World of Warcraft: The War Within Reviews
The War Within is the best World of Warcraft has been on all fronts in many years, making this two-decade-old MMO feel fresh and thrilling again.
World of Warcraft: The War Within is a huge step up for storyelling in the 20-year-old MMO, but the daily grind threatens to suck the joy out of it.
It’s also the most welcoming a WoW expansion has ever been before. This is the start of a new story - one steeped in the long history of WoW to be sure, but one that makes a huge effort to catch new players up. Its brisk story supports new players too by asking for a small investment upfront and giving them ample opportunity to constantly re-invest. If you’re just starting out or returning without the safety net of your old clan, it’s easier than ever to be a solo player and not feel left behind. There’s so much consideration towards renewing WoW, rather than becoming further entrenched in the wants and whims of the most hardcore players. I imagine these weren’t easy choices to make, but I can see the long game that begins here in The War Within, and I’m more excited than ever for the journey ahead.
Wisely rides Dragonflight's headwinds for a strong, confident kick off to the Worldsoul Saga
Major progression changes, a standout new zone, and the ability to play solo make WoW's 10th expansion one of its best.
I can confidently say WoW is back. Well, it was back in Dragonflight, but it’s extra back now. Not only does The War Within make the player experience better with great additions like Warbands and Follower Dungeons, but it also demonstrates that Blizzard isn’t afraid to keep refining good ideas like Hero Talents or reworking those that may have failed previously and molded them into nuggets of fun and flavor like Delves. If this is just the start of what to expect with Warcraft in the era of The Worldsoul Saga, then I’m eager to stick around and see where these new adventures on Azeroth take us next.
World of Warcraft: The War Within feels like a return to the best of the game in many of its sections. The new expansion has a lot of successes in the gameplay, but it shines especially in the artistic and narrative facet. A more than promising start to the new era of this MMORPG.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A good starting point for something bigger, a reliable and more welcoming expansion than ever, but certainly not innovative.
Review in Italian | Read full review
On the verge of World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary, Blizzard appears to have pulled off a tentative return to form for this historic game
The War Within isn't a groundbreaking, surprising, or original expansion, but it's a good jumping-off point for something bigger. It uses subtle improvements to smooth out and tighten up World of Warcraft's traditional gameplay in all the right places, gently evolving it and making it feel more familiar and welcoming than ever, for veterans and newcomers alike.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The expansion was so close to perfect. If it wasn't for the update that Blizzard released where they went from undertuning everything to overtuning it, the expansion would have been perfection. The quests are fun, Hero Talents provide lots of cool options, and the music really makes the areas of Khaz Algar magical and threatening, all at the same time. Admittedly, the story for this expansion could have done with being a little longer, as it felt quite short overall compared to previous expansions. However, there is still time for them to add more in future patches.
All in all, The War Within has been a banger of an expansion so far. The storytelling feels well done and has been paying off on moments that have been building for years. The dungeon and raiding scene is off and running and fun so far. Lastly, delves have a solid foundation that needs to be tweaked to make them the jewel they can be. I had thought it would be an impossible task to surpass Dragonflight, but The War Within may end up doing that.
Despite its shockingly short story, World of Warcraft: The War Within is the most confident and slick Blizzard's MMO has been in years.
The War Within is not a revolution, but a carefully planned evolution leading the game in a new direction. It’s impossible to predict wether World of Wacraft will reclaim its MMO throne. The game now is very good but only time will tell if Blizzard is capable of keeping it this way.
Review in Polish | Read full review
World of Warcraft: The War Within gave us a promise of the best story that Chris Metzen has come up with that will draw back all the players who left because of the boredom of Shadowlands and Dragonflight, but ultimately under-delivers on that promise with a short story, a focus on anyone but the player, and changing bad gameplay mechanic names to hide repeated content.
World of Warcraft: The War Within is a breath of fresh air. The expansion feels like it has put World of Warcraft back on track after a few years of sub-par storytelling, and the gameplay additions like Delves and Hero Talents also add quite a bit to look forward to for new players.
The War Within heralds a return to that Warcraft vibe we've been craving for many years. It's hard to speak too soon without seeing how the expansion pack does in MMOs, but if they can keep this momentum going, we may be facing one of the best expansions of WoW.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
The War Within kickstarts the Worldsoul Saga trilogy in style and offers tons of new and useful mechanisms to the gameplay, welcoming both old and new players to its massive world and promising true potential for the future of the franchise.
Review in Persian | Read full review
When it comes to big expansions like this, there’s always still a lot to come. For example, the first raid of the expansion won’t be available for a couple of weeks still, giving plenty of time to gear up your characters. As it stands right now, especially where we sit in the story, this feels like a new start for World of Warcraft. The War Within feels like it’s taking into consideration a lot of complaints that fans have had in the past with the story, and the big main enemy, and crafted this new trilogy around fixing it.
If this is how The Worldsoul Saga is kicking off, then this new WoW era will be its best yet. And if you’re thinking about returning to Azeroth, there is seriously no better time because The War Within is just that good.