I'm a gamer first and a consumer second. But I don't like to be ripped off, which is why I scour every source before making a purchase. When it comes to MMOs I'm speechless at times though, people expect us to pay this thing called a "subscription" which is usually 15$ or so a month. That is 180$ a year. Of course you'll pay less than that because of special offers and what not but it is a staggering amount of money for a single game. However if the game is worth it I will spend that much on it and there has only been two games that are worthy in my mind of a subscription. One is World of Warcraft and the other is EVE Online. Other companies just don't seem to get why they aren't moving units ( take note Tabula Rasa), their games are below the benchmark and they'll ultimately lose money, so why not use the "other" business model out there, the Guild Wars one.
Now let me just start by saying I am quite the MMO freak and have played/beta tested a lot of games. But no game has sparked my interest like Guild Wars. A free,retail,MMORPG. There's a lot of free MMOs online but I find them lacking in a certain spark the Guild Wars series has. You've got enough depth for the hardcore player but it can provide occasional fun for the casual player too.
Let me continue by saying I'm no NCsoft (Guild Wars publisher) fan either, in fact I hate them almost as much as Codemasters. From what I've heard NCsoft don't like Guild Wars either because of the business model it uses. The no-subscription MMO model which I should've mentioned earlier. Anyway now that we've got all that out of the way lets start on the core of the review.
Reviewing 3 games and one expansion at once is no easy task but I'm going to give it a shot. Lets start with the client. No need to download any patches as ArenaNet do it automatically, if you want to upgrade your account (add another campaign) that can also be done on the client page. Sign in and you'll see slots with your characters in them, there's a limited amount though which can be frustrating and NCSoft charge a staggering tenner to add a new one. You've got 10 classes/professions to choose from assuming you have all the campaigns and each is unique to play with. The depth is immense here, for example a monk can specialize in a number of different types of spells and play them out differently. A protection monk will spend his time casting spells to reduce damage and buff up his team mates, whereas a healer will concentrate on keeping himself and his team mates alive. This is the same for all the professions but if you are not content with one you can choose a secondary profession to keep yourself happy. This is fun to experiment with and with hundreds of different skills you won't be bored easily. My Warrior/Elementalist was able to run in to the core of the enemies group and cast an area of effect spell to devastate them.
Like most MMOs, its simple point and click. The areas are instanced which is something I envy World of Warcraft for not having because this means when you enter a battle area you'll only be with members of your party. If you don't have people to play with you can always borrow henchman who will help you out. But you should probably join a guild that suits your needs. Guilds form the basis of the game, hence the titles and they all have different goals with different people. Some guilds stick to dominating each other in PvP whereas others enjoy the PvE aspect of the game. Some farm items and sell them for ridiculous amounts of money and others stick to the high-level areas of the game. With millions of players you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't want to play with you.
Each of the 3 campaigns obviously features its own well thought out story, a new aspect to the PvP area of the game, and new skills and items. The expansion is intended for higher level players because of its dungeons and high level monsters. Each story is well thought out and provides weeks of fun. If I had to recommend a campaign for someone new? Well if it was for PvP I suggest Factions but if you want the all round good game it has to be Nightfall. To progress in the story you play "missions", which are special quests linked to the story. These are played with usually other players and are good fun, lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour for normal ones, and certain ones going from 1 to maybe 3 or 4 ( A quest at the end of Prophecies for those who are wondering).Apart from the latter super mission, they are marked out by symbols on your map.
One reason quests and missions are fun is because you don't have to GRIND your way through it. There's very very few quests were you have to kill x of y and y in said case is usually a boss monster.
Now for the part everyone has heard about. The PvP that makes the game so special. Whether it is guild versus guild or a 32 man battle, Guild Wars has the PvP area covered. Using your skills to their full potential is made easier by having a competent team who can do a fluid play with you and this is the way to win. You'll find guilds vying for the top spot in plenty of tournaments and competition is fierce. These PvP battles are all different and because of the amount of skillsets there are you'll never come across the same enemy ( except when people use a meta-build, then it gets hilarious when you come up with a way to counter it.)
Well I've played the game thoroughly, and I've played its counterparts thoroughly too. I can't figure out why more MMOs don't use such a successful business model. Every month or two MMOs are shut down because of a lack of subscribers which is a shame when you've got so much potential. Retail MMOs seem to be sticking to their guns when it comes to subscriptions. But they're following in the footsteps of World of Warcraft and will eventually be swallowed by the beast that it is. Lord of the Rings Online and Warhammer Online weren't exactly the "WoW-killers" everyone expected were they? Some people are using the free to play business model though and they're becoming very successful e.g. Cabal Online. So I'm surprised to hear more retail MMOs don't do the same. Because lets face it, the first thing you do when you hear about a MMO is ask "Is it free to play?"
In conclusion about the game I'd recommend it to both the casual gamer and the hardcore gamer who don't want to spend money every month for one game alone. It doesn't have many flaws and it's quite fun.
And for 30 euro on Steam for the complete edition. It's a bargain.
Now let me just start by saying I am quite the MMO freak and have played/beta tested a lot of games. But no game has sparked my interest like Guild Wars. A free,retail,MMORPG. There's a lot of free MMOs online but I find them lacking in a certain spark the Guild Wars series has. You've got enough depth for the hardcore player but it can provide occasional fun for the casual player too.
Let me continue by saying I'm no NCsoft (Guild Wars publisher) fan either, in fact I hate them almost as much as Codemasters. From what I've heard NCsoft don't like Guild Wars either because of the business model it uses. The no-subscription MMO model which I should've mentioned earlier. Anyway now that we've got all that out of the way lets start on the core of the review.
Reviewing 3 games and one expansion at once is no easy task but I'm going to give it a shot. Lets start with the client. No need to download any patches as ArenaNet do it automatically, if you want to upgrade your account (add another campaign) that can also be done on the client page. Sign in and you'll see slots with your characters in them, there's a limited amount though which can be frustrating and NCSoft charge a staggering tenner to add a new one. You've got 10 classes/professions to choose from assuming you have all the campaigns and each is unique to play with. The depth is immense here, for example a monk can specialize in a number of different types of spells and play them out differently. A protection monk will spend his time casting spells to reduce damage and buff up his team mates, whereas a healer will concentrate on keeping himself and his team mates alive. This is the same for all the professions but if you are not content with one you can choose a secondary profession to keep yourself happy. This is fun to experiment with and with hundreds of different skills you won't be bored easily. My Warrior/Elementalist was able to run in to the core of the enemies group and cast an area of effect spell to devastate them.
Like most MMOs, its simple point and click. The areas are instanced which is something I envy World of Warcraft for not having because this means when you enter a battle area you'll only be with members of your party. If you don't have people to play with you can always borrow henchman who will help you out. But you should probably join a guild that suits your needs. Guilds form the basis of the game, hence the titles and they all have different goals with different people. Some guilds stick to dominating each other in PvP whereas others enjoy the PvE aspect of the game. Some farm items and sell them for ridiculous amounts of money and others stick to the high-level areas of the game. With millions of players you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't want to play with you.
Each of the 3 campaigns obviously features its own well thought out story, a new aspect to the PvP area of the game, and new skills and items. The expansion is intended for higher level players because of its dungeons and high level monsters. Each story is well thought out and provides weeks of fun. If I had to recommend a campaign for someone new? Well if it was for PvP I suggest Factions but if you want the all round good game it has to be Nightfall. To progress in the story you play "missions", which are special quests linked to the story. These are played with usually other players and are good fun, lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour for normal ones, and certain ones going from 1 to maybe 3 or 4 ( A quest at the end of Prophecies for those who are wondering).Apart from the latter super mission, they are marked out by symbols on your map.
One reason quests and missions are fun is because you don't have to GRIND your way through it. There's very very few quests were you have to kill x of y and y in said case is usually a boss monster.
Now for the part everyone has heard about. The PvP that makes the game so special. Whether it is guild versus guild or a 32 man battle, Guild Wars has the PvP area covered. Using your skills to their full potential is made easier by having a competent team who can do a fluid play with you and this is the way to win. You'll find guilds vying for the top spot in plenty of tournaments and competition is fierce. These PvP battles are all different and because of the amount of skillsets there are you'll never come across the same enemy ( except when people use a meta-build, then it gets hilarious when you come up with a way to counter it.)
Well I've played the game thoroughly, and I've played its counterparts thoroughly too. I can't figure out why more MMOs don't use such a successful business model. Every month or two MMOs are shut down because of a lack of subscribers which is a shame when you've got so much potential. Retail MMOs seem to be sticking to their guns when it comes to subscriptions. But they're following in the footsteps of World of Warcraft and will eventually be swallowed by the beast that it is. Lord of the Rings Online and Warhammer Online weren't exactly the "WoW-killers" everyone expected were they? Some people are using the free to play business model though and they're becoming very successful e.g. Cabal Online. So I'm surprised to hear more retail MMOs don't do the same. Because lets face it, the first thing you do when you hear about a MMO is ask "Is it free to play?"
In conclusion about the game I'd recommend it to both the casual gamer and the hardcore gamer who don't want to spend money every month for one game alone. It doesn't have many flaws and it's quite fun.
And for 30 euro on Steam for the complete edition. It's a bargain.
