by Jason Van Horn

I remember watching this past Blizzcon when Mists of Pandaria was revealed, along with some of the game's new features, and just simply wanting to roll my eyes. Playable pandas from basically a gag in one of the RTS games? A pet battling system that is nothing more than a Pokemon rip-off? Gamers love to talk about the "next World of Warcraft" or the "World of Warcraft killer," but with Blizzcon it looked like Blizzard was ready to kill its own creation by slapping on a leather jacket and staging its own Happy Days "jumping the shark" moment. I quit playing WOW and let it sit in the unconscious part of my mind, thinking every new game would be that thing to scratch my MMO itch. Knights of the Old Republic wasn't it. The Secret World wasn't either. Guild Wars 2 is fun though not my cup of tea. So when it came time for Mists of Pandaria to be released, I decided to jump back in the game, give the expansion a whirl, and see if my worst fears were realized. The only thing that ended up being realized was the fact that after taking a sabbatical, Blizzard has shown that they can take a seemingly hokey premise, polish it up until it's a sparkling diamond, and make me get addicted all over again. Is Mists of Pandaria - against all odds - Blizzard's best World of Warcraft expansion yet?



The main story consists of the mists surrounding Pandaria disappearing, allowing the lost continent to reveal itself, just in time for the Alliance and Horde to once again resume their long-time feud, and bring to Pandaria's shore their rivalry. The continent's discovery isn't by accident, however, as the events set to unfold have been prophesized for centuries and the raging war between the Alliance and Horde is just the catalyst that was needed to set the events into action. Alliance or Horde - what role will you play and whose side will you be on?
One of the big things about the expansion is that the level cap has been raised up five levels to the new cap of 90, which upon completion will net you the ability to fly in Pandaria whenever you want, unlock scenarios (three-man mini dungeon-esque runs centered more on story), dungeon challenges that have you attempting to clear them as fast as possible in order to top the leaderboards, as well as a new raid finder to help you get a PUG raid group together quicker than it used to take sitting in a main city and spamming chat over and over that you're looking for one.

Since so much is unlocked at level 90, a big chunk of the expansion is about exploring Pandaria all in the holy quest to ding that magical top level. Blizzard does an excellent job at carrot dangling and leading players from one area to the next, because the end of a group of quests almost always leads to where the next group will be, plus there are always levels to tempt you to keep on the quest lines as well as some pretty sweet loot in the process. The formula of the quests isn't much different than in the past, as you're still finding things or killing mobs for the most part, but by grouping many quest items in the same location, playing up the humor Blizzard is known for, tweaking quests just a bit, and giving a local story that is still fun to read about was enough to keep me glued to the computer and constantly pressing forward. Go get this? Go kill that? Sure! Even when it came to something as seemingly simple as helping a Pandaren craft the perfect beer in order to please his relatives, I was still enamored by the story and determined to help him make that beer. Plus, not everything is the standard run-of-the-mill quest, as you'll fight a giant Mothra inspired (err...moth), wrestle an eagle from the sky, help a farmer actually tend to his garden (planting crops, removing weeds, killing vermin - the works), play as other characters in order to experience story sequences as flashbacks, and much, much more.


Another big addition to the game is a new playable race (the Pandaren) and a new class (the Monk). It's easy to laugh and call the Pandaren stupid and a rip-off given the success of Kung-Fu Panda (despite the Pandaren appearing in game form before Kung-Fu Panda hit theaters), and yes, while there "is" some stupidity by way of their dancing, their lovable looks, big bellies that jiggle when they run, and a few other traits (like their love of beer) that are stereotyped unto them mostly because of NPC characters, I quickly fell in love with the new race as I have a fondness for martial arts and various Asian customs, looks, philosophical ways, etc. I even thought the Pandaren starting zone - an island that sits on the back of a constantly swimming turtle - was very unique and told a good story to set-up the arrival of the Alliance, Horde, and help explain why the Pandaren are able to be either a member of either faction. I rolled a Pandaren Monk (like I'm sure a lot of other people did) and sided them with the Horde simply because my Paladin is Alliance and I wanted a Horde character so that I could experience the game's story from that side too, but I almost immediately regretted the decision after being lambasted by Garrosh Hellscream upon arriving in Orgimmar for the very first time. Oh well, the price to pay for wanting to be a cute character on a faction so closely tied to ugliness (I'm not looking your way you Blood Elves).

Besides wanting to experience the new starting zone of the Pandaren race, I also created a new character so that I could check the game's new class out - the Monk. The Monk, given the setting for the new game and how closely many of its influences are tied into Asian culture, it's no surprise that the Monk is primarily built around martial arts, including a number of punches and kicks. The Monk uses energy and chi as its primary power sources, but depending on the specialization you could also be using mana too. The chi system for Monks works much like the various systems for some of the other classes, where you've got moves that will build chi (up to four balls of it can be stored) and then moves that can only be used by spending that chi. Take the Tiger Palm ability, for example, which costs one unit of chi to activate. In order to use the move, first you'd have to use a chi building move like Jab, which upon landing grants you one unit of chi (just enough to unleash Tiger Palm). The challenge of playing a Monk comes in the juggling of using energy to use a chi building move, knowing when and what chi move to use, and balancing energy moves so you're dealing damage and not simply standing still.



Now I've never been a fan of playing tanks or healers, but only because I generally suck at them and tanks and healers are always the ones to be blamed when something goes wrong. With that being said, when it came to choosing my first specialization I went the way of the Brewmaster, which is the tanking spec of the Monk class. The Brewmaster spec is a lot of fun, as you'll do things like use beer kegs to not only deal damage but grab aggro and keep it on you. The second spec I chose was that of the Mistweaver, which is the healing Monk spec in the game, and based around not only healing damage, but dealing it as well. One thing I never liked about healing (besides letting someone die because I wasn't good enough) is that I sometimes found it boring sitting on the backlines and mostly focusing on healing spells while only damaging the enemy from time-to-time. The Mistweaver is different in that you're encouraged to fight as you heal, as dealing damage to an enemy actually helps improve your healing efficiency; a mechanic that greatly does away with my least favorite aspect when it comes to healers. Finally there's the Windwalker specialization, which is a melee DPS spec that's all about getting on top of the enemy and punching and kicking them to death. A lot of people are grabbing Windwalker for leveling and then Brewmaster or Mistweaver depending on if they really want to tank or heal more than anything, but my Monk will be the first character I have to be both a tank and a healer, so I should be able to jump into a queue or run with ease as those roles are always wanted.

One change Mists of Pandaria brought is how characters level-up and how one character spec differentiates itself from someone of the same spec; the system is flawed, but not without its good ideas. On the good side of things, once the proper level is reached, you no longer have to go run to your trainer to learn a new ability, as it's now instantly given to you. I also like that by giving players talents every 15-levels and doing away with the trees, it feels like the player is able to freely choose between the three skills and still feel viable (in the past it felt like if you were going to play a Retribution Paladin, for example, you had to build your character one way and one way only). A few of the early choices for each class don't feel too different from each other, such as each of the three options boiling down to giving you a movement increase, but later choices allow for the selection of one of three distinct and different abilities. The major downfall to this system is the lack of satisfaction that comes from reaching many of the game's levels now; when you ding, it's all too common to stare at the center of your screen, waiting to see what new ability or option you've unlocked, and find that the only thing that happened is your level number changed. It's just disappointing to hear that congratulatory ding and not have anything come from it.



The game's Pet Battle system was the single feature that most turned me off of Mists of Pandaria's potential at the recent Blizzcon, as you could almost hear the audience's eyes rolling at what seemed like a premature April Fool's Day prank. It sounded like a Pokemon rip-off then and it's still a Pokemon rip-off, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as it's more streamlined and easier to get into than Pokemon (I get so bored of the grind I rarely finish any of them anymore). Whenever you see a green paw print on your mini-map or in the world, by right-clicking you can engage in that battle in order to beat the pet for experience or attempt to capture it for your menagerie. Pets learn new moves as they level-up, they have their own strengths and weaknesses, and come in various rarities, which makes you want to keep searching for that rare version of every pet out there if you really get into the system. Pet Battles are a fun new addition and by using the game's finder it's easy to get paired up against another player for a battle, but overall I never "sought" pets or battles out and instead only dabbled here and there whenever I happened to cross the path of one.

Mists of Pandaria also include a few new dungeons, raids, and two new PVP battlegrounds (one has you protecting automated minecarts and the other holding onto orbs to score points and win). One negative thing about the expansion is that besides giving players the Pandarens as a new race and the Monk as a new class, there's very little to entice new players to World of Warcraft. Newcomers can partake in Pet Battles after a bit of gold earning, but having a snake fight a prairie dog pales in comparison to experiencing the 85-90 and endgame content. I love playing as the new Monk class, but if I didn't have my level 85 Paladin waiting for me when the expansion released, I'd find it hard justifying a purchase just for the "potential" to see the later content (you could always grow bored before you even got near the cap) and only getting a new class guaranteed.



We've all heard the complaints about World of Warcraft when it comes to the game "showing its age," and while other more recent MMOs certainly beat the game when it comes to realism, Blizzard still takes the cake for me when looking at a game world and taking in not just the realistic component, but also the aesthetic and creative one as well. The world of Pandaria is diverse and simply stunning, as you'll traipse through jungles, traverse rolling fields of farm land, behold the brilliant gold and rich reds of luxurious trees, and see the various architectural monuments that populate Pandaria. World of Warcraft's "cartoony" graphics aren't realistic, but I'd rather take charming, whimsical, and magically spellbinding any day of the week; the only thing better than how the game looks is how the game sounds. The game features quite a bit of vocal content, which is told through in-game cinematics for the most part. The voice acting is strong, but it's the fantastic musical score that really sets the mood of the game and makes you feel like you're exploring the Asian-influenced world of Pandaria. The folks at Blizzard used a lot of traditional Asian instruments throughout the new expansion and the calming, Zen feeling that the game brings on while you're questing is matched by no other MMO out there that I've played.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria has a few very minor flaws, but as a whole package - as long as you're primarily coming into the expansion in order to experience the level 85-90 content - Mists of Pandaria is probably the best expansion yet that Blizzard has released. Cataclysm had more bang for your buck when it came to giving people all along the 1-85 spectrum stuff to partake in, but I'll take a new class like the Monk and the sheer wonder of Pandaria.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5