World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

 PC
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Digital Trends
    Dec 1, 2020
    60
    World of Warcraft: Shadowlands gets lost in its attempt to offer players more choice than ever before, ultimately forgetting to restock the reward machine needed to keep patrons invested.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Eurogamer
    Dec 22, 2020
    But let's not get carried away. Let's remember that one secret to WOW's success has always been its ability to modernise while staying true to itself, and never pretending to be anything other than the consummate old-school MMO. You can't have a dramatic reversal of fortune when you've actually had 16 years of consistent and smooth progress. You can't call it a comeback when you've always been the king. [Eurogamer Recommended]
  2. Metro GameCentral
    Nov 26, 2020
    So far Shadowlands does not disappoint, with the question of which of the four covenants to soul-bind to being a particularly tricky one, as you get to grips with the endgame content of world quests and dailies. Shadowlands is reminiscent of aspects from earlier expansions, such as Wrath Of The Lich King (even including the grind), but it has a style all of its own and a good sense of momentum that, so far at least, makes it great fun to play. [Review-in-Progress]
  3. Polygon
    Dec 9, 2020
    Shadowlands doesn’t do everything perfectly. The questing experience doesn’t feel as fluid in as previous expansions, and the quests aren’t as diverse. And it’s still too early to see how good the endgame content and updates will be. But even with the limited time I’m willing to put into Shadowlands, I’ll actually be able to play that endgame content as it comes out. And as my real life just gets more complicated the older I get, I couldn’t ask for a better shift in philosophy from my favorite MMO.
  5. TheGamer
    Nov 25, 2020
    There's still a long way to go of course. I'm about halfway through the campaign, I've only unlocked three dungeons. I don't know what the end-game grind will be like and the rogue-like activity Torghast is still unknown to me. But I'm enjoying the process more than I ever have before, and more than anything, I just want to rescue the heroes of Azeroth and stop Sylvanas and the Jailer from doing... whatever it is they're doing.
  6. Wccftech
    Nov 29, 2020
    For now, it's looking positive, even though it certainly has its issues. [Review in Progress]

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Best PC Game of 2020
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
2.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2560 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 561 out of 2560
  2. Mixed: 98 out of 2560
  3. Negative: 1,901 out of 2560
  1. Alori
    Aug 3, 2021
    1
    It's just so frustrating to see how bad this game has become. The last good expansion was Legion, but battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands areIt's just so frustrating to see how bad this game has become. The last good expansion was Legion, but battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands are really awful. Grindy, frustrating systems, poorly written story, unbalanced, buggy and a ton of restrictions for players (they still hold on the age-old faction system, no improvements whatsoever).
    Be better Blizzard.
    • Allow all races to become neutral & available for both factions. No more missing out on fav. races & racials.
    • Allow optional cross faction raiding. Let us finally play together, if we want to.
    • Give us our cities (Teldrassil & Undercity) and old zones with better graphics back.
    • Stop ruining the lore or like others already suggested, reset the story entirely and put us back to the end of Legion.
    • Give casuals a reason to stay, like player housing!!!! or/and something similar like the mage tower or/and the artefact weapon skins.
    • More customization options, a lot more customization options are needed.
    • Be more transparent and start communicating with the players again Blizzard.

    I don't really believe, that Shadowlands can be saved at this point. But who knows, maybe 10,0 will be better.    … Full Review »
  2. Rigor81
    Jul 27, 2021
    1
    This game has a lot of problems, unfortunately.

    One of the main issues is the glorified racism in form of racial segregation in this game.    This game has a lot of problems, unfortunately.

    One of the main issues is the glorified racism in form of racial segregation in this game.
    Not only is the restriction of separated races rather questionable for obvious reasons, it's also very annyoning from a gameplay perspective.

    Instead of choosing a faction because a player prefers the overall theme, the valors and ideals, they strictly make you choose based of the given races. Meaning if you prefer one faction over the other you only get access to half of the races.

    Seriously, what an idiotic and outdated system. I had several cases where my friends and I had to make annoying compromises, just in order of being able to play together.

    The faction system of wow is extremly anti-social.
    Racial segregation is questionable and annoying af. Especially if you consider, how unnatural it feels. However Blizzard likes to paint the picture of races, who follow a strict hivemind instead of making their own free decision.

    Then again, if you look at the recent scandal of Activision Blizzard, it comes to no surprise that racism in form of strict racial segregation is seen as a pillar of wow.

    Another thing that is annoying af are the pointless systems and borrowed power, that you can put in the trash right after every expansion or even after every patch. Meaning all the hours you spend with grinding for it are basically a waste of time.

    Then there is all the time gating for new content, just so that they can keep you/your money as long as possible in the game.

    Then there is the class and faction imbalance.

    Then the lore, that keeps being retconned, characters gain and loose power randomly just to fit Blizzards current narrative. The lore is in such a bad state, that I'm of the opinion that a bunch of middle school students could write a more solid story than what we have now.

    The list go on...    … Full Review »
  3. Magicus
    Jul 31, 2021
    3
    World of warcraft - Shadowlands = a hot mess. Not worth playing at the moment.
    Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands are almost as bad as    World of warcraft - Shadowlands = a hot mess. Not worth playing at the moment.
    Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands are almost as bad as Warlords of Draenor. When it comes to story and systems it's even worse. Not to mention recent events regarding the bad working environment for employees.
    Nonetheless, there is a lot of things, that would bring players back and I want to hold on to hope. Blizzard and World of Warcraft still can become better.

    I've read a lot of reviews, comments and critics and there is so much Blizzard could do, to improve their game:

    -
    Lessen faction restrictions.
    Allow all races for both factions with new short introduction quests and voice overs.
    Allow cross faction raids, battlegrounds and alt mailing.
    Keep factions as a pure rp factor (exclusive clothes, rewards, cities etc.). Players shouldn't have the feeling of missing out something important, while deciding to join a faction (like races, racials, easier way of finding groups).

    -
    Real player housing.
    Garrisons are not player housing. Many players would love to have real player housing in Azeroth.

    -
    Less systems, less time gating, less or no borrowed power at all.

    -
    Improve the lore. Undo the events of bfa and Shadowlands. Square Enix did something similar to their game ff14 and now it's extremly popular. You can do the same. Both, bfa and Shadowlands were a mistake.

    -
    Better communication with the playerbase instead of ignoring it for the most part.

    -
    Better graphics.
    There are a lot of players, who wish for an updated Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor.

    -
    A lot more character customization options for all races.

    -
    More playable races like Sethrak, Arrakoa, Ogre etc.
    Like all the others they should be neutral and available for both factions.

    -
    Return to Azeroth.
    Many players feel more connected to Azeroth instead of some other worlds and realms.

    -
    Account wide reputation.

    -
    Balanced pvp and pve.

    -
    Impactful professions.

    -
    Make old zones relevant again. (Not by destroying them!!! but rather by improving them and giving them some new quests).    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »