I’ll take a room with a view, please.

Yesterday Grim and I made the shift through Icecrown to Storm Peaks, and for the first time I was actually glad that I’m a total pauper and can’t afford the epic flying skill. At 300% speed (yay for Crusader Aura), there would have been very little time to fling the camera around and take a slightly over the top number of screenshots of the mountains, and of the Lich King’s domain.

Anyway, as we we’re flying around, dodging the Proto Drakes and taking detours into massive holes in the ground with impressive sounding names, it struck me that possibly my favourite part of the expansion is the amazing scenery in Northrend, and the immersion you feel when running through it.

Going through Outland, there are some fairly impressive sights to behold. The edge of the world, for instance. The Bone Wastes. The Violet Tower. Hell, in the old world there are some pretty good tourist attractions as well. Orgrimmar looks incredible the first time you see it, as does Thunderbluff. But the problem I had with Azeroth and Outland was the static feel of things. There were plenty of views, and plently of activity, but no life.

Running through Grizzly Hills, I saw bears catching fish in their mouths. Wolves attack stags. Mustangs gallop across fields. All of it adds up to the point where you’re going through a patch of woodland and thinking “hey, this is pretty real. I feel like I’m actually here”. And that is the best thing about this expansion for me. Blizzard have a job ahead of them to beat the aesthetic of Wrath. I’m going to be very disappointed if the first thing I see in the next expansion isn’t as stunning as the great lift in Howling Fjord.

Although… has anyone else noticed how Mordor-ey Icecrown looks? It’s not a bad thing, Mordor looked awesome after all. It’ll be disappointing if I find out I can just walk into Icecrown though.