"More addictive than McDonald's fries?"
World of Warcraft (or WoW as I like to call it) is the game that all MMORPG fans have been waiting for. Ever since the days of rolling dice in D&D, RPG players have been leveling up, collecting items, and defeating evil monsters. WoW is no exception to this tradition. I have been playing WoW for about 4 days, and my lvl 10 night elf druid has been the only thing in my mind. Before you even consider purchasing this game (or even playing the free trial), let me first say that this game is VERY VERY VERY VERY addicting.

A RANDOM ANTICDOTE EXPLAINING HOW ADDICTIVE WoW CAN BE!!!!!

In fact, I estimate that about one half an hour of "playing time" (how long you think you've been playing for), is about 1.5-2 hours in REAL LIFE. Thus, I could sit down at my PC at about 3:00 PM , saying "well, i think ill only play for about 20 minutes". about an hour or so later I might look at the clock and see that the time, is in fact 4:30 PM. Then I may say to myself, "WTF!? That was NOT 1.5 hours!", and I may start yelling more incomprehensible gibberish. Then again, if you really have nothing better to do for the next few hours, why not play WoW?

GRAPHICS- 9/10
The graphics in WoW may not be as good technicaly as Everquest II or Guild Wars, but the art design makes up for the outdated graphics. The world looks truly amazing. The trees, houses, monsters, all look unique in their own individual special way. The houses in the night elf city of Darnassus look wooden and purple, while the castles in the human cities look very neat and stoneish and whatever else a castle might look like. Also, no two towns look the same. They all have landmarks that are easy to recognize so you know where you are just by looking around. It's all the good stuff like that which really stands out when your playing WoW.

SOUND- 10/10
The sound in WoW is really well recorded. The sound effects all come in to play at the appropriate time, wheather it be a sword hitting a wildabeast or footsteps on a paved road. The music is also really good, with a flute or birds or song or something in the forest, and trumpet or something cheery when your in a city. One thing I did notice was that a lot of the sound FX are from Warcraft III. That isnt a bad thing though, since the audio in Warcraft III was pretty good. I think it fit since the game was supposed to be related to Warcraft III. All in all, everything looks good in the audio department.

VALUE- 10/10
I think that WoW gives tons of value to any player, wheater it be a LvL one newbie or a Lvl 60 veteran. You grow attatched to your character, and everything you have, so you tend to treat your items as if it were real life. WoW really immerses the player into this world, and gives players a sence of excitement and adventure that everyone craves. WoW also lasts a long long time, and since it never ends, playing WoW never really ends, either.

GAMEPLAY- 10/10
WoW plays like any other RPG, and it is turn based. That doesnt mean the action is slow, because the player often needs to comand their character to perform different spells that are unique to their class. Characters can also pick up two professions, such as mining, herbing, fishing, cooking, alchemy, etc. These profesions individualize the character, and give them something else to do in the game. There are tons of quests availible to the character, ranging from easy quests to ridiculously difficult quests. They give your character XP, and are a must if you want to level up quickly. All of the options the player has in WoW gives them a great sense of freedom. The PVP mode works great, with contested territories bieng laid across the map for players to fight eachother in on PVP servers. Thers also the horde vs alliance thing, giving you a "team" to fight for. Theres some stuff about battlegrounds to. Just go to worldofwarcraft.com and see for yourself, im too lazy to type it all out.

Overall- 10/10
WoW is truly a great game. Although the 15 dollars a month is pretty steep considering its just a game, it does offer enough to make the game worth the cost. So if your looking for a budget friendly game go buy Guild wars and knock yourself out. Meanwhile, everyone else in WoW will be having a great time questing and slaying wildabeasts.