Highlights
- World of Warcraft's success is partially due to its impressive and beautiful scenery, which is especially important in MMORPGs.
- Nagrand in Warlords of Draenor, Abyssal Depths in Cataclysm, and Zandalar in Battle for Azeroth are some of the most picturesque zones in World of Warcraft.
- The scenery in these zones adds to the immersive experience of the game, and exploring them is a key part of the player's journey and questing.
Part of the enjoyment of any video game is the scenery, and there's extra pressure on MMORPGs to produce something impressive that all of their resident gamers can enjoy. World of Warcraft embraced this challenge in the early days of online gaming, which is one of the secrets to WoW's success.
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After more than two decades of refining their craft, the developers at Blizzard have created some incredible landscapes for players to explore during their adventures. Use that screenshot button to record some of the most beautiful zones in World of Warcraft.
8 Nagrand, Warlords Of Draenor
The Nagrand of Outland that was introduced in The Burning Crusade expansion is also quite scenic, but the version in Warlords of Draenor takes that rolling green landscape even further. It also includes some unique additions that players will travel to see, quest or not.
The southern coast gets a lot of attention for the Robin Williams tribute, complete with several TV and movie references, located on an idyllic island in the South Sea overlooking a placid stretch of open water. Some of the rock formations and other distinctive geography in the zone are reminiscent of similar features in the BC version.
7 Abyssal Depths, Cataclysm
Not everyone likes the underwater level, but players have to admit that all three zones in Vashj'ir look great, and they're beautifully rendered in all three dimensions. A big location at the bottom of the ocean that could be its own mini-continent, Vashj'ir is divided into the Kelp'thar Forest, the Shimmering Expanse, and finally the Abyssal Depths. It's the phosphorescent light and glowing plants that make the latter such a picturesque zone.
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The player travels through these zones as part of a quest chain that leads to some compelling history and lore. What happened to Queen Azshara and the Highborne who followed her into the depths after the Sundering was one of Azeroth's most pressing mysteries, and some of those blanks are filled in while marveling at the surroundings.
6 Zandalar, Battle For Azeroth
Anyone who saw the illustrations from books like Dinotopia or liked the Jurassic Park movies will appreciate the design and scenery of Zandalar. This is a timeline when the Troll empire was at its peak, an era when the Loa walked the streets of massive temples next to the common folk.
It's not just the jungle scenery that's nice, which has all kinds of plant and flower details to immerse players in the lush tropical foliage, but also the buildings and clothing. Players don't have to be fans of Troll culture to enjoy the Meso-American-inspired art and architecture of Zandalar.
5 Winterspring, Classic
Part of the draw of this far northern zone was a mystery, with its isolated location behind the dangerous Timbermaw Hold to the west and the mysterious passages to Mount Hyjal in the south. In the days of Classic, this was the only winter-themed zone for max-level characters in Kalimdor, and it was connected to one of the game's most notorious endgame raids.
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Alliance players would come here for the Frostsaber mount, Warlocks would search the hills for owlbear blood to complete the Dreadsteed quest, and both sides would hunt each other in a perpetually Contested zone. Part of the beauty is the thrill of danger that lurks behind every corner.
4 Grizzly Hills, Wrath Of The Lich King
If the truth were told, it would be that the whole continent of Northrend is designed to be a barren wasteland with little to offer other than defeat and death, at least that's what Bizzard taught fans years ago. It's too bad that Arthas never saw the moon rise over the tall pines of Grizzly Hills. He might have been distracted from his dark quest by its ethereal beauty.
Players have compared the landscape here to places like the Yukon or Oregon, and it even has salmon fishing prospects for those who are still looking for their Turtle Mount. A truly awesome sight is Grizzlemaw, formerly the world tree Vordrassil, a massive fallen tree that was taken over by furlbogs and made into a city.
3 Zerith Mortis, Shadowlands
Described as a forbidden realm only known to and inhabited by the First Ones, the designers and developers should be proud of this zone, which could be one of the most beautiful places ever brought to life in a video game. The geography and features defy the laws of time, space, and gravity to an amazing effect, so it's an even more fun place to explore and quest through.
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It's part of the Shadowlands expansion, but a place hidden carefully between the folds of reality and only accessible to a select few. The zone is divided between open deserts and rolling hills thick with grass, both of which are inspiring to see.
2 Jade Forest, Mists Of Pandaria
It was a contentious expansion, with supporters and critics in equal measure, but everyone seemed to agree that Pandaria was just gorgeous. Out of all the zones in the new continent that players could explore for this expansion, the Jade Forest was the best of a really nice collection.
The Jade Forest is in the heart of the continent, where the impressive starting dungeon for the expansion is also located. It's known for its lush foliage along with the various statues and buildings that are some of the best examples of Pandarian art and design.
1 Zangarmarsh, The Burning Crusade
Everyone was so excited about The Burning Crusade that it was easy to overlook how ugly the new zones were, especially for characters that had just hit level 60 and were ready to go through the Dark Portal. After gaining a few more levels, however, players could find more scenic zones like Zangarmarsh.
The dark, humid zone was a relief after the pink and orange sands of the Hellfire Peninsula or the grey leaves of Terrokar Forest. The purple and blue were more like Draenei than Orc, along with most of the structures, which even Horde players had to admit looked beautiful.