WoW The War Within review - the best Blizzard’s MMO has been in years

Our Verdict

Despite its shockingly short story, World of Warcraft: The War Within is the most confident and slick Blizzard's MMO has been in years.

Reviewing an MMO expansion like WoW: The War Within is a difficult proposition. Two things are working against you – the first is knowing any look at the game is only a snapshot, a moment frozen in amber, with future updates twisting and changing it beyond recognition. The second is the weight of 20 years of history pressing against you, with the current game being a gestalt entity formed through a series of decisions running back two decades.

So while it’s impossible to review an MMORPG expansion in its entirety, it is possible to look at what World of Warcraft: The War Within is right now at launch, and what it does well. Thankfully, this is the most confident WoW has been in a very long time, with a storytelling style and an array of features that speak to a culling of self-doubt at Blizzard.

This expansion aims to welcome lapsed players back after years out in the cold. As someone who found himself driven away by Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands, it feels like The War Within is aimed directly at me. You can tell by the game’s advertising – constantly exhorting us to get back in the fight – with Blizzard knowing that due to time, life, and myriad other reasons, our WoW subscriptions have paused and we haven’t set foot in Azeroth for a while.

The War Within deploys new systems designed to make the MMO more approachable to an aging audience and those who don’t have a raiding guild, free weekends to spend in-game, or the ability to do a full dungeon without having to run off and change a diaper. It’s now a more grown-up proposition, aware of the time burden it can place on the player, and putting choice over what experience you want to have front and center.

Delves, for example, are a solo and group activity that give you 15 minutes of an adventure, Diablo-style, full of mini-raid mechanics, loot, and a slice of story. They’re the expansion’s high point, with each featuring unique challenges and several difficulty levels, giving you repeatable, roguelike-adjacent activities to plow through. With tons dotted around the map, the promise of updates for them, and even an overarching upgrade system and narrative, they’ll keep anyone busy for a long time to come.

Follower Dungeons let you complete instances without having to gather a group, with NPCs who’ll either follow your lead or tell you where to go, while Warbands let you share progress between a few of your characters. There’s even an incoming ‘Story Mode’ feature for raids, letting you get the highlights from raiding without having to actually, well, raid.

These systems wouldn’t matter a jot if the narrative and world didn’t provide reasons to engage with them. It’s just as well that the tale woven throughout The War Within is already up there with some of Blizzard’s best, and the new zones, characters, and quests all back them up gloriously. New-ish villain Xal’atath is especially worthy of mention – appearing throughout each zone like Arthas in Wrath of the Lich King – though we still have more questions than answers right now.

When you start The War Within, you’ll first head off to everyone’s favorite floating city Dalaran before teleporting to the Isle of Dorn thanks to some visions courtesy of Azeroth-whisperer Magni. I won’t spoil what happens at this point, but it’s one of the more explosive and impactful intros to a WoW expansion. From there it continues knocking the ball out of the park, with each zone boasting its own mini storyline that builds on the overarching Xal’atath threat. My favorite is the questline running through The Ringing Deeps, which enriches the lore around the Earthen, a race I swiftly grew to love.

These Titan-forged proto-dwarves make up the majority of the NPCs you’ll meet throughout the first two zones, and despite being a little robotic at times, they have some admirable depth. There’s a real tension at play with them in a world bereft of Titan influence, with many clinging to tradition and ancient commands, while others look to embrace a growing affinity for free will, with this collision occasionally ending tragically. One quest in particular early on in the Isle of Dorn will have you weeping, so get the tissues ready if you encounter someone called Korgran.

There are four new factions to court during your travels: two Earthen, the subterranean remnants of an Arathi expedition, and another aligned with the arachnid Nerubians. Each of these comes fully formed and packed with character, with plenty to differentiate them. Blizzard has also nailed the setting. Everyone will be talking about Hallowfall, which calls to mind the best parts of Northrend, but Azj Kahet and the Isle of Dorn are no slouches in the looks department either. The only zone that feels lackluster is The Ringing Deeps, but without it, Hallowfall might not shine as brightly.

While WoW: The War Within is assured and largely excellent, there are a couple of sour points. I’ve waxed lyrical about the expansion’s narrative but, at launch, it is almost hilariously short. You can blast through most of it in an evening before being left with a quest log telling you to wait for more. I feel a little short-changed, especially since much of the storyline is just setup for the future. You meet the new factions and characters and get to see what Xal’atath has been up to, but the story shudders to a halt just as it starts to pick up.

It’s also an extremely Alliance-heavy story, with Alleria, Anduin, Magni, and Moira all taking center stage for the majority of the action. While that all makes sense in context – if you’re dealing with Earthen and Titans, you’d expect to have some dwarves with you – it feels like the ‘War’ part of ‘Warcraft’ is fully buried with everyone happily working together. The only Horde member around is Thrall, and apart from a brief cameo near the start of the expansion, he’s pretty much MIA.

The last cause for concern with The War Within is its new systems. While they’re all solid additions that can only help the game grow more approachable, they may also serve to isolate players from each other. It’s now possible to play WoW almost completely as a single-player game, never interacting with another player unless you choose to. While that has its place and should bring more into the fold, the first two Ms in MMORPG are becoming increasingly redundant.

Yet this is still a true return to form and shows Blizzard firing on almost all cylinders. Casual players have more than ever to get stuck into and returning vets will find it’s the best jumping-on point WoW’s ever had. Quibbles aside, The War Within fulfills the redemption Dragonflight started while laying out a solid foundation for the game’s future.