World of Warcraft: The War Within review

Our VerdictWorld of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

Our Verdict

World of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

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A Tauren paladin rattled up on his robot mount right in the middle of one of World of Warcraft: The War Within’s final quests. It would’ve been nice to see a sweet conversation between two major characters who were exchanging apologies after being separated for years, but instead I was staring at Commander Digbickers' set of high-level gear as he took a break from his daily routine. I couldn’t even see the speech bubbles over his massive form, which normally wouldn’t bother me, but there are glimmers of an older WoW here, one where I actually care what two important characters are saying to each other, and one I thought we’d left behind.

Need to know(Image credit: Blizzard)What is it?The 10th expansion to a fantasy MMORPG in the Warcraft universe.Release dateAugust 26, 2024Expect to pay$50/£50DeveloperBlizzardPublisherBlizzardReviewed onRTX 4090, Intel Core i9 12900K, 16GB RAMMultiplayerYesSteam DeckN/ALinkOfficial site$6.48View at AmazonLow Stock$19.78View at Walmart$29.99View at Best BuySee all prices (14 found)792 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆

Need to know

(Image credit: Blizzard)What is it?The 10th expansion to a fantasy MMORPG in the Warcraft universe.Release dateAugust 26, 2024Expect to pay$50/£50DeveloperBlizzardPublisherBlizzardReviewed onRTX 4090, Intel Core i9 12900K, 16GB RAMMultiplayerYesSteam DeckN/ALinkOfficial site$6.48View at AmazonLow Stock$19.78View at Walmart$29.99View at Best BuySee all prices (14 found)792 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft The War Within expansion void elf character with a smirk on an indigo background

What is it?The 10th expansion to a fantasy MMORPG in the Warcraft universe.Release dateAugust 26, 2024Expect to pay$50/£50DeveloperBlizzardPublisherBlizzardReviewed onRTX 4090, Intel Core i9 12900K, 16GB RAMMultiplayerYesSteam DeckN/ALinkOfficial site

$6.48View at AmazonLow Stock$19.78View at Walmart$29.99View at Best BuySee all prices (14 found)792 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆

$6.48View at AmazonLow Stock$19.78View at Walmart$29.99View at Best BuySee all prices (14 found)

$6.48View at Amazon

Low Stock$19.78View at Walmart

Low Stock

$19.78View at Walmart

$29.99View at Best Buy

See all prices (14 found)

792 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots

I rounded a corner and realized I had just stumbled into an entirely separate area like I was playing Elden Ring.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots

An early side quest in Isle of Dorn has you helping out an Earthen who is preparing for his final days but is starting to lose his memory. The quest begins with a little bit of combat as you clear out a cemetery of vandalizing kobolds, but slows down as you learn about Earthen traditions and why, after decades of isolation, some might want to peek at the world they never got to see. There are countless tragic quests in WoW’s history, but few of them are as well written and paced as this one, setting your character to the side as you do your best to help fulfill someone’s last wish.

My hope is that this is what the future of WoW’s storytelling will be when it doesn’t have to contend with planet-sized villains and can instead focus on little stories that give the world character. And after finishing the campaign and several other sidequests, I’m pretty confident it will be.

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That reduction in scope extends less successfully to The War Within’s newest dungeon alternative: Delves. Instead of a big multi-boss adventure, Delves are 20 minute mini dungeons that you can do solo or with a small group. I was surprised when I finished the campaign without ever being directed to them, but after trying several of them out, that might’ve been a good thing.

Delves are Diablo-like dungeons full of enemies and tedious objectives in a game with combat that isn’t anywhere as satisfying for a solo player as it is in an action RPG. I took my warlock into an Earthen forge where I had to break open vents to cool down from the heat burning my life away. I crawled through hallway after hallway pulling enemies one at a time to avoid losing too many stacks of the protective buff before I could replenish it at another vent. It was a grueling experience that rewarded some forgettable loot that I could’ve earned much faster from a quest.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots

The intent is for Delves to serve as a way for solo players to earn powerful gear without having to run dungeons. On paper, that’s a compelling idea that could at least add variety to how you gear up in WoW’s endgame. But Delves, when compared to the relative ease of WoW’s modern dungeons, are a chore I’d rather skip. That said, with some boosts to the pacing and rewards, I think Blizzard could massage them into a fun side activity in future patches.

Endgame troubles

Delves live in the staggering gap between The War Within’s campaign and WoW’s modern endgame, the treadmill of progression that opens up once you’ve finished the story quests. The first season and its raid aren’t available yet, but I can already tell grinding through daily world quests and dungeons isn’t for me.

After playing through the campaign where quest objectives would vary from defending a base or helping to heal wounded Earthen, world quests have reminded me how empty WoW can be if you’re a seasonal player chasing after better loot. The old joke about killing seven wolves for a quest is the entire point of world quests: mostly contextless objectives that feed you loot or currency to upgrade your gear. Maybe if gear actually felt like it had an impact on my damage in a game where every enemy scales with you, I’d enjoy climbing the ladder toward harder dungeons and raids. But world quests just made me miss playing hide and seek with children and walking with an Arathi commander as she told me about life in Hallowfall during the campaign, where my character’s power really didn’t matter at all.

I spent 20 hours on a warlock who specializes in spells that deal damage over time and nothing I faced ever challenged me enough to think about how I could improve, whether it was through better gear or better play. Combat was mindless even in dungeons where you’d think there’d be more demand to pull your weight. WoW really isn’t that game anymore unless you’re the kind of player who builds their character up to take on challenges like Mythic+ dungeons or raids—which are fully unlocking when season 1 begins on September 10.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots

All I wanted to do is go right back to questing in the pretty new areas without having to think about what stat is best for me and what my opening spell rotation should be. And thanks to the way WoW separates its main story quests from its side quests, I absolutely can. They may not be as consistently good as the ones in the campaign, but the side quests are a great excuse to spend more time just living in The War Within’s excellent new zones.

Even if I can’t see myself logging into WoW every day, The War Within’s campaign satisfied the urge to get lost in Blizzard’s big fantasy world again. The story will continue as major updates happen and that might be enough to keep me hanging on until the end of the trilogy. But anything past that is a bottomless chasm that I’m happy to skip over, unless Blizzard finds a way to blend its powerful storytelling with a grind that doesn’t drain the joy out of its world.

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The Verdict80Read our review policyWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

The Verdict

80Read our review policyWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

80Read our review policy

World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storytelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.

PRODUCTSWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War Within

PRODUCTS

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Endgame troubles#

Our Verdict

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Endgame troubles