World of Warcraft in cutting-edge graphics. For many, a long-held dream – this Orgrimmar shows how fantastic it could look.
Even though World of Warcraft has a comic style with a more or less timeless graphic that has aged better over the years than many other games, not everyone likes it. Some players sincerely wish that Blizzard would someday release a “World of Warcraft 2.0.” The focus should mainly be on improving the graphics and bringing them up to date with the latest technology.
Some fans are already working on such a project – like AXCEL, who shows impressive pictures of a possible Orgrimmar on his YouTube channel.
What does the video show? It features the implementation of part of Orgrimmar in Unreal Engine 5. The original WoW graphics are hardly recognizable anymore, as it now has a very realistic graphic style with numerous effects. Complex shadows, fog and smoke effects, and drastically improved character models that resemble those from a next-gen title rather than World of Warcraft.
What’s impressive is that AXCEL is handling the project entirely on his own, having built and implemented what is shown all by himself. This alone inspires dreams about what would be possible with a team of several dozen developers, should Blizzard ever decide to do so.
What kind of place is this? Orgrimmar is the capital of the Horde and the Orcs in World of Warcraft and is located in Durotar. Surrounded by massive rock walls, the city is naturally protected, with only three gates providing access. The main gate, which Horde players first enter when starting as Orcs, is shown in this video.
AXCEL is by far not the only one taking on such projects. There are always ideas to implement World of Warcraft in various Unreal Engines and give it a modern touch.
The community is usually divided on such videos. Many welcome the creativity and the “what if” scenario of such fan projects, while others believe that such a drastically changed graphic would not fit World of Warcraft, as the charm of the comic look would be lost.
What do you think of this video? An impressive performance that is worth seeing? Or is it something completely different, but surely not World of Warcraft?
