Blizzard's MMORPG Warcraft Defends Against Mythic's Warhammer

There's no denying it: the 70-ton behemoth in the massively multiplayer market kept its crown in 2008. World of Warcraft's subscriber base continued to expand the entire year, eventually reaching the 11 million mark (which, as GamePro reminds us, is equal to the population of Ohio).

But apparently that didn't demoralize the competition much. Mythic Entertainment came bursting onto the scene with a strong, stable launch for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and almost a million subscribers soon after.

Then Blizzard hit back only a couple of months later with Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion pack for World of Warcraft-proving, once again, that WoW isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Expansions aside, there's no denying that there are striking similarities between these two virtual worlds. Therefore, there's no better time for an in-depth look at the battle for fantasy MMO subscribers henceforth known as Warhammer Online versus World of Warcraft.

The Lore that Keeps on Warring

Perhaps the one thing that makes these MMOs so similar is the setting. For the most part, both games star the usual fantasy cast of Humans (or "Empire"), Dwarves, Elves, Orcs (or "Greenskins"), and the like. The WAR universe is a bit grittier, and its races reflect that: the creepy Chaos make any of the five "evil" WoW races appear friendly by comparison.

And both games do require players to make the decision between good and evil-or at least happy and sinister. Warhammer hosts a battle between Order and Destruction, clocking in with 3 races each. Meanwhile, Warcraft features the Alliance versus the Horde, at a more impressive 5 races each. However, while Warcraft has 10 typical fantasy classes to choose from, Warhammer has a few more since it does things a bit differently; each race in Warhammer has several completely unique classes.

This obviously isn't just a competition for the most playable races or classes, though race selection will control what much of the game looks like for the player-whether the cities will be decorated with golden pillars or skulls and crossbones. As it turns out, the art direction for both of the games is quite similar. The opinion of this author is that Warcraft pulls off the style in a more striking and memorable way, while Warhammer does a slightly better job of technically implementing it (the animations and special effects, etc.). But when comparing WAR to the latest WoW expansion, the overall appearance really is rather close.

Conquering and Expanding the Game World

A huge part of MMOs is journeying together with strangers and friends, guildmates and groupmates. The social aspects will always be a priority for developers of these games. With that said, Warhammer Online encourages social interactions to an even higher degree than World of Warcraft. Innovative "public quests" and extensive player versus player incentives are at the forefront of the game.

This conviction toward competitive gameplay mechanics could be due to the fact that the game was built by a company that already has an extremely successful MMO-Dark Age of Camelot-under its belt. DAoC was a pioneer in realm versus realm combat. While WAR and WoW both have small- and large-scale PvP, WAR has been built from the ground up to emphasize and reward it.

As far as the overall size of the game world goes, there is a clear winner right now. Wrath of the Lich King was Warcraft's second expansion since its launch over four years ago, growing an already impressive world. Currently there aren't any plans for a Warhammer expansion, Voodoo Extreme reports. But that's only because Mythic wants to get their game into top shape first.

With the fantastic success of WAR so far, players can expect an expansion somewhere on the horizon. Although for those in search of an already enormous and well-established collection of content, the dual expansions that WoW offers are certainly tempting.

On With the Warhammerin' and Warcraftin'

There's no better point than now to jump into either of these epic games-or both, if you really have that kind of time. WAR provides a fresh take on some things like community-based questing and has heaps of PvP options; while WoW has a massive, well-polished, and well-balanced universe to enjoy. Go with the one that best matches your style of play, and begin your basic training with the rest of the orcs. For the Horde! Oh, and for Destruction now, too!

Sources:

Blake Snow, "World of Warcraft subscribers equal population of Ohio." GamePro.

Robert "Apache" Howarth. No Expansion Plans for Warhammer Online Yet. Voodoo Extreme.