Hearthstone closed beta finally available in Europe.

Yet another game I've been quite interested in getting my hands on is Hearthstone, a collectable card game (CCG) set in the Warcraft universe.

Oddly enough it's not simply a digital version of the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game made by Cryptozoic with the perverse subtitle "Take your addiction further", but rather a completely new game with, as far as I understand, somewhat simpler rules compared to the WoW TGC and other established card games such as Magic: The Gathering.

I've only ever dabbled in CCGs before; a bit of Magic on the PS3 and Scrolls by Mojang, which in their own rights are very entertaining and can suck the very life out of you and your wallet should you let the collector demon haunt you. But for me there's been something missing from these titles, nothing groundbreaking or unique to the genre or games, just something as simple as graphics, which I think Hearthstone does immensely well. No matter what you choose to do there's always some form of great graphics backing it up, from sending Leeroy Jenkins to attack to a simple generic task like opening a booster pack of cards, it feels and looks significant which is something I can appreciate and enjoy to a great extent.

Don't mistake these thoughts as me saying that graphics make the game, gameplay will always be first in line to a great game. But when the game itself is of a quite simple nature (throwing cards on a table, c'mon), having some great audiovisual effects makes it all that more exciting and "immersive", if that's even a term that applies to CCGs.

But maybe the number one thing that makes me excited for this, is the fact that it's a new Warcraft game. The last Warcraft game to be released is what... 9 years ago? I'd say it's about bloody time for another one! Even if it's not exactly Warcraft IV, which would be damn awesome, though, at least it's not yet another WoW expansion. I've always loved the rich lore of the Warcraft universe, just not enough to warrant me playing WoW ever again, six years or however long I played that is more than enough for as long as I live.

I'd gladly dispose of my pinky finger if it meant another actual Warcraft game, though. I'll never forgive Blizzard if they leave the franchise at WoW... or Gods forbid, WoW 2.

Seeing as I don't have access to the beta just yet, I'll leave you with TotalBiscuit's "WTF is" episode on Hearthstone.

Catch all you beautiful nerds later.

-Niv