The first 10 levels in WoW Forever: How much classic WoW is left?
The wait is finally over: WoW Forever is live. Last night, I was sitting restlessly at my desk, waiting for the servers to open. And contrary to my expectations, the launch actually went surprisingly smoothly for me. Here, however, I want to focus on what's changed in the game itself. And even after just a few hours, there's already plenty to talk about.
Naturally, I chose the only race worth playing in WoW: Tauren. So my adventure began in Mulgore. And the first thing that immediately stands out is the updated visuals. While the world textures still look much the same as they did 20 years ago, Blizzard has made some noticeable improvements elsewhere. New lighting effects make the landscape feel considerably more alive. There's also volumetric fog, which no longer simply limits visibility but instead creates a wonderfully atmospheric environment. At the same time, the draw distance has been significantly increased. This looks particularly impressive across the vast plains of Mulgore.
As beautiful as Mulgore looks, something else caught my attention when I first logged in: the sheer number of players. There were at least 40 of my horned brethren gathered around the very first quest giver. I honestly didn't expect to make much progress. After all, one of the first tasks involves killing a few plainstriders, and the poor birds were vastly outnumbered by the Tauren horde. Fortunately, Blizzard had thought ahead and enabled so-called hyperspawns. The feathered creatures respawn almost immediately after being killed, as if nothing had happened. And that led to my second surprise: Despite the enormous crowds, questing was remarkably smooth.
What's changed in the gameplay?
Naturally, I haven't had a chance to explore the new zones during my first ten levels, but quite a few things have changed nonetheless. For example, players can now choose a gathering profession through a quest right at the beginning. In the past, you had to make your way to a profession trainer first. There's also an introduction to the new camping mechanic. Players can now set up a campfire while traveling and create a small resting area together with other adventurers. Depending on their professions, they can place various objects around the campsite that provide useful bonuses.
Blizzard has also made some adjustments to the underlying gameplay mechanics. Mana now regenerates continuously instead of recovering in bursts every two seconds, as it used to. That might not make a huge difference in combat, but it certainly feels better to me.
The classic difficulty, on the other hand, hasn't changed all that much. I'm playing a Druid, and I still have to stop regularly for a drink to replenish my mana. And anyone who, like me, occasionally pulls a few too many enemies at once will find themselves dead pretty quickly in WoW Forever. So charging straight into groups of enemies and mowing everything down, as you might in modern WoW, simply doesn't work here.
The classic WoW feeling is still there
After my first ten levels, I'm definitely impressed with WoW Forever. Everything feels a little more modern without losing that classic WoW charm. I'm particularly taken with the updated visuals. Of course, I've barely scratched the surface of what Forever has to offer in terms of gameplay. But after this first journey through Mulgore, I'm certainly eager to keep playing.
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