[HTML1]

Designed as the digital card battling companion to Blizzard's massively popular MMO World of Warcraft, free to play title Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has proved to be a massive success. Longstanding WoW fans and franchise newcomers alike have taken to the game - there are more than 20 million registered users - and critically Hearthstone has been a hit too as it took home the gong for 'Best Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year' at the 18th annual D.I.C.E awards. Here at Game Rant we awarded the game 5 stars out of 5, with our biggest gripe being the lack of DLC.

Many players will agree that Hearthstone could always benefit from more content. While the character level up system and its ranked play tiers provide lots to do, that grind could soon prove to be boring for some. And, considering the fact that Blizzard has only added the Curse of Naxxramas adventure (which lets players go up against arachnid-themed cards and bosses) and the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion pack in the 12 months since the game's release, the developer could certainly do more to keep players engaged.

Hopefully, Hearthstone's Blackrock Mountain adventure will add some much needed variety to the game then. Officially announced by Blizzard at PAX East today (after a leak last week suggested that it was on the way), Blackrock Mountain will drop players right in the middle of a war between two forces battling for control of the mountain. The game's lead designer Eric Dodds explained:

"Dark Iron dwarves living in this mountain. They summon a fire lord to work for them, and he showed up and enslaved them and brought a bunch of fire buddies to hang out and tell them what to do. His goal is to take over the world. There is also a great dragon and Nafarian who also want to take over the world. You get in the middle of this power struggle."

A whopping 17 bosses (one of which has been confirmed as Ragnaros the Firelord) will be split across the adventure's five, unlockable wings, and those who are victorious against them will gain 31 new cards. Some of these cards include: Dark Iron Skulker, Blackwing Technician, Grim Patron, Rend Blackhand and Hungry Dragon.

As for pricing, there doesn't appear to be a free wing available this time, as there was with Curse of Naxxramas. Most likely, that's because Curse of Naxxramas was the game's first adventure and players' first introduction to the wing system. Most players seem to accept with Blizzard's decision, though and at 700 in-game gold per wing (or $6.99 per wing) the adventure can be purchased through normal play.

Alternatively, players can buy the entire Blackrock Mountain adventure for $24.99 (which makes it $3 cheaper than buying each wing individually) and they'll be able to pre-order it with money from March 19th. Also worth noting is that Blizzard is offering an exclusive card back to players who pre-order.

Hearthstone's Blackrock Mountain adventure will be released sometime in April.

Source: Polygon