjoy the endless gear grind until next expansion. Rinse-Repeat. Save yourself the trouble.. Play wow for a few months maybe like 2-4 then once uve played through a few raids etc quit. Cus its the sameOk cool. Its another wow expansion that adds a fairly good amount of content for your money but overall it grows old very quickly. Its the same old wow. GO here, quest, get max level, enjoy the endless gear grind until next expansion. Rinse-Repeat. Save yourself the trouble.. Play wow for a few months maybe like 2-4 then once uve played through a few raids etc quit. Cus its the same concept over and over...… Expand
  14. Duderoth
    Sep 26, 2011
    6
    WoW: Cataclysm is hard to rate, and really it should be divided into two separate games. One is the new 1-60 content, and the other is the end-game. I would give 1-60 an 8 and the endgame a 4 so they average to 6. Now obviously, if we make comparisons, since all reviews are a form of comparison, the closest thing we can compare Cataclysm to is Wrath of the Lich King, which I thought wasWoW: Cataclysm is hard to rate, and really it should be divided into two separate games. One is the new 1-60 content, and the other is the end-game. I would give 1-60 an 8 and the endgame a 4 so they average to 6. Now obviously, if we make comparisons, since all reviews are a form of comparison, the closest thing we can compare Cataclysm to is Wrath of the Lich King, which I thought was a tremendous expansion and I gave an 8. I know WotLK's content endgame was pretty easy (well, very easy), but that wasn't why I like it. WotLK's endgame dungeons had some very interesting environments, dungeons and lore. Lore. That is what is really missing with Cataclysm. You feel with endgame that you are simply going through the motions. There's nothing really unique or significant with design, architecture, or anything else. The gameplay is almost exactly the same as the previous expansion, with the exception that they put crowd control back in, and has been essentially the same throughout the series, so how do I rate the game on that aspect? It really is the world-building, the quests, and what you're hero accomplishes in his adventures against the Lich King, the Old Gods, and the Burning Legion that makes WoW entertaining, and I feel that Cataclysm ultimately failed to deliver the sense that you're character's actions have any sort of impact with endgame so far. There's just no depth to it. That said, I would spend all my time with Cata leveling from 1 to 60, because the new quest areas for new characters *were* developed with a sense of impact and interest, and some of the quests you just cannot miss (Badlands). So there's my summation. I don't know how helpful it will be if at all.… Expand
  15. Carnifex
    Jan 14, 2011
    5
    Care Bear-clysm.. I thought that this expansion was going to be Blizz finally waking up and realizing that- A : Their game is too easy and- B: PVP and PVE need to be balanced seperately. --- I leveled up to 85 in 4-5 days, (what the hell) I mean I was just doing basic quests. Sure the end-game content is supposed to be where the "true game" starts. Well, the end-game content so far isn'tCare Bear-clysm.. I thought that this expansion was going to be Blizz finally waking up and realizing that- A : Their game is too easy and- B: PVP and PVE need to be balanced seperately. --- I leveled up to 85 in 4-5 days, (what the hell) I mean I was just doing basic quests. Sure the end-game content is supposed to be where the "true game" starts. Well, the end-game content so far isn't anything to right home about unless you like farming plain looking dungeons with super-sized, color swapped, bosses with inflated hit points/damage to give the illusion of difficulty. --- Oh and speaking of color swap, they really phoned in the armor sets this time. Not only do most classes look horrid, when you finally get to upgrade out of that ugly set "gratz color swap" same ugly set. ----- Class balance issues have seemingly always plagued this game, alright any MMO to be fair, but WoW's balancing seems to defy common sense. You get to look forward to that in this expansion too, it just gets worse because they added Mastery rating so now they have another stat to screw up. ---- Sad fact is I'm still playing WoW and probably still will be when the next expansion hits because despite what I think I'm basically just another WoW drone.… Expand
  16. iabster
    Mar 28, 2011
    6
    I've been playing WoW since a week before Burning Crusade came out. I've been a fanboy ever since...loving the content and having plenty to do. I was getting a bit burned by the end of Wrath and debated getting Cataclysm. I did it anyway and was pretty happy with the first two areas I went through...the cut scenes they added were a pretty cool addition. Seeing how the stats on all theI've been playing WoW since a week before Burning Crusade came out. I've been a fanboy ever since...loving the content and having plenty to do. I was getting a bit burned by the end of Wrath and debated getting Cataclysm. I did it anyway and was pretty happy with the first two areas I went through...the cut scenes they added were a pretty cool addition. Seeing how the stats on all the new gear and weapons was very attractive...had my warrior's health up to 80k in no time...and then it hit me...I had just cleared my 3rd full area of quests and headed in to a 4th new area...I gathered up 3 or 4 new quests from the NPCs...and all of a sudden I felt my dinner coming back up, and cold sweat coming...go kill 10 Hateful Beings, and gather 6 Something or other essences, and free 12 Pitiful Souls...Blah! I was done...no more...I just couldn't go on...I'd seen enough of the reused buildings and creatures with new color schemes...I didn't want to do a dungeon 100+ times to get enough points for my new gear...not to mention tanking was not the same (i loved tanking), and rarely were groups patient enough as I learned the fights and geared up. My money, my time...I'm done. Looking forward to the Fall lineup of MMOs...until then, I'll catch up on some cool title for my PS3...peace All. No longer LFG...… Expand
  17. TheJoxter
    Apr 25, 2011
    5
    Excellent rebalance and new content aren't enough to kill the ennui growing in this WoWer's heart. Perhaps someday something will rekindle the lost feeling WoW once inspired but this, today, is not it. Better luck nest time Blizz.
  18. Fredelas
    Jul 18, 2011
    6
    It was interesting to see how this expansion reworked the original regions of Azeroth. However, the new max level content was a bit of a let down, in terms of quantity. I expected more to do, and there just didn't feel like more.
  19. MT56
    Jul 20, 2012
    7
    It's a quality expansion of course, Blizzard doesn't put out crap, despite what haters like to say. But this expansion lost some of what I loved about older versions. I do not like the dumbed down talent trees. I do not like the simplicity of play rotations. It's so obviously laid out that if you play in a creative way then you suffer worse results, no matter what your role is. I don'tIt's a quality expansion of course, Blizzard doesn't put out crap, despite what haters like to say. But this expansion lost some of what I loved about older versions. I do not like the dumbed down talent trees. I do not like the simplicity of play rotations. It's so obviously laid out that if you play in a creative way then you suffer worse results, no matter what your role is. I don't like some of the options that have become common place. A built in quest helper guides you to your next objectives. Of course I use it because it's there, lest I be left behind, but you lose your sense of exploration, isolation, and discovery. You used to be able to search a zone and see something hidden and amazing and wonder how many players took the time to discover what you've discovered. Now you all follow the same linear path through the zone. A similar issue exists with changing the appearance of your gear. Yeah I use it, but I hate it. We should have to display the gear we've earned and live with it. If you want to break out your Soulforge from your bank and wear it that's your choice. I don't like how huge the zones are. They're pretty good looking and the quality of quests is usually decent but you're stuck in the same damn zone for hours and you just want to move on. Another issue is fast flying mounts. It trivializes the epic feeling of time and space that you used to get with Wow. Just fly over it and get where you need to go as fast as possible. Don't take the time to stop and enjoy the scenery or you'll be left behind. Arenas suck too...mostly because I suck at them and I'm mad. Anyway, I'll be back for panda time but I'm now a sceptic. Giving no lower than a 7 because Wow overall is the best game ever created :P P.S.-The old zone makeovers are a GOOD THING!!… Expand
  20. mihmanz
    Dec 11, 2010
    7
    Goblin's missions were pure fun (I even forgot that I was playing WoW), but when I came to Orgrimmar, I lost my interest in playing. I think Cataclysm came too early, but also I do believe Blizzard will make it more valuable later with some big patches
  21. ltx
    Mar 12, 2011
    7
    Fun for a little while. Unless you're into raiding or other long-term grinds, this expansion brings about 2 months worth of content. Overall, least amount of content from any expansion so far. This would be fine if expansion release cycle was shortened to 1 year or even 6 months. Good stuff: heroic dungeons were a lot of fun before everyone geared out and difficulty was reduced. New zones,Fun for a little while. Unless you're into raiding or other long-term grinds, this expansion brings about 2 months worth of content. Overall, least amount of content from any expansion so far. This would be fine if expansion release cycle was shortened to 1 year or even 6 months. Good stuff: heroic dungeons were a lot of fun before everyone geared out and difficulty was reduced. New zones, although few, are pretty and have story-lines.… Expand
  22. Pomornik
    Nov 3, 2011
    6
    Half-assed and overhyped expansion. Many of the features got scrapped, most of the content is just repainted old one, and it has worst end-game out of all of the expansions. WoW needs something new, not more of the same old crap we all saw hundreds of times already.
  23. Itsapaul
    Dec 26, 2010
    7
    For what it adds to the game, this should probably be rated a 10. Getting to max level is easier than ever too, so that's a huge plus. However, seeing as Blizzard made no indication on the difficulty increase to the average user thus nothing can be done without a guild or a decent group on your server, I'm left wondering why they made random heroics in the first place. As always withFor what it adds to the game, this should probably be rated a 10. Getting to max level is easier than ever too, so that's a huge plus. However, seeing as Blizzard made no indication on the difficulty increase to the average user thus nothing can be done without a guild or a decent group on your server, I'm left wondering why they made random heroics in the first place. As always with these kind of games, while the gameplay can be fine, the community ruins any enjoyment I could get from it.

    PS - They said they wouldn't nerf heroics, but they're going to have to before everyone quits from not being able to get any done with random bad players.    … Expand
  24. thatgerman
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    WoW gets worse with each expansion it releases (except Burning Crusade). The only reason i liked Wrath of the lich king was because i was a holy paladin and was the most powerful healer class in dungeons. Cataclysm is the decline of WoW, and Mists of Panturdia will be the final nail in the coffin. Seriously Blizz? a pvp based expansion, with pandas. Just do the people that still play theWoW gets worse with each expansion it releases (except Burning Crusade). The only reason i liked Wrath of the lich king was because i was a holy paladin and was the most powerful healer class in dungeons. Cataclysm is the decline of WoW, and Mists of Panturdia will be the final nail in the coffin. Seriously Blizz? a pvp based expansion, with pandas. Just do the people that still play the game a favor and get rid of subscriptions.… Expand
  25. Tkwz
    Jun 13, 2011
    5
    Opinion of this game (and particularly about this expansion) will greatly depend on the type of player one is. Cataclysm (and WoW in general) is a perfect MMORPG for those new players that have limited and scattered free time (aka Casuals). For them it offers well polished, rich and fairly entertaining content that lasts for quite a while, the graphics engine is fairly outdated, but stillOpinion of this game (and particularly about this expansion) will greatly depend on the type of player one is. Cataclysm (and WoW in general) is a perfect MMORPG for those new players that have limited and scattered free time (aka Casuals). For them it offers well polished, rich and fairly entertaining content that lasts for quite a while, the graphics engine is fairly outdated, but still the game looks positively alive, much more so than ANY mmorpg out there. The only problem is a complete lack of higher difficulty option, the classes have many skills but very straightforward, the quests and even dungeons are easy, not challenging even for completely new rpg players. Some will like it that way, many wonâ… Expand
  26. vincesz
    Jan 16, 2011
    7
    For a bit of background about me, I played WoW extensively when it first came out (cleared Naxx) then played a bit when TBC came out (mostly arena) and quit at level 78 with WotLK.

    I came back to Cataclysm after seeing beta footage on Youtube and having it pique my interest. I had lost my account at that point, so I needed to start from scratch. The game blew me away almost from the    For a bit of background about me, I played WoW extensively when it first came out (cleared Naxx) then played a bit when TBC came out (mostly arena) and quit at level 78 with WotLK.

    I came back to Cataclysm after seeing beta footage on Youtube and having it pique my interest. I had lost my account at that point, so I needed to start from scratch.

    The game blew me away almost from the get-go. I was absolutely stunned with how much I enjoyed it, especially remembering the agony of leveling before. Almost every zone has a story, some small tale that you affect, brilliantly using the phasing mechanic to make you feel like your actions impact the zone.

    The entire game felt fresh and new, many small things were added to make learning things easier. No more training defense and weapon skills, notifications when you can learn new moves from the trainer, improved interfaces, spell alerts etc. etc.

    I had a perpetual blast from 1-60, but alas that's when the magic abruptly ends. Being a casual gamer, I played maybe a 2-3 hours a week, and levels 50-60 (which pre-cataclysm used to take ages to complete) now take about 1/2 hour per level un-rested.

    At level 60 this joyride comes to a screeching halt, and outlands and beyond. All of a sudden after having fun, rewarding, half hour level ups it takes about 2-3 hours PER LEVEL. The quests in the outlands starting zones give LESS exp than old world level 55 quests. The quests are also much further spaced out (meaning more travel time) and overall not as fun (kill 10 of x and 20 of y). I am currently level 69, and went to Northrend. That place hasn't changed much either, and I will not be continuing my "adventures" much longer.

    If I was to give out a recommendation for this game, I'd say that you should just buy the original WoW and play through leveling to 60. The expansion content is only necessary if you want to play goblins/worgen/blood elves/draenei or want to continue beyond level 60.    … Expand
  27. bizzyx33
    Jan 20, 2011
    7
    The game is really fun but wait I hate the most are the queues for dungeons. 30-50 minute queues is ridiculous. The dungeons are also much longer than they use to. I remember finishing dungeons within 30 minutes during WOTLK. Now they are taking 1 hour + per dungeon.

    PvP is also pretty unbalance. Frost mages who can win by just running around spamming ice lance 80% of the fight is dumb.    The game is really fun but wait I hate the most are the queues for dungeons. 30-50 minute queues is ridiculous. The dungeons are also much longer than they use to. I remember finishing dungeons within 30 minutes during WOTLK. Now they are taking 1 hour + per dungeon.

    PvP is also pretty unbalance. Frost mages who can win by just running around spamming ice lance 80% of the fight is dumb. I also purchased my World of Warcraft Cataclysm at www.wtsmystuff.com for $37.99. Great deals for many games. That is where I do all my pc game purchases.    … Expand
  28. bsides
    Nov 27, 2011
    5
    When the players asked to make Azeroth fun again I don't think they meant Cataclysm. It was a good excuse to remake the world and everybody got so hyped about it that this came out - an unfinished game. I like to call it unfinished because I never saw such a low job from Blizzard. It looks like they missed the ball here, not knowing where to focus and what to deliver. They say theyWhen the players asked to make Azeroth fun again I don't think they meant Cataclysm. It was a good excuse to remake the world and everybody got so hyped about it that this came out - an unfinished game. I like to call it unfinished because I never saw such a low job from Blizzard. It looks like they missed the ball here, not knowing where to focus and what to deliver. They say they "listened to users" but as it turn down, they didn't listen to beta players at all. We all said it, the content was too low. To be able to flight since day 1 was pretty stupid. There aren't enough dungeons. There aren't enough raids. The content is miserable. You guys take too much time to make it "perfect" and throw that at us? That's going to leave a mark, for sure.

    Now I scored a 5 because it IS indeed fun to see the changes in Azeroth, to see what changed in the quests, to check out the 2 new races and see the new dungeons and raids. The problem is that you can do that in just a month. Yup, that's about it.    … Expand
  29. Koumori
    Dec 20, 2011
    5
    Cataclysm brings an end to the Ice reign of the Lich King expansion and replaces it with fire and chaos. Lands that most players have seen for years are replaced with lava and cracks in the earth; new areas have cropped up to explore, and there's two new races to play. However, whilst that looks like a lot of content on paper, Blizzard didn't exactly deliver in terms of long-term play. FunCataclysm brings an end to the Ice reign of the Lich King expansion and replaces it with fire and chaos. Lands that most players have seen for years are replaced with lava and cracks in the earth; new areas have cropped up to explore, and there's two new races to play. However, whilst that looks like a lot of content on paper, Blizzard didn't exactly deliver in terms of long-term play. Fun for those who enjoy alt-levelling as they've seemed to pump most of their time revamping their admittedly tired 1-60 levelling areas, but what they sacrificed for that is quality of capped level play. The quests for the new areas are tedious at best, the raids uninspired. The patches are nothing impressive either, with Blizzard hellbent on delivering the least amount of content they can get away with. Although still the King of MMO's with an impressive legacy of the last seven years, Cataclysm is not a landmark step and was a disappointment.… Expand
  30. Tridus
    May 20, 2011
    6
    I played Cataclysm until recently. It's pretty fun at first, but the magic is gone. The storyline at this point makes absolutely no sense and has come down in 4.1 to "for some random reason former good guy Trolls are now evil, so go kill them in these recycled dungeons." Content is pathetically slow in coming since release, and weak when it finally did arrive. There's a great sense of "whoI played Cataclysm until recently. It's pretty fun at first, but the magic is gone. The storyline at this point makes absolutely no sense and has come down in 4.1 to "for some random reason former good guy Trolls are now evil, so go kill them in these recycled dungeons." Content is pathetically slow in coming since release, and weak when it finally did arrive. There's a great sense of "who cares?" in most of what's going on. To top it off, Blizzard is now largely focused on tacking on extra charges more then they are improving the game. It's been a good run, but this is a game that's lost its way.… Expand
  31. akelz7
    Mar 16, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dear Blizzard, Thank you for revamping old Azeroth into a world of heavenly (and Horde-favored, LOKTAR OGAR!) experience for the playerbase. Thank you for making some nice new zones and two competent (I hated the BS races) new races. Thank you for adding even more BRILLIANT music to the game and, perhaps MOST importantly, thank you for both making the Forsaken as a playable race make any sense and giving the trolls a new starting zone. Also thank you for making your end game content fun and challeng- WHAT? 19 direct nerfs to heroics? 15% luck of the draw buff? Oh, dear God, Blizzard, DON'T GO BACK TO THE HELL OF WOTLK. Also to everyone who "hates" this expansion and is "done" I have 3 things to say: 1: If you are calling leveling too easy, yes I can agree with that, WTF Blizz? 2: If you are quitting, you'll be back, you've probably "quit: every damn patch, and 3: If you ARE quitting, NOBODY CARES! you are a worthless internet troll and Blizzard wouldn't care if you DIED, get over yourself. This is, however, only MY opinion, and I recommend you try it out, seeing as how the revamp of old Azeroth was done via a patch, so you don't need to buy the expansion to experience this updated content.… Expand
  32. Brianz87
    Jun 1, 2011
    6
    Cataclysm is a very hard expansion to review. On one hand, the leveling content (Both from 1-60 and 80-85) is much more streamlined than it was before, though it is also much easier which may take down the enjoyment for more hardcore players. Casual players will likely be turned off though by the increase in time commitment required for endgame raiding from Wrath, along with much longerCataclysm is a very hard expansion to review. On one hand, the leveling content (Both from 1-60 and 80-85) is much more streamlined than it was before, though it is also much easier which may take down the enjoyment for more hardcore players. Casual players will likely be turned off though by the increase in time commitment required for endgame raiding from Wrath, along with much longer heroic dungeons. My recommendation is to look for another mmo, such as Guild Wars or Rift, or waiting for the old Republic… Expand
  33. Ideclarewar901
    Mar 7, 2012
    7
    Alright, sure it is not Vanilla anymore. There was more time spent for me on Vanilla as for gear hunting and raiding, than there is in CATACLYSM. But, i want to add, it beats every MMO i tried. And i am not necessarily a fan boy. I played Aion, Rift, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Lineage II, Guild Wars,, I've been liking Guild Wars alot, but not for the challenge. As for Cataclysm, it isAlright, sure it is not Vanilla anymore. There was more time spent for me on Vanilla as for gear hunting and raiding, than there is in CATACLYSM. But, i want to add, it beats every MMO i tried. And i am not necessarily a fan boy. I played Aion, Rift, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Lineage II, Guild Wars,, I've been liking Guild Wars alot, but not for the challenge. As for Cataclysm, it is still a fun game. Sure they tend to listen to the people who does not want to work to get their gear... But whatever.. Since Vanilla i am Healing on a Holy Paladin. When they nerf us or buff us, or even change us, whatever? A real gamer is a gamer who can stand the changes... I know the Raids are easy, look i started playing again after 3 months of non play, and i still already bet Dragon's Soul on Normal and Heroic in only 2 Weeks.. I still like the game... I have my pals i am raiding with, and i am happy with the game. I would never say no to get back to Vanilla Raid difficulty, i hope Blizzard will do it one day. But it's a long game, atleast. Perfect for a Casual Gamer, which is playing Hardcore (by the fact that i do not play all day, but i raid two times a week). PVP is still good, but it always remain on which class is OP and which is not. Skill is the other half of the victories. In my opinion, this game is still good, but got a BIT downhill, not by much, but it got downhill. Fights in Raids gets repetitive since Burning Crusade. Whatever... I love playing the game still. Definately gonna keep playing, though i hope they add more stuff even, in the future. Thanks Blizzard for the efforts, i think they are not trickering us and stealing us, like companies such as Infinity Ward, trickering their COD fans. Thanks for staying True.… Expand
  34. macgruff
    May 15, 2012
    7
    I'm going to give Cata a 7, and this being a full 18 months since release. Contrary to one of the "highlighted" reviews, the changes to guilds have KILLED recruiting. If you weren't already in a good raiding guild, you have to give up all your current guild perks in order to switch, so even if people are in a social guild and want to try their hand at raiding with a decent raiding guildI'm going to give Cata a 7, and this being a full 18 months since release. Contrary to one of the "highlighted" reviews, the changes to guilds have KILLED recruiting. If you weren't already in a good raiding guild, you have to give up all your current guild perks in order to switch, so even if people are in a social guild and want to try their hand at raiding with a decent raiding guild for awhile, there is no motivation to do so for fear of losing those perks and having to grind back into the good graces of the new guild. And same again if you wanted to return your now skillful toon back into your social guild to help them out.

    No real dailies in Cata to guide players into areas of content as it was in previous releases.

    PVP still broken - Bring back what was lost in BC, please.

    But the basic game is still solid, with many new convenience features.    … Expand
  35. ChronoJase
    May 25, 2012
    7
    There's the development team and the artists to be commended. They have truly put in a lot of their time into constructing this. However, there are weak points that truly disappointed me, which many people here have stated. I will be awaiting the next expansion, and truly hope, Blizzard have heard our pleas and improve the game.
  36. Sunfire
    Jun 13, 2012
    5
    This game is not the World of Warcraft.
    That game was epic,skill-based(mostly :D),had a great universe which vacuumes players.
    I was one player caught in the wave,i loved it. Meeting characters from the World of Azeroth was awesome,u know them,u love them. Then came the Cataclysm,which was made for 5-15 year old players,from 12+,removing the hybrid talents,making the game chum on your    This game is not the World of Warcraft.
    That game was epic,skill-based(mostly :D),had a great universe which vacuumes players.
    I was one player caught in the wave,i loved it.
    Meeting characters from the World of Azeroth was awesome,u know them,u love them.

    Then came the Cataclysm,which was made for 5-15 year old players,from 12+,removing the hybrid talents,making the game chum on your food and spit in your mouth,it was transformed to some moneymaker,so kis kill their parents to buy it.

    The story is meh,deathwing wow so epic!!!! 2bad that the bossfight is a piece of **** know nothing of the bosses except Deathwing,and that boss was awful too.

    Not the best recommendation here,but if u wanna play World of Warcraft then go play vanilla/BC/LK on cracked servers.
    And if u need only the universe there are plenty of books around you can choose from.

    I hoped Blizzard realized their fail,but no they make MoP,without talents!!! YAY!!!!    … Expand
  37. heerobya
    Aug 3, 2012
    6
    Leveling 1-60 once again was a bit of fun seeing the new content and zones, but entirely a single-player experience. Thankfully, it is a quick journey. After that though, you realize how bad the questing is in the Burning Crusade zones and trudge through (or do nothing but dungeons) until you hit the Lick King content.

    Once you hit end game, it's the same WoW you've always known. Grind    Leveling 1-60 once again was a bit of fun seeing the new content and zones, but entirely a single-player experience. Thankfully, it is a quick journey. After that though, you realize how bad the questing is in the Burning Crusade zones and trudge through (or do nothing but dungeons) until you hit the Lick King content.

    Once you hit end game, it's the same WoW you've always known. Grind for gear, grind for rep, grind for some more gear, and then grind some more. Is it fun? Not for me anymore, but WoW still remains the most "solid" and polished MMO experience to date - though the impressiveness of that feat is diminished by the fact they've had 8 years now to work on it.

    Mists of Panderia will be the first WoW expansion I do not purchase, and not only because of how much Cataclysm changed the game (for worse) but because the Everquest model of grind levels to then grind gear is just not enough to hold my interest anymore.    … Expand
  38. Claytality
    Sep 27, 2012
    6
    As far as MMO's go, I have played better. Unfortunately in WoW you will frequently find yourself standing 40 yrds, from an enemy and casting spells or attacks at him over and over. IMO the cap should have been 75 at most, beyond that just feels like grinding.
  39. CHINESE_TIGER
    Jul 17, 2011
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm just gonna be straight up here. I've only played the game for 2 years, yet I'm already kinda burnt out of it. However, it emits an attractive vibe that just keeps me coming back. It's addiction, my friends. I can't even find any WoW clones attractive. It's addictive and it's even fun most of the time. Whenever I get bored on WoW, I find a way to cure my boredom, maybe even have a few laughs. That's what I loved about WoW; its semi non-linearity. Now, however, that non-linearity kinda disappeared with Cataclysm. It's quest, gold, raid, gloat. It's always been like this but I just feel like Cataclysm is where it's been most pronounced. Even in Wrath it wasn't like this. I've raided this expansion. I find it challenging and fun. However, I've been burnt out. Hell, on my 85s I haven't even done a dungeon for months because I just don't enjoy the queues, then having the group fall apart because the tank doesn't know what a taunt is. I just prefer the leveling. I've done all the old zones plenty of times before Cataclysm and the reworking of the zones was very refreshing. However, it's just starting to get old now, and I cry in pain whenever I get to Outland because it's the same thing it was for years, now. Now, I wait it out. I level to 60, do some stuff there, then level to 60 again. I actually find it quite entertaining, even though I've done it plenty of times already. I'm a slow leveler, so I guess that inadvertently prolongs the enjoyment. I really hope Blizzard doesn't disappoint next expansion. BlizzCon is getting me excited. However, in interim, I find that my playtime is slowly eroding and having its place taken by other games like Team Fortress 2. It's burning out, but there still are glimmers of hope left.… Expand
  40. Beauboy93
    Jun 4, 2012
    5
    This expansion is very well done in some areas, and in others kind of lacking. The major updates to the world and the addition of the Worgen and Goblins is a huge plus, but the end game and leveling content was way to small. The content was epic but so spread apart with a confusing story that I feel as if it is probably my least favorite expansion. Overall great content from Blizzard justThis expansion is very well done in some areas, and in others kind of lacking. The major updates to the world and the addition of the Worgen and Goblins is a huge plus, but the end game and leveling content was way to small. The content was epic but so spread apart with a confusing story that I feel as if it is probably my least favorite expansion. Overall great content from Blizzard just not enough of it.… Expand
  41. Necromus
    Aug 31, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Cataclysm was the third expansion for World of Warcraft and my least favourite. The first two weeks of play were fun while I was leveling. Blizzard had really polished its phasing, vehicle fights and the way quests are presented in this expansion. Two of the new zones went in a different direction than your typical WoW zone and I liked those zones best. One was an under water zone. Many people don't like it, but personally I like it because it is different from all the other WoW zones. The other was was a cut-scene full zone that was mostly a parody of the Indiana Jones movies, I also enjoyed that zone a lot too, although some others did not. The questing in the new zones in this expansion were more linear and really told a story which I liked. Some players did not like this. One problem I encountered with this setup early on was that the phasing for one of the water zone quests was bugged which prevented you from being able to progress in the zone for about a week, so I had to leave the zone and do another one in the meantime.

    The first end game instances in this expansion was kind of disappointing. For me I found that the graphics of the place just looked too old and boring, they looked like the old 5 man instances inside the mountain that were created back in 2004, they really could have done a better job on the looks of these places. The bosses weren't really that memorable. Maybe it was because we had all been playing for years and just weren't that blown away by raids anymore. Maybe the bosses weren't really that special. Right now the only one I really remember is the blind dragon, so I guess the rest in that place were not memorable lol. I do remember seeing Onyxia during the end boss fight and thinking to myself "Didn't we already kill her in a previous expansion?" Well, really we killed her already two expansions because they remade her original instance at one point too.

    They really nerfed healers mana at the start of this expansion, they wanted it to be more challenging to heal but they went overboard. I had played as mainly a healer for 6 years before this point and this was the first expansion that I did not enjoy healing in. I could do it, but it just was no fun watching your team mates die because you were severey mana-challenged, especially when you were running the normal 5 mans or heroics and didn't have much end-game gear. Tol Barad was also horribly designed at the start of this expansion so that 99% of the time the opposite faction than I was had control of it. And since the loot pinata boss inside of it was only accessible to who controled it that meant no easy raid gear for our guild and that really sucked. They eventually fixed it but it was months later so by that time it was too late to get the bad taste of the design of that place out of my mouth.

    When Firelands came out I was logging on each day to max out my gear tokens by running the Firelands dailies and heroic dailies. It started to feel like a chore. I would log on, do my daily quests then do my daily heroics and then log out on non-raid days. Not because I wanted to, but because it was necessary to do to max out the number of gear tokens I could get to get myself new gear as fast as possible. The Firelands dailies took a long time to complete. Blizzard has even come out and admitted that they were tuned to take too long. Then I realized that the rewards for completing all the dailies enough times rewarded gear that was slightly worse than what I was already wearing in most cases. This was the point where I got burned out on the game and I quit for 6 months. Blizzard bribed me back with their overpowered Scroll of Ressurrection where they allowed you to insta-level any one of your toons to level 80 (close to the level 85 cap). Other than the new transmog feature which finally lets me use the look of my favourite gear while wearing something else there was not enough to really keep me hooked on the game. I used the new LFR to join zerg fests to get the lower versions of the tier set, but it just feels so cheap and meaningless since no skill was involved to get them. I hung out with my guild for a couple of months to get the normal Dragon Soul tier set and that was fun, but not as fun as the old days. I barely play these days,. I am uncertain if I will purchase the next expansion.

    I am giving this expansion a 6/10 because, I don't think it was a terrible expansion so I think it deserves at least average, but there is "je ne sais quoi" that was missing from this expansion that I can't give it a better rating than that.    … Expand
  42. Kirase
    Dec 31, 2011
    5
    Cataclysm finally made me stop playing WoW for good.

    As a player that experienced Wow from its release ive noticed that the game got more accessible, easy, casual and generally dumbed down with pretty much every content patch and addon. This already got critical at wrath of the lich king. While in classic or burning crusade a good 50% of content could be considered as in some way fun or    Cataclysm finally made me stop playing WoW for good.

    As a player that experienced Wow from its release ive noticed that the game got more accessible, easy, casual and generally dumbed down with pretty much every content patch and addon. This already got critical at wrath of the lich king. While in classic or burning crusade a good 50% of content could be considered as in some way fun or "challenging" it is down to like 5% now.

    Back then there was an actual chance of not completely finishing an instance, even completely failing, or of only killing a certain boss and leaving the rest of the instance untouched because it was too difficult etc. Actually completely cleaning an instance like Stratholme or TDM was pretty satisfying.

    There is nothing left like that anymore.
    Even daily heroic instance quests are more like a time consuming annoyance than a challenge now, the only challenge left the game manages to deliver are a few hardcore achievements like for heroic raid instances. Again even these ones can at some point just get picked up by everyone after blizzard once again nerfed the raid instances or released new content with better items allowing anyone to easily raid past instances without any difficulty left in them. Pointless.    … Expand
  43. evocatron
    Aug 19, 2013
    5
    I started playing WoW a few months after release and continued playing fervently up until WotLK was released. I still played on and off casually during WotLK, however, still thinking the game was fun, but I just didn't have enough time to play as much anymore. I bought Cataclysm on the day of release to try it out and had a few thoughts on it. First of all, the game became a total jokeI started playing WoW a few months after release and continued playing fervently up until WotLK was released. I still played on and off casually during WotLK, however, still thinking the game was fun, but I just didn't have enough time to play as much anymore. I bought Cataclysm on the day of release to try it out and had a few thoughts on it. First of all, the game became a total joke (even more than before) where every quest or NPC was some silly pop culture reference, which I found to be a turn off. An entire zone was based off of an Indiana Jones movie! I made it to level 85, and quickly found myself bored by the PvE content. On the bright side, they added a talent to fury warriors that allowed me to pull aggro constantly during normal 5 mans and not die because of the increased chance to parry. This was very useful and enjoyable while DPSing, as paying attention to aggro became too tedious. In fact, it was at this time that the best part of Cataclysm stood out to me: huge explosions of large yellow numbers, more yellow numbers than I had ever seen on my screen before as a warrior. Maybe years of WoW playing just burned me out, or maybe Cataclysm sucks. If you really want to buy the game and try it then decide for yourself, but I'd say its worth passing on unless you really love the WoW universe.… Expand
  44. IrishChai
    Aug 7, 2011
    5
    Unfortunately this really feels like the beginning of the end for WoW. I liked the new content a lot at first, until a week passed and I was already 85. Then I decided to go back and start a couple new characters to see the new 1-60 content. A couple weeks later, I was reentering untouched old content for levels 60-80 that I didn't have any interest in replaying. The transition betweenUnfortunately this really feels like the beginning of the end for WoW. I liked the new content a lot at first, until a week passed and I was already 85. Then I decided to go back and start a couple new characters to see the new 1-60 content. A couple weeks later, I was reentering untouched old content for levels 60-80 that I didn't have any interest in replaying. The transition between Cata content and previous expansions is just awkward without any consideration or adjustment by Blizzard. There just wasn't enough content and fine-tuning with this expansion for veteran players, especially when the 1-60 game is now so ridiculously easy that it's just as easy and boring as watching someone else play it on youtube. Blizzard still manages to make some quest lines entertaining and funny, but these came few and far between this time around. The highlights were the new graphic effects, more challenging endgame instances, and the reorganization of the entire old world to make it flow better (technically this wasn't expansion content - vanilla players have access to all 1-60 content). The more prevalent cons of this expansion include the terrible transition now present for new players after level 60, everything outside of endgame dungeons/raids being pathetically easy, more graphical glitches then ever before, poorly made cutscenes, a very boring new profession (archaeology), and very little else to keep any veteran players interested beyond another month or two. I'm not sure if Blizzard is just losing their touch, or if the game is just reaching the age where no amount of quality content could help retain it's playerbase. Either way, this expansion came off as very mediocre at best.… Expand
  45. Xextreem
    Sep 17, 2011
    6
    I love world of warcraft. Butt iam not die hard gaming freak i got a live to. So let me say this is the expand good or not well the f*ck up some good **** in this game but the graphics story and the fun in it don`t forget the leveling up system make this game OK not good but OK.
  46. JettoGaming
    Sep 18, 2011
    6
    World of Warcraft is still and probably always be one of the most beautiful online "worlds" in terms of MMORPGs. It's massive and pretty, although somewhat repetitive. At first it is easy to disregard it as a complete repacking of Vanilla, with a few extra areas thrown in for good measure. (Nothing was really changed in regards to BC or WotLK, at least not too much) The gameplay is muchWorld of Warcraft is still and probably always be one of the most beautiful online "worlds" in terms of MMORPGs. It's massive and pretty, although somewhat repetitive. At first it is easy to disregard it as a complete repacking of Vanilla, with a few extra areas thrown in for good measure. (Nothing was really changed in regards to BC or WotLK, at least not too much) The gameplay is much the same as it ever was, except now traveling does not take as long, leveling progresses much faster (sometimes this is good and bad) and the story does take an interesting twist. That being said the biggest issue is the story. Although it makes perfect sense what has happened in Azeroth, the missing elements are disappointing. What happened to the Emerald Dream? I'm still waiting for that. I want to face off with the Titans and Old Gods, I want the end to draw near in an epic battle, that I can play again, with better or more challenging mechanics, something. In essence you will be doing more of the same and there are some challenging instances, beautiful areas and awesome bind on account equipment BUT, we really need a change or I feel this game is going to die soon. Great if you love the Warcraft series but awful if you don't. Probably also not the best change for the most hardcore WoW players, since the challenge level slightly dropped. Save for some of the places in Deepholm, Hyjal and Uldum. Also what's the deal with only adding 5 levels? I know there is always epic loot but Blizzard, if we assume has at least 9 million people left, or at least did at once time, they were pulling in about 135,000,000 (135 million) per month, not including the cost of the game and expansions. Where is all the money going? That is my real problem with this expansion.… Expand
  47. garyfisher
    Dec 11, 2011
    6
    Warcraft Cataclysm is an ok game that will provide players with hours of goal-oriented entertainment. Upon starting the game, the first goal for most players will be to get to the maximum level. This is done though an array of quest that are varied from mindlessly boring to extremely exciting. The problem is that many quest themselves are repetitive and like I said, boring. The fun isn'tWarcraft Cataclysm is an ok game that will provide players with hours of goal-oriented entertainment. Upon starting the game, the first goal for most players will be to get to the maximum level. This is done though an array of quest that are varied from mindlessly boring to extremely exciting. The problem is that many quest themselves are repetitive and like I said, boring. The fun isn't completing the quest, but getting that much closer to the maximum level. Upon reaching that maximum level, the next logical step is clearing the highest level dungeons. Unfortunately, just how fun this is depends widely on who is clearing the dungeon with you, and what class you are playing. But clearing each dungeon has a certain level of satisfaction, being able to say you accomplished it. The next goal is to clear the same dungeons again on heroic difficulty. Yet again, the level of enjoyment depends widely on who is clearing the dungeons with you. Upon clearing heroic dungeons, raiding is next. Here is where things branch off. If you are able to dedicate the time and energy, raiding in a guild with several other players regularly can be a blast. But for most people, dedicating x amount of hours on y days can't be done. I will relate it to my playing. I spent approximately one and a half months raiding about two days a week. It was fun, but stressful. At the end of these one and a half months, we were able to beat one of the end bosses we had been working on for quite sometime. I had not been that emotionally excited over a video game in ages. But to have beaten the next end boss would have taken even more effort, and I already felt that this was the end for me. Eventually everything becomes repetitive and dull, but this was after many hours of entertaining gameplay. It took about 3 months to become bored of warcraft cataclysm. With monthly subscription cost and buying the game with its expansions cost around $120 total. I easily got over 120 hours of entertainment, way more in fact. If you have a few months where you can dedicate 1 or 2 hours a day to warcraft and you can see yourself raiding, then I would buy this game. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. You will eventually get bored of Warcraft, but it will take sometime for that to happen.… Expand
  48. Necrotaur
    Oct 8, 2011
    7
    Despite it being a decent expansion, Cataclysm ultimately caused me to cancel my account by revealing the man behind the curtain. The remake of the old world was pretty cool, but zones have now become incredibly linear, like one big quest chain, and you tend to outlevel them before you complete them. Then you power through Outland and Northrend, which are both in a sort of lore limbo.Despite it being a decent expansion, Cataclysm ultimately caused me to cancel my account by revealing the man behind the curtain. The remake of the old world was pretty cool, but zones have now become incredibly linear, like one big quest chain, and you tend to outlevel them before you complete them. Then you power through Outland and Northrend, which are both in a sort of lore limbo. Afterward you enter the new zones, which again are pretty cool, but it quickly becomes a treadmill where you endlessly grind rep/points/dungeons. There was and still is, not much new content.… Expand
  49. 4lch3m1st
    Aug 9, 2011
    7
    After playing for 4 years at a cost of 675$ in total subscription costs and a couple hundred in discs and another hundred worth of pets and mounts it has been the most immersive MMORPG I have ever installed. The cataclysm expansion was long awaited by myself and millions of other players and it delivered about 25% of the satisfaction we expected in the game. Farming nodes are as if someoneAfter playing for 4 years at a cost of 675$ in total subscription costs and a couple hundred in discs and another hundred worth of pets and mounts it has been the most immersive MMORPG I have ever installed. The cataclysm expansion was long awaited by myself and millions of other players and it delivered about 25% of the satisfaction we expected in the game. Farming nodes are as if someone just decided to put a few lines of nodes in each new area and call it a day, versus pre-cata where nodes could be anywhere. Each week is met with at least 8-10 hours of complete downtime and neverending restarts as if they don't quite know exactly what they are doing. They recently also shut down all forums during these downtimes to ensure they need not read about unhappy players who spend real money for downtime. Quests which used to take time to figure out to complete are overly too simple as if the new target player base is 8 to 12 year old kids. Rest assured that once you have learned your class and become good at it, blizzard will rewrite your skills and abilities to ensure you are half as strong as you once were and after overcoming that hurdle, they weaken you even more. End content in the game requires you to somehow become affluent in raid tactics and gear to even be eligible to play the end content, typically reserved for the top 10% of the realm. Goldsellers, (hackers), frequent the servers to steal passwords and accounts then bilk these accounts clean to sell your stolen items on the auction house with no retaliation as blizzard can roll-back your account to replace stolen items. One would surmise that these hackers would be banned, yet they are not and instill the idea that they are beneficial to Blizzard akin to the term, "you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours", the idea that if a player buys gold from a goldseller, that player will be banned but will be able to buy a new cd set to continue playing with a new slate. Tactical title sales? Be warned, it's no longer as safe as it once was, just ask any player who purchased an authenticator.… Expand
  50. IKnoGoodGames
    Nov 20, 2011
    7
    World Of Warcraft what an awesome game. Then cata came along and slightly ruined it with its health and damage system. In wrath at lvl 80 I saw a druid tank with 55k health and I thought wow he has alot of health. In cata you get lvl 80 with your 30-40k health you lvl up to 81 and you have 50k and it keeps going up till you 85 and you have about 90- 105k health and then you get fullyWorld Of Warcraft what an awesome game. Then cata came along and slightly ruined it with its health and damage system. In wrath at lvl 80 I saw a druid tank with 55k health and I thought wow he has alot of health. In cata you get lvl 80 with your 30-40k health you lvl up to 81 and you have 50k and it keeps going up till you 85 and you have about 90- 105k health and then you get fully geared and think to yourself WTF????? I have 200k health and a feral druid just crit 100k on me? hmmm I think ill go play runescape, at least that isnt messed up this badly. WoW is good overall, But cata just came along and ruined everything. Im not going to say dont buy this as its not worth it because you kind off need it to progress in the game.… Expand
  51. mas223
    Aug 7, 2011
    6
    A late review since i also think Cataclysm is a terrible expansion. I hope blizzard put their A team back on wow for the next xpac. Think its pretty obvious that they were working on some other game instead of Cata. The issues i have are: The graphics are terrible. Fly around Northrend or Outlands for good graphics. 80-85 content looks very primitive and bland. The soundtrack has beenA late review since i also think Cataclysm is a terrible expansion. I hope blizzard put their A team back on wow for the next xpac. Think its pretty obvious that they were working on some other game instead of Cata. The issues i have are: The graphics are terrible. Fly around Northrend or Outlands for good graphics. 80-85 content looks very primitive and bland. The soundtrack has been destroyed. Went from equal best in a video game to stupid hollywood crap. Worst of all, say you did like the story, the model has changed to tens of little of quest hubs in a zone. Over everything else, this has made questing meaningless. If you only know an npc and their story for 20 mins max, you'll forget the npc just as easily. Oh yeah, the endgame is identical to previous expansions.… Expand
  52. sunsun
    May 25, 2012
    6
    I don't like old formula. The game is boring if there is no exciting elements injecting into the game.
    Also 10/25 combine into one CD is also very bad. That makes the game much more boring as there is really nothing to do in the game.
  53. vahn
    Feb 11, 2012
    7
    I'll start saying that I've played Wow since the original (although I played more The burning crusade, because it was months away), so I witnessed the decay and the various kind of downgrades/upgrades of the series. With that settled, I honestly like this expansion, more than the wrath of the lich king: the dungeons are fun to do, it actually requests some tactics in order to proceed, andI'll start saying that I've played Wow since the original (although I played more The burning crusade, because it was months away), so I witnessed the decay and the various kind of downgrades/upgrades of the series. With that settled, I honestly like this expansion, more than the wrath of the lich king: the dungeons are fun to do, it actually requests some tactics in order to proceed, and the raids as well are fun to do with proper and better tactics than the previous expansion (I don't mean to offend: it's just what I think). Honestly, I don't get it why it's so hated: it's not a perfect expansion yes, but it IS better than wrath of the lich king; I know the previous expansion had a fantastic lore, but the game was too boring and too easy in comparison. And now, we have to be more carefull on various things: gear is slightly more important to check and a small improvement is actually necessary; dungeons require tactics to comprehend, but that''s logical, but at least they're not just spanking (...for the most part). In general, I wasn't disappointed by this expansion, except for maybe one biggest flaw ever: there is SO few content! The raids are very few (5 to this day, excluding the Tol Barad one), the new zones are big but they aren't that many to explore, and the dungeons are still very few (at least that's my general idea). On top of that, the game is always getting easier and easier, although fans beg for more difficulty: we got heroic raids yes, but blizzard should stop always following the casual gamers: I'm a casual gamer now, but I demand more challenge!. Bottom line, I think this expansion was more of a transition than a real proper expansion, a way to remake the main lands better, and really I can't complain because it was a real desert after the burning crusade. But I still wish for more content...… Expand
  54. Henrique
    Oct 1, 2012
    7
    Cataclysm is an expansion that had so much potential.The new races are terrific.Unfortunately, questing in Outlands and Northrend is still terrible after 100 times.The endgame has few dungeons, that are not so amusing.And the final boss/patch was just too fast and not epic.
  55. Fugazi
    Dec 2, 2012
    7
    Worst expansion to date (didn't try MOP yet) but it wasn't that bad. Biggest plus for reworking 1-60 zones, 80-85 was OK and end game was just more of the same. It was just missing the feeling that TBC and WOTLK had.
  56. rAMZA
    Aug 28, 2017
    7
    This was the worst expansion for max level players, and they ruined big raid guilds, and made too many difficulty levels for players so many got burned. updates to old world was the only good thing.
  57. iseeall
    Jul 29, 2013
    5
    This expansion definitely made the game worse than it was before. The transition from the old world to the new one, although it looked fun as an idea, turned out to be pretty bad. I suddenly felt myself alienated from the game, there was no world as I knew it anymore, and instead just super-simplified zones where you just moved from one griffon master to another and doing all those smallThis expansion definitely made the game worse than it was before. The transition from the old world to the new one, although it looked fun as an idea, turned out to be pretty bad. I suddenly felt myself alienated from the game, there was no world as I knew it anymore, and instead just super-simplified zones where you just moved from one griffon master to another and doing all those small quests.
    Yet I must say in retrospect, that compared to what they did in Mysts of Pandaria, this expansion was still pretty much on Blizzard's level.    … Expand
  58. Klewer
    Dec 10, 2012
    7
    The turning point in WoW as Blizzard start to run out of ideas ? Much of the old content is now gone and changed to suit the casual player and leveling and dungeons have been made very easy. Still a great story being told and the base game play is still fun.
  59. mrdistiller
    Mar 7, 2013
    6
    I really liked the Heroic Difficulty and raid mechanics that the dungeons had at the start of the expansion, i really dislike the other stuff like pvp, questing and the lore that this game gave us.
  60. Ghost736
    Apr 17, 2013
    6
    Blizzard made a huge mistake in this particular expansion. The game has been dumbed down, to the point where hardcore gamers are just a bunch of tryhard dicks. This game takes minimal effort for the original gamers, and they will find themselves done with the game completely if they are in a competent guild in no time. It also reduced the amount of individuality that the game had byBlizzard made a huge mistake in this particular expansion. The game has been dumbed down, to the point where hardcore gamers are just a bunch of tryhard dicks. This game takes minimal effort for the original gamers, and they will find themselves done with the game completely if they are in a competent guild in no time. It also reduced the amount of individuality that the game had by decreasing the amount a person can use their talent tree, or at least the freedom to do so.

    Now if you are new to WOW this expansion is quite awesome. The way a person is able to rise to the top with the best gear around by putting minimal effort and being that idiot that sits in a corner due to lag or lack of any idea as to what they are doing. Old WOW is dead, and so is the reward.    … Expand
  61. curzon_dax
    Dec 4, 2020
    7
    The meme is for most people to hate this expansion but that's mainly from people that were small children in Vanilla and then this happened to come when they got older and couldn't stand the extreme grind of WoW anymore. The expansion is a small improvement over the combat subsystems of the game and the content is fine and frankly the world was good to change since the questing in VanillaThe meme is for most people to hate this expansion but that's mainly from people that were small children in Vanilla and then this happened to come when they got older and couldn't stand the extreme grind of WoW anymore. The expansion is a small improvement over the combat subsystems of the game and the content is fine and frankly the world was good to change since the questing in Vanilla was a disconnected mess (which didn't exist on purpose but because they had no time to do it right). The end game content was fine but as always beyond this point the game needs quitting it after a few days since to have any real challenge (for most people) you have to delve into an extreme time investment and work a second job for a guild.… Expand
  62. bozboz123
    Sep 11, 2018
    7
    the scaled back class talent system started to show it's ugly head here. Blizz seemed to begin scaling back the complexity of the class development systems, which i believe ultimately resulted in a far less rewarding system than previous expansions.
  63. Wildkry
    Nov 11, 2014
    7
    The ideas behind this expansion were solid and quite interesting. It was exciting to see Deathwing break out into the world from Deepholm in the opening cinematic and play through the story of Deathwing throughout the expansion. The worlds and questing story was great. However, at times, there were sections of the expansion that felt forced. This includes some of the raids and some of theThe ideas behind this expansion were solid and quite interesting. It was exciting to see Deathwing break out into the world from Deepholm in the opening cinematic and play through the story of Deathwing throughout the expansion. The worlds and questing story was great. However, at times, there were sections of the expansion that felt forced. This includes some of the raids and some of the zones and quests in the game. It felt as though they didn't have enough stuff for Deathwing in the game so they just threw in some extra side stuff and it didn't feel as though it all belonged in this expansion as everything did with Wrath of the Lich King. The game was quite fun, but the raids got boring quick. I still think it was a decent expansion though. It could have been worse, like Mists of Pandaria.… Expand
  64. Ropsar
    Nov 13, 2014
    5
    Well done blizzard! I did like cataclysm because of new zones raids and dungeons! Not bad! I did like some of the raids like Firelands, Dragon soul, Bastion of twilight or end time. Dungeons were cool, too but raids were better. Okay let's start with zones. I did enjoy playing in vashj'ir, deepholm and the best zone was uldum. I loved uldum because of cool atmosphere and dungeons. Vashj'irWell done blizzard! I did like cataclysm because of new zones raids and dungeons! Not bad! I did like some of the raids like Firelands, Dragon soul, Bastion of twilight or end time. Dungeons were cool, too but raids were better. Okay let's start with zones. I did enjoy playing in vashj'ir, deepholm and the best zone was uldum. I loved uldum because of cool atmosphere and dungeons. Vashj'ir okay 6 out of 10 quests were not so good. Okay, some cataclysm quests did suck. I'm glad that there were cool raids. I bloodly hated questing in deepholm because of too many strong mobs. Mount hyjal - bad. Too small and why did u place sulfurion spire there? I still wonder. Lore was bad. Raids - Awesome! Loved them! Dragon soul was best and firelands too because they were so epic!!! Just the bosses of dragon soul and firelands did stop me reviewing this 3. Dungeons- nah crap had moments. Okay. About global changes. I think, cata did kinda fail because of global. Wow is getting too easy. You can simply raise your character to level 100 in 5 days or 85 when i was playing cata. Okay cata - 5 out of 10 nice.… Expand
  65. Sinnuhe
    Dec 7, 2016
    6
    Only for remake the Azeroth, only for this reason, Cataclysm is a good expansion, but this expansion he had to keep the excellence of his ancestral expansions, and Catalysm didn't exceed or maintain. Cataclysm have a big preassure... and dont pass, but de remake world, and new quest, and new atmosphere is a excelent work.
  66. WCM320
    Feb 6, 2021
    7
    The first major misstep for WOW.
    And the thing is the expansion was not that bad, it was more a matter of the lasting effect on the game, if they had know ahead of time what they where doing they might have been able to save this a lot more by using the phasing mechanic, so you didn't change the lower level parts of the game.
  67. NightElves
    Mar 14, 2019
    7
    Only Mount Hyjal and the underwater zone Vashj'r (that was something new and fun) looks amazing. Boring raids...well Firelands was good. The quest-chain leading up to the Molten Front dailies was a brilliant idea as well as the unlockable part in Molten Front, you're awesome.
  68. res0nancer
    Jul 26, 2023
    5
    Почему-то именно с этого дополнения интерес к ВОВ если не упал, то примешивал к серии неоднозначные ощущения. Проходя Нордскол и 80 лвл соответственно в новых локация становилось абсолютно неинтересно и сколько раз бы не возвращался и не пробовал дожать - не получалось. Некоторые изменения мне нравились - изменение веток, изменение баланса классов, самих навыков, но я до сих пор не могуПочему-то именно с этого дополнения интерес к ВОВ если не упал, то примешивал к серии неоднозначные ощущения. Проходя Нордскол и 80 лвл соответственно в новых локация становилось абсолютно неинтересно и сколько раз бы не возвращался и не пробовал дожать - не получалось. Некоторые изменения мне нравились - изменение веток, изменение баланса классов, самих навыков, но я до сих пор не могу понять, что так кардинально изменилось с этой частью.… Expand
  69. Manzanetti
    Aug 10, 2020
    6
    The new zones are good and the revamp of the old world, very needed and on point. Firelands was awesome, but the rest is lackluster. Dragon Soul is the worst final raid ever.
  70. sandreid
    Jul 2, 2023
    7
    Unlike most people, I didn't hate Cataclysm. It was a step in the right direction, from WotLK, but sadly had to suffer all of the flaws added to the game, in that expansion - Like Looking for Group, Phasing, Unbalanced PvE and PvP in the first many months of the expanion. The are really only 3 things I disliked about Cataclysm: Looking For Raid (Obviously), the removal of the original ZGUnlike most people, I didn't hate Cataclysm. It was a step in the right direction, from WotLK, but sadly had to suffer all of the flaws added to the game, in that expansion - Like Looking for Group, Phasing, Unbalanced PvE and PvP in the first many months of the expanion. The are really only 3 things I disliked about Cataclysm: Looking For Raid (Obviously), the removal of the original ZG and ZA, and the two Deathwing-encounters.
    Loved the PvP, loved the all the item set's visuals, loved the new abilities, loved the rework of Azeroth, loved the many new addons that were added (Like Tradeskill Master), and loved many of the WoW PvP Videos from this expansion too, like Drakedog X, Reckful 3, and Adouken.
    Many great memories from this expansion, once I accepted that WoW was a shell of its former self (Vanilla / TBC).    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best PC Game of 2010
16
#16 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
47
#47 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 53 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
  1. Worth Playing
    Apr 24, 2011
    95
    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.
    Read full review
  2. PC Games (Russia)
    Mar 21, 2011
    90
    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]
  3. GameOver.gr
    Mar 4, 2011
    90
    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.
    Read full review
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