Guild Wars 2 review

I’m going to admit upfront that I had pretty high expectations of Guild Wars 2. I forced an end to my love affair with World of Warcraft a few years ago, and after some time off I found myself delving into various other digitally-imagined online fantasy worlds, secretly hoping that I could become as gloriously addicted to one of them as I had been to Blizzard’s MMO behemoth.

It was perhaps for the best that none of them stuck. Aion, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings: Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and most recently The Secret World, have all at one time occupied space on my hard drive, but none of them managed to keep me hooked past the first free month.

Guild Wars 2, however, seemed to pack the promise I was looking for. It seemed destined to shatter tired MMO conventions, and deliver a truly compelling “next-generation” online fantasy adventure experience. After spending some time in NCSoft’s latest offering, I can comfortably say that it surprised me in various ways. It does not re-imagine the archetypical MMO formula in a way that redefines the genre. It doesn’t even really come close to doing that. But it does make a wide variety of very meaningful and unique tweaks which do make it something quite special.

More than anything, I love Guild Wars 2 because it doesn’t feel like a systematic point-to-point grind fest. At the same time, it is complex and massive in scope, and what results is a feeling that you are taking part in a huge, dynamic, online fantasy adventure – and that’s what these games should feel like, at the end of the day.

The first big change is the scraping of the quest log. Instead, the game uses your map as a sort of dynamic adventure guide. As you discover new areas, points of interest immediately appear on your map. It’s up to you to explore the map as you please, although you are also guided in a general direction by a single, constantly moving primary quest marker. As you move through the world, you will stumble across a variety of seemingly organic mini-quests and adventures, which you can choose to get involved with or avoid altogether. You will earn experience points as you discover new areas, complete quests, ascend specially marked vistas, craft and collect items, and pretty much every else you do. This free-form exploration element gives the game a sense of adventure that I have yet to really feel in any other MMORPGs, and it’s great.

Another interesting change is in the way you earn experience from killing monsters, animals and general baddies that you come across. The standard in MMORPGs, as set by Blizzard, is that whoever lands the killing blow on an enemy gets the experience points and loot drop. This means that some players will try to poach other players’ kills when questing out in the wild, or on the opposite end of the spectrum, will be hesitant to get involved or help out when a fellow quester is mid-battle out of respect. In Guild Wars 2, you get the full experience and loot drop no matter how much damage you inflicted, as long as you did some damage. As a result, you are far more active about attacking creatures in the world, and the atmosphere around PvE questing is lighter and more fun.

Another change in dynamics is in the way players interact with lower level areas. In most MMORPGs, there is no real incentive for you to explore these areas because the experience points and gear are just not worth it. In Guild Wars 2, when you explore a lower level area, the enemies in it scale up to roughly match your level. The experience points you receive for killing these creatures is not significant, but the items they drop scale to your level. This means that as a level 20 character, you don’t feel like you’re totally wasting your time if you want to go check out another race’s starting area.

There are dozens of fundamental changes similar to the three I’ve mentioned above, and covering them all goes far beyond the scope of this review. These changes that NCSoft has made to the MMO formula make Guild Wars 2 feel different to anything before it.

The first thing that caught my eye about Guild Wars 2 were its visuals. Textures and special effects are vibrant and virtually ooze warmth, having been rendered with an almost painterly quality. Not only is the game technically gorgeous, but the art direction is incredible. Cities are massive in scale, and you really feel part of something huge as you make your way through the world of Tryria, with each city or new area seemingly more visually impressive than the last. One gripe I do have with the game’s engine, is that the frame rate was inconsistent, with my experience. With all settings maxed out on my Phenom II quad-core, 8GB RAM and Radeon HD 6970, the game (for the most part) ran on best quality graphics at around 60 frames per second. However, occasionally, and without any apparent explanation, that would dip to as low as 15 frames per second for extended periods of time. The only thing that seems to fix this is restarting the game. That said, it’s a relatively minor annoyance, as it does not occur all that often. Also, there is comfort in knowing that the game is constantly being patched and it will probably be resolved fairly soon.

Not only is the game a visual delight, but the music and sound effects are excellent too. As you explore the beautiful and ever expanding world of Tyria, you are accompanied by a diverse and fitting soundtrack which will sometimes do nothing more that massage your ears with soothing melodies as you explore a lush forest at night, while at other times, it will alert you to an event, or provide the perfect background for a pitched battle.

One of my favourite things about Guild Wars 2 is the combat. Unlike many MMORPGs, Guild Wars 2’s combat feels weighty and physical. In no other MMO have I felt that my character was so connected to the ground beneath its feet, and this pays off most when you are in battle. Playing less like an MMO, and almost more like an action game at times, combat is furious and intensely satisfying. You’ll be chaining combos and evading attacks, and it keeps things fun on a very basic level, which is incredibly important for a game that demands so much of your time.

Guild Wars 2’s player-versus-player battlefields are another highlight, and the world-versus-world realm is something special. In world-versus-world, players from three different servers go head to head, with each server-team trying capture various keeps. This includes buying and using siege equipment, which adds another level of dynamism to the experience.

One of the only criticisms of Guild Wars 2 is that it’s learning curve may be a little difficult to understand, not because it’s particularly steep, but because the game doesn’t do enough to explain to the player how everything works.

Guild Wars 2 is about exploration, discovery and fun. It offers you a beautiful, varied and massive world to adventure through, and there is no shortage of things to do. The RPG mechanics are solid and there is plenty to look forward in terms of growing and customizing your character. It also has a robust crafting system and a fully fledged in-game economy. Most importantly, it’s exceptionally easy to find a solid rhythm thanks to the dynamic map-based questing system, and the combat never gets tired.

There are so many reasons to love Guild Wars 2, and so many reasons to recommend it above any other MMORPG currently on the market. To top it off, it’s free to play, which, given the scope and quality of what’s on offer, makes it arguably one of best value-for-money video game purchases you can buy today.