I mostly disagree. I'm all for having a hard course, but I think this one is a bit over the top. Beer tents are cool, vikings sure, but I don't like fake hills or fake mud pits. Cross country running is not cyclocross.
A few predictions:
This will be the last World XC where the women run 10k. The course is so difficult it'll be a race for only a handful of competitors (if that). It'll be survival for the rest. Athletes will complain afterwards and the distance will be dropped back to 8k.
African runners will not win either of the senior championships.
In the future organizers will be given strict course parameters to follow. This course is a gimmick.
Conversely, the course parameters will go too far in limiting course difficulty, resulting in even more boring cross country. And we'll end up with even more random places having world XC. World XC should only be near major population centers in europe or the united states. It should only be run in places with a reasonable expectation of colder weather. For example, put it in Boston on the Saturday before the Boston marathon.