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GamePro has posted a retrospective review of World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment. The review focuses on the changes wrought upon the game world by the recently released Cataclysm expansion, noting how the new player experience has been improved.

Anyone now buying the first World of Warcraft game will not be able to play the original game old WoW players grew up with. They will instead play the new, redesigned World of Warcraft experience: a post-Cataclysm world where questlines have been redesigned and tightened. Where the leveling structure is intuitive and much more logical. Where new players are led through the game in a way that makes it much, much more enjoyable and fun. And where there is a lot less wandering around getting lost, or becoming frustrated, or running halfway across the world to deliver an item that then yields a tiny amount of experience for the effort involved.

The new WoW delivers its story in a much more successful way, and makes the player feel more involved. Questlines are tighter. The presentation is improved. There’s virtually no "grinding" -- your character develops and evolves naturally and progressively. And best of all, leveling up is much, much faster. Where it took initial WoW players months to get to 60, now it takes a few weeks – even if playing casually, and if you know what you’re doing, much less time than that. Overall, post-Cataclysm WoW is a much, much better experience for beginners, and as a consequence, a much, much better game.

GamePro: World of Warcraft Review

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