For the past two decades, few games have been as prolific as Activision-Blizzard's World of Warcraft. WoW changed the landscape of an entire genre, bringing the niche MMORPG into the mainstream. While it still had its odd quirks, WoW was far easier to get into than EverQuest and quickly took its spot as top dog. Years have passed, and dozens of other MMOs have dubbed themselves the "WoW Killer" before promptly phasing out.
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As it turns out, the real "WoW Killer" was Activision-Blizzard themselves. As they say, "No king rules forever, my son." It's still a solid game, but WoW's competition is better than ever, especially Final Fantasy XIV. Let's take a look at the lows and the highs, according to Metacritic, of the game's expansion packs up to the present day.
Updated December 26, 2022 by Kristy Ambrose: The most recent World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight, was released in November to a hopeful but cynical gaming community. Shadowlands remains on the lower tier of WoW expansions when it comes to ratings, but the positive reviews of Dragonflight have redeemed the Blizzard name. Both gamers and critics have embraced the latest addition to the MMORPG family even if it's not in Wrath of the Lich King territory just yet.
10 Battle for Azeroth - 79
Battle for Azeroth, the latest of WoW's expansion at this time of writing, was released on August 14, 2018. The expansion pack was the best-selling pack of all time according to Blizzard, and the promises brought back several people. The relative success of the Legion expansion gave fans hope for the future of the game. However, those hoping for new content and balanced classes at release quickly realized the expansion was lacking that sweet, sweet MMORPG endgame.
Since its release, Battle for Azeroth has turned around on some of those aspects, but a lot of fans felt burned once again. Critics may have given the game relatively good scores, but the Metacritic user score sits at 3.0/10. When compared to the most recent Final Fantasy XIV expansion, it's clear to see that people have a consensus on which is the worst WoW expansion.
9 Dragonflight - 81
The dragons of Azeroth have always been an interesting part of the lore, taking a pivotal role in almost every world-changing or universe-shifting event, and they finally have an expansion dedicated to their history and adventures. The most recent WoW expansion allows introduces players to a new race and a new class, the only expansion to do both at once, and so far gamers are impressed.
It's still early after the release, and the User Score of Dragonflight is still lagging with only a 4.4/10, but the trend is on the rise. Other changes to the talent and professional systems are also getting positive attention, and it's also nice to see an expansion that also makes some changes for lowbies and new players instead of limiting it to experts planning their endgame.
8 Mists of Pandaria - 82
Mists of Pandaria, released on September 25th of 2012, was one of the first times fan frustrations with the game extended beyond WoW's community. The number of images containing a boxed copy of this game next to copies of Kung Fu Panda 2 for Xbox was probably higher than the sales of the latter. For outsiders, the expansion's new areas looked gorgeous. The new player experience was greatly improved. Pandaren was goofy and fun, and pet battles were a great minigame for casual players.
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However, fans will say this is the point things started to become streamlined. A lot of the negative reviews talk about issues with talent changes and a bad direction for the gameplay. Some players might have been relieved to have leveling streamlined, making it easier to get to "the good part" of the MMO. Overall, MoP is considered by fans to be a weaker addition. Not the worst WoW expansion but perhaps the most disappointing one.
7 Shadowlands - 82
Shadowlands, released on Nov. 23, 2020, following an extensive alpha and testing period, sees major sweeping changes to the game and the world to help make things fresh. The player will travel to an alternate reality, where only they can stop a great calamity that threatens both realms. It also, according to both fan and critic reviews, boasts what many consider to be the best story WoW has told in years. Critics also compliment the streamlined leveling process and the signs of great things to come for the timeless MMO.
Launch day jitters aside, it has a much more positive reception across the board than Battle for Azeroth. Players also enjoy the new covenant system and the beautiful new landscapes Blizzard has crafted. It was the fastest-selling PC game for a while, a title World of Warcraft has held multiple times now.
6 Warlords of Draenor - 87
Warlords of Draenor, released on November 13th of 2014, had to follow the relatively weak Mists of Pandaria and deliver something old and new fans could enjoy. To its credit, Warlords of Draenor did improve on many problems with the previous release. Garrisons may have been a Facebook game at its core, but it was better than other things added in the past. Quests were still linear but improved, and the story was a step up from MoP. A lot was setting WoD to be a return to form.
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However, as documented by the torrent of reviews talking about the issue, the expansion's launch was an absolute disaster and the pack stayed like that for some time. The new content was also stretched thin, leading players to hit the new level cap pretty quickly.
5 Legion - 88
Legion, released on August 30th of 2016, followed two (arguably three) less-than-stellar expansions in a row. When fans had lost all hope, they were not prepared for what Legion would deliver. The story was one of the greatest in a long-time, impressing fans and critics alike. It was steeped in nostalgia, but sometimes that's a good thing. The expansion pack melded beloved elements of Wrath of the Lich King and Burning Crusade, creating an experience that fans couldn't help but love. Some had their issues, but they're outnumbered pretty handily.
As the patches came through for Legion, more and more people were sold on it. The final raid tier in particular was especially fun. The grind was still present, but that is normal for an MMO.
4 Cataclysm - 90
Cataclysm, released on December 7th of 2010, killed World of Warcraft, and the series was never heard from again. Naturally, despite what some might have said at the time, this proved to not be true. Cataclysm did mark a turning point in Activision-Blizzard's philosophy with WoW. The existing areas had started to suffer from age, and old quests felt archaic by comparison. The Azeroth of old was burnt to the ground and everyone got a piece of what the expansion had to offer.
Critics were absolutely in love with the expansion's attempts to revitalize what had become somewhat stale. Fans, on the other hand, were divided on whether this was a good idea or not. Some fans thought that the streamlined quests were much needed, while others felt it ruined the "challenge." For better or for worse, Cataclysm was a landmark expansion and success for Activision-Blizzard.
3 Wrath of the Lich King - 91
Depending on who's asking, The Wrath of the Lich King, released November 13, 2008, was the last time WoW was good. The expansion brought players to Northrend, home of the titular Lich King and his Frozen Throne. This expansion directly follows the plot laid out in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and the fanservice was well-received. The gameplay was still addictive and fun, delivering high-octane raids and fun quests, but now with better customization.
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Wrath of the Lich King had a little something for all types of fans and reignited interest in the game. It could be argued that the Wrath of The Lich King played a huge role in making WoW a cultural landmark and is rated by many to be the best WoW expansion.
2 Burning Crusade - 91
Burning Crusade, released on January 16th of 2007, was World of Warcraft's first expansion and a smashing success. While it did have a somewhat poor new-player experience, Burning Crusade still sits among WoW's best expansion packs.
Burning Crusade added a little bit of everything without drastically changing what made WoW good. New races were solid additions, the new mounts were great, and the raids and endgame content were just as good as what was delivered before. There's a lot to love with Burning Crusade, and there's a good reason why people won't shut up about it after all of these years.
1 Vanilla/Classic - 93
Does Classic count as an expansion? Just to be clear, this is referring to 2004's original release and not the 2019 version. The user score is lower than both Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, but World of Warcraft's base game still has its fans. Classic defined an entire genre and generation of PC gaming.
Blizzard was at the top of their game with this release. It was a bit of a grind and often obtuse, but there was hardly a better social experience in gaming than WoW Classic. It's not surprising to see Classic at the top; sometimes, the original is just the best.
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