Veteran MMO players have grown accustomed to expansion launches meaning that the game servers will be offline for at least 10 hours or so. To counter that Blizzard prepared the servers in advance, so all it took was a quick server reset and everything was set. I personally have never seen a launch go this smoothly and Blizzard should be applauded for giving players the ability to jump into the new content literally minutes after buying the game (many stores across the world opened at midnight to sell TBC). From a players standpoint the launch was a first as well. Minutes before the expansion launched the area around the Dark Portal (the entry zone to the new areas) was swarming with players who wanted to experience one of the largest events in gaming ever (check the screenshots to get a rough idea of just how many players there were). At midnight the servers restarted and only minutes later the first TBC players started exploring Outland.

A fresh start

One of the major features Blizzard advertised for TBC were the two new playable races, each coming with their own brand new starting city. The two capitals are just as big as the other race starting cities and their design is by far superior. Blizzard have learned from their past mistakes and made sure that the two new cities have a much better flow and are filled with commodities which are usually in short supply in the other towns. Because of that the new towns have two banks, two auction houses and there are mailboxes all over the place. Having created a new character I really appreciate the improvements done to the towns as the new layouts help eliminate crowds and thus help with high latency issues.

The two new races both fit in well with the lore of Warcraft. The crowd favorites, the blood elves have already played a major role in the history of the world, so getting the opportunity to play as one of them is something a lot of Warcraft fans wanted to do for a long time. For those of you who are not up to date on the ongoing Warcraft lore, the blood elves are your regular elves who lost the connection to their magic. Because of that they turned to fire/demon magic which in turn gave them back some of their lost power. Playing with demon magic had its dangers however and many blood elves succumbed to its lure. Those remaining have learned how to use it, but there is a constant danger that they might slip just like some of their siblings. The blood elves are the first of the Horde races that has access to the paladin class so a lot of players created a blood elf just so they could finally be a paladin (without playing with an Alliance race). While not being as important as the paladin issue, the blood elves are also the first good looking Horde race, which makes them an even more tempting choice for the fashion conscious Alliance hater.

The Draenei on the other hand are newcomers to the Warcraft universe and as such aren't all that appealing. Their high-tech city is in fact the crashed remains of their mothership which they used to escape from their dimension. As if their strange past wasn't enough, their octopus-like faces make them what could possibly be the ugliest player race ever. To be fair though, they do radiate a sense of nobility and their big stature makes them the brutes the Alliance sorely needed. They are also the first Alliance race that has access to the shaman class.

The starting areas for the two new races are very well designed. The warm colors of the autumn forest give you the impression that the blood elves are a peaceful race, but just when you let your guard down the contrasting green color of some of their demon power nodes remind you that all is not as it seems. The Draenei starting area has a cold purple touch to it and until you enter their capital you would easily think they are somehow connected to the undead scourge. Some of the post-infancy quests make you understand the races and their motives a bit better, but for the most part the two new races and their starting zones aren't all that different from the old ones.

Venturing into Outland

While the new races and starting areas are a nice addition, the meat of the expansion is the new area called Outland. Accessible only through the dark portal by people above level 58 who have purchased TBC, this new floating continent is roughly as big as half of one of the old continents. The new zones all use completely new artwork and they are different than anything you have ever seen in WoW. The zones also differ from one another so much, that it is sometimes hard to cope with the drastic changes when you travel between them. The creatures in each zone are suited for a specific level range, so players won't have problems finding stuff to kill, regardless if they are level 58 or 70 (the new level cap). The areas are also slightly bigger than the old ones and the number of quests available in them is greater than in any other old zone.

Speaking of the quests, I should point out that the new quests in Outland are extremely well designed and a lot more fun than the old quests. Except for some flying bombardment quests most of them are just kill this, pick up that, but the way these quest lines progress makes them feel less of a grind. The new spawn system for the enemies also makes sure you won't have to compete with other players for your quests, as enemies spawn dynamically based on how fast they are getting whipped out. This new system eradicates the old problems where 10 players would camp the same type of creature and then bicker on who would get the first shot when the creature finally spawned.

The new high level instances are (from what we saw) very well designed and the lower player requirements make accessing them much easier. They are also a bit shorter than the old ones, which makes them more casual-friendly. It is too early to tell how well the end-game instances are designed, as it will take weeks of playing and hundreds of raids to truly appreciate their designs. The new drops are a bit problematic though. Their stats are, when compared to the pre-TBC items, extremely good. This makes some of the old rare items worthless within hours of entering Outland. Blizzard probably did this on purpose, so players would have an equal start in TBC, but considering some people spent months acquiring their gear this move is not exactly fair. This move can also be seen as forcing people to upgrade to TBC if they want to remain competitive, as some of the NPCs across the old continents (City guards to be specific) have grown stronger and are thus impossible to kill if you remain at level 60.

Amongst the improvements TBC brought is also a new crafting profession – Jewelcrafting. These artisans can create trinkets and earrings, as well as socket gems. They can be then inserted into socketed items to give them additional bonuses. If the colors of the gems match the sockets there are also extra bonuses to be had. While it may seem as if this is not such a big deal, the increased level of customization this feature brings is very important to the players who want to squeeze those last few points of damage out of their character. Level 70 players will also welcome the new flying mounts, which can be used to access additional content around Outland that is not accessible on foot.

Conclusion

Reviewing a big title that people will play for months, if not for years can be frustrating. On one hand you have to point out all the new improvements (such as the new spells for the higher levels) and big changes while at the same time trying to think ahead and seeing if some of these changes will cause problems over the long haul. And unless you are psychic you are bound to be wrong on at least some of your predictions.

From the technical standpoint not much has changed since the release so everybody who is able to run WoW will have no problems playing TBC. The graphics in the expansion as still very cartooney, but when playing at 1920x1200 without a hitch you can actually appreciate the engine. The music in the expansion is without a doubt just as good as it was in the original WoW, which means that most of the game musical scores aren't even comparable to it.

So how good is The Burning Crusade? For someone who plays WoW only casually the answer is quite simple: Very good. The new starting areas are a good reason to create a new character and having more choices can't be bad. Outland is also very casual friendly and the new quests are some of the best WoW has ever seen. What about the die hard WoW players? They are most likely among the 2,4 million players who bought TBC within the first 24 hours. If not, the same reasons still hold and the new raid instances are just an added bonus. Buying TBC is a win-win situation for everyone, except maybe for the friends who will miss seeing you outside of your house. Highly recommended!

Gameplay	18/20	TBC brings better quests, new environments, new races, a new profession and a bucket load full of improvements.
Graphics	16/20	Technically this one is no jewel. You will hardly see any advanced effects, but because of that even older computers can run the game. Considering that there are no loading screens between the zones that is quite an achievement still.
Sound	18/20	Wow, just wow! (pun intended)
Value	19/20	For a relatively low price you get enough new content to last you a few months. And knowing Blizzard they'll keep releasing free content as well, so no worries about running out of things to do.
Preference	17/20	If you didn't like WoW, TBC doesn't bring much to the table to change your mind. On the other hand, if you liked what WoW offered, TBC offers more of the same with some major improvements.
Overall	88/100	The biggest MMO in history just got the best expansion pack in history (Can anyone see a pattern here?). Millions of people just can't be wrong!