Longing for More Cut Scenes and Epic Events (spoilers!)
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pixiestixy on Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 40 Comments Tags: Alliance, Horde, battle for the undercity, bolvar, cinematic, cut scene, dragonblight, event, lich king, lore, movie, saurfang, wotlk, wrathgate
pixiestixy on Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 40 Comments Tags: Alliance, Horde, battle for the undercity, bolvar, cinematic, cut scene, dragonblight, event, lich king, lore, movie, saurfang, wotlk, wrathgate 
Last week you guys might remember that I wrote a bit about my love of the Dragonblight zone and all of its lore-tastic quest lines. And I should have known I can't sneak anything past you guys! As several of you pointed out, I excluded from my post the major Wrath Gate cut scene and epic event that follows. Well, that's partially because I hadn't finished that quest line yet. But it was also because the quest line was so grand that I thought I'd dedicate an entire separate post to it.**Possible spoilers for anyone who hasn't played through WotLK content!!**
You have to work to get to the awesomeness. As a Hordie, I worked through four quest lines to prove my worth: Into the Fold, Victory Nears, Strength of Icemist, and The Forsaken Blight and You: How Not to Die. From there Overlord Agmar offers The Kor'Kron Vanguard:
The time has come, the moment is now - our elite soldiers at the Wrathgate need you. The son of Saurfang awaits your arrival at the Kor'kron Vanguard. Go now, northeast to the Wrathgate.
Another quest line later, some Scourge defeated, and the fun begins. Start in-game cinematic.
I'll admit it. the first time I saw this was before I did any of the questing. But the second time, after all that work, left much more of an impact on me. We (who aren't DKs) get our first in-game glimpse at the Lich King, and it's an epic one at that. Both Bolvar and Saurfang Jr., along with a ton of their accompanying forces, get fandoozled by the Scourge (who are parading as the Forsaken). I knew those creepy apothecaries were up to something sinister!
After the scene ends, everything has changed. In place of Bolvar and Saurfang Jr. stand Alexstrasza and Korialstrasz, who you met in previous questlines in their humanoid forms atop Wyrmrest Temple. Those who still are alive are running around screaming, mourning the dead. And you're left to inform either Saurfang or King Varian Wrynn of the casualties, and deal with the remaining aftermath.
I've heard that some thought the cutscene was a rip off Lord of the Rings - and I can definitely see the resemblance. But regardless of where Blizzard drew its inspiration, I think this was a huge step in the right direction. The movie gets both Alliance and Horde energized for the big event to come, which is another big WIN for Blizzard - The Battle for the Undercity.
Whether you're battling Varimathras alongside Thrall and Lady Sylvanas for the Horde or smacking up Grand Apothecary Putress with King Varian Wrynn and Lady Jaina Proudmoore for the, in this case, ill-informed Alliance, the battle for the ruins of Lordaeron is one of the most entertaining events I can recall for many reasons. Not the least of which is getting constant buffs that transform your character into a badass as you battle hell-minions who obviously are confused about their place in Azeroth. But there's also a ton of great lore in there for those of us who love the storytelling aspect of WoW, and we see some insight into the current relationship of Horde-Alliance. The phasing of areas we usually see much differently was pretty damn neat, too. I had a difficult time tearing myself away from the computer after all that excitement.Blizzard's movie site explains a bit about their thoughts behind the cinematic that triggers it all:
One of the design goals for Wrath of the Lich King was to elevate storytelling in World of Warcraft to new heights. Northrend is brought to life by engaging quests, memorable characters, beautiful environments, and the introduction of a brand-new feature: in-game cinematics. The first of these cinematics, The Wrath Gate, is now available for viewing and download on the Wrath of the Lich King website.
Now since this is the "first" of the "cinematics" (plural!) I really hope that means more of this is to come in the future. I'm not sure whether they're considering the Ulduar cinematic to be another of these, since it's really more of trailer than anything resulting from quests. But at least it adds on to the storyline, too. And Blizzard has put out plenty of trailers in the past, but the in-game Wrathgate morsel really seems like more of a reward and motivation to me. It may be unrealistic knowing that cinematics have got to be pretty expensive to make. But I can't help it - I just want more! Don't you!?
Reader Comments (40)
i love it when the game comes to life in your computer!!!
I'm definitely all for more in-game cinematics, but Blizzard will have to be careful to not end up with so many that it starts detracting from the game.
Forgot to mention: "...get fandoozled by the Scourge (who are parading as the Forsaken)"
That is incorrect. The RAS composed of Varimathras loyalists, so they would actually be a part of the Burning Legion (who has a bone to pick with the traitorous Scourge as well).
why cant we all just get along, i mean if you watch the video you see that the horde and alliance fight together against the Lich King and his armies and do very well until the Lich king himself comes out. Anyone else think that the horde and alliance should just team up?
Alayea is correct. I never truested any of the Forsaken from the start; always saw this coming. Its a shame that these great heroes were killed, but hey, we'll be seieng them in about 6 months, says Yogg-Saron.
Not sure how we can save Saurfang though...
There better be a cinematic when Arthas goes down.
I always wondered when Varithimas did not aid Sylvannas when the alliance were killing her. My friend done tihs b4 me and he doesn't know anything about the lore so he was confused. We all made jokes of the Alliance saying they do nothing and take all the glory. They should put more cut scenes in this game.
Definitely want more. Loved them in FFXI, but unfortunately those were unvoiced (all the dialogue popped up in your chat box) and the animations weren't quite as robust.
Cutscenes using the in-game engine shouldn't be all that hard to pull off, so I'm hoping that the Wrath Gate/Ulduar stuff is just a teaser compared to how many we get in the next expansion.
I think bliz should try to incorperate our toons in the next cinimatic, if possible
That said, I'm also expecting one to be associated with the Lich King, perhaps when you (supposedly) kill him at the end if Icecrown Citadel. It'd be kind of lame if he just yelled "arrrrrrgh!" and keeled over after everything he's put you through!
To wrap up what Alayea said: Varimathras was a bigshot in the Legions army, until Sylvanas defeated him. After his defeat he promised to stay loyal to her as long as she would spare him... she did and he got control of the Forsaken apothecary (Putress.)
Varimathras's plan was to destroy most of Wrathgates forces then take over UC by summoning Legion forces and using the remaining apothecary forces. :)
Good post, and correct me if im wrong.
Actually, Varimathras was not an important Legion figured (i put into perspective of his brother Bazzalan and Tichondrious) when Sylvannas incapacitated him, she offered him his life if he swore to slay his brother (He faked this obviously since Bazzalan is the end boss of the "Living" side of Stratholme). And also, Putress is not and was not the leader of the RAS he was just the lead "developer" of the New Plague, as was seen during the Drums of War patch. Hence, why only his sect of the RAS was under Varimathras' control.
ok, i hate how every1 says forsaken are evil. look them up on wwwiki and it basically spams everywhere that the forsaken and even blood elfves are "evil." They arent evil, they went through some rough times and want to kick arthas's ass. They dont want all living things dead, besides the crazy rebels. playing an undead char myself, i think the whole evil persona thing they put on tehm is a tiny bit to..... idiotic
Isn't that hellscreams son not Saurfang's son?
i did the quests for this cenematic 3 times( DK, Mage, and Warrior) after i did it on my warrior ((Undead)) i made a macro where he yells: LOK'TAR OGAR! FOR THE HORDE!! i love it, im a pro-alliance person, but my fav 2 alts are my main(human mage) and undead warrior.
more in-game cenematics would be awesome, i'd wish there was a lil cut scene when u went into the emerald dream and saw briefly Malfurion, but alas no just a few nightmares. mayb there'll be more for new raids, Blizz made a in-game cenematic for MgT( magister's Terrance) sure it was a brief look of Sunwell but a cenematic none-the less...... Blizz more in-game cenematics plz..or prepare to get a Frostfire bolt to the FACE!
Saurfang the Younger = Hellscream's son?
No.
You are thinking of Garrosh, who is seen in the Ulduar trailer.
I would love to see more in-game cinematics, and somebody mentioned the Arthas fight in Icecrown Citadel (patch 3.3). Excuse caps for a moment.
THE ARTHAS FIGHT HAD BETTER BE EPIC. There, I said it. If Blizzard doesn't make the final battle against the Lich King so epic that you crap your pants, I quit.
When I was leveling up, I had heard my guildmates talking about a "cut scene" but I hate spoilers, so I didn't look it up or ask what it was.
I was glad I didn't. When that cut scene happened, I got chills. It was so exciting and you get to follow it up with the assault on the Undercity. Pure gaming awesome.
It would be cool if when horde arrives they would start killing allys like they always do when ally attack mob
@asdasd
Um, did you WATCH the cinematic, or just TL;DR it?
The Horde and The Alliance were (until King Wrynn was an idiot and attacked the Horde) trying to work together to beat the Lich King. If the Horde arrived and "start killing allys like they always do when ally attack mob" that MIGHT throw the proverbial wrench in their plans. (which Wrynn did anyways. aint it cool how that works?)
I love the vid. Even though there are some of the same things between LOTR and WOTLK, i still agree with pixie that this was a big part of WoW. I love WoW storyline and i think this was a great addition. Thank you for re-introducing this vid to me. Now im stoked to play some WoW!
It's rare that a game makes me giddy.
The Wrath Gate was one of those rare moments.
I agree I'd love to see more cut scenes introduced and included in game. they have shown us they can incorperate it in "YAY" they finally got something right. IMO i think they need to rework alot of the old content to include some cut scenes to help tell the lore behind the game especially on questlines that are long or that deal with fighting in an instance to help let you feel the reason why they are asking you to go fight in that particular instance and kill the bosses there.
Anyone else agree?
QUASI-SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE ARTHAS BOOK!!
I think one aspect of the Arthas fight that would add a truly epic feel to it would be to have one part of the fight be your raid fighting against MASSIVE numbers of non-elite undead/nerubian summoned by Arthas. Not waves of 10 or so, mind you, but a relentless crush of them all at once so that you had a feel for the scope of his power over the dead. Then, like in the book, if a party memeber dies during the fight they would be raised by Arthas to fight as his minion. Do I have any idea how to make this happen in-game. No. Do I think it would be one of the coolest things ever...HELL YEAH!
I love the voice acting for Putress, it came off perfect. The scene and events after are fantastic. Except, when I did it on my Horde toon, I got to do it from the start. Every time I've done it with an Alliance toon (3x now) I always come in once it's already been started.
The events that take place really show why Jaina "Levelheaded" Proudmore should be the leader of the Alliance. Wrynn does not make me proud to be Alliance, he only makes me sad that Blizzard decided to bring him in as the new face of the Alliance. Then again, hot-headed, doesn't listen to others is pretty much the majority of Alliance players anyhow.
What happened to Saurfang Jr. is a good example of why you do not rush the Raid boss in DPS gear. Also, I can only assume that Bolvar's bubble hearth must of been on cooldown, cause he could of easily survived that fight.
My question is how is this a take on Lord of the Rings? Is it the Lich Kings armor or the look to his buildings. Or is it the movie itself that is a take off. I guess I need to watch the movie again to find out.