World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Preview

The guys at RPGamer bring us a few more details about the new races being introduced in Blizzard’s recently announced World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion pack.

Speaking of werewolves, the Worgen are an impressive sight to behold and are actually Humans under an ancient curse, but you will find out more about that when you start Cataclysm at level one with this race. The transformation process from Human to Worgen looks like a slow and painful affair as you change into a Worgen one arm at a time before exploding into a puff of smoke.

I really like that you can switch between Human form and Worgen form whenever you aren’t in combat. It is mostly for aesthetic purposes, but it is still a nice touch. I also noticed how well-done the Worgen animations are. A few times during the game, my Worgen got on all fours and started sniffing the air for prey. It really does feel like they are half-human/half-beast.

The quests were also very unique in that as soon as you start off, the town is under siege from evil-looking ships along the coast. There was a clear battle line made up of NPCs and a quest-giver that were trying to hold back the enemies while sending off players to fight in the onslaught. The battle line was quite the sight to behold as wave after wave of respawning enemies clashed with a small army of Worgen Blizzcon attendees. It was really quite difficult to reach an enemy in time before someone else killed it or threw an exploding barrel at it. Still, the battle did a great job of setting the tone and feel of what a Worgen would have to deal with: enemies that are a mix of gruesome abominations and undead soldiers in elaborate skull armor.