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Whenever a WoW expansion pack is imminent, the forum chat among players veers from hysterical expectation to, well, "Meh!" Blizzard's claim to have 12 million players is tempered by the belief among some of the massively multiplayer online community that the game is in decline in the west, while gaining popularity in the far east. Whether true or not, Cataclysm is a clear attempt to reinvigorate the brand, to attract and retain new gamers, to re-engage with lapsing or lapsed players and to keep the hardcore raiders happy. It's a tall order.

Cataclysm introduces five new zones and dungeons to take players from level 80 to 85 and it's pleasing that Blizzard has really thought about this levelling-up. It's reduced the number of boring farming quests and replaced them with ones that immerse you in the story, allowing the player to be part of the task's conclusion. The resulting cut scenes featuring your toon are hugely satisfying.

However, the biggest change introduced is to the Old World. The realms that were there from WoW's birth six years ago have been completely overhauled. They needed to be. The life of a new player prior to Cataclysm would be dull indeed as the areas for those on levels 1 to 60 showed their age. Now the quests have been rebooted and the environment completely changed. A greater use of phasing makes the journey through Azeroth that much more personal. The world has been rendered beautifully and the effects are top-notch.

There are two new races to try out. Become a Goblin and your starting zone is like Goodfellas meets The Simpsons: Hit & Run. Become a Worgen and start questing in a kind of Olde London (basically a werewolf zone already populated by Twilight fans) where the women sport stovepipe hats. Both are great fun, and just what Blizzard wanted – engaging gameplay that keeps people entertained enough to stay.

And that's something it's also achieved on the social side – revamping the guild system, introducing guild reputation levelling and rewards for co-operation. The difficulty of the dungeons means completing them with fellow guildies is more rewarding than with a group of randoms.

Flaws in this iteration will, no doubt, become clearer over time, but for the moment, Cataclysm is new, and it is improved – a very successful stab at the tough task Blizzard had set itself. Get ready to roll.