Warhammer Online Land of the Dead Previews

Ten Ton Hammer and MMORPG.com have both put together previews of Warhammer Online's upcoming Land of the Dead update, based on what was shown during Games Workshop's Baltimore Games Day.

First, an excerpt from TTH's article:
Players will have to fight and gather resources so that their realm can afford an expedition to the Land of the Dead. This is done through RvR; the first side to get enough resources can gain control of the Land and start sending their players down to check out the new zone. The Order and Destruction forces fly down in great air ships to explore the sands. If you are concerned your side will never have enough resources, do not worry, the losing side gets to keep the resources they have for the next round, so they have a strong advantage. The expedition will open up flight paths for players and allow them to get to the new zones quickly.

Once inside the Land of the Dead you will see the Warhammer Tomb King miniatures jump right off the screen. Skeletons and mummies are everywhere making your like miserable. W.A.R. makes great use of its Public Quest system to keep players active as soon as they arrive. Completing PQs will give players hieroglyph symbols that they can use to enter Lairs. The Lairs are toned down boss fights for players to gain loot and solve some serious jumping puzzles, think Zelda. Some of thePQs we saw had players collecting jars in the Asp Temple. Or trying to stop the construction of a bone giant, you can imagine the boss fight on that one. Gabe and Jeff assured us that the entire zone is solo friendly until you get into the Lairs and Tomb of the Vulture Lord Dungeon, then you may want some friends with you.

And then a bit from MMORPG's article:
Later on, in an Indian Jones moment, a giant swarm of locust will chase players rapidly down some narrow hallways. As if that wasn't bad enough, as the players run, skeletons reach up from the ground and grab at feet. This isn't a root though. The only way to save the player is for a group mate to go back and help them, in a mechanic not unlike what players must do in Left 4 Dead.

Even the final encounter of the Land of the Dead feels far more like something out of God of War than an MMO. A giant statue of the undead ruler of the realm comes alive as a weary group leaves the pyramid conquered and comes down, fists a flailing, to smash the party below. It requires a War Band to complete, but players must quick run to avoid getting smashed by the fists as they wail away at the ground below, and then dive in to get some hits in quickly, before the statue raises them out of reach. After enough damage is done, the players can then run right up the arm and slay the statue by attacking a soft spot on the back of his neck.