To say that I’m hooked on Hearthstone would be an understatement of titanic proportions. It has consumed me, and now to feed it I feel compelled to turn more people onto it, like a horrible pusher.
I’m yet to tire of the simple formula, and so I’ve never pondered what the game would be like were it larger, if it featured dungeons and single-player content. Blizzard has been, though. And this has lead to the Curse of Naxxramas – Hearthstone’s first single-player campaign.
Set in the necropolis of Naxxramas, players must fight through five wings of the dungeon, unlocking new legendary cards by defeating bosses like the lovable Patchwerk. A unique game board, class challenges and encounters where unique cards and hero powers will be employed by the bosses make this sound like a hefty expansion.
The campaign will be released across five weeks, dungeon wing by dungeon wing. The first, the Arachnid Quarter, will launch for free, but the subsequent wings will need to be purchased with real money or in-game currency.
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The cards, however, will be available to all players. Even if you haven’t purchased the second to fifth wings, the cards will still show up in Arena mode. So there’s an opportunity to take them for a spin even if you haven’t unlocked them.
I’m more than happy to keep playing random battles, ranked matches and Arena, but another mode with new cards is very welcome nonetheless. It’ll be interesting to see if Blizzard decides to weave a story into the campaign.