World of Warcraft:Wrath of the Lich King

Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. [Game]. (2008). Blizzard Entertainment. ASIN: B000VJTJNE

Plot Summary

  Wrath of the Lich King is the 2nd expansion for the multi-player role-playing game World of Warcraft. This expansion followed the expansion Burning Crusade. There is a substantial amount of new content in both the graphics and ability of the players. The Nortrend world has new content added to its continent and home of the Lich King. A new hero character class is also added to the game. Wrath of the Lich King was released on November 13, 2008, and sold 2.8 million copies within the first 24 hours of release, This made it the fastest selling computer game of all time.

  In Wrath of the Lich King, the Lich King Arthas has used his power to set in motion the destruction of Azeroth. He has sent thousands of undead soldiers and their armies threaten to destroy those in their way. Players are the only heroes who can destroy the evil Arthas.

Critical Evaluation

  I do not play video games, PC or console. Luckily, my husband does, and in fact, he works for Blizzard Entertainment which is the creator of this game. I don't know what it is, but my brain does not work for multi-player online role playing games like this one. I was stumped from start to finish. There was so much going on at once, and it was hard for me to catch up to the next task. I also hate the feeling of being chased or attacked and I found myself having near panic attacks. No fun. I did love the graphics and animation of the different worlds, they really were quite breathtaking. I also loved the part where I can create my own avatar, and I did not mind going on mini missions that did not include something grand. My husband "raids" every night with his friends which are made up of 16-50 year old men and women. I would rather make fun of him, but with over 12 million copies sold, this is definitely something to check out and see for yourself.

Readers Annotation

  No one stays king forever.

Creator Information

  Creators Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce developed and published Blizzard Entertainment in 1991 under the name Silicon and Synapse. All three had just graduated with their Bachelor degrees from UCLA. They began creating game ports for other studios and in 1994, they were bought by distributor Davidson and Associates for 6.75 million dollars and their name was changed to Blizzard Entertainment. In 1994, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was released. In 1998, Blizzard was purchased by Vivendi. The company then merged together with Activision in 2008, in which both companies changed their company name to Activision | Blizzard. 

Genre

  Video Game 

Curriculum Ties

  In 2009, a professor from North Carolina University put together a grant proposal to sponsor a grant that would fund an after school program that pairs at risk youth with adult mentors while they play World of Warcraft to build cognitive development and teach literacy, writing, mathematics, social, and leadership skills.

Interest Level
  Young Adult - Adult

Challenge Issues
  Video addiction, use of alcohol in the game, and violence
   I would offer my library's Collection Development Policy which highlights how challenges and reconsideration's are handled. I would ask the challenger and the professional reviewing it to familiarize themselves with the book.

Reason Included
  My husband works for Blizzard and I know first hand how popular this game is for teens.