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. ezpz23z
    Dec 27, 2020
    0
    I've only been playing WoW for a few months now and in my time playing the new release of shadowlands. holy heck this game is not for the casual players. its for the 1% elitist that have elite guilds. On top of this no mounts in the maw, one of the most anti-convenience expansions they have made in awhile. The hatred of Ion Hazzikotas towards casuals and people that like to fly in the gameI've only been playing WoW for a few months now and in my time playing the new release of shadowlands. holy heck this game is not for the casual players. its for the 1% elitist that have elite guilds. On top of this no mounts in the maw, one of the most anti-convenience expansions they have made in awhile. The hatred of Ion Hazzikotas towards casuals and people that like to fly in the game is really showing.… Expand
  2. vx09
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    I have to give the game a negative due to it's unplayable state. The lag makes the game impossible to play, constant DC and queues of up to 3 hours.
  3. MangTown
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    Where are the features??!?!?!? We alway get new zonse but this thime just little things. Dissapoint!
  4. Pinkiesbrain
    Nov 27, 2020
    3
    Shadowlands does little things good and a lot really bad. I will concentrate on the bad here which made me do a negative review:

    Assets: Almost the whole expansion is recycled. Old mobs in new colours- very little new mobs, very little new animations, walk cycles and so on. Just recolors. Maps: While the first map is basic but functional, second and third are recycled, fourth is what    Shadowlands does little things good and a lot really bad. I will concentrate on the bad here which made me do a negative review:

    Assets: Almost the whole expansion is recycled. Old mobs in new colours- very little new mobs, very little new animations, walk cycles and so on. Just recolors.

    Maps: While the first map is basic but functional, second and third are recycled, fourth is what all maps shouldve been like. Oribous is the most lazy attempt of a city hub in the history of WOW

    Thorgast: A complete mess. While there was so much potential it was awfully screwed up with buggy, uncreative and unrewarding mechanics. If it was somewhat balanced, and would ve gotten love it couldve easily been the greatest thing in a wow expansion in over 10 years. Imagine it just beeing a little like diablo- wouldnt that be great? Instead it plays like a early alpha of a inexperienced dev team.

    Gameloop: Is 85% the same of Bfa - get azerite through worldquests (now anima) buff your stuff and go m+ or raiding. Thorgast is mostly (atm) no use and little fun at all. So no innovation on that point...

    Leveling: It is pretty stupid but a normal geared bfalvl50 char with Ilvl120 will be stronger/as strong than a lvl 60 char full myth0 equipped . If you start the expansion you will start change items at around 58- until then you will become weaker and weaker. Until you do less dmg than you did (after squish) in Bfa.
    Apart from that leveling is same as ever. but shorter (which is good) It just feels completely stupid to lvl down (instead of up) to 60

    Depth: the content delivered with release is shallow at best. you lvl to 60 in about 10 hours without hustle (which is ok for me since i dislike leveling but its still lazy).
    We cleared all current content on day 2 of the expansion (all myth clear) without even trying hard.
    Ive never seen a normal instance from inside.
    You get 60, buy 151 gear set for small money, go heroic instances and thats it. content done.
    There will be more- we know that - but 2 days is a little stupid.

    Gear: There is about 1 gearset for every class at the moment- everybody looks same. random, green gear you get looks same as mythic gear.. its completely ridiculous.

    Overall: Activision delivered (so far) as catastrophic as expected. The result goes hand in hand with the rumors about the companies Ex Blizzard department. They delivered exactly enough to not be lynched but everybody who hoped for a game that might last a year or two - you will be disappointed.    … Expand
  5. Dashkin
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    So bland.. boring... had high hopes for this game more so when they delayed it but they have still managed to pump out this garbage... they have a track record of making one good xpac to one bad. So now this confirms that BFA was the good xpac and this one is garbage... shame really especially with the AUD price hike... unsubbed
  6. BreeBreeFRB
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    PVP баланса не завезли
    1.Доминация мили классов на бг ( и в дальнейшем на арене )
    2.Ограниченный дневной гринд 3.Огромная террария разбитая на секции вытягивает время из игроков 4.2фракции из-за этого сломанная система поиска БГ, Данжей, Рейдов 5. 13 лед гринда а все ради чего? ради того что бы поломать лица болванчиков на бг?    PVP баланса не завезли
    1.Доминация мили классов на бг ( и в дальнейшем на арене )
    2.Ограниченный дневной гринд
    3.Огромная террария разбитая на секции вытягивает время из игроков
    4.2фракции из-за этого сломанная система поиска БГ, Данжей, Рейдов
    5. 13 лед гринда а все ради чего? ради того что бы поломать лица болванчиков на бг?
  7. Jenkinns
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    Definitely looking better than legion,already enjoying tourghast and dungeons looks way better than bfa
  8. unholyhoit
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    Draenor EU sends their regards.
    Fix. your. damn. servers.
    Abysmal support.
  9. QuietDuck
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    Having difficulty playing. Some zones are not great, but i dont like the cov system.
  10. HollidayMan
    Nov 27, 2020
    3
    Graphics and textures are amazing in this expansion so far, I've been very impressed with how things are look visually in this expansion.

    Leveling is a very linear and almost boring experience, nothing new here just same old mmo quests. You just go from zone to zone doing the main quests while only doing side quests when you are level gated, quests rewards are just gold and gear. When i    Graphics and textures are amazing in this expansion so far, I've been very impressed with how things are look visually in this expansion.

    Leveling is a very linear and almost boring experience, nothing new here just same old mmo quests. You just go from zone to zone doing the main quests while only doing side quests when you are level gated, quests rewards are just gold and gear. When i look back at the leveling experience and ask myself if I had fun, it is a resounding no.

    The story is a little confusing and it is very easy to miss certain details that are important to the story. The story is hard to connect with, and honestly I'm tired of being called champion/mortal/maw walker every 2 minutes. There are some cool cutscenes but personally I found most of the story to be pretty boring, with no actual fun parts to it. Compared to Legion or even WOD's campaign I'm pretty disappointed.

    Torghast is pretty fun due to some of the cool choices you can make and the fact you can play with your friends. Some specs will have a really tough time solo while others breeze through relatively easily. You basically have to keep grinding it to unlock your legendary gear and the higher tiers are currently time gated. Overall, pretty cool but very grindy.

    PVP so far is very fast paced, focusing on huge burst damage and killing in one stun. I would avoid for now unless you are playing as one of the burstier specs or as a healer.

    Covenants are interesting but you can not change covenants without being punished severely. This will be one of your many end game grinds that revolve around doing world quests/collecting anima for upgrades. Right now I think spamming the same world quests where you kill 5 mobs then click 5 things or do buggy mini games really isn't that fun and it feels very tedious to do.

    Dungeons are well done and feel fun to do. Each covenant brings a unique power to each dungeon which changes up the experience. For mythic+ as a dps it is very hard to get into groups unless you are playing meta specs, so same old stuff here.

    Overall, it's hard to justify paying 60+ dollars for this game unless you really like more of the same old WoW. There is a lot of cool art and animations but there are a lot of time gates/currency gates which make the game seem too tedious and honestly the story for me was a huge let down.    … Expand
  11. oldwhpsian
    Nov 26, 2020
    0
    The game is broken. Absolute useless launch by Blizzard. I paid £60 for this and I can't even play it. Their customer service is terrible, they don't care for the hundreds of thousands of players that can't even access their game. Meanwhile, on their "official forums", the only communication is to threads that praise how amazing their new game is. This is truly pathetic.
  12. lepr0sy
    Nov 25, 2020
    1
    it's simply more of the same, the only thing that changes are the mobs, but the missions are the same **** the scenarios are combinations of past expansions, the blizzard thing is very weak
  13. ebickham
    Nov 27, 2020
    2
    It is a BFA but heavily influenced by diablo 3. I will ignore all of the launch issues because that is to be expected at this point. They are certainly something to consider but i'll focus on just the game:

    Some classes are smooth and some are not. PVP is not at all balanced (I can one-shot pretty much anyone as a sub rogue). The story is awful (my friends who don't read and don't read    It is a BFA but heavily influenced by diablo 3. I will ignore all of the launch issues because that is to be expected at this point. They are certainly something to consider but i'll focus on just the game:

    Some classes are smooth and some are not. PVP is not at all balanced (I can one-shot pretty much anyone as a sub rogue). The story is awful (my friends who don't read and don't read quests said leveling was fun - while my friends who do read said the leveling experience was awful).

    Pros: If you have a steady clique you can experience a 6-12 year old friendly amusement park that is shadowlands and just chat/hang out together without having to try to immerse in the game. Can be very fun and social.
    If you are on the right class, pvp is a blast as you totally obliterate people who were unfortunate to be another class.
    The visuals and audio are very well done if incongruent.
    You only have to be railroaded through the story once because alts can skip the story (at the cost of leveling speed)

    Cons: Borrowed power systems similar to legion/bfa
    horrible story that you are forced into
    you most likely will not find anyone new to play with so go in with a solid group already
    so little new things that it doesn't feel like an expansion

    TLDR bottomline:
    If you have money to waste then try the game out for 40 bucks. Some of my friends are enjoying it and I really want to as well. So you may get lucky? If you are on a budget or don't like burning cash, then save it for cyberpunk.    … Expand
  14. RealTalkReview
    Nov 27, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In short, the storyline of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is absolute garbage. However, I am not surprised because the storytelling of their previous expansions (starting at Warlords of Draenor) have not been impressive either.

    I strongly advise to not listen to the super positive reviews if one of their supporting points is that the storytelling is great. There are so many logical flaws and headscratchers within the storyline.

    For example, when the player is on top of Icecrown Citadel about to traverse into the "The Maw". Bolvar Fordragon makes it clear that he will not be joining you on your journey into "The Maw" because he fears that the jailer may enslave him. After the player escapes the "inescapable maw" through a dormant waystone that transports them to Oribos. The NPCs are shocked because the player is "touched by the maw". Shortly after, Bolvar Fordragon enters Oribos through a death gate and the NPCs state that they are touched by the maw as well. Therefore, Bolvar Fordragon went into the maw even though he said he wouldn't go to the maw. The player has no supporting information as to why Bolvar decided to do this. Unfortunately, you just need to accept the fact that he is there now for the set up of a forced dramatic scene between Taelia and Bolvar Fordragon. This is an entirely new level of cringe and bad writing. Then there is the storyline about the "emo" angels also known as the "Forsworn Kyrian" which are a monstrosity in itself.

    I can only compare the storytelling of World of Wacraft: Shadowlands to that of a child sitting in their room playing with their toys. Specifically, imagining random things that do not make any sense or progress the plot in any shape of form.

    The cutscenes and voice acting are not any better than the story either. Both are extremely underwhelming when you experience them. In fact, most players skip through them because they are so underwhelming.

    The gameplay and mechanics of the game are what keeps this review from being a straight 0. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has decent and engaging gameplay for all classes. I believe most WoW players understand this now because most of them skip through the storyline quests and cutscenes so that they can get to the end game content and do the only enjoyable thing in the game.

    If you do not care about any RPG aspects of an MMORPG and simply enjoy mindless raiding, dungeons, and PvP. This game is a good buy. However, if you are looking for a game with an engaging storyline and RPG elements - you are way better off playing Final Fantasy: Shadowbringers.    … Expand
  15. SoXLoricon
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    WoW Shadow BF, Same broken game as before, same lack of commitment and investment in history and game as a whole, end of an era.
  16. MoreHuman1
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    I was all set to type up a large review, then saw Elendil11s. I am in complete agreement, couldnt have said it better. Bravo sir.
  17. WhatDoIdo
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    The Warmode system is still in play. This has caused my server (Horde Heavy) to become PvE. This was introduced in BFA to encourage PvP, but has had the opposite effect. People can opt out of PvP on PvP servers now (couldnt before BFA).

    At least islands are gone.
  18. Cobadi
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    I had hope about this expansion. I though this would be a chance of improving all the things haven't been going bad since BfA and even Legion. This is just BfA again, somethings are better, somethings are worst... at the end of the day blizzard won't fix anything. There is no reason for keep playing this game anymore.
  19. koubiak13
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    le jeu n'est pas fini encore un jeu vendu plein tarif pour une béta les suites de quêtes ne sont pas terminés , quêtes complètement inutiles et stupide pour occupé le joueur , serveur a la ramasse ca lag comme c est pas permis vraiment pitoyable blizzard n est plus que l ombre de ce que c été.
  20. Tapeok
    Nov 28, 2020
    1
    No major new features. New zones are ok. Launch wasnt hyper terrible.
    Not sure why people are either rating 10 (its not a 10..) or a 0 (its not a 0).
  21. Downfall9
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    Not much new except for the zone and music. Lots of cutscenes if your into that. Class imbalance and not many new features.
  22. Maxwell2200
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    Its an ok expansion with major issues and no features.. Since people give it a 10 for no justification, i have to counter that i suppose.
  23. Nick111
    Nov 29, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Я играю фрост магом в пвп но в пве хотел бы играть арканом/фаером, для фроста необходимо выбрать ковенант вампиров, но для аркана он не подходит, вопрос как быть? Маг - класс который всю жизнь игрался 2 спеками одновременно, но в этом дополнении это запретили. А еще мне не дико не нравится СЕТТИНГ ВАМПИРОВ но меня ПРИНУДИЛИ играть в нем т.к. он дает ЛУЧШИЕ скилы для фрост мага.
    итог: дополнение полный мусор.    … Expand
  24. Bussomack
    Nov 28, 2020
    0
    No new features, just new zones. Garrosh 2.0 BFA 1.5 . Hoping they address the class balance issues soon (SUB ROGUE DISC PRIEST)!
  25. 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
  26. Tesarian
    Nov 2, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. WoW fell under the onslaught of an army of tolerant schizophrenics ... R.I.P is my favorite game...… Expand
  27. 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
  28. Miroslavich
    Mar 12, 2022
    0
    This addition wasn't so bad until the Blizzard started to promote the things modern society is trying to get rid of. Things like racism, xenophobia, dislike of groups of people and other things. With your policy, you are not only killing the game, but also provoking hatred between groups of people in your community. You, like many other companies, must keep the peace, because in the gameThis addition wasn't so bad until the Blizzard started to promote the things modern society is trying to get rid of. Things like racism, xenophobia, dislike of groups of people and other things. With your policy, you are not only killing the game, but also provoking hatred between groups of people in your community. You, like many other companies, must keep the peace, because in the game worlds we don’t care who you are, what race you are, what gender and religion you are, I play with people because they fulfill their roles well and I enjoy communicating with them. You have to unite people, but you do the opposite: you divide and play off.… Expand
  29. Alarc
    Nov 26, 2020
    2
    Doesn´t feel like warcraft anymore. It feels now like a generic open world game, character development has gone from best to worst. So disappointed with shadowlands
  30. MakeShine
    Nov 25, 2020
    1
    No new race, class, or major features. Soundtrack, most zone design, and art good. Lots of cut scenes. Balance and launch issues.
Page:

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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