Sunday, November 08, 2015

Legion Cinematic



The Legion Cinematic was released at Blizzcon this past weekend. As is traditional, we note that it is quite good, but not as good as the Wrath cinematic. The explicit call out to the Wrath cinematic at the very start is nice.

Again, technically the cinematic is very well done. In particular, the Blizzard cinematic team did an excellent job with Varian. He may very well be the best CG human I have seen. They nailed the look and feel of an aging warrior king, one who has been fighting all his life.

The trailer has no orcs! It's kind of sad that is now a good thing, and shows how much Blizzard overused the orcs in the last two expansions. Instead the Horde side is represented by Sylvannas, who is always good to see. She also looks very good, like a proper undead banshee queen.

This cinematic has one really superb scene, where the skycarrier is crashing and Varian closes his eyes. It's the one moment where Blizzard is willing to do less, and it pays off. Otherwise the scenes are a touch too busy.

Still though, it's a great cinematic, and starts off Legion on a high note.

4 comments:

  1. As soon as I saw Varian on the thumbnail, I knew I wouldn't dig it. Never liked him. :P

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    1. I think Blizzard has done a good job with Varian over the last expansion or two. They've gradually turned him into a decent character. Judging by the forum response to this trailer, I think a lot of the audience feels the same way.

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  2. I also have to agree with Varian coming out really well, he's got some charm and character, nice CGI. I think I'll have to change my mind on this fellah and give him the benefit of the doubt (even if he's still Alliance scum).

    For some reason my biggest disappointment about this trailer is Varian not dying. I know, I know big characters can't easily die, especially not drowning, but still. Some hero dying is a damned good motivation to fight the Legion. Had they cut at 03:21 it would have been perfect.

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    1. I think dying in a cinematic is the wrong move for an MMO. Major events should happen in game, not in related media.

      Also, I think games should be more sparing with NPC death. In SWTOR, a lot of characters die, and it's sort of unfortunate, because you lose all the work you put into that character. Which isn't to say that it shouldn't happen, but I think death should be rarer than what the community often calls for.

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