World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King

BlizzCon 2007 kicked off today in Anaheim, Calif., and Blizzard wasted no time in announcing more good news for World of WarCraft fans: a second expansion pack, titled Wrath of the Lich King, is currently in development at Blizzard Entertainment.

The follow-up to the highly successful Burning Crusade expansion pack (which sold more than 2 million copies in its first 24 hours) will take World of WarCraft players to the "forbidding wasteland" of Northrend and will feature new levels of power, a brand new character profession, and World of WarCraft's first hero class. "This expansion will add some of the most infamous characters and settings from the Warcraft universe to World of Warcraft," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, in a press statement. "In addition to new story content, Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a number of features specifically requested by players over the past couple of years. We're looking forward to sharing further details with everyone as development progresses."

According to Blizzard, players last visited Northrend in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, when Arthas Menethil fused with the spirit of Ner'zhul to become the Lich King, one of the most powerful beings in the Warcraft universe. In Wrath of the Lich King, the forces of the Alliance and the Horde will venture into battle against the Lich King and the Scourge, an army of undead, according to the game's description. Some of the new features for Wrath of the Lich King include a Death Knight Hero Class, which players will be allowed to create once certain challenges have been met; increased level cap, which is now at 80; an "Inscription" profession, which will give players the ability to permanently enhance spells and abilities; siege weapons and destructible buildings, which will provide new player-vs.-player game mechanics and battlefields; and new character customization, which will feature new hairstyles and dance animations.

The one item missing from all this information from Blizzard, however, is a release date. The company isn't saying, but according to an FAQ on the new Wrath of Lich King Web site, Blizzard plans on announcing pricing and availability details in the coming months. All that's been confirmed so far is that both a PC version and a Mac version of the expansion pack will be release simultaneously.

In the meantime, here's a look at the first 11 screenshots of the Wrath of the Lich King. Warning: they're only scenery shots. For a better look at the game, check out the video trailer for Wrath of the Lich King. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

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