World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

I’ve got quite a few friends who have had their social lives irrevocably damaged by World of Warcraft. Hell, I count myself as one of them. And while I know that some of us have closed the book on World of Warcraft for good, probably for good reason, I still can’t help but get really excited about this new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Like the last expansion, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King gives us another ten levels to strive for. Yes, level 80 will soon be within your sights! There’s also a new continent, way to the north, called Northrend, which fittingly, has a Scandinavian-undead thing going on, with glaciers, fjords, and animals with tusks and horns a-plenty. Released screenshots show a well-developed and gorgeous looking environment – not that we would accept anything less!

The Death Knight is the first of the new hero classes, and is basically a magic wielding tank. Rather than fuelling its powers with mana, the Death Knight uses something called ‘Rune’ (Blood, Frost or Unholy), which allows the Death Knight to power up various attacks. The Death Knight can’t be played straight away; instead you’ll need to complete a quest chain once you hit level 80 before it is unlocked.

In addition to the Death Knight, there will be a swag of talents introduced, new flying mounts, and new daily quests, designed to help players make more dough without having to resort to farming their lives away.

But wait, that’s not all! In addition to the above, Wrath of the Lich King also introduces some cool new changes to PvP, including siege engines and destructible buildings, as well as – wait for it! – new hairstyles for the goblin who has everything.

The cynic in me tends to think that Blizzard is already preaching to the converted; if you’re already a WOW fanatic, you’ll be leaping on the opportunity for greater exploration, a higher level cap and new gear. Or maybe you’ve been trying to plan your escape vector for some time now, in which case you’ll be cursing this release, and wondering when you’ll ever see daylight again. But hey, if this expansion means there’ll be any sort of reduction in the number of Blood Elves running around the place, that’s got to be a good thing, right?