World of Warcraft: The War Within's 11.1 patch will be taking players to the long-hinted at goblin capitol: Undermine. 11.2, lovingly titled Undermined, will for the first time be an entirely goblin-centered experience, featuring new ground-mount traversal options, a new dungeon and raid, and new renown reputations featuring four goblin cartels to keep players busy. While players were re-assured that it would feature serious lore and world-building developments in its announcement, any goblin-themed content is sure to include explosions, shenanigans, and certainly, a good time.

As a mainstay of major patches, many players are undoubtedly excited about some new raid content, this time coming forward in The Liberation of Undermine. This new, eight-boss raid, will primarily feature the horde's exiled goblin leader, Trade Prince Gallywix, in his Gallagio estate. Hopefully, players will finally see an end to this slippery WoW villain, who has personally haunted not just goblin players starting their adventure, but the greater world of Azeroth in pursuit of wealth and power. Regardless of story development, Liberation of Undermine promises an element of light-hearted fun and vibrancy that has been absent in WoW's raid design of late.

Liberation Of Undermine Is A Breath of Fresh Air

The New Raid Breaks A Recurring Trend Of Dark Visuals And Story Telling

WoW, particularly in recent years, has seen a trend of making more serious and dark raids. War Within's launch raid, Nerub-Bar Palace, saw players enter the Nerubian palace to depose Queen Ansurek's void-manipulated tyranny. She was set up in various cinematics before launch as a somewhat tragic character, having her irable intentions skewed by the expansion's primary antagonist, Xalatath. The Palace itself featured a relatively static appearance, hues of dark purple and web-covered architecture, that while interesting, didn't have visual variety. The disconnected nature of the raid architecture also down-played the size and spectacle of this imposing palace.

Dragonflight also featured tragic villains and a repetitive color palette in Vault of the Incarnates and Aberrus. Liberation of Undermine, on the other hand, contrasts the Pallagio's neon-lit extravagance next to the grimier fighting pits and streets of Undermine, creating distinct visual tones with splashes of eye-popping colors. The premier villain, Gallywix, has himself been a near-parody-level incarnation of greed and antagonism, a stark contrast to these grayer characters. Compelling raids are markers of successful expansions, and hopefully, Liberation of Undermine will contribute to the already well-received War Within.

Light-Hearted World Of Warcraft Raids Can Be Fun

The Liberation Of Undermine Promises An Abundance Of Light-Hearted Fun

I'm not saying that these raids are bad, but rather, Liberation of Undermine provides a much-needed reprieve from the raid design direction that has been occurring of late. Nerubar palace's similar, purple-hued rooms all contained variations on purple spiders. Conversely, the varied environments already feature pop culture-inspired, over the top fights: a giant robotic gorilla and dinosaur, a Mad Max-inspired war rig, and one of the most gratuitous WoW villains ever made sitting on a flying robot designed in the likeness of his face. It's unclear what the story implications are for these bosses, but not every raid needs that.

There's always excitement about new content in WoW, with a new raid typically being the focal point for that excitement. Liberation of Undermine doesn't just bring along that usual, standard appeal. It offers a style of raid that has been absent in World of Warcraft for a long period of time, one that, within its lighthearted premise, promises extravagance, variety, and most of all, explosiveness.