Why, Blizzard? Why oh why haven't you sought to plaster warning signs on boxes of your lovely but utterly consuming MMORPG? Some of us did actually have a life prior to stepping foot into Azeroth (well, cool people at least) so just think of what we could have done with all that time we instead spent wandering through the mystical glades of Ashenvale Forest or the rocky steps of the Searing Gorge. I can't think of anything right now, as I'm busy figuring out how many reputation points I need before I can acquire the mace I really want for my Shaman, but I'm sure it would have been something profound. Just for you then Blizzard, have my warning sign - feel free to place it on all future copies of World of Warcraft.

*WARNING*
World of Warcraft has been known to cause a dramatic decay of social life and a dependency on caffeine orientated confectionaries in order to keep yourself playing long into the night. Symptoms may include the following:

A strange compulsion to accumulate and collect blue and purple items due to their superiority over all other lesser colours.

A desire to blame your local Doctor for whatever illness you may have fallen foul of, as obviously his inability to keep you fully healed is why you now find yourself hospitalised.

And the overuse of strange words that only you and other World of Warcraft players will ever know the meaning of, like "Nerf" (when in doubt, call for the entire class of whoever just killed you to be completely torn to shreds, then hold breath) "Ninja" (if anyone even glances at a loot item on a dungeon run they must be cast out as gold farmer immediately, even if the item they want is an item only they can use) and "lol" (used in just about every place for every conceivable situation).

Oh, what's the use? Warning sign or not, people are going to become addicted no matter how many times you might try and warn them off - it's inevitable. World of Warcraft isn't a game you have to play for hours on end to get things done, but such is its hold on you once you do start playing that very rarely do those 'half hour' long sessions you plan end until you're tired, exhausted and more than a little shocked that it's now two in the morning.

Consider for a minute the huge appeal of WoW and its staggeringly huge user base (8 million subscribers and counting) and it's not hard to see why it would have been easy for Blizzard to completely sleepwalk right through their first major expansion for the game. The point is that they didn't need to add a whole lot to The Burning Crusade for it to do extremely well - even if all it added was a new dungeon and a "Big Bastard Sword of Mana Regeneration" that'd likely have been enough to feed the hordes of fans who hunger for more content, so it's a credit to Blizzard that they've really taken their time with The Burning Crusade, producing an expansion so large that it's almost an entirely new game in itself.

First though, a little back story. In the olden days of Warcraft lore, the Orcs lived a peaceful and uneventful existence on their home world of Draenor together with the big purple Draenai. Typically though, it was a peace that wasn't to last and with the arrival of the Burning Legion, an army of demons whose sole purpose is to destroy all life in the universe, Dreanor soon became a place of unrelenting torment. The Orcs were turned into ravaged killing machines who decimated their once beautiful home planet, while the Draenai where hunted to near extinction.

Eventually the Burning Legion set its sights on Azeroth, building huge gateways to send their armies through. However, having failed to read the instructions carefully when they assembled these massive gateways, they missed the part about how sending large masses of people through them has the rather annoying tendency of exploding planets, which is exactly what happened, although Dreanor wasn't destroyed entirely. What remains is a vast continent floating in space, still inhabited by the Burning Legion and their many followers and perhaps the one place you'll be spending a lot of your time in.

Providing that is that you actually have a character of a high enough level to enter the Outlands (the minimum is level 58), otherwise you'll likely be getting to know the two new races also introduced in this expansion. Blizzard have done away with any attempt at introducing new classes, but given the likely problematic balancing issues they'd cause with existing classes and the unending torrent of complaints some WoW players seem to love bombarding the games forum's with every time a change is announced, it was probably for the best.

Instead what you get are two brand new faces in an overly familiar looking game, both with their own starting areas, cities and quests. The Blood Elves join the Horde, an odd choice you may think considering that the elegant style of the Elves feels more at home with the Alliance, but with a leaning towards using dark magic and a desire to return to their lost Prince in Outlands, they sit fairly comfortably with their Orcish allies. Their towns and cities benefit from an Arabian Nights feel; the settlements all comprise of tall, beautifully constructed buildings awash with silk drapes and golden statues - it's a far cry from the haggard war torn look of the other Horde races.

On the opposing side are the Draenai (who are thankfully not the cuddly samurai Panda bears many people thought they would be), tall purple creatures with hooves for feet and tentacles for beards. As the surviving remnants of their almost extinct race, they have a somewhat tragic feel about them. Their starting areas are set on two islands that are covered with the wreckage of the spaceship (don't worry, it's a magical spaceship) that they used to escape their previous homeworld. There's a sense of the chaotic nature of the Draenai's arrival, as they find themselves trying desperately to fix the damage that their crashed ship has caused to the islands they must now call home.

Fitting with the current eight races, both the Draenai and Blood Elves each get racial specific abilities, from the Draenai's simple but useful healing spell and higher resistance to shadow magic to the Blood Elves' ability to drain a targets mana (needed for magic) and interrupt spells. These are fairly small additions compared to what else these two new races have been granted, primarily the choice to play as classes that were previously faction-specific. The Draenai can choose to play as Shamans, a class that was only available to the Horde while the Blood Elves can have a go as Paladins, once exclusive to the Alliance. It's an interesting new development and despite sharing similarities in that both are hybrid classes, each designed to work as both healers and damage dealers, neither have ever had the chance to work side by side, which will inevitably lead to many discussions about how these two classes stack up against each other. Whatever the case, do expect to see servers flooded with a few hundred Blood Elf Paladins and Draenai Shamans; given the lack of new classes, they've already proven to be quite popular choices amongst many players.

Each of the starting areas that house the two new races are no less important in what they add to the game either, showing just how far Blizzard's artists have come with designing new environments since the game's launch a couple of years back. Take the Blood Elf starting area; it's a beautiful land full of strange and exotic creatures with towns all restored to their former glory by the Blood Elves seeking to return to the glory of their past, spliced together with the stark, grim reminders of the devastation that once befell the land, with occasional undead Scourge warriors wandering around the "Dead Scar", a colossal line of dead earth that was used by the Undead armies to attack the city of Silvermoon.

The Draenai starting zones are a little more chaotic, set across two islands that were clearly once devoid of the meddling hands of the other races, and here you begin to sense the true scale of the devastation caused by the Draenai's crash landing. Giant power crystals poke through the ground, while makeshift towns and settlements are all built around parts of the craft's hull that were scattered across the islands. Even the capital city of Exodar is the ship itself, buried up to its neck in the ground and constantly looked over by workers seeking to repair some of the damage that was caused. Even without the knowledge of what transpired in the grander Warcraft story, Blizzard do an excellent job of showing you the history of these places and the new races through these details alone.

Elsewhere, more significant changes show how Blizzard have made levelling up a little easier. Quests are more frequent and a lot more generous when it comes to handing out experience points and rewards, and as a result the task of levelling through the early stages of the game is less of a tedious slog. Meanwhile, the introduction of smaller bosses is a good training aid for the numerous Elite creatures (harder to kill enemies with better loot drops) that you'll face in greater numbers in the later stages of the game. With a gentler and easier pace, the new starting areas are ideal for new gamers who are yet to experience World of Warcraft, at least adding value to The Burning Crusade for players without the ability to yet enter the Outlands.

If these new areas falter anywhere, it's in their disjointed feel with regards to the rest of the world; once you find yourself forced to venture outward into the rest of the Azeroth, you'll discover that with a stark lack of any familiar towns or settlements, neither the Blood Elves or Draenai have mush of a sense of place, particularly when the other eight races have already fully established themselves. There are plenty of new quest givers specifically added for both new races though, and in time as people begin to level up their new characters, hopefully the Blood Elves and Draenai will eventually sit more comfortably with their allies. It's perhaps not wise to expect that to happen for quite some time though, as those players who do have characters over level 58 - and as it turns out there are a lot - have already immigrated to the Outlands, leaving the once thriving world of Azeroth a quite lonely place. It's not hard to see why so many have packed up and shipped off for new adventures - a level cap raised to 70, the introduction of flying mounts, brand new dungeons to master, new armour sets for each class, plus the fact that it's a whole new continent set on a series of giant floating rocks in space of course!

The first sight to greet you upon your arrival to the Outlands after stepping through the Dark Portal (a huge gateway located in the Badlands, in case you're wondering) is vastly different to that of the world you are used to. The skies are full of moving gaseous green nebula, with the moons of the former Dreanor all in full view, but it's not until you take your first steps that you begin to get an idea of some of the hostilities you'll face. At the bottom of a huge staircase leading from the Dark Portal, masses of giant elite titans all charge to retake the gateway so they can once again invade Azeroth, but their efforts are always thwarted by the Alliance and the Horde, who've temporarily joined forces to protect their home world. While the hardcore make their dash to become the first level 70 flying mounted fully geared players, rush through the Outlands and you'll miss the extraordinary detail that Blizzard's artist have poured into this strange and fascinating new realm.

There are only seven zones to explore, but each is very large and designed with its own distinctive style. Take the improbably named Zangermarsh, for example. On the surface it has all the aspects of a forest, with a vast ecosystem comprising of a variety of strange looking creatures, and aside from the encampments set up by the Horde and the Alliance, it remains largely untouched. However, instead of being populated by trees, it's full of giant luminescent mushrooms that extend hundreds of feet into the air, with inhabitants ranging from bizarre giant three-legged creatures that look distinctly like the tripods from The War of the Worlds to small mushroom men who trade you valuable items for small glowing mushrooms that act as their currency.

Go to the edge of the zone and you're faced with the abyss; giant cliff faces peer off into space, with only a few floating rocks as any sign that this used to be part of a much larger landmass. The terrain becomes increasingly varied as you explore other regions, and I've not even begun to describe how intimidating Blade's Rock Mountains is, a zone full of giant jagged rocks sticking out like spears, or the tranquillity of Terokkar forest, one of the greenest zones you'll find in the Outlands - but going into too much detail will spoil the fun of discovering these areas yourself.

However, just in case exploration is at the bottom of your To Do list there is plenty to keep you occupied elsewhere. Questing is more frequent than it used to be once you reached the high levels; even if you begin your journey in the Outlands at the minimum level 58, you'll find it easier to level up thanks to the numerous new quests available. One thing you may notice while you get to work climbing those twelve new levels is how easy it is to come by nice pieces of armour and weaponry, which is where one possible problem rears its head. Inevitably, the release of an expansion for an already established MMO is going to cause some drastic changes that not everyone will be comfortable with, and true to form The Burning Crusade does end up stepping on the toes of some players. For the casual gamers, all you need to know is that armour and weapons drop more frequently from the creatures you encounter upon your journey, quest rewards are also more generous and a lot of these items end up being superior to some of the best armour sets that were once only really attainable to those players with the time to sacrifice in order to collect them.

Previously, the only way you could get the highest armour sets was to tackle the vast world dungeons housing world bosses who were so tough that you weren't even allowed to try them unless you had a full group of forty players, in what are called Raids. The more organised the raid, the better chance the group has of defeating the world boss and gaining the loot they seek. It took hours for even the most organised of guilds to prepare for these dungeon runs, let alone take part in them, so the actual job of building up armour sets was a long and arduous one. This is good news for the casual players at least, as they now have as much a chance of getting new shiny items as everyone else, and although some hardcore players have threatened cancelling their account, such is their disgust at having to abandon items they spent many hours collecting, doing so would neglect to take into account what all MMO expansions are about - something that we in the real world like to call progress. Yes, the old armour sets are useless past mid level 60, but don't forget there are new armour sets to gain, new dungeons to collect them in and new bosses to defeat. There's plenty of new content to get to grips with so you don't end up grinding the same areas until the ends of eternity.

Another significant change comes in the way that player versus player combat now operates. The whole PvP side of the game has undergone something of a radical overhaul since last we talked about World of Warcraft; the introduction of an Honour system where kills are awarded with points that you can spend on new items has led to many players abandoning worldwide PvP in search of new challenges. The result has been mixed - while it's nice that the pursuit of PvP is rewarded, it has led to a massive reduction in the worldwide PvP combat that used to take more of a precedent, which is why Blizzard have returned to try and address the balance.

All of the new zones now include special outdoor PvP events; an early example in the starting zone of Hellfire Peninsula sees the Horde and the Alliance attempting to wrestle control of three towers. As well as providing PvP rewards that act as currency for certain items, gaining control of all towers grants a damage bonus to every player of the faction that has captured them in that zone. These PvP events get increasingly more elaborate and difficult as you venture to newer zones. If this still doesn't sound appealing then there are always the new deathmatch style arenas, where smaller groups of players (2v2, 4v4 and so on) can compete against one another, either for fun where there are no rewards, or in special gladiatorial matches where players can gain points for prizes.

It's not quite the replacement to world PvP that it was obviously intended to be, and with the Alliance still outnumbering the Horde on many servers it's easy for such events to become a little one-sided, but it's a nice deviation on the familiar PvP theme, although possibly one that only the dedicated few will stick with in the long run.

What else is new? Oh yes, flying mounts - they're probably great, but I wouldn't know at this stage as, although I've devoted as much time as I can spare to The Burning Crusade, not even I can level up to 70 that fast, which is the level you have to be before you can buy one. One possible problem though, one that does lessen their value slightly, is that you can only use flying mounts while in the Outlands, so although you will undoubtedly have hours of fun swooping down and scaring on members of the other faction, don't expect to do the same through the cities of Orgrimmar or Stormwind.

Jewelcrafting is a nice addition too, a brand new profession that at the basic levels allows you to craft rings and necklaces (types of armour that used to only drop from NPCs) but once you manage to work your way to top of the profession you get to craft gems, special jewels that can improve your stats. These work in conjunction with brand new socketed items, allowing you to stack up a few of these gems and enhance your stats, sort of similar to the enchanting profession but more user-defined. Also I can't end without mentioning the music, which is excellent; Blizzard always excel at the smaller details and although the music is something you'll always confine to the back of the action on screen, it's an important factor in giving each of the zones their own uniqueness. You've got to love the new jazzed up menu music too!

Problems? There are some, but they're minor. The quite nature of levelling through Azeroth now many players have left for the Outlands (it's not hard to find help but it's still eerily quiet) and the somewhat repetitive nature of the quests is noticeable, but aside from a few niggling issues that can and probably will be sorted in upcoming patches, The Burning Crusade is a triumphant continuation to what was already a magnificent game.

There will be those who will hate some of the new additions in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, while others will love them - this is the unpredictable nature of the MMO. We all have our own expectations of what The Burning Crusade should provide. For me, it's almost like starting the game for the first time again, only without the embarrassing lack of knowledge that saw me struggling through the first few levels. Everything is new again, it's exciting to discover new areas and exhilarating to conquer new dungeons, and given that Blizzard have already confirmed an expansion every year (quite a lofty goal to set after the delays for this one) there's already an excitement about what they'll include in future updates. Certainly it'll be interesting to see how they intend to top this! Right now however, I'm busy trying to get a group together for the Underbog - quests need completing and ever more elusive armour needs collecting, and I'm almost level 65. And here was I actually thinking that I wasn't going to become addicted to the game again. Oh well, see you in six months' time…

Reviewed by Kieron Giacopazzi for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).