Software

• This game requires a monthly fee, and an internet connection to play
• An entirely new continent, Outland, can be reached through the Dark Portal
• Pack increases the level cap to 70

The Burning Crusade is the highly anticipated, unreleased expansion pack for Blizzard's "World of Warcraft."

What lies in Medivh's tower? View larger.

Blood Elves emerge as a new race in The Burning Crusade. View larger.

The Blood Elves seek the golden destiny that has been promised to them. View larger.

Warcraft's newest continent: Outland. View larger.

Once a beautiful land, Outland has been ravaged by war. View larger.

Outland is a vital strategic location. View larger.

The expansion pack features an increase in the level cap to 70. There are two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves that you can read more about below. The other race has not yet been released by Blizzard. There will be new starting zones in Quel'Thalas and beyond. Another eye-opening addition is the entirely new, unexplored continent of Outland that is reachable through the Dark Portal. Plus, you'll find many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere that will substantially boost gameplay. There are new flying mounts in Outland; tons of new and dangerous monsters (including epic world bosses); hundreds of new quests and items; and even a new profession: Jewelcrafting. Of course this isn't the end of the list -- this is just a glimpse of what Blizzard has planned for their unreleased expansion pack.

The New Story, the Rumors, and More
Several years have passed since the Burning Legion's defeat at Mount Hyjal and the races of Azeroth have continued to rebuild their once shattered lives. With renewed strength, the heroes of the Horde and Alliance have begun to explore new lands, and have broken through the Dark Portal to investigate the realms beyond the known world. In this expansion pack, The Burning Crusade refers to the Burning Legion's ongoing efforts to destroy life on Azeroth. To date, the Burning Legion's exploits have been documented in Warcraft III and in the War of the Ancients novel trilogy. As part of the expansion pack, players will now be able to travel through the Dark Portal to confront the Legion on otherworldly battlefields.

Although only one race has been revealed, Blizzard has announced plans to unveil details about possible additional races at a later date. On the other hand, many details have been released about the new continent, Outland. Players last visited Outland in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, alongside Illidan as he conquered the Pit Lord Magtheridon's domain. Players will also gain access to Quel'Thalas, the region to the northeast of the Forsaken lands, where the Blood Elves reside. Blizzard says that this expansion pack holds even more new areas that are ripe for player exploration -- additional details will be revealed in the months ahead.

Blizzard also has plans to add new dungeons and battlegrounds with the expansion, though the exact number has not yet been determined. One upcoming dungeon that has players excited is Karazhan, which is located within Medivh's tower. Because Medivh has played such a central role in Warcraft lore, Blizzard is convinced that longtime players will be especially interested in seeing what Karazhan contains. As for battlegrounds, Blizzard has released very little information. However, they have announced plans to make some of the battles from the past accessible through the Caverns of Time.

Blood Elves: The New Race
Thousands of years ago, the exiled Highborne landed on the shores of Lordaeron and founded the enchanted kingdom of Quel'Thas. These high elves, as they called themselves, created a fountain of vast, magical energies within the heart of their land -- the Sunwell. Over time, they grew dependant on the Sunwell's unstable energies, regardless of the bitter lessons they'd learned in ages past.

During the Third War, the villainous Prince Arthas invaded Quel'Thalas and reduced the once-mighty realm to rubble and ashes. His undead army decimated nearly all of the high elven population. In addition, he used the Sunwell's energies to resurrect a powerful undead Lich, Kel'thuzad, thereby fouling the Sunwell's mystical waters. The few elven survivors, realizing that they had been cut off from the source of their arcane power, grew increasingly volatile and desperate.

In the midst of the elves' darkest hour came Kael'thas Sunstrider, the last of Quel'Thalas' royal bloodline. Kael, as he was commonly known, knew that the remnant of his people would not long survive without the nourishing magic that once empowered them. Renaming his people "blood elves" in honor of their fallen countrymen, Kael taught the survivors how to tap into ambient mystical energies -- even demonic energies -- in order to sate their terrible thirst for magic. In search of a new destiny for his people, Kael'thas ventured to the remote world of Outland where he encountered the fallen night elf, Illidan. Under Illidan's watchful eye, Kael and his blood elves regained much of their former power.

Unfortunately, the blood elves practice of embracing demonic energies caused their former comrades in the Alliance to shun them. Thus, the remaining blood elves on Azeroth look desperately to the Horde to help them reach Outland where they can reunite with Kael'thas and achieve the golden destiny he has promised them.

Outland: The New Continent
Once the beautiful homeworld of the orcs, all that remains of Draenor is the scattered wastes of Outland. Following the Second War, the Alliance invaded Draenor by crossing through the Dark Portal. To their horror, they discovered that Ner'zhul -- the dark warlord of Horde -- had constructed a series of new gateways that could lead the beaten Horde to newer, unspoiled worlds. As the Alliance forces closed in around him, Ner'zhul opened his gateways as a means of escape. However, his plan backfired and the gateway's clashing energies resulted in a massive catastrophic explosion that ultimately ripped the world of Draenor to pieces.

Nearly thirteen years later -- towards the end of the Third War -- the fallen night elf, Illidan, discovered that huge chunks of Draenor still existed, floating upon the astral winds of the Twisting Nether. After his defeat at the hands of the evil Prince Arthas, Illidan fled to the remnants of Draenor and dubbed them "Outland." He quickly seized control of the chaotic region and sealed the last of Ner'zhul's gateways.

Though he is the undisputed ruler of the ravaged land, Illidan lives in fear that he will be discovered by his powerful enemies -- most notably Arthas, the new Lich King, and the remaining Lords of the Burning Legion. For now, Outland is home to a number of scattered draenei tribes, primitive orcs, and powerful, arcane creatures of the Nether itself. Agents of the Burning Legion have also targeted the region as a vital strategic location in their unending Burning Crusade to scour all life from the universe.

What else can expected? Blizzard has tantalized Warcraft players with the brief glimpse into The Burning Crusade's storyline. Will these heroes find friends or foes? What dangers and rewards lie in wait beyond the Dark Portal? And what will they do when they discover that the demons they thought were vanquished have returned to renew their terrible Burning Crusade? These and other questions will remain unanswered until the gameplay can be explored by role-playing Warcrafters.

• Hundreds of new creatures, guild halls, skills and more
• A whole new continent, Cantha, either connects to the lands of Tyria or stands on its own
• New game types include missions with ranked scoring and large-scale Alliance vs. Alliance battles

Cantha's elegant castles house both beauty and intrigue. View larger.

Exotic new armor sets, faces and hair styles offer even more unique character options to players. View larger.

Hundreds of new monsters await in 50 new quest areas.View larger.

Cantha's Warring Factions
The expansion pack adds whole new ways to experience the game: alliances and factions. In Tyria, players banded together in small guilds and warred against each other, but Cantha is a land of much more complicated politics. Guilds can join together in alliances, align themselves with one of Cantha's two warring factions, and battle other alliances to gain and hold territory. The epic Faction Battles can change the face of Cantha in real time, shifting borders and changing the control of entire cities and towns as battles are won and lost. The Battle Isles play host to most of the new Player vs. Player content, providing alliances a huge battlefield to supplement the Tyrian arenas.

Player versus Player combat reaches a new dimension with massive Alliance Battles.View larger.

Alliances will also have access to two new kinds of missions, Alliance Missions and Elite Missions. Alliance Missions feature multiple teams battling for control over resources and strategic locations, earning faction points for their alliance. The best and most powerful alliances can venture on Elite Missions, which are designed to be the ultimate challenge for even the most experienced teams.

New Player Options
Solo players have not been neglected either, and those who choose to remain separate from alliance and faction politics still have a lot to enjoy in the expansion. Two new professions are available to the denizens of Cantha: the deadly Assassin and dark Ritualist. Assassins wield daggers with fatal precision and can teleport to strike down enemies up close, while Ritualists summon the spirits of the dead to control the battlefield. New faces, hair styles and armor sets give the two new professions their own distinct look, evoking the exotic feel of Cantha. To allow players to experience the new professions without deleting their old characters, four extra character slots will be added to players who have previously existing Guild Wars accounts.

The Assassin emerges from the shadows as a playable profession in Factions. View larger.

While the level limit has not yet been raised from 20, players who still love the six professions from the core game have not been forgotten. Dozens of new skills are available for the older professions as well. Players have more options than ever before, and the new story missions and quest areas will test their ability to adapt to new styles and situations. Hundreds of all-new weapons, items and pets offer characters a huge amount of customization, and a new mission type will put each player's skill to the test. Challenge missions are cooperative missions with scoring objectives, and NCsoft will post the highest scores and display the rankings in-game, adding a new competitive element to the game that doesn't require direct combat.

NCsoft has taken care to cater to their entire player base with Guild Wars Factions. Team players have new options that range from Braveheart-style mass PvP battles to the online RPG version of organized sporting events. Solo players and lone wolves have plenty of character customization to play with as well as the continuation of the Guild Wars story. Even those who only own Guild Wars Factions or Guild Wars can expand their game experience by sampling the content with players who own the other game, making Factions an expansion in the true sense: it broadens the horizons without being essential to enjoying the complete game.

• PC Games Software; for PC
• Game Genre: Strategy/RPG; Game Sub-Genre: Strategy
• Forge an empire that spans the ages! Lead civilization to glory across the millennia!
• Includes 4 games-Age of Empires, Rise of Rome Expansion, Age of Empires II, and Conquerors Expansion

• In the original Warcraft III, the Orcs have formed a deadly army called the Burning Legion. They threaten all of Azeroth -- use this new danger to form a power base for your nation
• Create legenedary heroes that will complete quests and acquire items that advance your army
• Expansion features all-new units, player-built shops&buildings, and powerful new magic abilities

• Up to 10,000 men on screen at once are yours to command
• Unprecedented scale and detail make Rome: Total War one of the definitive historical war game

• Vivendi 72051 WOW III Expansion: Frozen PC

• Wage massive wars, sieges and battles or use your skill and power to keep the peace
• Choose and customize the Creature that's right for you from a selection, including old favorites such as the Ape, Cow, and Lion
• Create and control settlements that include housing, farming, and many other buildings like fountains and lush gardens (if you're Good) or spikes and torture pits (if you're Evil)

• Experience new darker heroic fantasy universe in this adventure strategy RPG
• Deep scalable turned-based battle system for challenging and tactical combats
• Battle opponents in exclusive Duel mode

• Real-time strategy game based on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy
• Build a landmark castle; create hero with all-new customized RTS units
• Single or multiplayer gameplay modes

• Choose from four races - The Orcs, humans, undead, and the night elves all have separate, unique campaigns that tie into each other
• Build your own heroes, whose spells and abilities will form the core of your fighting force