Grimrail Depot - From taking control of a clunky and troublesome dragon in the occulus, to roleplaying through an Ogre Fortress to Dire Maul, World of Warcraft players are no strangers to gimmicky dungeons. But occasionally these deviations from the standard fare surprise and excite just like Grim Rail Depot. Set aboard a running train, Grimrail Depot was perhaps the most distinctive Set bit of any dungeon in Warcraft history. The cramped opening half and annoying trash keep it from placing higher on the list, but even the saltiest curmudgeon couldnt help, but crack a smile the very first time they saw the iron sides of the train fall from the hinges, revealing a spectacular landscape rolling by.
ZulFarrak - ZulFarrak is a long example for today's standards, but compared to comparable vanilla dungeons, its length was justified by the dungeons smooth pacing, optional boss encounters, and the capability to ride a mount. And lets not forget about the fantastic booty, like the great pauldrons, The bad mojo mask, and a thing that players went to entirely too much trouble to unlock, known as Carrot on a Stick, which increased mounted movement speed by a mind boggling 3 percent. The Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme - The Wrath of the Lich King has delivered some Of WoWs best raids and dungeons, together with excellent story beats to boot.
The Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme let players relive the notorious Warcraft 3 mission wherein a pre Lich King Arthas Menethil demonstrated a willingness to win the war against the scourge at any cost, even when it involved massacring a city of innocent, yet possibly infected civilians. But that sublime plot is then hijacked by the not-so excellent invasion of time traveling dragons who're trying to stop the atrocity from taking place.
Weird, right? The Culling of Stratholme also had a pseudo challenge mode wherein an epic flying mount was guaranteed to drop if the dungeon was finished fast enough. Wrath of the Lich Kings final content patch added the excellent Ice Fortress raid, along with 3 superb dungeons that are noteworthy for a number of reasons! a weird James Brown Easter egg, and being chased through a collapsing cavern by the Lich King himself. The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection, when played sequentially, make the best dungeon experience in the entire expansion.
However in spite of its narrative excellence, the final chapters lengthy exposition and monotonous wave based fights doomed its replayability. We get it, Arthas. Youre evil and stuff. The Deadmines - Change is good right? The Cataclysm expansion brought much needed updates to some classical areas and dungeons, and absolutely butchered others.
What is your favorite dungeon? Comment below!
-LochFlush