World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

 PC
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

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  1. FRESHNESS
    Nov 28, 2020
    5
    I guess with WoW expansions in 2020 I'm looking for what new ground can possibly be broken, and it appears the answer, with the innovative concepts WoW first introduced now ageing and no longer special or unique in gaming terms, is there is nothing particularly new or exciting here.

    The zones and art direction is, as ever, first class, but the lack of innovation in general gameplay is    I guess with WoW expansions in 2020 I'm looking for what new ground can possibly be broken, and it appears the answer, with the innovative concepts WoW first introduced now ageing and no longer special or unique in gaming terms, is there is nothing particularly new or exciting here.

    The zones and art direction is, as ever, first class, but the lack of innovation in general gameplay is bitterly disappointing. They haven't even tried to disguise the fetch quests this time around, or attempted to experiment with new kinds of missions.

    It's a shame to see such a tired effort, lacking in meaningful new features, when the game was in desperate need of a shot in the arm. The afterlife setting is apt, as this expansion finds the developers seeming somewhat dead behind the eyes as they continue to struggle for justification to offer a new addon every 18 months.    … Expand
  2. RedDevilnumber1
    Nov 25, 2020
    5
    This review is only of the levelling experience: I am a player of WoW since vanilla off and on, I enjoyed many aspects of all expansions. But so far, for me, this expansion has been massively underwhelming. The worst of them all so far. From the beginning, going through The Maw I had an uneasy feeling, the zones are linear and lifeless, graphically the zones are good, but where is theThis review is only of the levelling experience: I am a player of WoW since vanilla off and on, I enjoyed many aspects of all expansions. But so far, for me, this expansion has been massively underwhelming. The worst of them all so far. From the beginning, going through The Maw I had an uneasy feeling, the zones are linear and lifeless, graphically the zones are good, but where is the sense of dread, mobs that might actually challenge us? The big bad feels in no way a threat and when you squared off against him and his boys before my heartpumping (zZzZzZ) escape I was thinking, is that him...and his army...him.....??? I tried my best to read the quests and get into the story, but honestly it is convoluted, boring and lifeless. WoW used to throw in a lot of pop culture references and fun side shows to lighten the load. Gone, this is the afterlife and you better believe we are very serious about it.
    Going into Bastion left me feeling like I had stepped onto IO in Destiny 2...It is so out of place in the World of Warcraft, it feels like a bad Diablo spin off. Unfortunetly, we have lost a sense of world due to the fact that to get to each new zone requires you to return to a boring lifeless shell of a hub to travel on a glorified loading screen flight path to another isolated shell of a zone.
    A lot of players are describing the zones as beautiful, I have to disagree. The texturing is very well done, however thematically, Bastion and Ardenweald for example are just poor. God i miss the days of Orcs, Taurens, Undead, Cows and dangerous animals, now we are just running around in a furies fantasy world. (Oooh pretty and cute)
    Luckily there are still many other aspects to WoW, from PvP to Dungeons etc that keep the game something to come back to. Normally I enjoy levelling, especially as a bit of an altoholic, but the thought of doing this again is almost putting me to sleep.
    I am sure some developers and teams worked very hard on this, but unfortunately the talent seem to have left Blizzard long ago. This feels more like a tryhard attempt to push the rigid structure into the players face to say "LOOK, LOOK....we can tell stories....see I told you so....LOOK....!"    … Expand
  3. Kath90
    Nov 29, 2020
    7
    With all the 0/10 and 10/10 I felt this review section could use some nuance.

    Zones are beautifully made and I am a big fan of the travel between zones without a load screen. Apart from Ardenweald I found the storyline engaging and enjoyable and I like how the convenant system means you have a slightly different gaming experience from leven 60 onwards. Curious to see how it continues,    With all the 0/10 and 10/10 I felt this review section could use some nuance.

    Zones are beautifully made and I am a big fan of the travel between zones without a load screen. Apart from Ardenweald I found the storyline engaging and enjoyable and I like how the convenant system means you have a slightly different gaming experience from leven 60 onwards. Curious to see how it continues, definitely enjoyed myself the last few days.

    Disclaimer i play on a relatively low populated server and hhave had zero issues logging in etc surrounding the launch.    … Expand
  4. armchairjerk
    Nov 24, 2020
    5
    Weak story telling right out the gates and head scratching plot twists. Not much is left in terms of notable characters and exciting plot devices. The "B" cast of characters is up to carry this installment for WoW into a long boring mono-toned expansion that delivers very little new content beyond zones and boring kill quests.
  5. Callandir
    Dec 2, 2020
    5
    In my opinion it should be called: World od Warcraft Boringlands. The same boredom as a Drenaor.
  6. GNOMINGA
    Nov 29, 2020
    5
    Es ist schon traurig wenn man während des quest nicht mehr sterben kann dazu kommt wozu haben die dd mana völlig unnötig wenn des immer voll ist kein oom mehr bei denn Klassen nur noch bei heals und ich spiele seit 13 jahren bis jetzt mir ist der spaß vergangen kein reitz mehr es spielt sich auch wie ein free mmo
  7. Turoine
    Dec 2, 2020
    5
    Legion was 7/10, BFA 3/10 and this seems to be 6/10ish. As many people have said, music and some area designs are pretty solid. Leveling is too linear. I would like to quit areas and move forward whenever I want. Now I'm forced to make quests. Probably I will get punished if I skip some quests. This has been problem for 2 last expansions - hopefully not on this one. Legendary system soundsLegion was 7/10, BFA 3/10 and this seems to be 6/10ish. As many people have said, music and some area designs are pretty solid. Leveling is too linear. I would like to quit areas and move forward whenever I want. Now I'm forced to make quests. Probably I will get punished if I skip some quests. This has been problem for 2 last expansions - hopefully not on this one. Legendary system sounds boring for me and probably I will not build any legendary item. I actually didn't hate RNG so much, because it was very exciting.

    Raiding is most important part of game for me, so my rating may change after i've tested the raids.    … Expand
  8. Eggmungus
    Jan 21, 2021
    5
    As usual the art team did an amazing job with this expansion, however the actual gameplay is a bit of a let down. Torghast is horrible and unrewarding, The Maw is just boring and unrewarding, the incredibly short storyline is time gated to try and extend its duration and a lot of its progression is locked behind dungeons, raids, Torghast and the maw making the entire experience actuallyAs usual the art team did an amazing job with this expansion, however the actual gameplay is a bit of a let down. Torghast is horrible and unrewarding, The Maw is just boring and unrewarding, the incredibly short storyline is time gated to try and extend its duration and a lot of its progression is locked behind dungeons, raids, Torghast and the maw making the entire experience actually not fun to play. On top of everyting else loot is terrible in this expansion. I actually preferred BFA to this and that's just bad.… Expand
  9. ravenblade
    Jan 12, 2021
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. To be honest I wasn't really sure at first whether it would be fair to review it after a mere two months of playing. However, after 15 years of intermittent playing, being a full-time raider until nearly end of WotLK, I know it's about that time when the initial awe has lapsed a bit, and you could put forward a more sober view — at least from the perspective of someone who hasn't raided since WotLK (NOTE: I don't count LFR as raiding in the classic competitive sense I am referring to). The problem however remains: reviewing an expansion is like giving new reviews for the same game.

    First things first, no, Shadowlands doesn't reinvent World of Warcraft, and it's only a very soft reboot of a game with the level squish in place and currently rather wonky balancing of older and newer content altogether that firmly stands in opposition to it. It also doesn't introduce something that your class would keep in the long term. Blizzard definitely has become rather conservative about power creep so much that they prefer to clothe formerly known systems such as enchants and glyphs into borrowed power that will only stick for as long as the expansion will last.

    With that in mind it is rather confounding that Blizzard hasn't learned to creative cohesive engaging world yet, instead they stick to their hub-based formula with content on a timer, in both directions, temporary enhancements with only a few new mounts, transmogrifications and perhaps, a new unlocked sub-race to keep in the future while leaving their old content in a tangled mess of phased states. Neither does the world get truly expanded nor does your long-term gameplay of your own class. In fact even the off-systems that kept were attempting to keep you busy outside that, the professions, feel more and more hamstrung and jettisoned of creative ideas by every expansion. A lot of potential has been wasted here. If you compare it with competitors on the market then it is appalling that professions feel rather tacked on this expansion, especially Engineering which seems to have no other purpose than existing for the sake of it.

    With the addition of The Maw there is finally a system in place which at least in the beginning forces you to think where you are going and not become complacent. However once you learned to play the system for a bit even then you can allow yourself a bit more audacious. The dread loses its initial power. In my opinion the Maw would be a perfect place for open-world risk vs. reward gameplay instead both aspects seem to go down over time.

    Without doubt, they really went all out when designing the zones and sound pieces are wonderfully crafted, if nothing short of monumental. Every zone has its nuanced flair, whether it be the ethereal angelic realm of Bastion, the serene realm of Ardenweald, the brutal and harsh lands of Maldraxxus, the decadent transylvanic nation of Revendreth, the dreading and unforgiving nature of the Maw, there is always a notable love for artistic detail, some details you still could get lost while hunting treasures or solving mini-puzzles.
    Suffice to say here the issues start to ramp up again, it is not a game for players who are no longer buying in the old traditional treadmill concept. Where other competitors on the market have learned to understand that not everyone plays MMORPGs for competition or competitive self-advancement, WoW still sticks to this formula with an iron hand and wastes a lot of good opportunities in the progress which eventually leads to people either being forced to run the PVP treadmill or quit after they had seen it all since there is not much else for them that could match them in scale since it still isn't regarded as the core experience of the game.    … Expand
  10. GoldfingerXL
    Dec 9, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was hyped before shadowlands' release, but after spending a good amount of time in-game my euphoria has taken quite a big hit.

    For starters, the leveling process a total bore since the player's character does not become more powerful on the road to lvl 60. You will not feel stronger and apart from some buffs of existing spells and some unimpactful abilities nothing exciting or new is learned. The leveling only serves the expansions narrative. I personally thought it was not that bad, but nothing special either. You have heard it all before a thousand times. What disturbed me however, was the depiction of all male characters as evil, whereas all the female characters are depicted as good. I don't understand why american society is so fixated on presenting this narrative. it damages gender relations and it is about time this ends. I can safely say, that I do not want to go through the leveling process again. Fortunately, there is an option to skip it entirely.

    Which brings me to the endgame content. I am now at ilvl 180 with my druid tank. I have finished all dungeons on heroic and mythic and the mechanics are interesting. I noticed that some fights drastically change on mythic difficulty, whereas others do not notably change at all. I don't recall if that has always been the case in previous expansions.

    The Maw is ok. I like that you can only spend a certain amount of time there. However in the beginning getting around is a real pain since you cannot mount (yet). It gets better when you get more reputation with Ve'nari (you can buy items) and you can get a mount from Thorgast later on in the expansion.

    Thorgast itself is quite a let down. The first 10 runs are interesting. After that you are just doing it to get your soul ash to craft legendaries. All the runs look and feel the same, despite what the developers have claimed. But to be honest, I think that all roguelikes have this problem, so I wasn't that surprised. Crafting legendaries is cool and the effects feel like a notable difference in play style.

    The covenant system and campaign are bad. I got lucky and "needed" to pick the covenant that I also found most interesting. Here lies the problem with this system. In order to optimize your character you need to pick a certain covenant. For the different talent trees of a class other covenants are the best pick. Since changing covenants is possible but a pain, you are more or less stuck with playing just one talent tree of your class. Then there are also optimal covenants for pve and pvp. On top of that, covenant campaign progress is locked behind a 16 week timegate... I don't know what they were thinking when they implemented this stuff. In my opinion, this is bad game design.

    I still have 5 days of subscription left and I have mixed feelings if I should resubscribe or not. The content that they offered at launch was mediocre at best, but it is entirely possible that it gets better in a few weeks time. I do believe that the foundation for a great expansion has been layed out.    … Expand
  11. Knatzel
    Dec 1, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay so after a few days of playing shadowlands I have to tell it's definetly not my addon. I enjoyed to choose my first quest area on my own in BfA and here its choosen for you. That was dissappointing a bit but I thought "ok, let's just get 60 and see whats next." But then I got quests to go torghast and thats simply diablo 3 portals like if you play season. I'm a person who dont go dungeons or raids (i'm going there later to gather my curve mount IF I like it) because it's not fun for me.. I rather go questing, gathering, doing achievs, exploring, petbattles or collecting mounts tmog from old raids thats why I loved island expeditions what most ppl didnt. ^^ But now I have to go things like Torghast to keep my story going. I also tried the different levelexperience on an alt already and its okay. It's getting fast and you can choose your area but I enjoyed to play story quests again and again but in shadowlands this feels so slow and you cant choose where to begin so I think i will use this method if I level any more alts. I'm not angry about the addon - many people like it, my friends do too but I'm sad because it feels like there's nothing to do for people like me after 60.. at least I got one thing about the addon I like. I love Ardenweald. all quest area's are well designed in generall with their own theme. Shadowlands is worth to give it a try but dont expect to much if you are like me.… Expand
  12. curzon_dax
    Dec 4, 2020
    7
    I mean it's another expansion: as predictable as that can be: a new iteration that doesn't revolutionize anything but offers small iterative improvements and new content. You will get used to it within days and the main reason to keep going on it would be to work for a guild. You should quit fast though if your goal is to have a full life because to play this optimally with any notion ofI mean it's another expansion: as predictable as that can be: a new iteration that doesn't revolutionize anything but offers small iterative improvements and new content. You will get used to it within days and the main reason to keep going on it would be to work for a guild. You should quit fast though if your goal is to have a full life because to play this optimally with any notion of challenge you have to delve into extreme grinds that require extreme time investment so it doesn't seem smart to keep playing this long term.… Expand
  13. MarkusT
    Nov 30, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hey Guys,
    not sure why there are so many bad critics. I think it is one of the best wow addons since wotlk!
    grafics and world / story design are really awesome. Thorgast is awesome. The only thing I really want to have back are T-sets for classes... They give some class fantasy which I am missing...
    A warrior should not have the same look like a pala or a death knight :-(    … Expand
  14. Violett
    Jan 27, 2021
    6
    First of all I must say that I play WoW for more then 16 years. I play probably because I got used to play WoW and all my friends are here, still for many years this game leaves only bitterness in my mouth.

    The main reason for the game to become worse in my point of view is the merge of Blizzard with Activision. Once Blizzard was making games for gamers - for computer nerds like me.    First of all I must say that I play WoW for more then 16 years. I play probably because I got used to play WoW and all my friends are here, still for many years this game leaves only bitterness in my mouth.

    The main reason for the game to become worse in my point of view is the merge of Blizzard with Activision. Once Blizzard was making games for gamers - for computer nerds like me. Such masterpieces like Warcraft 2-3, Starcraft, Diablo 1-2 - games with innovative ideas and genius story were released in that time. Unfortunately its long past. Now they make games for shareholders, not gamers - and we get such "wonderful" projects like Diablo Immortal and Warcraft Reforged.

    But back to the game review itself. First and foremost - the main problem is Blizzard has found some niche they can use now. Why make new raids when we can make several difficulties with the same bosses? Why make new dungeons when we can force people to run it many times over and over? These arrays of difficulties are always bad for any game. At least they dont force us to level again in some Shadowlands Plus Two.

    There is also another problem arising from the first one. Why make new content if people play this one? Why make new raids, dungeons, events, mechanics when people eat this? Why waste precious resources when we can show more profits to shareholders? The game is not for gamers, forget it. There was time when every new expansion added ton of new features.

    TBC: Major raid overhaul, new races, new classes for factions (pallyshammy), major item overhaul, many new mechanics, flying mounts, arenas, story around major characters like Vashj, KaelThas and of course Illidan. So many things!
    WotLK: Ulduar - probably the best raid ever made, new class, Arthas (!), and the most epoic fight with him, new profession, big additions both to pve and pvp. From this point, especially with introducing several difficulties the popularity of WoW start to decline.

    Now compare this to shadowlands: new mechanics? None. Keys? Seen already. Mission table? Seen already for 4 (!!!) addons. Professions are even more useless than ever. Torghast? Blizzard, when you try to steal from other games (in this case particulary - Hades) try better to copy things - not just to make some castrated copy, taking into account you are unable to make new ideas yourself anymore. Mage tower in Legion was fun - mostly because there was only a few events to complete and be done with that. Maw where you cant mount? This only provokes hate.

    Still, I cant say the game is bad. Its just from a masterpiece became ... generic? Ye, this is the best word. The game brings nothing really new for the last several addons. Like I said - why bother when people still play it? The next addon probably will be the same - shallow story, some Void-themed zones, one raid with only a few bosses, keys, useless professions, same talents, same BGs. Eh ...

    And once again - Shadowlands is not bad. I play Mythic keys myself and quite enjoy it. Graphically-wise the game is good - every zone has its own charm. The story obviously far from Blizzard used to make still follows general line - I liked to see some old characters returned. Cant wait to see Arthas once more, but, Im afraid, Blizzard will fail even here. New and the only one raid is average - nothing really new, still quite enjoyable.    … Expand
  15. Sychgeet
    Dec 11, 2020
    6
    Written after 30 days of play time.

    The story: It's 'good' but I greatly missed the ability to play more of the zones I did like and less of the ones I didn't. No, it does not touch WotLK. The play style: I remember when all of the nuance was in those long talent trees, now you have about 5 systems to keep track off and they are all over the place, they exist to make you run places    Written after 30 days of play time.

    The story: It's 'good' but I greatly missed the ability to play more of the zones I did like and less of the ones I didn't. No, it does not touch WotLK.
    The play style: I remember when all of the nuance was in those long talent trees, now you have about 5 systems to keep track off and they are all over the place, they exist to make you run places over and over and do not feel satisfying.
    The quest zones: The art style and music adds a lot in some zones but for the price of the game, and what we've seen before, I expected more places to explore. You don't feel like a happy wanderer either, people keep calling me Champion, like a celebrity.
    Surely there must be some place in the Shadowlands where the place isn't in constant need of my help?
    PVP: Are there new battlegrounds, new races (still no Ogre race)? No? Is PVP time-gated like PVE, yes.
    Is it worth it?
    Honestly, my favourite part of my 30 days was replaying WotLK content with the new, great Chromie system. Does that bode well for Shadowlands? ...And why is this game still P2P?    … Expand
  16. TheWolf1
    Nov 27, 2020
    5
    Was really hopeful but kind of let down by this Xpac. It is a huge step up from BFA but I feel like they are still on their constant power trip they have with this game and when they have an idea, even when hundreds of beta testers say its terrible, they plow straight ahead with it. I'm over course referring to the covenant systems. They have basically forced many players into choosing aWas really hopeful but kind of let down by this Xpac. It is a huge step up from BFA but I feel like they are still on their constant power trip they have with this game and when they have an idea, even when hundreds of beta testers say its terrible, they plow straight ahead with it. I'm over course referring to the covenant systems. They have basically forced many players into choosing a covenant they may not want to play by tying player power in to them. No one will choose to play with a common SMG when they have a RARE or better SMG offered to them and this is basically the point. I have played a healer since i've started playing this game and i love it, what i dont love is being in the Night Fae because i honestly hate fairies and wanted to be a Necrolord. Sure i could take the Necro and take a hit to player power but why should i have to play with the common SMG when it comes to the content that i really enjoy. I loved the maldraxxus zone but that comes third to raiding being second and my first and most favorite wow activity mythix+. If i could be any covenant i wanted to be this game would be a solid 8-9 (8 because the devs have horse sh*t communication like how right now my character is stuck in an infinite loop loading screen because i walked into torgast and its down, no word from the devs even acknowledging this issue other then CM on the forums but no eta or cause.) i have hopes they will fix this and i will come back and change the rating but as it stands now im not very happy and this will cause me to unsub probably fairly quickly due to having to be around the stupid night fae everyday.… Expand
  17. Zs2566
    Dec 8, 2020
    7
    The expansion is not deserving of a 0 and if you feel that way it’s just pure ignorance. This is an improvement and a step in the right direction. The level squish and new starting zone makes leveling feel like less of a grind. The zones are beautiful and filled with unique mounts and bosses. 8 dungeons might not be as much but I’m thinking they will be adding more as the expansionThe expansion is not deserving of a 0 and if you feel that way it’s just pure ignorance. This is an improvement and a step in the right direction. The level squish and new starting zone makes leveling feel like less of a grind. The zones are beautiful and filled with unique mounts and bosses. 8 dungeons might not be as much but I’m thinking they will be adding more as the expansion progresses. PvP is now relevant with its gearing and gear upgrading which makes it more appealing since you can grind out ilvl another way besides dungeons/raids. Torghast is fun but I recommend playing in a group for faster clears. The transmog sets look amazing and the aesthetic is way better than BFA. Covenants are a great addition but from what I have seen some are clearly better than others so you will have to decide whether you want performance or aesthetics. Of course it has its flaws such as broken PvP class/specs that require some rebalancing and the fact that the maw is not as appealing or engaging as I had hoped for.… Expand
  18. taw5022
    Feb 4, 2021
    7
    It's better than BFA. I came back to WOW when Legion was launched. That was by far my favorite Xpac and the last one I played the whole way through. I've played everyone since and usually I hang around until the 2-3rd raid drops and by then I've lost interest. I didn't make it midway through BFA's first raid cycle.

    Pros: Art design is great and so is the music. I've enjoyed the story    It's better than BFA. I came back to WOW when Legion was launched. That was by far my favorite Xpac and the last one I played the whole way through. I've played everyone since and usually I hang around until the 2-3rd raid drops and by then I've lost interest. I didn't make it midway through BFA's first raid cycle.

    Pros:
    Art design is great and so is the music. I've enjoyed the story so far. Being able to upgrade equipment via anima is a nice change and allows a filthy casual like me to actual obtain some decent gear without having to raid constantly and pray to the RNG gods. There is a lot to do. You can craft legendaries which makes them a bit more meaningful than some previous iterations and there are no artifacts this time around thankfully.

    Cons:
    There is a lot to do, which is good and bad. This xpac feels extremely grindy. The world quests are lack luster and only gathering anima to upgrade gear or further your story seems worth it but barely. The Maw zone is ok but the amount of stuff you'd want to do there is limited by the rising difficulty of you actually being there. There is a mechanic that causes you to be targeted by mobs the more you do in the Maw. It doesn't take much to set that off and it's rather annoying. Torgast in theory sounds like a cool idea but in execution is colorless and bland. It's the same mobs, the same rooms, the same color pallet, and it gets boring rather fast. I still don't have a reason to care about followers or the command table. Covenants directly tie into your game play and your choice in one affects either your possible DPS or healing. I would rather the covenant offer gear and other rewards vs having buffs and skills associated with this Xpac only that will become worthless in the next one. There are a few dungeons and they are ok but there is no need to do them outside of trying to get mythic + gear. I've done 2 and through questing my gear is better than what I could get from them unless I did a mythic +. The first raid I found enjoyable though. I'm running LFR, again because I'm a filthy casual but there seems to be a decent amount of mechanics that make each fight different and interesting.

    Overall, minus the really grindy feel, this Xpac isn't bad. It's not a Legion, WOTLK, or BC but it's not bad. It's certainly better than its predecessor, MOP, and WOD. Hopefully, it will continue to improve.    … Expand
  19. Sargonnas
    Nov 27, 2020
    7
    Shadowlands is easily better than the previous expansion Battle for Azeroth, but still has its own issues. The worst aspect of the xpac for me is the use of another "borrowed power" system that will be useless by the end of the expansion. This idea was nice in Legion, but shouldn't be a part of every expansion because it means there is no real continuing progression that stays with yourShadowlands is easily better than the previous expansion Battle for Azeroth, but still has its own issues. The worst aspect of the xpac for me is the use of another "borrowed power" system that will be useless by the end of the expansion. This idea was nice in Legion, but shouldn't be a part of every expansion because it means there is no real continuing progression that stays with your character from xpac to xpac beyond leveling.… Expand
  20. somedude14
    Feb 1, 2021
    7
    At time of this writing, game isn't too bad. Most of the new dungeons are fun (Plaguefall is a bummer though), the raid is good, leveling dungeons are overtuned and the new Chromie Time system splits people up into their chosen xpacs when queuing in LFD which makes queue times longer than they otherwise could be. The Maw sucks, I haven't done it since the first week, but it's optional.At time of this writing, game isn't too bad. Most of the new dungeons are fun (Plaguefall is a bummer though), the raid is good, leveling dungeons are overtuned and the new Chromie Time system splits people up into their chosen xpacs when queuing in LFD which makes queue times longer than they otherwise could be. The Maw sucks, I haven't done it since the first week, but it's optional. Venthyr Command Table is still broken even with the buffs. I'm still saying subbed to play with friends and family, but there is definitely room for improvement here.… Expand
  21. homer3142
    Jun 26, 2022
    7
    Shadowlands is generally good but has many major problems that people tend to focus on. Lore was bland/bad, class balance is non-existent, and the initially released content is always designed to be grindy, time-gated, and obnoxious. There are still some good strengths though (raid design, mythic keystone design, etc).
  22. namahn
    Dec 16, 2020
    7
    Everything but torghast is great. Only thing i have a complaint about really. The time gating is a bit annoying but manageable.
  23. jarvitom
    Nov 15, 2021
    7
    I returned to Wow for this expansion and it was pretty nice to come back, the new zones are nice, however I only played for like 2-3 months with it.
  24. Fallconex
    Dec 17, 2020
    7
    Beautiful new content, an interesting system of covenants, but too much grind. And I don't really like the idea of linear overextended storytelling.
  25. Pandoren
    Nov 25, 2020
    7
    В принципе, дополнение выходит довольно интересным, в сравнении с БфА. Не дотягивает до уровня легиона, однако, после долгого перерыва может понравится. Составил небольшой списочек.
    Из минусов: -игровые видеоролики все так же не доработаны: анимации лица не совпадают с озвучкой.
    -Много лагов на старте -Очередные локальные задания -Сюжет нескольких локаций кажется недоделанным и слишком    В принципе, дополнение выходит довольно интересным, в сравнении с БфА. Не дотягивает до уровня легиона, однако, после долгого перерыва может понравится. Составил небольшой списочек.
    Из минусов: -игровые видеоролики все так же не доработаны: анимации лица не совпадают с озвучкой.
    -Много лагов на старте
    -Очередные локальные задания
    -Сюжет нескольких локаций кажется недоделанным и слишком линейным
    -Неинтересные дополнительные квесты
    -Много мелких недоработок, которые сильно напрягают: руда в дереве, кусты в воздухе, исчезание руды перед вашим лицом из-за смены фазы
    - сложные и непонятные задания
    Плюсы:
    + Качественные текстуры, реакция НПЦ на ваше присутствие
    +Новый интерфейс
    +Много озвученных второстепенных персонажей
    +Небольшие ощущения новизны
    +Более широкая настройка внешности персонажа    … Expand
  26. Codegreen
    Nov 28, 2020
    5
    O jogo é sem dúvidas o melhor mmo já criado e continua sendo até hoje. Mas a comunidade que a blizzard tenta manter é complicada, são uns chorões. Chorões mimados define em 98% a comunidade do wow.
  27. Mike76
    Dec 16, 2020
    5
    Love it haven't turned it off loveing it great game the destroys all others mop
  28. greyGame
    Dec 27, 2020
    6
    Not the worst expansion, but I see blizzard is running out of ideas. WOW exists already for 16 years and I've played each and every expansion since the vanilla and I'm so glad to see this game still lives. Only problem is that the story line doesn't make sense anymore...

    Expansion have some cool features developed, but these features are not applied to old content. This is a bit    Not the worst expansion, but I see blizzard is running out of ideas. WOW exists already for 16 years and I've played each and every expansion since the vanilla and I'm so glad to see this game still lives. Only problem is that the story line doesn't make sense anymore...

    Expansion have some cool features developed, but these features are not applied to old content. This is a bit disappointing. Game overall is great for spending time with friends and for fun not less not more.    … Expand
  29. Redditcirclejrk
    Jan 10, 2021
    5
    "They're just a small indie company, don't have high expectations"
    Words used by those who hate wow, and also a sentence used by those who love the game.
    Initially i would give the game an 8. really beautiful artwork, the jailer seemed like a badass when you just saw his shade, and in the trailer. Covenants seems really interesting. They didnt make leveling fun, but atleast its    "They're just a small indie company, don't have high expectations"
    Words used by those who hate wow, and also a sentence used by those who love the game.

    Initially i would give the game an 8. really beautiful artwork, the jailer seemed like a badass when you just saw his shade, and in the trailer. Covenants seems really interesting. They didnt make leveling fun, but atleast its shorter. Lots of world PvP in the first week, bringing more drama to the gameplay.

    Then you get to see the jailer, who looks nothing like the cinematic. Ofc his face looks like Kent from barbie just blue, without hair and some minor tweaks.
    After a while you realise that the game is somewhat of a reskin of BFA.
    You think that after 17 years of experience, they would make the gameplay more fluid and adventerous as an mmorpg should be. Nope, this game is another chore simulator. Thorgast is the new expedition islands. Covenant are just order halls from legion, but where there is actually just 1 choice for each class as the others are underwealming. Boring questlines. You see how bored people are with the content when opposite factions dont even look at each other in the world because they want to just finish the chores as fast as possible and get their dopamine shot. The only world pvp is if people have the 25 kill quest where they stack up outside of the entrance to the maw. How pathetic.

    I dont really care about the story that much. But, from what people have been saying. It has been a major dissapointment. As usual you are jesus who´s gonna save them all.
    Their model is like any other **** subscription based service. Provide some initial appeal, then when you sub, they simply go work on their next bait, and hope you´ll forget to unsubscribe.

    PvE. The raid is good, have nothing negative to say. Challenging, not too much trash, cool artwork.
    The balancing is something else tho. Some classes are trash compared to others to the point where they struggle to find groups who will have them. Good thing warriors have battleshout

    PvP...... Atleast its not as slow and boring as BFA. However, the balancing is as always **** As everyone are meta whoring, the comps and gameplay is bland. in 2s there is as always 95% healer/dps comps. The only viable dps comp is rogue/mage which provide scripted opener with a 1 shot macro. God forbid you´d even try doing 3s with 3 dps. Unless you were sub rogue pre nerf. There are game changing bugs in the game like the windfury proc, and mind controll **** that has been present for months and still not fixed. Lets not even talk about the NF pods.

    The wow community is also 50% of the problem. They are a cancer to the game which the developers continously have to work against, especially in regards to PvP. They should give up with trying to give classes any variability as people just instantly rush meta. In some ways i hope the community never stop playing the game, as their level of meta whoring is unprecidented. Worldofpvp subreddit is a circlejerk where they have a flavor of the day of what to complain about. Pretty much the new wow forums where people go to rant to feel better about themselves. When statistics are presented showing them what is balanced/unbalanced they shut up for a few days before going back to their previous circlejerk.

    You think they´d learn something from seeing how popular Wow classic was.    … Expand
  30. esvator
    Jan 26, 2021
    7
    Shadowlands is a step in the right direction. To be honest: It's my first addon since Cataclysm. I came from classic and tryed it out. It was the first time within the last ~8 years, thet I was noch sick of after 20 minutes on a free2play weekend.
    The quests are nice, the world beautiful and super detailed, the combat system have never felt better. The dungeon/raid design is awesome and    Shadowlands is a step in the right direction. To be honest: It's my first addon since Cataclysm. I came from classic and tryed it out. It was the first time within the last ~8 years, thet I was noch sick of after 20 minutes on a free2play weekend.
    The quests are nice, the world beautiful and super detailed, the combat system have never felt better. The dungeon/raid design is awesome and the mythic system, too.

    It is a solid addon with nice content, BUT it has this big problem which I am not sure if they can ever fix it. WoW made a long journey to where it is now. Unfortunately a lot and I mean a lot decisions have been made that changed to game to what it is today and they can't be fixed.

    WoW tried to be an casual/pro gaming, long-time/half an hour per week game that everbody likes and that has nothing that you can dislike it in. Everything is fast and buyable and easy (i don't mean dungeion difficuly), cute and colorful and if you dont like anything you have 1000 alternatives.

    But those changed killed WoW has been and what it made so unique: a real MMO.

    I stopped playing because I felt like I had no reason to play, nothing to obtain beside some GS on the same item over and over again. The role of communication, knowing people, a Guild, be relieable has become unnecesarry.

    It is a fun game, but it's more a "single player MMO" and the replay factor is not half of what it was.    … Expand
  31. Shekky84
    Dec 5, 2020
    6
    There are some nice changes to the game. The story is uninteresting with some great zones to explore. Covenants abilities are nice but borrowed powers needs to stop. World quests are still boring. I do have to give a few credits to Blizzard for coming out with something new but nothing innovative about this expansion raiding is where I find the most fun these days and will interesting tooThere are some nice changes to the game. The story is uninteresting with some great zones to explore. Covenants abilities are nice but borrowed powers needs to stop. World quests are still boring. I do have to give a few credits to Blizzard for coming out with something new but nothing innovative about this expansion raiding is where I find the most fun these days and will interesting too see the new raid come out this week.… Expand
  32. Spikha
    Dec 7, 2020
    5
    Pros: nice new zones and graphics, dungeons with interesting mechanics. Cons: boring zone Maw, boring Torghast (Diablo in wow?), grind and more grind with reputations and world quests (more than in previous expansions), boring story, some covenants mechanics and content is not interesting, bugs and lags, bad phasing with other players, no flying master whistle mechanics.

    I am hoping for    Pros: nice new zones and graphics, dungeons with interesting mechanics. Cons: boring zone Maw, boring Torghast (Diablo in wow?), grind and more grind with reputations and world quests (more than in previous expansions), boring story, some covenants mechanics and content is not interesting, bugs and lags, bad phasing with other players, no flying master whistle mechanics.

    I am hoping for some fixes and updates.    … Expand
  33. Vitalick
    Sep 2, 2022
    5
    Punto medio entre mal y bien. Curias inecesarias. No tan mal com Bfa pero igual de floja.
  34. anfo
    Dec 15, 2020
    5
    The art and visuals are awesome as always. The gameplay... well it's MEH. That's the only way to put it. The constant nerfs to classes and the existence of a global cooldown make the game slow and tedious. Constantly waiting for buttons to press due to global cds. The fact that after the initial questing ALL content is timegated behind renown and other types of currency when it isThe art and visuals are awesome as always. The gameplay... well it's MEH. That's the only way to put it. The constant nerfs to classes and the existence of a global cooldown make the game slow and tedious. Constantly waiting for buttons to press due to global cds. The fact that after the initial questing ALL content is timegated behind renown and other types of currency when it is subscripton based makes for a big NO. The developers spend all their time thinking of ways to slow gameplay when they should be spending their time creating ways to make the gameplay more enjoyable. Alas,, as long as Ion Hazzikostas is lead dev.. the world of warcraft will always feel like the World of Maucraft.. Hard Pass on this one folks… Expand
  35. TEORISTUL
    Nov 20, 2021
    6
    It's just sad to see what this game has become.Shadowlands is an improvement,but not by much.
  36. jcyphmr
    Jun 14, 2023
    6
    Shadowlands was basically in my mind mechanically the cream of the crop of the bad Ion hizzikostas led expansions following the legion redesign where every class suffered permanent damage/change in the attempt to turn every specialization into its own mini class. Thematically it looks more like something out of the diablo universe in some areas vs wow. It definitely had a different vibeShadowlands was basically in my mind mechanically the cream of the crop of the bad Ion hizzikostas led expansions following the legion redesign where every class suffered permanent damage/change in the attempt to turn every specialization into its own mini class. Thematically it looks more like something out of the diablo universe in some areas vs wow. It definitely had a different vibe which reminded me of Burning crusade being so different from the vanilla areas of the game.

    Legendaries were fun but should have been disabled in Arena. Effort to balance legendaries was minimal and slow. Some specializations had too few good choices of legendaries.

    Legendaries were originally farmed up purely in torghast so torghast was mandatory and some people didnt like doing it. My major complaint was the time it took, and initial difficulty to SOLO it vs not liking it.

    Pvp was fun in shadowlands even if it was unbalanced. Participation was very high in the first 3 seasons. I go off of participation. Every time pvp was overall great the game population swelled and participation in rated pvp was always seemingly high. Right now in dragonflight participation has plummetted. It also plumetted after 8.3 BFA due to the corrupted pve gear nonsense, and participation plummetted during legion because there essentially was no pvp gearing path only static stat templates.

    SL pvp was great because of the restoration of a basic feature. This propped up the positive response by the pvp community, in that the pvp gear vendors were back in the game. With a caveat. Your rating and rank determined the quality of the gear. The issue here is people with better gear can face you at lower rating if they wish to and destroy you.

    This is now fixed in DF yet class balance is just as bad if not worse.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 12, 2021
    80
    Blizzard finally comes with an alt-friendly expansion that brings back the best features of the previous ones. The patch that WoW desperately needed. [Issue#309]
  2. Shacknews
    Jan 29, 2021
    90
    World of Warcraft: Shadowlands certainly manages to capture the same feelings we’ve had since first started playing the game. The leveling experience overhaul, constant sense of progress with rewards, and new campaign stories make Shadowlands a must-have for any avid player.
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  3. GamingTrend
    Jan 27, 2021
    90
    World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is a return to greatness for the franchise. The content is both accessible and fun for all types of players, and the story actually makes you feel like everything you’re doing is helping to save the Shadowlands. Torghast is one of the best features ever added and makes each experience unique and fun. While there are some issues which can slow down the time it takes to get everything you want, the journey there is still enjoyable.
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