World of Warcraft Classic Critic Reviews

The WoW Classic experience is so unique to the industry that it's bound to generate discussion well beyond its first two weeks of release. Blizzard delivered on exactly what it was supposed to, and WoW Classic is, in that regard, perfect. That doesn't mean it's the perfect game - just that it's a perfect game for a specific group of people, and maybe a very good game for those who will come after. Frankly, it's remarkable that something so inherently offensive to modern-day MMORPG sensibilities has the audaciousness to be this incredible.

WoW Classic is far more than a historical novelty, and the incredible design shines through even today. It may seem odd to play an MMO, a genre that hinges on the constant promise of an evolving future, with an ostensibly finite lifespan as updates take us to where WoW ended before the Burning Crusade, but WoW Classic proves that there’s so much to be experienced in that journey. With WoW Classic available to anyone with a WoW subscription, it’s an adventure worth taking – whether again or for the first time.

Despite all its flaws, World of Warcraft Classic is one of the best MMORPGs that you can play. This is proof of an excellent game, but it also shows that mmorpgs as a whole stand still.

World of Warcraft is a nostalgic masterpiece which brings the world back in its original state. Fans were eager to return and Classic shows why. It's an MMO in the purest sense, with all its charms and downfalls.

WoW is back with the classic experience. It’s hard, it’s rough… and it’s beautiful. A great way to rediscover the most important MMO ever made.

A well-implemented redux of a moment in time, which may surprise you with its engaging focus on leveling and the friendliness of its players.

World of Warcraft Classic is still the exact same MMO I remembered losing so many nights to as a teenager, and 15 years later it's still just as fun and as frustrating as I'd hoped it would be.

Quotation forthcoming.

WoW Classic is a great trip down memory lane into a more quiet but also more rugged Azeroth, including all classic problems and faults.

Repeating the same title that came out fifteen years ago, in an almost slavish way, has done nothing but silence the small but noisy part of the community that, for years, has been clamoring for the origins of Azeroth, annoyed by the excessive simplification of the title.

World of Warcraft went through many changes over the years, for better and for worse. That leaves Classic feeling conflicted, both a rose-tinted dream and a dated mess.

World of Warcraft: Classic is a great game. It always has been. But I definitely think Blizzard might have missed the mark when it comes to securing the interest of their player base in the future.

One of the best mmorpg in the world returns with more force than ever. A perfect engineering work getting bringing the game as it was in the past with little change but with graphical improvements. The World of Warcraft we all wanted is here.

Classic looks like "Friends" to me: Although I have seen all the episodes x times, every few years I have to go back to Central Perk!

WoW Classic offers exactly what fans wanted – an untouched version of a game that came out fifteen years ago... warts and all. Thankfully, Classic captures much of the magic that made the game such a phenomenon in the first place. Whether fans will still overlook this in the months to come remains to be seen, but for now it's a fantastic trip down memory lane.

When the brunt of your game consists of slamming buttons to fight off beasts, you better make it feel good to distract us from the repetitive nature of it all.

WoW Classic targets the original WoW player base, the same player base that’s been playing since the game released in 2004, so if you started playing WoW at later expansions, like Cataclysm, or Mist of Pandaria, it may not hit you with the same nostalgia as so many other WoW veterans. I guess one could argue that the difference between WoW Classic and retail is, simply put, accessibility. What takes hours in WoW Classic, can take 20min or less in retail WoW. Which begs the question, does having a more or less accessible game make for a better or worse experience? This is the question I pose to you the reader. Ponder it and let us know what you think in the comments below.

The best thing about Classic is that it will evolve, and you can join in at any point without too much fuss.

World of Warcraft Classic does everything it set out to do. It recreates a faithful snapshot of a moment in time, the 1.12 patch in vanilla WoW, with a few engineering conveniences quietly built in. I’ve also seen a few signs of better player behavior bleeding over into the modern game. What happens next is impossible to guess, but this is the sort of fascinating experiment that helps root out what people love in a game, and what might make them come back. And that data is worth its weight in gold, both fictional and otherwise.