Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 53 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 636 Ratings

  • Summary: In Cataclysm, players witness the face of Azeroth being altered forever, as the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing awakens from his subterranean slumber and erupts onto the surface, leaving ruin and destruction in his wake. As the Horde and Alliance race to the epicenter of the cataclysm, the kingdoms of Azeroth will witness seismic shifts in power, the kindling of a war of the elements, and the emergence of unlikely heroes who will rise up to protect their scarred and broken world from utter devastation. New features in the game's third expansion include: Two New Playable Races: Adventure as the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde. Increased Level Cap: Advance to level 85 and earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to customize characters. Classic Zones Remade: Quest to level 60 as you never have before. Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been reforged by the cataclysm and updated with new quests and content. Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms from a whole new perspective. Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements. New High-Level Content: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great sunken city of Vashj'ir beneath the sea, and enjoy even more high-level raid content than in previous expansions. New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds. Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards. New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations. [Blizzard Entertainment] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
  1. Dec 23, 2010
    100
    If you're looking to run through the newly busted-up Azeroth with a fresh character, you won't find a better excuse to re-roll than the inclusion of playable Goblins and Worgen in Cataclysm.
  2. Dec 25, 2010
    100
    Cataclysm doesn't just make WOW better. It does something even more valuable than that; it renews it. It fires your excitement at starting on that long road one more time, and invites you to relish the journey just as much as you'll lose yourself in its ending.
  3. Dec 22, 2010
    100
    Cataclysm is a love letter to fans of World of Warcraft, as it celebrates everything that made the original game so successful while carefully updating the old game to the new standard of play that Blizzard has set.
  4. Dec 10, 2010
    86
    Only time will tell how long this can hold your attention, but the game's early moments promise an epic experience.

See all 53 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 204
  2. Negative: 90 out of 204
  1. 10
    Every area has been redone, and if not completely redone, then slightly convenienced. The quest flow is amazing now! Start a Human and go thru Elwynn, Westfall, and Redridge. By the end of the three regions, each with their unique stories (well Elwynn is much the same), you will agree with me. Much better than classic. Everything continues to grow as the years go on Expand
  2. The World of Warcraft has changed for the better it is more streamlined and far more easy to to follow, the game now explicitly tells you the best spots to be at your level. many see this as hand holding and an absolutely massive blow the the game's quality i find that rather absurd making a game less confusing is not making it worse and in some ways not even making it less difficult but rather simply less tedious. Another aspect of the game that i find highly improved is they way gilds have been reworked. Lets face it this is an MMO you are supposed to play it with others complaining that you can not solo parts is like complain about the lack of race race cars in a fighting game. This gives a guild actual benefits and rewards you for advancing your guild making the for a more cohesive game.

    My only complaint is that Outlands and Notherrend are absolutely untouched even a slight touch up to the 2 would have been a nice change of pace.
    Expand
  3. There's the development team and the artists to be commended. They have truly put in a lot of their time into constructing this. However, there are weak points that truly disappointed me, which many people here have stated. I will be awaiting the next expansion, and truly hope, Blizzard have heard our pleas and improve the game. Expand
  4. 1
    I liked this game when I was leveling. It was very tedious because quests were just a simple go there and complete a few quests there and then go there and complete a few quests there. But it was still fun. However, this tediousness made the game almost unplayable with more than 1 character to level. Because the second time running all this just like the first time, was extremely boring and it felt more like work. I never leveled more than 2 chars because of that. I gave up with the 3rd on level 81.

    Anyway, the atmosphere, scenery and story line was really well done. But again, there was something that made it uglier: The viewing distance. In WotLK you could customize it to like 1700 and the game instantly looked sooooo much better. But on Cata they axed that and 1250 or something was maximum. The game had DX10 effects, yes, but those were completely negated by the lower viewing distance.

    When I reached 85 I still had lots to do, like raising reputations, getting PvP gear and running heroics, which were really challenging at the start. But only a few weeks after came the patches and attempts to balance. They failed horribly in every aspect, so much worse than Ive ever seen before in this game. It was like a completely different company was in charge all of the sudden. This was no WoW anymore. It became more and more apparent to me that this was more like a Facebook game now. Far too easy, no balance and boring as hell.

    After a few more days I gave up because even the last straw, PvP, wasnt enjoyable anymore, even though it hold me a very long time before. Leveling new and other characters was boring even with a semi-new world, because I simply didnt want to run the Cata zones again. They were just boring as hell. I felt an aversion to those zones like I never felt before.

    I liked what they did to PvP gear, because I never liked Arena games, but when the balance is so bad, even nice equipment wont keep me playing.

    1 point because it was fun the first time leveling to 85, and a few weeks more after that in the challenging 5p instances. But overall it destroyed WoW. Not like TBC or WotLK (I actually liked those apart from the DK bias at the start), but it literally destroyed WoW. Not only because you wont ever see the old world again, which I already missed after playing Cata for a few weeks, but also the gameplay. WoW, even with TBC and WotLK, was challenging, fun to play even when you reached max level, even if it was just for PvP. But after Cata almost nothing was left of all that. Cata transformed WoW into a feint shadow of its former self. I felt like something was stolen from me. I put so much time into my chars only to see them "balanced" to boredom, simplicity and seeing abilities taken away that I loved for 4-6 years.

    After I read about MOP it felt like they are doing an Aprils fools joke. But they actually meant it. Even more dumbed down, even less control and customization for your char, even more cutting down old and nice features, even less freedom, even more childish artwork and Facebook like features, etc, etc, etc. That was the wooden stake into the Vampires heart. Its over. Dead. Gone.
    I would feel ashamed if I was a Blizzard employee.
    Expand

See all 204 User Reviews

Related Articles

  1. The Disconnect: When Gamers Disagree With Critics

    The Disconnect: When Gamers Disagree With Critics Image
    Published: May 4, 2011
    The release of Portal 2 exposed a divide between game critics and users. While that title's user scores have rebounded, others haven't. We take a look at the games with the biggest score differentials between professional reviewers and gamers.