World of Warcraft: The War Within Campaign Review

Carly Rick ‘27 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

After eight long years and multiple poorly received expansion campaigns, Chris Metzen has returned to World of Warcraft as its executive creative director for The War Within, the MMORPG’s tenth expansion pack. Last spearheading the critically acclaimed Legion expansion pack in 2016, Metzen’s The War Within—the first part of a trio of expansion packs known as ‘The Worldsoul Saga’—is very quickly shaping up to be the most return-to-formula expansion pack that players have seen in a while, in both a positive and negative way.

Spoilers Ahead.

The best Warcraft villains have a tendency of violently establishing they’re a threat. Arthas Menethil, the Lich King, destroys the large kingdoms of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas, and nearly kills a demonically empowered Illidan Stormrage. Garrosh Hellscream set in motion the bombing of the city of Theramore and the all-out war that followed. In The War Within, the ‘Harbinger of the Void,’ Xal’atath, sets the stage by utterly annihilating Dalaran, one of the most iconic locations in Warcraft. First appearing in the aforementioned Legion as a sentient blade that could be used by Shadow Priests, then getting a physical body in the following Battle for Azeroth expansion pack, Xal’atath is very reminiscent of the formerly omnipresent threat of the Old Gods and the Void. In lore, the four Old Gods are seen as some of the most dangerous threats Azeroth had to offer, but in game they’re mostly one-off villains who get defeated quickly in a raid after they’re introduced. This is the first time that a creature of the Void is the ‘big bad’ of an entire expansion pack, and Xal’atath brings the best barely-seen aspects of the Old Gods and amplifies them. She’s devious and ruthless, always seeming two steps ahead of our heroes at all times. One of her most notable puppets is the War Within’s first end raid boss, the Nerubian (AKA Warcraft’s spider-people) Queen Ansurek. Ansurek and the entirety of the Nerubian storyline seem almost Shakespearean in nature, with both Ansurek and a rebellion against her vying for control over the general public of Asj-Kahet. With a homicidal overthrow of the crown and her allegiance pledged to an evil higher power, Ansurek is very reminiscent of the Lich King, but her motives make her a very different character. She seems to genuinely care about her subjects and her empire, but is simply unwilling to wait for her kingdom to naturally flourish. 

In the other new regions of Khaz Algar, adventurers will meet the now-playable Earthen Dwarves and the Hallowfall Arathi. The Earthen Dwarves are not only the new ‘main race’ of the expansion pack, but easily the most memorable in terms of new lore. As servants created out of stone solely to serve the now-absent Titans, the Earthen are without masters and without purpose. They’re robotic in nature—constantly discussing ‘objectives’—but still incredibly human. This gradual character development is a standout of The War Within, and each Earthen you meet on your travels is extremely likeable. The Hallowfall Arathi, on the other hand, feels like the least important group. After so many expansion packs focusing on humans and the mystical Light, it makes what would otherwise be a somewhat entertaining story a very boring and forgettable one. Really, the only thing of note is Faerin Lothar, whose character traits are entirely dependent on what the story needs her to do. However, her interactions with the disgraced Alliance faction leader Anduin Wrynn—whose abandonment and eventual return to the Light is a standout—are easily some of the best in the expansion pack.

All in all, The War Within sets up a great story with an interesting villain, though it could very much do with some more development on the side of its new heroic characters.