I was a big fan of the first Guild Wars when it came out
back in April of 2005. Guild Wars came
out in the middle of the big Massive Multiplayer Online RPG’s (MMORPG) boom
thanks in part of the early rivalry of World of Warcraft and EverQuest 2. NCSoft went out of their way to set Guild
Wars apart from others in the MMO genre.
The first thing NCSoft did was to do a “free to play” business model
while all other MMO’s followed a subscription based model. The only thing NCSoft ever charged for was
just the expansion packs that followed after the initial release.
Some of the ways NCSoft went about setting Guild Wars apart
from other MMO’s was thru their unique gameplay. Guild Wars from the ground up was a game
designed with Arena Based Player vs Player (PVP) in mind. Outside of the PVP, players also had a huge
world they could explore with a well put together story. When exploring the world of Guild Wars, each
player had their own instance in which no other player and jump in unless they
are part of your party. This style of
gameplay gave Guild Wars a sort of single player element which allowed you to
enjoy the game’s beautiful landscapes, story and exploration without the hassle
of waiting for enemies to spawn or being rushed by teammates.
Another big thing about Guild Wars was the multi-job
system. Here a player could create a human
based character and mastering two professions.
Here you can mix and mash professions like being a Warrior and Healer, a
Mesmer and Ranger or a Nero and a Monk.
This allowed for a more robust and open game that allowed the player to
approach the game how they wanted to. I
enjoyed the hell out of Guild Wars for all these reasons and with the announcement
of Guild Wars 2 I eagerly anticipated the release of the sequel.
Now seven years later NCSoft rewards us with the sequel and
many things about the game world and gameplay have changed. Many changes were for the best and some I
feel are questionable. Starting off we
are now presented with a more robust and complex character creation with five
races to pick from and an assortment of professions to choose from.
Before I talk about the races further I want to talk about
how well done the character creation system is.
Now I have been spoiled by Phantasy Star Online 2’s creation system as
it pretty much lets you make what alterations you want to your character. Now Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have that kind of
freedom but it’s still amazing what you have.
You do have pre-rendered faces, hair and eye color and even tattoos, but
you have the ability to do adjustments to make them feel less like a clone once
you unleash them into the game world.
You have the ability to alter everything from the facial structure to
the muscle mass/body makeup of your character.
Each race has lots of options and allow you to make them feel unique in
many ways.
Each race comes with their own storyline and all come
together for an endgame of sorts. This
however is pretty standard as almost all MMO’s now utilize some element of
storytelling. However, Guild Wars 2 does
excel well at story telling thru inaction between your character and hero NPC’s
and closed off single player instances that feel like a throwback to the first
Guild Wars. NCSoft did an excellent job
with story progression in the first Guild Wars and continue to do well here in
the sequel. Truth be told though,
storytelling isn’t why we play an MMO in the first place. It’s the gameplay. Its ability to grow and enhance your character
as you progress thru the game. It’s the
drive to explore your world and discover its secrets. It’s the ability to play
with multiple people you already know or have just met and complete your
objectives together. And on all those
fronts Guild Wars 2 delivers big time.
Among the familiar professions available like the ranger,
mesmer and warrior classes you have a couple of new ones like thieves and
engineer. In the first Guild Wars you
were limited to playing as humans only, but in GW2 you can now pick from the
Charr, the Norn, Sylvari, Humans and Asura.
Each race comes with their own perks and can excel in certain
professions easier than other races.
The short statured Asura can easily become prolific in magic
professions like the Elementalists, and the unique plant race, Sylvari, can
excel in the arts of the Mesmer. Humans
of course can adapt in any profession. Now
each profession has a very huge amount of traits and ability that you can
unlock to beef up your character. Once
you hit level 5 you will be able to unlock your first ability with points that
you earn with each level up. Now aside
from leveling up you can earn extra skill points by finding and completing
challenges that are spread throughout the world.
Some of these job professions are pretty much the same as
any other you’ve played in most MMO’s before but with somehow seem more
fun. I have a ranger in Warcraft and as
you can expect the ranger plays similarly here.
You have the ability to have pet companions; you can strike from long
distance with status effect crippling shots, or send out a fury of arrows that
can deal a bit of damage to a bunch of beasties at once. Yet for a few reasons these generic
professions are more fun to play with in Guild Wars 2. It mostly has to do with how you can choose
to play your profession with how you can spread out your trait and skill
points, or the weapons you want to use.
Granted you usually have the ability to choose how you want to play in
other MMO’s thru things like skill trees, but in Guild Wars 2, it just feels
more accessible. I feel confident with
whatever decision I choose.
Outside of the character professions, there is a gigantic
world out there to explore and interact with in Guild Wars 2. One of the greatest merits for GW2 is being
rewarded for exploring the game by going to “Points of interests” or the more
difficult to reach “Vistas.” Points of
Interests are usually hot spots to find quests, jobs or live events. The Vistas are usually semi difficult areas
that once reach give you an amazing view of the area you are in. Discovering both of these points will reward
the player with a decent amount of experience points. For every zone in the game, there are a set
number of POI and Vistas to find.
One of highlights for me is how Guild Wars 2 drops the traditional
“fetch” quests for something more streamlined and fun. After playing numerous MMO’s of kill this,
collect that, Guild Wars 2 gave me a breath of fresh air. There are now 3 types of quests and each of
them are designated by 3 different symbols on your map. The first are the storyline quests which are
the green stars, the second are tasks that are represented by empty hearts, and
the final ones are the live event quests.
The storyline quests are exactly what I mentioned
earlier. You go to these points on the
map and complete the objective in a closed off instance. The second series of quests, the Tasks, is where
the game changes from ordinary MMO’s.
Here you have either a single or multiple tasks to complete and they
range from of course the usual collecting items, defending against raids,
brewing potions, and even feeding bear cubs.
Each task usually has a bar for you to fill up before it’s
completed. One of the great things that
guild wars 2 does is allowing multiple people to complete the objective of each
task together without having to party up.
This can make completing a task less of a chore and more fun
because it can be completed more quickly with the help of a complete
stranger. Now the final types of quests
are the live events and these are very similar to the live events in Warhammer
Online. They are usually spread out
everywhere in each zone and they occur at random, multiple times a day. These quests, just like the tasks, don’t need
people to party up for everyone to enjoy the rewards. The live events can range anywhere from an
escort mission to taking on a powerful elite foe or monster. There are 3 kinds of rewards that are giving
out for how well you participate in the live events ranging from bronze, silver
and gold. Each reward level gives out
certain amount of experience points for how hard you worked towards completing
the goal.
The final major gameplay element for Guild Wars 2 is the top
notch Player vs Player environments.
There are actually 2 different types of PvP and each have their own
unique ways of being played. The first
is Hero PvP and that can be accessed thru your hero’s menu system. By entering the Hero PvP you are leveled up
to 80(max level) and given a set of different skills than what you currently
have. The skills you gain are profession
specific and allow you to compete by giving you the best tools possible. Of course you can alter the skills you have
and items but they will remain in the PvP area only. Here you go at it with other people and
complete challenges similarly to what you find in the overworld.
The other PvP mode is the World vs World competition. Here, people from different servers compete for
advantages and bonuses that you gain in the PvP arena. You have multiple arenas to compete in and this
is more geared towards capturing land and retaining it. Just like in Hero PvP, you are leveled up to
80 but the big difference is that you keep the skills that you have
gained. So if you enter the arena with a
level 20 character, then the skills you acquired will be all you have when you
enter.
The competition for the most part seems very balanced and
every race and profession has their perks and aren’t overpowering in these
areas. What I would have liked would be
more areas to compete in but that may be possible with future updates or expansions. Overall the gameplay experience has something
for everyone and doesn’t get boring anytime soon. The storyline quests are a great way to
progress thru the game solo and don’t force you to party up to enjoy the Guild
Wars 2 experience.
One of the things that caught my eye about the first Guild
War was the amazing graphics. Even when
I participated in the e3 alpha build back in 2005, I found the game to be
amazing. Everything stood out from the draw
distance, the attention to detail on characters and the environment, and how
the landscape just seemed to be alive.
Years later I still see the first game as breathtakingly gorgeous. Guild Wars 2 surpasses it on every
level. Character detail has gone up
several notches, animation included. The world is even more beautiful and just screams
explore me.
What I really like the most is how each starting environment
for each race is very representative of them.
The Charr are in a world filled with chaos and full or war. You see heavy war torn damage to ancient
structures but you also see the technical advancements of the race and their
machinery everywhere. The Norn live in a
more wilderness heavy area and it’s filled with dangerous creatures in the snow
barren lands. Everything graphically is immensely
impressive.
Unfortunately, the musical score is something to be
desired. Aside from the main menu track
when you start up the game, none of the musical tracks stand out in my
mind. The generic battle music, the
quiet ambient environmental sounds, and the overall score in general just don’t
do anything for me. Although it’s not a
game breaker for me I do find it rather disappointing. However it doesn't really detract from my gameplay experience at all.
I love how I can enjoy the game at my own pace. I can enjoy exploring and discovering the
unique Points of interests and Vistas. If
I wanted to compete in PvP, I wouldn’t have to worry about being behind other
players in order to compete as the game puts everyone on equal footing. The gameplay allows me to develop the
character the way I want to and doesn’t punish me for trying to do something
different. As of this writing Mists of
Pandoria has been released and I can truly and honestly say without a doubt to
pick up Guild Wars 2 over another Warcraft expansion.
| + Unique races and professions + Highly customizable, play how you want + Huge rewarding world fill with tons of exploration + Quests aren't mundane and boring + PvP is just as addiciting as it was in the first Guild Wars |
- Music isn't really memorable |
Final Grade: A
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