Death Knight starting cinematic unveiled
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jul 18th 2008 at 9:15AM
With Death Knights getting their own starting zone and their own heroic storyline, it was often wondered whether they'd share the same opening cinematic as their individual races. We have the answer now: They do get their own unique cinematic, shown above.
There's two major things I took away from the cinematic. First, it gives a solid origin story for Death Knights: You were apparently slain in combat with the Scourge, but raised to become a Death Knight. So the ideal of the PC Death Knight seems to be a hero who was made an unwilling victim, which makes the fact that he or she is welcomed back by the Horde or Alliance possibly much more believable. As you awaken as a fresh level 55, you are also apparently still under the thrall of the Lich King, which should make for an epic newbie zone experience as you struggle to regain your freedom.
Secondly, the opening cinematic has a wonderfully ominous picture of Acherus, the Ebon Hold, home of the Death Knights, looming above Light's Hope Chapel -- a perfect setup for the coming war with the Scourge, that drives home how immediate the threat is.
Oh, and do be cautious, this cinematic has a high chance of getting you way too fired up to play a Death Knight.
[via Deathknight.info]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Expansions, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dotixi Jul 18th 2008 9:20AM
"Do be cautious, this cinematic has a high chance of getting you way too fired up to play a Death Knight. "
You are correct, sir! Seeing this made my heart jump! I am really looking forward to the Death Knight.
wolfy Jul 18th 2008 9:39AM
yup the intro does indeed invoke the want to become a DK.. lets hope it lives up to all the hype and isn't just an over inflated ego soon to be left on the shelf to gather dust.
i'm lovin the ebon hold looming ominously in the sky over lights hope chapel.. that's just pure pwnage!.. oh wait dog darn minute.. how do we all get down from here?!?
Parachute cloak anybody? :P
McRaider Jul 18th 2008 9:52AM
Parachute cloac? No-one needs them to get down from there. Just guess where's the closest spirit healer and jump as close as you can. Way faster way :P
McRaider Jul 18th 2008 9:58AM
Parachute cloack? No-one need that. Just jump somewhere and wish that it's close to a spirit healer. Don't blame me if you notice, that there's a mountain between your corpse and spirit healer and if you need to walk for an hour to get to your corpse or that the spirit healer just happens to be in the middle of a huge army of zombies, that are lvl 60 and that eat your brain.
SpaceDog Jul 18th 2008 9:24AM
The chapel seems to be deserted... interesting. Not sure what to make of that.
The Hammer Jul 18th 2008 9:46AM
But... that's like my favourite settlement in the game!
I wonder what's happened to it...
Ancro Jul 18th 2008 10:20AM
I know EXACTLY what to make of it - think about the way the video says that "You bought a new DAWN for the world", that coupled with the empty Light's Hope Chapel can mean only one thing - anyone in the Dawn who didn't head to Northrend has been killed and made into a Death Knight.
Think about it, its the perfect way to handle having multiple races be able to become Death Knights: there was one of each species of Azeroth in the Dawn, and the Dawn kind of messed with the Lich King pretty thoroughly, the perfect targets to make his new slaves. Brace yourselves for the coming of the New Dawn, and its likely a dark and terrible one.
Derek Jul 18th 2008 12:04PM
That's a whole new chapel, not Light's Hope. It's part of the new area of Eastern Plaguelands.
Lunati Jul 18th 2008 12:11PM
Also, they stole the layout from Light's Hope, thus the griffon master roosts etc. I'm guessing a few things will vanish from that place before it goes live, and they probably havn't decided what npcs to put there.
Suzaku Jul 18th 2008 4:33PM
That is indeed Light's Hope Chapel. The Ebon Hold starting area is located directly to the east of Light's Hope, on the other side of that hill, and is connected to the old part of the zone via the Noxious Glade (north of Light's Hope) and Tyr's Hand (south of Light's Hope).
AFAIK, you start in a seperate version of the area set before the DKs rebelled against the Lich King. There were two different versions in the alpha.
Tuhljin Jul 18th 2008 6:09PM
I'm guessing the chapel isn't empty. The NPCs are just shy. Seriously though, it's possible that the NPCs and any possible players that weren't close enough to the new player character didn't load properly; that has happened to me when I've created a new character before. They really oughta address that problem; it's certainly not nearly as impressive when no players, mobs, or NPCs are to be seen while you are given a view of the lands surrounding the starting area.
ognob Jul 18th 2008 9:25AM
It will be funny to watch that great epic intro in game and see Gnome DKs running about ;)
Smitty2684 Jul 18th 2008 9:25AM
oooooo, sick... wish i was in beta :(
Ryan Jul 18th 2008 11:56AM
Well, if the BC beta is any indication, you should only have to wait three months or so till release.
Spawn66 Jul 18th 2008 9:27AM
How come when i play it both here and at deathknight.info i says "Sorry, This video no longer exists"? even when i go to the site itself it says it, How come?
Daniel Whitcomb Jul 18th 2008 9:29AM
I'm not sure, Spawn, it still plays fine for me. You might want to make sure your browser isn't blocking the Vimeo site. You might also try clearing your Temporary Internet files or just refreshing the page.
j0del Jul 18th 2008 9:32AM
Holy carp, I wish I could watch this, but I'm at work and don't have flash :[ waaaah.
Thorall Jul 18th 2008 9:46AM
Holy Fish, I wish I could watch this too! haha carp classic!
matt Jul 18th 2008 9:36AM
I know I posted this on the other story, but I'm reposting here since this is specific to the intro cinematic...
That still sounds like Tony Jay doing the voiceover for the intro even though he passed away two years ago. They must have recorded that a while ago... or found someone that sounds just like him.
Worcester Jul 18th 2008 1:04PM
Tony also did the voice for another fantastic game series, Soul Reaver. And he's the narrator from Treasure Planet.
One of my all-time favorite voice actors. I'm not sure if this is him since he passed a long while ago, but whoever did this narration is very good.