Icecrown Citadel: Now With More “Oomph”

Especially after Trial of the Crusader, we can make all the jokes we want about Icecrown Citadel being “bigger, harder, and longer” than previous dungeons all we want. But apparently the Lich King’s phallic monument to all things dark and deadly just wasn’t large enough. Then again, someone who has so much trouble with the ladies might need that little extra boost. It’s cold up there in Northrend after all, and, well, there’s the shrinkage to worry about.

Whether or not we think he’s compensating, though, I think there’s one thing that we can all agree on: the old palace was looking a wee bit on the sissy side.  It seems like all those Smilin’ Bob commercials on late-night television finally got to Arthas, because that is no longer the case. This is the Icecrown Citadel you can look forward to now (make sure to click on the images for a better view):

Look at that extra girth!

And, for comparison, the version currently on live servers:

A whole new section has been added to the middle of the structure and the spires up top have been greatly lengthened. In fact, it’s so much larger that I honestly had a tough time getting the whole thing in the picture without it fading too much into the background. Even then, parts of it extend past the frame (especially if you include the flight of stairs that lead up to the front gate). It’s like the Lich King saw all the little “heroes” and “crusaders” lining up on his doorstep and decided to give them the middle finger!

At the very top, between the protrusions, a new platform his been installed that will no doubt figure prominently in the dungeon itself:

Hmmm... what could this be?

Spoilers are floating around the internet about it, but I’ll leave you readers to figure/seek out what it is on your own if you so choose.

In all seriousness, this is a welcome visual change to Icecrown Citadel. Everything we’ve seen of the inside so far suggests it is much taller than the version on servers now. Though there are many outdoor areas that fail to match the size and scope of their instanced counterparts (Drak’Tharon Keep anybody?), it’s nice to see Blizzard giving the final raid of Wrath the imposing look that it deserves.