Today Blizzard released Legion, the latest expansion for their popular MMO World of Warcraft. Announced during last year’s Gamescom, Legion has been hyped as potentially being one of the most important (and best) expansions to World of Warcraft. It’s returning to the roots of what made the game a worldwide sensation, while also still offering something new and different to gamers. According to Geek, the Legion expansion offers numerous additions and enhancements including a new level cap of 110, PvP-only ability, Mythic+dungeons, new raids, new legendary items, over 300 world quests, two new arenas specifically for Legion, along with a new hero class: Demon Hunter, and artifact weapons. So who is the main antagonist for the new expansion? Well, it’s not a single character like Illidan from The Burning Crusade expansion. Legion’s main antagonist is an entire group: The Burning Legion.
According to Blizzard, in Legion
Azeroth faces complete obliteration as the warlock Gul’dan brings forth a demonic army more powerful than any the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced. To stop the Legion’s destructive crusade, Azeroth’s defenders must embark on a quest to unlock the mythic secrets of the Broken Isles, seek out and master Artifact weapons of legendary might, and rally like-minded champions to their cause in their Order Halls. In this desperate hour, they must also strike a forbidden pact with the outcast Demon Hunters of the Illidari, fel-twisted disciples of the dreaded Illidan the Betrayer. Should the heroes of Azeroth fail…kingdoms will burn.
The Burning Legion is a giant demon army that has been behind most of Azeroth’s troubles since the franchise began back in 2004. They’re a powerful force that is led by the fallen titan, Sargeras, who was corrupted by evil. For those who follow the game’s lore, facing the Burning Legion in a head-on battle was a huge deal so when Blizzard announced the expansion, many fans were left wondering who else would be left for them to take on. According to Polygon, in a recent interview they had with World of Warcraft’s senior art director Chris Robinson, developers of the game have stated that they’ve acknowledged gamer’s concerns, but are quick to remind them that they are always focusing on the future:
From our perspective, it always feels like we have too much stuff to cover still. There’s a whole level of titans and old gods that we’ve kind of touched on, but we haven’t really dug a lot of that stuff.
The titans Robinson is referring to are a race of gods which have been credited for having created the world of World of Warcraft: Azeroth. Similar to Sargeras, the old gods are a cosmic force that opposed the titans and eventually fought them but were defeated and imprisoned beneath Azeroth.
Aside from these powerful foes, Robinson also stated that there’s many more enemies they will be building up over time. Back when Blizzard released Wrath of the Lich King in 2008, developers struggled with the same problem. They we hesitant to make their expansion around a powerful and iconic antagonist, the Lich King, because they feared they were going to run out of suitable enemies and would not be have any formidable foes in their later expansions. But they’ve since have released several expansions, and we hope to see even more in he future.
World of Warcraft: Legion launched today for Windows PC and Mac and you can get it for $49.99, or for Deluxe ($69.99) or Collector’s editon ($89.99). Below is the cinematic trailer.