World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector’s Edition
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector’s Edition
- Art of the Cataclysm art book, featuring 176 pages of never-before-seen images from the archives of the Blizzard cinematics department and the World of Warcraft development team, as well as progressive visuals from multiple stages of development.
- Exclusive in-game pet: he may not be a breaker of worlds just yet, but Lil’ Deathwing will still proudly accompany heroes on their struggle to save Azeroth from his much, much larger counterpart.
- Behind-the-scenes DVD with over an hour of developer interviews and commentaries, as well as a special Warcraft retrospective examining the rich gaming history of the Warcraft universe.
- Soundtrack featuring 17 epic new tracks from Cataclysm, including exclusive bonus tracks.
- Special-edition mouse pad depicting Deathwing menacing the ravaged continents of Azeroth.
An ancient evil lies dormant within Deepholm, the domain of earth in the Elemental Plane. Hidden away in a secluded sanctuary, the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing has waited, recovering from the wounds of his last battle against Azeroth and biding his time until he can reforge the world in molten fire. Soon, Deathwing the Destroyer will return to Azeroth, and his eruption from Deepholm will sunder the world, leaving a festering wound across the continents. As the Horde and Alliance race to the
List Price: $ 79.99
Price: $ 69.89
For the hardcore fan,
This review is for the contents of the collectors edition package, not the game itself.
The 175 page art book is fantastic. It’s hardback and has a nice protective sleeve covering it. The sleeve depicts Deathwing as seen on the Cataclysm website. The concepts and literature inside are great to read/view and it’s really cool to see the artistic visuals of all the new NPCs, clothing items, zones and even stills from the cinematic trailer. Many pieces of art depict several different stages of concept certain characters passed through over the period the expansion was developed. Some pieces give a visual representation of events that have transpired and affected the current storyline (there is a piece showcasing the Garrosh/Cairne duel which ultimately ended in.. well i won’t spoil that one for you
) The artwork is just really cool. Blizzard certainly has some very talented artists working for them. Various letters written by characters in game are peppered throughout the pages which give insight to the events which have happened and served to shape the new world since the shattering. While not essential for casual fans, they are still a great read for those who love the lore behind World of Warcraft and the book is a wonderful addition of graphic art to any person’s collection.
The soundtrack features 17 absolutely phenomenal orchestral tracks from in game. I’m a huge fan of the music of World of Warcraft and the new tracks are very beautifully done and really invoke a real sense of “epicness”. The title track is the best its been since the vanilla days (it even incorporates the original Legends of Azeroth theme), and the addition of revamped tracks from old world zones like Elywnn forest and Durotar are a nice, nostalgic touch. I enjoyed the score from Wrath of the Lich King but i think i enjoy this one much more.
Also included:
- In game Lil’ Deathy companion pet. He has a welp model, but looks like a midgit-fied Deathwing. every character you’ll ever start again will receive him along with a feat of strength. Standard and digital versions of Cataclysm will not receive this pet.
- Mouse pad depicting Deathwing looking upon the ravaged continents of Azeroth. I use an optical mouse so i really have no use for a mouse pad, but it may very well serve as a nice showpiece for any player looking to add a little flavor to their desktop.
- Wrathgate starter deck with a Landro’s Gift loot card. Not really useful to me since i don’t play the trading card game, but the loot card can provide a very lucrative reward if you’re lucky. For instance, one of the possible obtainable items when you receive your gift box is a swift spectral tiger, which bar none is the rarest mount in game and very expensive if purchased from anywhere else. I wasn’t lucky, and only got Papa Hummel’s pet biscuits.
- Behind the scenes DVD featuring insight into the development of Cataclysm, which is about an hour long. I haven’t watched it yet, but i would say it’s a fair guess that the DVD is top notch. No hardcore fan of the game would pass up the chance to see how the creative process at Blizzard works, since we rarely if ever have a chance to outside of blue posts.
** After writing this review i was able to watch the DVD in it’s entirety. Let me tell you, i didn’t expect much going in but by the end my expectations were well exceeded. There is a lot of information packed into this disc and Blizzard went into great detail about all of the changes that were made and explained a lot of the secrets behind their programming magic. There are thorough explanations behind why old world flying was never included in the last 2 expansions, the reasoning and logic behind many of the zone changes, and the developer’s went into great detail on the process of creating new zones for this expansion, the challenges they faced in creating content that would rival or exceed what we saw With wrath and their desires to create an experience that was rewarding not just for new fans but for old veterans of the game as well. Also discussed on the disc was the process behind creating the cinematic movie for the expansion ( a project that proved to be far more challenging than i ever thought it was), Warcraft History and a plethora of interviews by developers and artists associated with the World of Warcraft.
- And the expansion itself, which comes on 1 DVD disc. The beauty of this expansion is that the bulk of the material was already patched in before release, so all players really needed to do was provide their activation codes and wait until the servers went live. since all the content can be digitally downloaded once your account has been upgraded, the DVD is more or less a means to reinstall the game without an internet connection.
The package is very sturdy and well put together. All the items that come with it rest in little…
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|Everything Old is New Again,
Azeroth sure is a crowded place. It seems everywhere you turn there’s a nearly immortal creature under the sway of an ancient, horrible tentacle god from below our feet or a malevolent, cosmic demon lord from beyond the stars. Once again, the world’s many mortal heroes will lace up their (now green) boots and start the process of vanquishing evil one boss at a time all over again. Is it worth the trek over the ruined yet familiar landscapes of WoW yore? You bet, and then some.
The theme of Cataclysm is change. Being six years old, World of Warcraft has clout. It has established memes, fondly remembered zones, questlines, characters and inside jokes. The latest expansion fully exploits this and works hard to get their dedicated fans into a nostalgia fumigated frenzy. Remember that one guy you may remember once rescuing from an Orc cave in Redridge Mountains five years ago? Now he’s your best friend and shameless Rambo reference for an epic questline. Do you remember Old Blanchy? I have bad news for you. Thankfully someone’s on the case. Just like Deathwing himself ripping out from under the earth to settle unfinished business, WoW itself is coming back to these old story threads, old locations and old enemies to give them the resolution they deserve.
Yes, many of the old zones are redone, changed both physically by the presence of Deathwing and the updated game design philosophy of Blizzard. Gone are the days of frustrating fetch and kill quests (though they are still present, much less in abundance) and sketchy zone transitions. No more with the harsh, slow trekking that served only as a timesink in the past. Leveling, talent trees, riding skills, character skills, etc have all been streamlined to allow more of what players actually like to do: progress their character in a fun and entertaining way so that by the time they reach max level, they might actually miss the high quality questing they’d been doing.
As with every expansion, class mechanic revisions and new spells have essentially made World of Warcraft a new game all over again. Guild levels, perks, and achievements will help solidify a real community experience within the game, which is good, because you’ll need a tightly knit group to survive some of the game’s PvE challenges. Having played many heroics and a few raid encounters in the beta, I am happy to say that Blizzard has really gone to great lengths to challenge veterans and cajole newcomers into learning the ropes at the same time. Epics are harder to attain and give a greater sense of accomplishment than with WotLK, and heroic mode bosses right from the first tier of content add a further degree of satisfaction for die-hards.
Alongside this are the tried and true profession updates, including Archeology, a new secondary profession that unlocks bonus items. Two brand new races, the Worgen and the Goblins, are available for the Alliance and Horde respectively. Thousands of new items, five new zones, hundreds of new, engaging quests, brand new music for almost every area, and the same Blizzard spit and polish we’ve known for years ensure any MMO fan’s dedication to the cause of saving Azeroth from certain destruction. So get cracking, guys. The Aspect of Death is not in the business of vanquishing himself.
{FEEL FREE TO HARRASS}
Kaku, Shattered Hand
Pundit, Shattered Hand
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|More please,
Honestly if you’re looking at getting the collectors edition of this it’s because you already play and know how great the game is and will be. I bought the CE for one thing and one thing only, the superb art book that is included. It alone is worth the additional money you spend for the CE with it’s high quality artwork and construction. The mouse pad, in-game pet, making of dvd, soundtrack and trading card game cards are just added little bonuses. The art books blizzard puts out are so good that I would purchase them individually even if I didn’t play all of their games.
Basically if you love art and especially blizzards art this is worth it. Also, the in-game pet is neat.
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