World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Expansion lets long-time WOW enthusiasts explore dark side.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Wrath of the Lich King is an expansion to World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG); and that players must own both the original World of Warcraft game and the Burning Crusade expansion to play. Parents need to know that Wrath of the Lich King has dark themes. Players can choose to play the Death Knight, a character raised from the dead into the service of the evil lich king Arthas. Some Death Knight quests require the murder of unarmed innocent civilians. Parents should also be aware that since Wrath of the Lich King is an online game, social interactions can be unpredictable and players should be wary of giving out personal information to anyone they meet online. Wrath of the Lich King does not cost any additional online fees beyond World of Warcraft's standard monthly fee of $14.99.

  • If players choose to play a Death Knight, some quests require that they murder innocent unarmed civilians. As with all online games, social interaction between players is a mixed bag.
  • Players engage in combat against human and computer-controlled opponents with traditional weaponry and magic. Blood appears during some combat animations.
  • Players can strip their characters down to their underwear.
  • Occasional swearing of the "damn" variety, but online chat between players can be worse. A profanity filter is in place, but it can be turned off.
  • Not applicable.
  • Players can purchase and imbibe alcohol. Drinking too much slurs speech, blurs the screen, and makes it difficult to walk in a straight line.

What's it about?

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WRATH OF THE LICH KING, an expansion pack to the hugely popular World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORG), chronicles the return of Arthas, the evil undead king responsible for destruction and mayhem across the world of Azeroth. Arthas has begun assembling a vast army determined to lay waste to Azeroth and its denizens; players can join Arthas' crusade against the living by stepping into the role of a Death Knight. The Wrath of the Lich King expansion also includes access to a new continent, Northrend, which is full of new content aimed at experienced players.

World of Warcraft and its expansions allow players to design a character and develop its abilities over time by engaging in combat and completing quests. The universe of World of Warcraft spans several continents and is full of entertaining quests for individuals and groups to play. Wrath of the Lich King adds more of the same high-quality content, with additional features such as destructible buildings and siege vehicles for use in player-versus-player (PvP) combat.


Is it any good?

 

Although Wrath of the Lich King is feature-rich, most of it is aimed at high-level characters. The Death Knight character class, for example, is only available to players with characters at level 55 or above. The new content on Northrend is aimed at level 68 and higher, and the overall level cap has been raised from 70 to 80. This makes Wrath of the Lich King a must-have for long-time World of Warcraft players, but is non-essential for those just starting their journeys in Azeroth.

Those with the appropriate level of experience, however, are in for more of the same great gameplay that has made World of Warcraft such a huge success. The new Death Knight class is well-conceived and fun to play, and the villainous spin on the Death Knight character will likely appeal to older players who've tired of the standard do-gooder heroic mentality. The new playable areas are exciting to explore and terrific-looking. Other features, such as a system for tracking player achievements and a new Inscription profession, only enhance an already value-packed expansion.


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What families can talk about

Families can discuss online safety with their teenage children. Is it ever safe to give out personal information online? Families can also take this opportunity to discuss online etiquette with their teenage children. How does online behavior differ from "real-world" behavior, and why? Families can use World of Warcraft and its expansions to introduce their teenage children to the heroic epic genre in literature and films. What are the similarities between World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, and Beowulf?


This review was written by Dwight Odelius
Adult
August 20, 2009
 
fine for tweens
love the game. it's really interesting. it's like being able to play through your favorite story.

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Teen, 18 years old
October 4, 2010
 
A great learning experience, fun, challenging, skill building and tons of story to behold.
World of Warcraft is an amazing game people, dont let the media fool you. Addiction is NOT rampant - WoW simply is a once in a life-time experience that is like no other. The game is so well put together and the story, music and depth is astounding. The community can be a little troublesome at times especially if you play the Alliance, where immature kids run rampant spouting ridiculously inappropriate harrassments. I started playing WoW back in 2006 when I was 12 and it has brought me up in a LOT of societal skills. Ever since playing I am a better strategist, I'm better with computers, I cooperate with others much better, and I've learned alot about devotion to goals. This game has a lot to offer to someone willing to learn, and the lore and story behind the warcraft Universe is just amazing, the tons of books from reputable authors, the quest text, the comics --- just all of it is amazing! I'd suggest you head over to wowwiki* right now and search up some of the back story on the game universe, this game offers so much depth and character building that anyone could learn something useful from it.

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Teen, 17 years old
December 22, 2009
 
One of the most addictive games on the market
i've recenetly gotten into playing WoW, and as far as content goes, its quite clean, there are a few zombies here and there that could be a little startling to a very small amount of people, but is most cirtaintly not a reason to avoid this title. the biggest problem is the games additive nature. seein as the game is an online one, it often times leaves you feeling you are obligated to stay and help out your "raid party", or "guild". i've stayed up till two o'clock on some nights playing WoW. One of the best games i've ever played, though, and anyone who plays this game is sure to love it.

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Teen, 16 years old
September 29, 2010
 
Exellent beyond words. Any smart child with swashbuckling spirit and maturity will fit right into Azeroth
An adventurous game that everyone needs to try. It's upsetting to think that immaturity actively upsets gameplay in WoW. (for example, comments made by halo-addicts such as ezio432) But gameplay is literally beyond anything i've seen. It's very safe; just because it's so safe keyloggers try to ruin the name of wow. My friends account was hacked and he wasn't able to get access again to characters he spent many days on. Of course this RARELY happens. Blizzard simply needs to do a better job suppressing botters. (Foreign automated people trying to make real $ in exchange for gold, warcraft's currency.) The game is all about expressing teamwork, gaming skill, and positive thinking. The only problem is, the player base can be rude, potentially mean to newcomers. Fed-up players have switched to one faction so they don't have to talk to haters. (Because horde can't communicate to alliance, vise versa.) If someone is causing havoc/ using profanity in your child's guild (cooperative group), just tell the leader. or you can ignore them. WoW has an advanced chat system that blocks -most- spam and -all- dirty words. One last time I have to praise the game mechanics and just how fun leveling and raiding with some good friends can be!

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Teen, 14 years old
September 13, 2010
 
wow
fun ummm yea!!!!!!!!!!!

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Teen, 15 years old
July 15, 2010
 
Perfect for anyone 10+ as long as language filter is on
I play WoW WotLK I think it is an amazing game the only thing that can be bad is if you turn the language filter off many people use very horrible language people from all age groups play this game and so there is usually very adult language among older players, but as long as the filter is turned its a perfectly acceptable game for anyone with double digit ages. Another down side usually incorporated into the game is the long hours but with a time limit set those hours can be controlled to a specific time of day and the hours can be controlled.

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Kid, 13 years old
May 5, 2010
 
Kid review
Kid review: Safty: I don't like the hackers. They take all your stuff, and you get reported about going around WoW without cloths. I try to tell my father not to buy the Authentacator, and he listens to me. Violince: Much, nothing to bad, not dispising murders like in prince of persa. Ed: You save up gold, sell, get, good for the avrage 4th, 5th grader. Role Models: *WARNING* Do not think that dwarves are role models! But people like Tiron Fording, King Varian Werrn, Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall, real simple tp choose one.

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Kid, 12 years old
September 21, 2009
 

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Kid, 13 years old
April 19, 2010
 
i love this game! it is fun but it can become very very addictive... this game is probably one of the best MMO RPG game out there. Theres endless game play... dungeons for higher lvls, items to collect, and 80 levels(85 now) levels take a while of work.... from 1-80 it will take about a year but it really depends on the time you play.... i would reccomend that you set a time limit so that the kids dont get to addicted. I believe that you should play this game for an experience to see what many people call the best game ever. Although there is much violence it is only like a little bit of a red goo comes out when you hit a person. There is sometimes a sexual dance that characters do when they are not played in a while. Other then language this game has not much bad about it, but the language can be easily stopped by parental controlls to wear you see only stuff like &@*^ instead of the actual word. so the language can be controlled and i am not independet on this game and i think that no one is. If you dont have a team or work with others you cannot achieve the games many prizes like pvp if you are alliance lvl 80 with no epic gear you will stand no chance to other players.... Like i said this game can be very addictive but it can be controlled by having other daily activities like going outside and playing baseball is what i usually do. So if you are wondering to buy your kid this game its kind of mystical stuff like world of the rings monsters and theres barely any blood except for a little bit of splat then its gone its a tiny bit of a cloud not even anywhere but on the air... there is language but it can be controlled by parental controll language blocker and there is some players that choose to be bad and what i do is i always just ignore them i will soon reccomend to blizard a report abuse to like language to were they can get like muted for a week. But i would reccomend buying this game and controll your self or child to get activity or they will become to addicted to this game i hope this review helped you see if this game is good for your child or for yourself. Thanks for reading bye!

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Teen, 14 years old
December 10, 2009
 
FANTASTIC GAME! I love it!
This game is FANTASTIC! Though the costs of subscription is pretty expensive, $15 a month for USA and $22 a month for AUS. Im not sure about places other than AUS an USA. The gameplay is simple the graphics are not great, the opportunities are unlimited, overall it is my favourite game! You should be at least 8 years of age before you play this game. HAPPY GAMING!

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This review was written by Dwight Odelius
Platforms:PlayStation 2, Windows, Mac
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Massively Multi-player Online Game (MMOG)
Release date:November 13, 2008
Price:$39.99
ESRB rating:T for Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Alcohol, Violence

This review was written by Dwight Odelius

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
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BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
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