The War Within Alpha — Into the Ringing Deeps (Preview)

In the latest build of The War Within Alpha, Blizzard has unlocked Khaz Algar’s second zone – The Ringing Deeps – for testing, as well as some class changes, some new hero talents, and of course, some new delves (although I could only access one out of the three!) In this preview, we’re going to focus on the zone itself. I’ll talk very briefly about the story, but you can consider this spoiler free unless you want to go in totally blind.

While the first zone available for testing – The Isle of Dorne – was your more typical Warcraft zone, The Ringing Deeps gives us our first glimpse of what’s going on beneath the surface of Khaz Algar. Like many, I was a little concerned about the prospect of an underground expansion. While I was a big fan of Deepholm back in Cataclysm, that was a single zone within a roster of diverse environments. On the other hand, while I appreciated the look and feel of Zaralek Cavern in Dragonflight, I much preferred the vast, colorful, wide-open biomes on the surface of the Dragon Isles.

The zone

From the previews we got from Blizzcon and the marketing material since, The Ringing Deeps appeared to be the most conventional subterranean zone out of the three (no big crystals in the sky, or ancient Nerubian architecture). And, after spending several hours exploring the zone and playing through the main questline, I would say that much of the Ringing Deeps holds true to my expectations. Yep – it’s an enormous cave. But despite my apprehensions, it’s a very cool place to explore and one of the most unique zones Blizzard has ever created.

The Ringing Deeps are home to the Machine Speakers, a faction of Earthen who exist to keep the great Titan Machines in working order. As you might expect, there’s some trouble going on here. Kobolds are running rampant, Nerubians are causing mischief, and workers are going missing under mysterious circumstances. As a place of dwarven industry, you’ll find echoes of industrialization across the zone, such as pipes and railroads winding through the caverns, mining towns, grand furnaces and enormous waterworks. Given what’s happening, many of these areas are abandoned, or at the very least, inhabited by creatures far less friendly than your Earthen allies.

As you venture further down into The Ringing Deeps, pockets of Earthen civilization become sparser, the caves darker, the atmosphere gloomier, the creatures scarier. It does a great job of making you feel as though you’re descending into the unknown, into a place we’re probably not meant to be. There isn’t a soundtrack on the alpha yet, nor are there any ambient sound effects. These factors, combined with the lack of players, made the deeper areas of The Ringing Deeps feel even spookier. I just hope that this feeling can be replicated once the zone is live and all the bells and whistles have been added.

Despite being underground, there’s a fair bit of greenery to behold. Nature has taken hold of much of the cave, with vines trailing down from the rock ceiling, and waterfalls pouring through chasms in the walls. This helps the zone from feeling too one-note, and adds just enough color to prevent it from feeling overly oppressive. On the topic of biodiversity, Blizzard has done a great job of cleverly implementing different environments to keep things feeling fresh, with my particular favorites including a kobold village and a ginormous furnace area in the northern area of the zone.

The story (no spoilers)

For obvious reasons, I’m not going to dwell on the story of the zone too much. I found the events interesting, but it felt a little rushed, especially towards the end.  There was a cool moment right at the end that will probably go down a treat with the players who have been following the story over the last few years in particular. Furthermore, the plotline gave us a little more insight into what Xal’atath is up to down here, but at the same time, felt fairly self-contained. I might be proven wrong on that latter point; we’ll see!

The questing is a typical WoW affair for the most part. To me, that’s a good thing. There were a couple of particularly good instanced quests though, and I hope Blizzard continues to learn on these for key story moments.

I elected not to do any of the side quests, as I want to keep them a surprise for when The War Within launches. Judging by how much of the zone is allocated to side quest activities, I imagine they’ll be packed with further lore about The Ringing Deeps.

Despite my apprehensions, I’m really pleased with how The Ringing Deeps is shaping up. Yes, it’s unquestionably an underground zone in every sense of the word, but it’s unlike any area Blizzard has made before.

Stay tune to GamingTrend for more coverage of The War Within Alpha!