Cataclysm: Fixed everything that was wrong with Wrath of the Lich King!
--Graphics--
I hate people who complain about the graphics for this game. They figure that when games like Crysis come out, that have amazing graphics, every other game that follows NEEDS to have the same graphics, or else it just sucks. Graphics aren't everything, derp. Sure, the graphics seem a little outdated, but Blizzard knows this. My computer can't handle the game on Ultra graphics, but I've put it on a few times just to see how the game looks. It looks incredible! Everything is just so greatly detailed and it actually surprised me on how good it looked. It's sad that my computer can't handle it, but I assure you, the graphics may be "cartoony", but they are still pretty amazing. The new creatures look cool (especially the giant new bosses) and the environments in the new levelling zones look amazing as well. This game won't hurt your eyes, especially not as bad as all the "Graphic QQers" say it will.
9/10
--Gameplay--
The concept is the same. Are you shocked? I'm not saying it's a bad thing though. I don't want the concept to change; I just want some creativity, which Blizzard has introduced in this expansion. The two new races, Worgens and Goblins, are great additions to the game! Their starting zones are extremely fun and entertaining and actually make you feel like your character is important. Instead of the old Orc starting zone with no story and just going around killing boars and smacking peons. If you're looking to start a new character, be sure to pick one of the two new races!
As for levelling, don't expect to be doing it that much. Getting from 80 – 85 does not take long at all, but you would expect that since all the previous level caps have been 10 levels higher. So, naturally, expect to play through A LOT of the same content if you're levelling more than one character to 85. That being said, this doesn't mean that the new levelling zones aren't fun. There are a total of 5 new zones to level in: Uldum, Mount Hyjal, Vash'jir, Deepholm and Twilight Highlands. All of these areas have their very own stories on how Deathwing is destroying Azeroth. Questing in all these zones really make you feel close to the action. I mean, when you're flying into Mount Hyjal to just being questing, you run into Deathwing summoning an old Raid boss back to life. Or, while questing in Twilight Highlands, you witness an epic fight between Deathwing and Alexstrasza. This is just naming a few of the cool moments you'll encounter while questing.
Level 85 content is where Blizzard really tried to improve over Wrath of the Lich King. For starters, the Heroics. Since Wrath of the Lich King was my 1st expansion, I thought the heroics were fine. But after playing the Cataclysm Heroics, it's obvious why everyone hated the level 80 heroics. They were WAY too easy! I love the difficulty of these new heroics. I actually feel accomplished after I clear a hard Heroic with a really bad group. I feel like I deserved the Valor Points I earned in the end. However now, people are beginning to overgear the Heroics and they are becoming easier, but if you're in a group that's new with not the best gear, you'll actually need skill and coordination to get through every Heroic. As for Raids, I find they are the same difficulty as when Ulduar or Icecrown Citadel came out during Wrath of the Lich King. With a little patience and coordination (and of course, many wipes), any group can get through the raids, but expect it to take a few weeks. What I'm trying to say is that the game is a lot more challenging then it use to be! So if you we're hoping for some harder content while Wrath of the Lich King was going on, be sure to upgrade. If you liked the easy going nature of Wrath of the Lich King, then be ready to get frustrated a lot with Cataclysm.
10/10
--Music--
The music is pretty great. Blizzard even made a soundtrack for the music in this game, so it has to be good. Since all of Azeroth has been redone, so has much of the music. For example, Orgrimmar has a brand new theme to it that seems more powerful and war oriented considering the situations going on in Azeroth. There is not much to say about the music, just that every tune fits in great with whatever situation is going on, but at some moments, there is just no music at all and all you can hear is the sound of battle, which is a small disappointment.
8/10
--Story--
After using two of the most famous characters from the Warcraft lore for the first two expansions, Blizzard had to bring back an old villain since most of them are pretty much dead. I'm not a hardcore Warcraft lore fan, so I don't know the complete story of Deathwing, but I'll try to explain it. Deathwing used to be one of the great dragon leaders, but he became drunk with power and wanted to overrule Alexstrasza, the Queen of the Dragons. So, Alexstrasza and the rest of the dragon leaders, locked Deathwing away in his prison which is now known as Deepholm. However, soon after the Lich King was defeated, Deathwing broke free from his prison and decided to rain chaos on Azeroth and to finally destroy it. Releasing powerful monsters against the world, it is up to the heroes of Azeroth to save the world from destruction and in the end, bring Deathwing to his demise. I'm sure much more content to the story is going to appear over the upcoming patches, so get ready for the story to get more and more interesting. Sadly, I'm not very connected to this story since I don't even know who Deathwing is. I loved Wrath of the Lich King because I've been waiting to see Arthas in this game for so long! And if I played during Burning Crusade, I would've felt the same way about Illidan.
7/10
--Overall--
I know this isn't going to be the last expansion. As long as people still play World of Warcraft, we're going to have more expansions. But at least, they're getting better. Sure, Wrath of the Lich King was a step down from Burning Crusade, but now Cataclysm is a step up from Wrath of the Lich King. Let's just hope the next expansions get better and better. To conclude, Cataclysm is an amazing expansion! The two new races are amazingly fun and interesting (Worgens being my new favourite race, which is weird since I hate Alliance), the questing (which is fun) seems a little bit repetitive since there is only 5 levels worth of content, but the Heroics and Raids make up for it with their difficulty and challenge. Overall, an amazing expansion and a DEFENATE must for ANY World of Warcraft player.
8.5/10