Game Review: Legion: For How Many

Joe Fowler, assistant editor

 With my deadline rapidly approaching, I entered “3.3 million copies” for a google search. Most every result on the first five pages shared one thing in common: Legion, the latest World of Warcraft (WoW) expansion from video game developer Blizzard Entertainment. Having experienced the actual launch at 3 a.m. on August 30, I fully expected the numbers when they came out.

But, despite a movie, heavy advertising and news from the public test realm, the game itself provided the heaviest promotion starting a month ahead of the actual launch. For endless months, players had experienced the limbo of a content drought, a time when most players had mastered both the current gameplay and the substantial backlog of material from over 11 years of content. Dedicated WoW players, live streamers and YouTubers began speculating that after conquering all would-be WoW killers over the years, Blizzard Entertainment would be the end of World of Warcraft.

Then the invasions began.

Six low-level zones in Azeroth, the land of WoW, fell under invasion by demonic forces. Hellfire poured from the sky. Essentially, the open world of Azeroth became a round-the-clock raid. In both the Alliance and Horde capitals, players turned into demons. Doomsayers handed out pamphlets promoting the Legion invasion. While the invasions occurred outside the capitals, players fell from great heights, killing their characters repetitively to collect all the pamphlets.

Meanwhile, both the Alliance and Horde factions suffered heavy losses in an introductory scenario to the new continent, the Broken Isles. Both King Varian Wyrnn of the Alliance and Horde Warchief Vol’jin died within the first half hour of the invasions. With their deaths, a new era of WoW began.

This limited-time invasion event began in late July and lasted just over a month during a period WoW players refer to as the pre-patch, a transition phase between expansions when Blizzard introduces players to gameplay changes and new storylines for the next expansion. Now, nearly a month into the actual Legion expansion, players can still log in every day and find  dozens of things to do  contributing to the development of their characters.

As both a player and reviewer, my favorite gameplay component consists of an increase in mobility Currently, I play a fire mage (a wizard class that specializes in conjuring flames), and the stand still and cast method of playing seems to have passed. The playstyle now reminds me more of another Blizzard franchise, Diablo.

Blizzard, like many of its subscribers, has grown up and evolved to stay current with a world constantly in flux. Even the main plot point, which entails the heroes of the Warcraft universe recruiting one of its greatest lore villians, Illidan Stormrage, seems to answer a growing call in society for a different kind of solution.

That above all is my favorite aspect of Legion, the message that some of the heroes engaged in deceit and betrayal, and maybe the villains had more of a point than originally suspected.

Questions and Answers with the Heroes of Azeroth

I set about finding players to discuss Legion. Matthew Ross, a  PVCC student from Charlottesville; Jessica Burruss, a longtime Blizzard fan who also resides in Charlottesville, and Kristin Foy, a longtime player from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, responded well to requests for interviews. All three individuals had played WoW for at least five years, so I had my panel of experts. I set about my goal of both playing and working at the same time until realizing my inability to play with only one hand when I took notes with the other.

Kristin Foy:

Q: What do you think of Legion so far?

A: It’s better than WoD (Warlords of Draenor, the prior expansion).

Q: What are some of the elements you like?

A: I like the world quests. World quests are better for earning reputation than grinds.

Q: How do you like the cinematics so far?

A: They shouldn’t have killed Wyrnn and Vol’jin like that. It’s like they’re just killing them off to kill them off. It’s not right. Then Ysera gets corrupted by a little stone. It just seems inconsistent with the power of her character.

Q: Overall, how would you rate this expansion?

A: Overall, I would give it an 8/10.

 

Matthew Ross:

Q: How are you liking Legion so far?

A: I like it so far.

Q: How is the PVP (player versus player)?

A: Arenas feel clunky. Mages and druids suck right now (Matthew plays both).

Q: Is there any favoritism towards demon hunters?

A: Demon hunters are getting favored in both PVP and PVE (player versus environment). That’s to be expected with any new class. I go into dungeons, and these demon hunters are pulling 550k damage.

Q: Which playstyle do you enjoy the most so far?

A: I mainly enjoy PVE.

 

Jessica Burruss:

Q: Did you preorder Legion?

A: I preordered for one of my accounts (she has three).

Q: What do you like most about Legion?

A: I like how the zones scale to character levels. It allows more time to explore.

Q: What level are you?

A: 107 (Burruss prioritized a trip to Canada with her boyfriend over WoW and fell behind).

 

Q: How do you like the cinematics?

A: I generally like them.

Q: How do you feel about the deaths of Wyrnn and Vol’jin.

A: Sad, especially about Vol’jin because he’s our Warchief.

Q: How do you feel about Sylvanas becoming Warchief?

A: You know I’ve always liked Sylvanas. It’s kind of like the goths are taking over.