There is no shortage of passionate fans who loveWorld of Warcraft– a game nearly old enough to vote – and those talented among them never fail to amaze with their creative projects set in the lands of Azeroth. Through countless fanart, music videos, comedy sketches, gameplay concepts, expansion ideas, or evenrecreatingWorld of Wacraftzones in Unreal Engine, the community’s engagement with the source material has long been one of the franchise’s brightest spots.
AsWorld of Warcraftaged over a span of 17 years, some parts of it have aged gracefully – others less so. Though the game’s art direction has covered up the blemishes, the wear-and-tear, and the hardware limitations of game assets made during Azeroth’s fledgling years, recent efforts by Blizzard to touch up and remaster their old titles likeDiablo 2: Resurrected, have left players wondering whenWorld of Warcraft’soldest zones would meet the same fate.
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In a video posted on YouTube by Horazmodu titled Elwynn Reborn, they depict the iconic human starting zone using new, high definition models and textures thatWorld of Warcrafthas used for Alliance outposts in recent expansions such asWarlords of DraenororBattle for Azeroth, as well as some custom models to add the finishing touches.
The end result is transformative and a definite upgrade over its predecessor in terms of visual fidelity and detail, but perhaps most importantly, it retains the game’s recognizable art style and identity, as well as preserving the feel of the original zone. Northshire Abbey, Goldshire, Eastvale Logging Camp, the Tower of Azora – all the major landmarks of Elwynn Forest are beautifully depicted and present in the video.
Though some MMOs and multiplayer games such asFinal Fantasy 14orFallout 76do not explicitly ban people for using texture mods, and even unofficially support them, Blizzard’s hard stance against third party modifications of the client has relegated projects such as graphical improvements to outside the game. Some among theWorld of Warcraftcommunity have suggested that an official remake of Elwynn Forest might be in the near future, as files of building assets related to Elwynn Forest and other zones that utilize human architecture were datamined in the latestShadowlandspatch.
While this clashes against the leaks and the rumor mill of the next expansion being set on the Dragon Isles, extra development time could well have been allocated to remastering old starting zones. Players will no doubt know more in the coming months, as the announcement window forWorld of Warcraft’snew expansionlooms ever closer.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlandsis available on PC.
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