The drums of war are calling players back to Azeroth. This time, it isn’t about bringing back an old expansion or releasing another expansion in the usual sense. Arriving next week on November 4, World of Warcraft: Forever breathes new life into the world that began with 2004’s World of Warcraft. The new experience reimagines original Azeroth with a new playable race, additional race and class combinations, more than 1,000 new quests, new dungeons, and much more.
Earlier this week, to celebrate the upcoming release, Blizzard released WARPATH, a new animated music video that previews the adventure ahead for players, accompanied by some killer tunes.
Set to End of You by Poppy, Amy Lee, and Courtney LaPlante, WARPATH is described simply as “Alliance. Horde. War.” It feels like a rallying cry for World of Warcraft: Forever. Crafted in partnership with Brunch Studio, the song and artwork evoke a simpler time in the game’s history. This isn’t the first time Blizzard and Brunch have collaborated on an animated music video; earlier this year, they released A Place To Call Home featuring AURORA.
The video shows emerging hostilities between Alliance and Horde players as they level up. It follows them as they journey through the forests and jungles of Azeroth and spend time at their campfires. Conflict arises when both factions enter combat, and an epic battle ensues. If the visual style is reminiscent of anything, it’s 1981’s Heavy Metal, with a lot more sword-swinging action. The featured characters wear gear any seasoned player would recognize. Instead of generic fantasy gear, they wear equipment pulled directly from the world of Warcraft, a choice that feels perfect for the project.
WARPATH might be only three and a half minutes long, but it brings players back to where the game began. A rivalry that goes back as far as anyone can trace in Blizzard’s history. The AMV shows players helping one another, but also the bloody rivalry between the Horde and the Alliance. The faction you choose matters, and Brunch pits them against each other in true Warcraft fashion: spell-casting and axe-wielding action. Who doesn’t want to take out their enemies on the battlefield while talented women in heavy music provide the soundtrack? That’s the Warcraft way!
While the animation and music have a nostalgic feel, the trailer also celebrates some of the new features coming to World of Warcraft: Forever. At the end of the video, the animation introduces an Undead Paladin and a Skyborne Druid, with holy light and nature’s healing filling the screen. Previously, Paladins were not available to Undead characters, while the Skyborne are an entirely new playable race with their own starting experience on Zephras Isle.
Those additions hint at what Blizzard has in store for players returning to Azeroth. Forever expands the original level 1–60 world with new quests, zones, dungeons, systems, and character options while keeping the experience rooted in the era that made the game a phenomenon in the first place.
There’s no telling just what new adventures await players who want to jump into World of Warcraft: Forever, and WARPATH is the perfect way to get into the Warcraft spirit. If the game is anything like the video, players are in for that classic feel, but with a fresh coat of paint.
World of Warcraft: Forever launches November 4.
