Recently Thunderbolt reviewed the game World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

What Wrath of the Lich King aims to do is improve and expand upon these concepts – further still, after the initial expansion release of The Burning Crusade – in an attempt to please the dedicated players and newcomers alike. And oh does it deliver.

Everything that the original World of Warcraft and its first expansion, The Burning Crusade brought to the table has been expanded and improved on greatly in Blizzard’s newest expansion: a level cap of 80, hundreds of new quests, a new profession, an achievement system, new dungeons, the continent of Northrend, and a new “hero” class: The Death Knight. I’ll dive into the details of all these new features in an attempt to welcome the veterans to the shores of Northrend, and to welcome newcomers to the lands of Azeroth.

What Wrath of the Lich King aims to do on the continent of Northrend is immerse the player into the quests. What was once a task now feels like a goal. What was once a chore is now immersive and interesting. As you explore the new lands of Northrend you will quickly realize that the requests of your common quest-giver now stray from the path of standard fare and lean more in the direction of story expansion, making the player feel like they are affecting the world that they inhabit. What’s even more spectacular is how successfully Blizzard managed to pull this off, given the vast numbers of players populating the world at any one time.

Work to add a new member to your given faction (be it Alliance or Horde), converge on enemy strongholds and battle to capture them, and ultimately, scale the icy peaks of Icecrown to bring down the Lich King: Arthas. If you have to grant the folks down at Blizzard at least one major success, it’s the depth and solidity of their lore, and how this aspect of story telling has been integrated into the questing system. With Illidan down following the events of The Burning Crusade, it seems only appropriate that Arthas and his scourge is the next target. What this goes to show is that minor details do wonders for immersing a player into a world that’s not their own, be it quest-completion initiated cinematics, environment altering outcomes, or voices in your Death Knight’s head urging you forward.

Regarding the Death Knight, allow me to introduce you – if you haven’t already been formally acquainted – with Blizzard’s first “hero class”. What separates World of Warcraft’s first new class and hero class from the rest? Those familiar with Blizzard’s successful Warcraft 3 strategy game will be familiar with the hero units, and the Death Knight has been the lucky first chosen unit to be represented in Blizzard’s online role-playing game. However, the title of hero comes with a cost. The Death Knight hero class begins at level 55, and requires a character of the same level to exist on your account - a small price to pay for the interesting new features that the Death Knight brings to the table.

As a disciple of the Death Knight Arthas, you are born (or resurrected) as your chosen race as an instrument of his bidding, which in Arthas’ case is evil. As you play through the initial quests in the exclusive Death Knight zone, Ebon Hold, you will experience some of Blizzard’s most astounding quest-detail work. From voices in your head urging you to kill innocent peasants, to a gripping task of murder, the Death Knight is introduced both to the world and to players as a keen tool of chaos and discord amongst Azeroth. As the game’s first plate-wearing hybrid tanking class (tanking with a two-handed weapon rather than a shield), the death Knight excels at quickly downing casters and suppressing melee damage, and is sure to please the crowd who felt that their warrior tank didn’t pack enough of a punch. The introduction of the hero class has set a new stage for the World of Warcraft and has left players craving more and speculating on what the next hero class will be.

With a highly improved and immersive questing system, a new profession to master, a largely PvP focused zone, a level-cap of 80, and a devious new class to play, fans of World of Warcraft will be greeted with a multitude of new reasons to sell their souls and their time to Blizzard’s outrageously successful online RPG. Those concerned with picking up a copy and being forced to contest with over-crowded zones and starting areas can put their stresses to ease. Blizzard has very successfully managed to control and filter the large waiting time that players faced in The Burning Crusade by creating two distinct starting zones for Northrend. Also being introduced is a player-specific starting zone for the Death Knight, which escalates into the player-inhabited world of Azeroth after a specific series of quests have been completed by the player leading up to level 60.

It’s safe to say that Blizzard has learned from their past mistakes, and the outcome is an expansion pack that delivers on every front of the casual or hardcore online gamer’s expectations. Readers beware: This is one online game that hooks you in and doesn’t let go without some kind of heavily organized intervention or your inability to pay the $15 monthly charge. Good luck.