Editor’s Note: This initial review-in-progress is based entirely on time spent in the pre-release beta, and will be updated as we get deeper into into the full game.
I was there, Gandalf. I was there when the World of Warcraft opened its servers for the first time in 2004 – which might not literally be 10,000 years ago, but sometimes it feels like it. And now that I’ve put a good 30 hours into the beta for World of Warcraft: Forever, I’m looking forward to today’s launch in a way I haven’t for almost any game in a long time. GTA 6 can wait.
It may surprise you to hear me say that and then follow it up with the fact that I had essentially zero interest in World of Warcraft: Classic back in 2019. In fact, I wrote one of my favorite articles ever about exactly why that was. But Forever is different. It’s built on the bones of Classic, but with just the right amount of modern sensibilities baked in. There are new zones to discover, much-needed class changes, and some truly impressive graphical enhancements. So, I invite you to come on this journey with me, as it’s going to be a bit different from our typical game reviews.
The thing is, Forever is made to be savored. I almost didn’t want to review it at all, given how deadline pressure can sometimes warp the experience of something this big. Blizzard really wants this new take on their storied MMO to be about the journey, not the destination – and we plan to honor that here. This will be more of a long-form critique that’s going to hearken back to an old Blizzard motto from their golden age: It will be done when it’s done. Anything less wouldn’t be a review of World of Warcraft: Forever so much as a review of rushing through World of Warcraft: Forever in a stressful and unintended way.
As such, I plan to update this piece as I climb my way to level 60 and discover all the new things there are to discover at the sort of pace I think would make sense if I didn’t have a hard deadline. I still expect to have some kind of a firmer verdict before everyone wanders off for the December holidays. But if you want to know whether I think it’s worth jumping in right now, on launch day, I can start by sharing my impressions from the beta.
They Cooked
As an avid player of Modern WoW until very recently, and someone who skipped Classic altogether, it’s almost a revelation to open up my character sheet in Forever and see 23 years of what I can only describe as “streamlinesh**tification” stripped away. Like, dang, this used to be so much more of an RPG! All the modern game’s stat pruning, summary execution of mechanics that added character but were demonized as “inconvenient,” class role homogenization, and so much more added up to a death by thousands of cuts that you almost wouldn’t notice if you stayed subscribed from the beginning because it was generally so gradual.I love having features like parry, block, and hit chance back. I love leveling up my different weapon skills when I hit a new level. I love that we have more secondary stats to worry about than just crit, haste, versatility, and mastery. I even love having to go buy my skill ranks every level, because it makes me learn where the hub for my class is in each major city and meet the key NPCs I can hang with and look up to. I love that levelling actually takes a long time. This was important stuff that was slashed to try and create a frictionless slope that would never alienate anyone ever, and the modern game is much poorer for having lost it.
Azeroth is so much more interesting to explore on foot, too. Flying mounts are fun, especially with the post-Dragonflight skyriding system. (They are!) But zooming around through the air as the default mode of travel has taken so much of the character of exploration and discovery out of Modern. Forever insisting that you spend the first 40 levels without even the speed boost of a ground mount allowed me to reconnect with this world in ways that really made me feel 14 again. It feels big and dangerous and mysterious. It’s wonderful.
And at this point, Forever’s new lighting and post-processing make it look better than Modern to me. Yes, I do play with HD models. Sorry to all the SD purists, but I don’t think the player races in particular actually hold up visually in 2026. I’m glad we can both pick the graphics we prefer. But regardless, these zones look stunning. They did go overboard with the fog in some areas, I think. But overall, I love the enhancements and going back to Modern feels like a straight downgrade.
I do have some concerns already. One of them is the “realmless” structure, which I think is particularly bad for roleplayers like me. We fought against capital cities having phasing in Modern for a good reason. Splitting up these hubs where people go to find RP tends to do the opposite of building strong communities. Blizzard has been swearing up and down that this is good for the long-term health of Forever. I am completely unconvinced so far, but willing to at least give it a chance.
It’s hard to say too much more than that at this point. I ended my beta journey at level 13, gazing out across the dusty plains of Westfall, because I didn’t want to spoil too much for myself before the big day. But from what I have seen so far? I think they might have done it. They made me believe I can go home again – and that home is somewhere I want to spend more time, with new surprises to discover. Let’s see if they can keep it up for 47 more levels. Watch this space for updates in the weeks to come.