My favourite game of 2012 is the expansion to the monumental World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Selling 2.7 million copies in its first week alone the latest expansion quickly became one of my favourite places to quest, and although I was hesitant with certain aspects such as the pet battle system, my achievement whore tendencies quickly took over.
Having played WoW for over 6 years Mists of Pandaria became the first expansion to excite me since I first started playing. The first time I got to experience Burning Crusade made the previous 60 levels worth it, but since then it hasn’t had the same grip.
Pandaria introduces a new continent for players, a stack of new storylines as well as the new Monk class – not forgetting all the new dungeons and raids.
But why exactly is it my favourite game of 2012?
What can I say; any opportunity to play new content makes me ecstatically happy, and the storylines have kept me gripped and actually wanting to do dailies beyond where I am exalted.
The political turmoil that has unfolded in the Horde camp since Pandaria was discovered has gave the game new depths of intrigue. With Patch 5.4 due to be released on September 10th and the Siege of Orgrimmar ready to explode onto our computer screens it’s amazing to speculate and wonder what’s going to happen next, and who will be the next Warchief.
Not only that, but it has some of the most aesthetically pleasing areas in game, the Eastern inspired architecture, the cherry blossom trees and the lush Jade Forest as well as the soundtrack make it a joy to play.
Oh yeah, and giant pandas.
What do I not like?
As with every WoW expansion you eventually get a little bored, you’ve maxed out all the available rep, you’ve made yourself another transmog set, maybe even leveled an alt (or 4), but unless you have a decent guild to raid with you’re at a dead stop. Raid Finder gives you something to do sure, for a few hours in a week, but I’ve found MoP has gotten stale quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love Warcraft, but it doesn’t hold the same fascination it used to. Maybe it’s because I’m not using it as a distraction method for my dissertation or doing the ironing or something. Who knows, but at the end of the day MoP has left me feeling unfulfilled.
Hopefully 5.4 will reignite the passion.
