Guild Wars 2 Review

Guild Wars 2 Community Page

I am going to admit that it has been a while since I have played an MMO While blockbuster releases like ‘World of Warcraft’ bored me to death and intergalactic space adventures like ‘EVE Online’ had me asking “What is the point?” It is Guild Wars 2 that officially brings in a breath of fresh air to the genre.

Guild Wars 2 takes place in the rather magical world of Tyria, a land of multiple ethnicities of races and what seems to be a war that has been raging for many years. It is 250 years after the original game and things seem to have gotten worse for the inhabitants of this forgotten land. You choose from a selection of five races, which will ultimately decide what role you take in Guild Wars 2 and thus lay down the ground work for what will be “Your story”.

Like its father before it, Guild Wars 2 isn’t about the generic MMO experience. While these community powered games generally require you sink hundreds upon hundreds of hours (and money) into their Lord of the Ring style worlds. Guild Wars 2 wants nothing more than to step away from this tiresome genre and bring an experience that still feels true to the original concept but helps push the game type in the right direction. There are no monthly fees in Guild Wars 2, just your one off payment and a nearly bursting sack of content that will have you addicted for hours.

As mentioned you pick from a selection of existing races in Tyria. While previous games in this genre have made you choose wisely about each race and their individual benefits, GW2 wants you the player to craft your own experience. All the races begin with the same template, which means that the elf like race will not be focused magic users and the nord like giants will not reign supreme in melee combat. You can pick any race you want and also pick any character role you want. Want your little yoda imp to wield a giant hammer and your werewolf inspired beast to wear a skimpy skirt and shoot lightning bolts? No problem because Guild Wars 2 is all about the personal development of your time in this world.

What is also great is that there isn’t just one story that everyone is forced to focus on. Each race you pick has their own personal story, so thankfully you will never be herded into a massive group of people and have to endure as one by one you crowd around a single NPC and listen to them repeat the same quest line over and over again. This is done by having players actually initiate one on one conversation with the people they come across. These conversations are transitioned into slightly cinematic exchanges of words that make you feel like this story is revolved around you and you alone. You may be in a massive online world, but the main story quest is all about you and no one will be getting in the way of it.

From my time playing as the multiple races I have found that you will always find the weaker/ stronger story for you to connect with. While I am currently focused on playing as a gigantic Norn warrior, I have found that his story isn’t as interesting as that of a Charr ranger, or Asura thief. What is also great is that if you are feeling bored of your current characters story you can also just create a new one with the four extra character slots that are available. This means you can have a selection of storylines to pick up and play for no extra charge and also brings a sense of diversity among your play time.

Guild Wars 2 does play like that of any MMO though. This game is very stat based and when you aren’t following the different stories or fighting gigantic ice worms, you will be attempting to find the perfect gear and picking the right skills to help conquer the next set of foes. This ends up putting new comers to the genre at a slight disadvantage as while Guild Wars 2 does try to help you understand its rules and mechanics there is just too much stuff for you to get buried under while trying to understand everything.

Time and time again I have gone into a fight and had my gamer rear handed to me on a silver plate because I didn’t quip the right gear or use the right stat based attacks. What overcomes this though is the fact that you are never forced try and attempt a quest over and over again if you fail. You are always free to go to a different area and take on a new quest until you are ready, which is great for taking a break from the current surroundings and lets you try and see something completely new. Although different quests are always available, it is a shame that the same cannot be said about the equipment that your characters are able to wield.

Sadly Guild Wars 2 is lacking in an overall armoury for the players choosing and you will find yourself equipping the same chainmail armour for nearly 30 levels until you can actually see any change in clothing, or weapon aesthetic. This is a shame to because too often I have come across players who just look too alike my own created personas. Why ArenaNet didn’t decide to make at least three or more different sets of clothing is saddening and it makes that you are never driven to work towards a particular set of helmet or, axe because they all just look the same.

This is made up for though with the fact that you level up quite quickly during your time in Tyria and everything from exploration to Player vs Player battles all contribute towards your overall experience gain. Levelling is also not a burden like in some other games. In the past you would end up stumbling across an area that you found was just too under the level for you to enjoy. In a way it cut you out of the content but Guild Wars 2 introduces a balancing system which means that if you are indeed too high level for a particular area then the game will instantly drop you down to the required skill level, so you can give enemies a fair fight.

Players looking for more than just slogging through battle after battle can also take part in a number of fun activities like an incredibly in-depth set of crafting jobs from chefs to weapon smithing. The game also comes with a large achievement system for those perfectionists wanting to gain the highest acclaim within their time in this world and its many locales.

All these places that you come across are also stunning to look at and from time to time you will be asking yourself just how ArenaNet made it possible to allow Guild Wars 2 to look as good as it does. MMOs have always suffered from the fact that high performance can mean dropping the overall quality of the experience but Guild Wars 2 looks nearly on par with some of the top modern games currently on the market. This is especially apparent in the individual character models of your character, other players and the creatures you end up fighting.

Everything just looks so sharp and colourful and because of this the races you choose can look incredibly appealing and you may even find yourself just stuck at the customization screen because everything looks so cool. Heck at times I have found myself wishing that an enemy character was available to play as. The visual quality is just that well developed, and with that I tip my hat to the developer.