China is rejoicing at the release of Wrath of the Lich King (finally!), but the game they will be playing looks a little different from the version everyone else is playing now. Chinagame.178.com, a Bejing-based English site for gaming news has posted an interesting article with some screenshots of just what will be changing in Wrath. Included are shots of the before and after purging of skulls from various items in the game, as well as some surprising model changes.

The censorship issue isn’t exactly a new one — changes have been made to the game dating all the way back to when The9 was handling the property. But it’s still interesting to see exactly how an expansion like Wrath, which is centered around a storyline involving the Lich King, master of the undead, has been adapted to make it suitable according to China’s requirements. It does make me wonder though — what’s Icecrown Citadel and the final fight against the Lich King himself going to look like? Is China going to miss out on Marrowgar‘s bonestorms? Check out the full article for screenshots and commentary.

[Thanks, Gabriel!]