TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Some of Blizzard's best work in years wrestles with bugs and design issues, but still comes out on top.
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World of Warcraft: Midnight is one of the most ambitious expansions in the game's 20-year history, and I don't entirely mean that as a compliment. Blizzard is taking its biggest swings in years, and sometimes Midnight whiffs—but just as often this expansion smashes it, dosing you with a hit of pure refined nostalgia in the gorgeously-remade Silvermoon or hooking you into the dopamine loop of its excellent dungeons.
What is it?: An expansion to World of Warcraft that takes you back to Silvermoon to fend off the armies of the void, second in the ambitious Worldsoul Saga. Expect to pay: $50/£45, with a monthly subscriptionDeveloper: Blizzard EntertainmentPublisher: Blizzard EntertainmentReviewed on: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, AMD Ryzen 7 5800 8-Core Processor, 16GB RAM, Force MP600 SSD.Multiplayer?: YesLink: Official site
It's hard to come down too firmly on Blizzard for Midnight's occasional whiffs, though, because look at what the studio's had on its plate—player housing, a complete class design overhaul, a UI revamp to deal with a lack of combat addons (the result of a controversial ban which is itself a huge, risky move), a reimagining of one of the game's most beloved cities, an entirely new gearing system in Prey, and the second book of its first ever multi-expansion story.
As the middle child in the Worldsoul Saga trilogy, Midnight has a tougher job. If The War Within fell flat, then hey, at least it was just the start—and if The Last Titan sucks, then at least it's over and the team can move on. If Midnight hits a sour note, though? Then Blizzard has a big problem.
I'm happy to report that, after a couple of weeks with the new expansion, Midnight's design heft doesn't cause the whole thing to crumble and give way—it's not on solid ground just yet, but all of the cracks can be plastered over in the months to come. The bones are good, and the future's looking bright.
Midnight makes the best use of WoW's 20 years of MMO bulk I've seen out of its expansions yet. It's not as expansive as say, Cataclysm, but the way it digs into pre-existing lore and locales rather than simply whisking players away to a new continent is a delight. In fact, half of its zones are old places given a facelift. And by 'facelift' I mean 'comprehensive redesign.'
The new Silvermoon and Eversong Woods and Zul'Aman share precious little in common with their past-expansion versions in terms of raw design. In terms of vibes, though? As someone who played during the original Burning Crusade when I was (oh god) 11 years old, my 30-year-old self was fully swept up in the tide of nostalgia.
Blizzard's artists and environment designers are some of the best in the business, and they are absolutely flexing here. Midnight is a gorgeous and deeply atmospheric game, making the best use of WoW's enduring artstyle it possibly can. It is a continuing astonishment that a game released in 2004 still looks this lovely.
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Eversong is lush and vibrant, Zul'Aman feels wild and overgrown and drenched in mysticism, Harandar is downright jaw-dropping at moments—the only zone that's a little dry around the mouth is the Voidstorm, and even then, every time I look up at the skybox I'm impressed by the sense of scale.
The sidequests in these zones also do a great job of fleshing them out. I haven't ticked every single one off just yet, but Midnight, like The War Within before it, is chock-full of heartfelt little tales off the beaten path. Which is all the more frustrating when I look at the main story, because it comes so to being something special before falling prey t...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
PC Gamer's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
World of Warcraft: Midnight is one of the most ambitious expansions in the game's 20-year history, and I don't entirely mean that as a compliment. Blizzard is taking its biggest swings in years, and sometimes Midnight whiffs—but just as often this expansion smashes it, dosing you with a hit of pure refined nostalgia in the gorgeously-remade Silvermoon or hooking you into the dopamine loop of its excellent dungeons.
What is it?: An expansion to World of Warcraft that takes you back to Silvermoon to fend off the armies of the void, second in the ambitious Worldsoul Saga. Expect to pay: $50/£45, with a monthly subscriptionDeveloper: Blizzard EntertainmentPublisher: Blizzard EntertainmentReviewed on: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, AMD Ryzen 7 5800 8-Core Processor, 16GB RAM, Force MP600 SSD.Multiplayer?: YesLink: Official site
It's hard to come down too firmly on Blizzard for Midnight's occasional whiffs, though, because look at what the studio's had on its plate—player housing, a complete class design overhaul, a UI revamp to deal with a lack of combat addons (the result of a controversial ban which is itself a huge, risky move), a reimagining of one of the game's most beloved cities, an entirely new gearing system in Prey, and the second book of its first ever multi-expansion story.
As the middle child in the Worldsoul Saga trilogy, Midnight has a tougher job. If The War Within fell flat, then hey, at least it was just the start—and if The Last Titan sucks, then at least it's over and the team can move on. If Midnight hits a sour note, though? Then Blizzard has a big problem.
I'm happy to report that, after a couple of weeks with the new expansion, Midnight's design heft doesn't cause the whole thing to crumble and give way—it's not on solid ground just yet, but all of the cracks can be plastered over in the months to come. The bones are good, and the future's looking bright.
Midnight makes the best use of WoW's 20 years of MMO bulk I've seen out of its expansions yet. It's not as expansive as say, Cataclysm, but the way it digs into pre-existing lore and locales rather than simply whisking players away to a new continent is a delight. In fact, half of its zones are old places given a facelift. And by 'facelift' I mean 'comprehensive redesign.'
The new Silvermoon and Eversong Woods and Zul'Aman share precious little in common with their past-expansion versions in terms of raw design. In terms of vibes, though? As someone who played during the original Burning Crusade when I was (oh god) 11 years old, my 30-year-old self was fully swept up in the tide of nostalgia.
Blizzard's artists and environment designers are some of the best in the business, and they are absolutely flexing here. Midnight is a gorgeous and deeply atmospheric game, making the best use of WoW's enduring artstyle it possibly can. It is a continuing astonishment that a game released in 2004 still looks this lovely.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Eversong is lush and vibrant, Zul'Aman feels wild and overgrown and drenched in mysticism, Harandar is downright jaw-dropping at moments—the only zone that's a little dry around the mouth is the Voidstorm, and even then, every time I look up at the skybox I'm impressed by the sense of scale.
The sidequests in these zones also do a great job of fleshing them out. I haven't ticked every single one off just yet, but Midnight, like The War Within before it, is chock-full of heartfelt little tales off the beaten path. Which is all the more frustrating when I look at the main story, because it comes so to being something special before falling prey t...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?