A new World of Warcraft Forever series continues Blizzard’s attempt to shotgun us with early 2000s nostalgia, and this time it’s via a special celebrity cameo. If you were around for the early days of Blizzard’s MMORPG, you might remember its adverts featuring the likes of Mr T, William Shatner, Ozzy Osbourne, and Chuck Norris. For the grand rebirth that is WoW Forever, the developer is taking a slightly different approach – transforming British comedian Bill Bailey into the Dwarven host of a David Attenborough-style mockumentary called ‘Planet Azeroth.’
Bailey is the perfect fit for the format, blending the soft-spoken wonder of Attenborough’s iconic Planet Earth series (which itself debuted in 2006) with his trademark dry wit. The result is a pleasingly silly look at the environments, flora, and fauna of World of Warcraft Forever. This is just the first part in a three-episode miniseries that will span from the vibrant beauty of Elwynn Forest to the rocky cliffs of Durotar, and the frosty wilds of Winterspring. Along the way it’ll give us a glimpse at wolves, boars, kobolds, murlocs, kodo beasts, quilboar, and many more of the threats you’ll encounter.
Hearing a Kobold described as a “tiny little hoarding, subterranean, evil little git” feels very fitting, and our curious host even takes time to explain the reasoning behind their “simple, elegant manifesto” of protecting their candles. Bailey notes that he’s “always been fascinated by the natural world, but nothing quite prepares you for Azeroth.” While the series is going to be most useful to those coming to the MMO for the first time, there’s enough of a novelty to the setup that longtime fans will probably enjoy it too.
“For more than 20 years, players have fallen in love with Azeroth itself,” WoW Executive Producer Holly Longdale says of the reverence for exploring the world. “World of Warcraft Forever is our chance to revisit that world through fresh eyes,” she remarks, “and Planet Azeroth captures that spirit perfectly. Bill’s curiosity, humor, and genuine sense of wonder make him the ideal guide to a world that has been home to millions of players.”
They might be strange novelties, but I’ve appreciated Blizzard’s recent efforts to appeal to that latent nostalgia in the WoW audience. Just yesterday, it dropped a World of Warcraft Forever AMV (that’s ‘animated music video,’ a format that was all the rage back in the day among fan-made edits). To capture the essence of 2006, it even features suitably fitting music from the heavy metal trio of Evanescence’s Amy Lee, Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante, and Poppy. It’s a fun way to emulate the feel of the era it originally launched.
World of Warcraft Forever releases on Wednesday November 4. The first episode of Planet Azeroth is out now, with two more to come on Sunday November 1 and Sunday November 8.