Gamespot is now taking pre-orders on World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector’s Edition ($79.99). The expansion will be released on December 7th.

World of WarCraft players have been eagerly awaiting this expansion – and for good reason. As if a cataclysmic event that carves a molten scar through the kingdoms of Azeroth weren’t trouble enough, in WoW: Cataclysm, an ancient evil awakes from its slumber at the bottom in Deepholm, the domain of earth in the Elemental Plane. Deathwing the Destroyer has big plans for the world, and, judging by his name, we assume that involves death and destruction. And that doesn’t bode well for the Horde or the Alliance. Unlikely heroes will rise in this struggle for power, featuring two new races, higher level caps, flying mounts and more. This WoW expansion requires full versions of World of WarCraft the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King to play.

Two New Playable Races: Adventure as one of two new races–the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.

Level Cap Increased to 85: Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.

Classic Zones Remade: Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.

New High-Level Zones: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj’ir beneath the sea.

More Raid Content than Ever Before: Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.

New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.

Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.

New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.

Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.

Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

And much, much more…

  • Art of the Cataclysm art book, featuring 176 pages of never-before-seen images from the archives of the Blizzard Entertainment cinematics department and the World of Warcraft development team, as well as progressive visuals from multiple stages of development.
  • Exclusive in-game pet: he may not be a breaker of worlds just yet, but Lil’ Deathwing will still proudly accompany heroes on their struggle to save Azeroth from his much, much larger counterpart.
  • Behind-the-scenes DVD with over an hour of developer interviews and commentaries, as well as a special Warcraft(R) retrospective examining the rich gaming history of the Warcraft universe.
  • Soundtrack featuring 17 epic new tracks from Cataclysm, including exclusive bonus tracks.
  • Special-edition mouse pad depicting Deathwing menacing the ravaged continents of Azeroth.
  • World of Warcraft Trading Card Game cards, including a 60-card starter deck from the Wrathgate series, two extended-art cards, and two Collector’s Edition-exclusive hero cards, marking the first appearance of goblin and worgen heroes in the TCG