Curse

During the Cataclysm press event held last week at Blizzard HQ, I had a chance to actually sit down and play the game for right around 4 hours. This is part 2 of my series of articles covering that experience. If you missed it yesterday, check out the hands-on: class changes article for details on changes to the Death Knight and Warrior, as well as a few miscellaneous changes to classes that I noticed. The first thing I did after checking out talent and ability changes for the Death Knight and Warrior, was hop on a flying mount and enjoy being able to fly in Azeroth.

Spoiler Warning: Some of the areas I visited may suggest story changes, so read on at your own risk!

Eastern Kingdoms

It's hard to put into words how cool it was to have full control over where I went on continents restricted to predetermined flight paths for the past 5-1/2 years. My character started out in Stormwind and I took to the north, where I quickly began to notice subtle changes and additions. Stormwind now has a very large lake behind the keep, as well as some housing and farms outside of the city.

Moving beyond Stormwind, I discovered very substantial damage in Badlands -- an entire mountain bordering Burning Steppes had its top sheared off, rock still visibly scalding and molten from whatever caused the damage. There are multiple mountains and pillars here that shared the same fate, molten rock stubs the only thing that remains. A large, blackened scar stretches for a good third of the zone now as well -- looking somewhat like the impact crater of a large object rocketing in and smashing to the ground. For the Horde, Kargath has succumbed to an avalanche, now buried beneath rock.

As I flew further north I came to a large chasm spanning what used to be the border of Badlands and Loch Modan. After further investigation, this chasm goes the entirety of the Eastern Kingdoms continent, similar to the destruction seen in the Barrens. As I flew in to Loch Modan I noticed something... strange. The Loch is now completely devoid of water -- the result of the dam here being destroyed. Was it the Dark Irons and their nefarious plans, or did Deathwing pay this zone a visit too? The result of this, of course, is that Wetlands is now a bit more wet. At the base of the dam there is heavy flooding, and Menethil Harbor seems to have not fared well. The aftermath of the Cataclysm has left Menethil partially underwater, with the residents placing sandbags out to protect structures -- where they can.

Next up on my trip was Hillsbrad Foothills. Interestingly, Southshore is still there... it does not appear to have been destroyed by a natural disaster, but rather a Forsaken plague. The ground is covered in a green ooze with a haze filling the air, Forsaken plague wagons scattered about delivering the deadly toxins. It also looked to be the only change in the zone -- at least currently implemented -- so I moved on.

As I came upon Western Plaguelands I began to witness the first major transformation of a classic area. No longer is the grass here plagued, no longer are the farms overrun by Scourge. The area has been repopulated, its farmlands once again growing crops. Andorhal, too, has seen life spring up during this time. Many Alliance buildings have been rebuilt on the western edge of the city, though the Forsaken has taken up residence on the eastern borders. It looks to be a clash between whatever Alliance forces are there and the Forsaken -- clearly fighting for what is once again a resource-rich area.

Eastern Plaguelands, however, is still largely the same with what looks to be a major Scourge presence, reaffirmed by Tom Chilton. The Argent Dawn has stepped up their efforts though, reinforcing the towers in the area and laying claim to them with their banners. Light's Hope has seen much in the way of upgrades, with keep walls now protecting it, and a small graveyard in the rear. You'll also find the various "scar" areas are now lakes filled with water, Argent Dawn bridges spanning them to allow travelers safe passage.

Kalimdor

After catching the boat to Theramore and hopping back on to my flying mount, I immediately noticed just how substantial the Alliance presence is on Kalimdor now. And I'm not talking Night Elves, I mean Alliance military -- siege tanks, Stormwind battalions and all. The Alliance has expanded Theramore and added an additional exit -- a highway stretching the length of Dustwallow Marsh and into Southern Barrens. It's clear this is used to transport forces to the battlefront, judging by the barricades, siege engines and litter of Tauren and Ogre corpses on the ground below.

Moving in to Southern Barrens you find yourself in the midst of an ongoing war between the Alliance and Horde, with both factions having created footholds along the mountains in the area. A large battlescar has marked the land, spanning from north to south, with broken and destroyed war machines littering the canvas. Heading north you'll come across a grim discovery; the Alliance have burned down Camp Taurajo as part of their push into the Northern Barrens, Stonetalon and beyond.

The Alliance presence in Ashenvale hasn't changed much, but the Horde have clearly taken a greater interest in the lumber within the region, moving into it en masse -- having taken over Silverwind Refuge and set up camp on the hills to the north of Astranaar. Garrosh Hellscream has also reinforced Zoram'gar Strand, now known as Zoram'gar Outpost. Still, this is not the only threat within Ashenvale. A volcanic eruption east of Astranaar has all but consumed Iris Lake, leaving the area charred by lava spewing forth from the earth.

From there I continued my trek north into Darkshore to discover what is easily the most changed area, aside from maybe Azshara. Darkshore has literally been torn asunder, the terrain cracked and fragmented in ways you can't even imagine, torrential rivers ripping through and leading into a massive whirling maelstrom in the northern section of the zone. In the middle is a gigantic vortex of swirling energy, with Malfurion Stormrage at the center. Its purpose, according to him, is to keep Darkshore from being completely torn apart. Throughout the area you will also notice more volcanic eruptions, though this particular instance is not as dramatic as Ashenvale's. And of course, Auberdine has been completely destroyed -- a new Night Elf town built to the northeast of its ruins.

My journey toward Mount Hyjal ended here, as I didn't notice any major terrain changes implemented in Felwood, Moonglade or Winterspring. I flew up an incredibly tall mountain and began my level 80 questing experience. I'll touch on that in more detail in the next article. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the BlizzCon 2009 zone change video and the June 2010 press event video for visual examples of the changes coming with Cataclysm.