World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard’s take on a world very similar to the 2004 original enriched with new content, launches on PC on November 4. The game will offer official Gamepad (Alpha) support from day one, letting players explore Azeroth with a controller.
According to information Oyun Günlüğü obtained from XBOX Wire, XBOX Wire editor Mike Nelson played the game with a controller throughout the beta, switching between desktop, couch and handheld. Nelson noted that Blizzard has opened World of Warcraft up to more players through combat innovations like Single-Button Assistant and accessibility features like Text to Speech. Forever takes that experience back to an era when Azeroth still felt fresh and unknown.
New content in a classic world
World of Warcraft: Forever aims to strike a middle ground between the Classic feel and improvements that make the experience more welcoming for newcomers. The game will stay that way, which is where the “Forever” in its name comes from. Players return to the two main continents, Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, with classic races such as humans, orcs, elves, trolls and dwarves.
It won’t be a one-to-one experience, though. The most significant addition is the Skyborne, a new race of elves living on the recently uncovered floating Zephras Isle. There are also new areas to discover in the Riverglades and Mount Hyjal, along with improved lighting and graphics that make familiar locations feel new. Class combos are being revamped as well, allowing players to roll a Forsaken Paladin, for example. Forever is included in the current subscription, so no additional purchase is required.
How to enable controller support
To turn on controller support, players simply check the “Gamepad (Alpha)” box under Options in the main menu. This changes the on-screen icons to match the buttons of the controller being used. Nelson recommends a modern XBOX Wireless Controller, since every on-screen button icon maps perfectly.
Nelson says he gradually figured out how to access his usual routines such as Bags, Quests and the character screen. He hasn’t found anything he can’t reach with just the controller, which he sees as a good sign for the feature’s future support.
Combat and communication
In combat, pressing the triggers and bumpers cycles through the actions mapped to the controller’s buttons. Nelson says combat in Forever feels more rhythmic than in modern World of Warcraft, which works in the controller’s favor by giving players a bit more time to think through their next attack. Long-time players will also benefit from already understanding character progression, buffs, attack order and how additional skills unlock.
What Nelson is still working on is interacting with other players using only the controller. Holding down the right analog stick opens a ping system that lets players send party members commands such as Attack, Warning, On My Way and Assist. Still, Nelson feels a keyboard or voice chat is the way to go, and keeps a wireless keyboard next to him on the couch as a fallback.
It also runs on the Asus ROG XBOX Ally
Nelson also tried the game on the Asus ROG XBOX Ally, which runs Windows 11 and can run apps like Battle.net. This setup isn’t officially supported yet, and reaching the main menu to toggle Gamepad (Alpha) requires a mix of the device’s touchscreen and on-screen keyboard, which takes some patience.
To free up screen space, Nelson recommends using the UI’s Edit Mode to shrink the Chat Frame and move the Player and Targeting Frames to the bottom of the screen. He says the default position of the Gamepad Action Bar is pretty good, and suggests checking the Compact Action Bar option for even more room. After that, the handheld experience is as seamless as playing on the couch. Nelson says he never thought he’d be able to lie in bed with a handheld playing World of Warcraft, or lounge on the couch while running a dungeon.
