Wildstar’s Nexus is a beautiful world, and discovering it is just as exciting as attacking its inhabitants.

Wildstar is a game that has thought of catering to the many different play styles of its player base. I personally love exploring the world and the beautiful locations within. Each area of Wildstar has a bright, unique and enticing quality to it. Playing as an Exile, I have admittedly only seen a portion of what is on Nexus’ incredibly tasty plate. Here is my favourite few.

5. Whitevale

A huge section of the continent of Alizar is taken up by this winter wonderland. Being so fond of snowy areas in video games, whether due to my love of snowball fights, or the shear beauty of glistening snow, Whitevale certainly delivers me to the nostalgia of frozen fingers and snowmen.

As you traverse the snowy depths of Whitevale, which lays just outside of the Exile main city, Thayd, you are greeted by a warming atmosphere of Thermock Hold. Though this small area of respite is full of drunkards and pirates, you can’t help but feel it’s a safe place to shelter yourself from the winds of the tundra, just as long as you leave the alcoholics to their drinks.

If you traverse far enough into the seemingly endless white, you will happen upon the Inception’s Stand, an area under siege from a squid zombie problem (yep, I said squid Zombie). And if that wasn’t enough there is even a giant laser terraforming the land.

4. Malgrave

Next we have the complete opposite, a barren wild west (found in the Northern continent of Isigrol). With ghost towns and cacti, this desert land offers no mercy to those who find themselves lost there. Scorpion type enemies and huge Boulderbacks (Rhino-esque mobs with huge rocks protruding from there exterior) litter the landscape, and will catch you if you let your guard down.

Towards the centre of Malgrave, a huge spire of rock stands tall, with cavernous ravines littered along it’s path ways. Many great beasts have fallen to the desert over the years, which is made apparent by the towering skeletal structures scattered throughout.

Despite it’s dry landscape, there are small oasis-type breaks in the dusty sands of Malgrave, with turquoise waterfalls that draw the eyes, and naturally, your undoubtedly thirsty avatar towards them. The here contrast made me stop to absorb the surroundings, which is always worth doing in Wildstar.

3. Wilderrun

Found in the continent of Olyssia, Wilderrun is an incredibly dense and lush jungle, full of both vibrant birds and deadly foliage. One wrong step and you could end up as plant food, as some of the flowers here are just as blood thirsty as the big cats that roam the thick branches of the canopy.

As you land in Fool’s Hope, the port town of Wilderrun, you will be greeted by a lack of horizon, and a huge amount of verdant woodland. Taking to the heights of the tree’s reveals nothing more than more trees, and a fog like mist hanging above the leaves, as if the trees themselves are protecting the land below from the haze.

Within the shade of the looming wooden behemoths, the critters and sounds make this location feel just alive as you are. A huge palette of colours splatter the birds that soar above you, and the Strain, a prominent, virus like threat throughout Wildstar, has stretched itself to this jungle, and spread its deep purple throughout the areas of corruption.

2. Farside

Though technically not on Nexus, this moon of the planet couldn’t go unmentioned. On the surface there is a low gravity, crater filled greyness, with Planet Nexus hovering on its horizon. Talking of hovering, the moons surface pretty much acts as a huge hoverboard park as the lower gravity here will help you get huge air. Dig a little deeper however, and you will discover the Bio-Domes. Huge gardens where experiments have taken place.

Bio-dome 3 offers an enclosed forest, where test subjects still preside. Much like Cornwalls Eden Project in the UK, the huge dome here keeps the plant life, and other life for that matter, thriving. Looking up reveals the secret behind the humid feeling you get when inside. Huge spinning arms drop water across the domes interior.

Bio-dome 4 has no rain makers. It is as dry as Malgrave, and just as threatening too. Shards of conductive crystal formed against mountains are visible throughout this dome, and getting too close can leave you feeling pretty charged… In a negative way.

1. Players Imagination

Now, this may sound like a cop out, but honestly some of the most impressive things I have seen during my adventures in Wildstar, are the things people have created on their housing plots. With the choice of placing a pre-set house, or building an entire structure from scratch, there is literally no limit to what you could make.

Making neighbours of the people you talk to along your journey will allow you to visit their lands and experience their homes. There are challenges that you can place on your land, making this plots more than a place to look at. You can visit a friend, do a mini dungeon, brew your own beers, climb shardspires, or just gather materials to then craft with.

I admit I still have a lot of Nexus to discover, which is an exciting prospect for me as I love to explore the design of games, and I enjoy stopping to appreciate the work that the graphic designers and modellers have spent so long making. Don’t take my word for the beauty, check it our for yourself, after all, these images don’t do the living world justice.