Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is a new Massively Multiplayer Online Game set in the world of Tyria. The Elder Dragons five deadly, destructive, immortal beings have awoken and they want to destroy the world and its peoples. And you the player have a role to play with the rest of the world in stopping the imminent destruction.

I got to play as a Elementalist in the Guild Wars 2 Beta weekend just past. I have the say that it is shaping up to be a very sleek and pretty game. Also more importantly one of the most funs MMOs i've had the pleasure of playing in a while.

I like the art style Arenanet have chosen quite a bit, they have gone with a painterly style so it seems everywhere you go it is hand painted which I thought was cool. With the world being created with the art of the best concept artists in the industry it just gives the world a breath of life that some MMOs struggle to achieve but the Developers of GW2 have definitely pulled it off. It just adds a layer of quality that I think we can all appreciate and admire.

The “Questing” system they have is different than other MMOs, different in that instead of going up to a NPC and accepting a quest you go out and explore and find Dynamic events that take the place of traditional quests. The Dynamic events are quite cool actually because when you get the “Quest” it doesn't just tell you something like to “stop 10 rampaging centaurs from destroying the village” and when you find the centaurs they are just standing in a field and the village was never going to be in trouble. Not with Dynamic Events, the Centaurs are really out there running around in the village setting it on fire and destroying buildings and you have to stop them actively or the village might get destroyed
Which brings me to my next point you can actually fail the quest. Instead of just reseting it to try again it will shift dynamicly to the next step in the chain of events. Like for example if you fail to save the village from the centaurs they will then set up shop there and then you have to regroup and try to take it back. This is a good thing because it makes you feel like you can make a impact on the world instead of it always being static. It makes “Questing” a lot more energetic, fun and just less of a grind.

They also have a traditional more linear “Questing” system but that one is what Arenanet call your personal story, which is the main questline basically. The personal story is all about the player character and their adventures in Tyria. You get to play through the way you want to and the more you do and the more people you meet the more your Personal instance will change and adapt. Your Personal instance is a player specific instance in the racial capital of you character that will change as your personal story progresses.

The combat definitely kept me on my toes The reason being that about 90% of your abilities you can use while moving. Also each class can heal itself and for the most part are responsible for their onw health, thats right no designated Tanks or Healers. I know what you thinking how can that possibly work ill tell you how, instead of just tanking on the spot and someone standing there healing you actually have to dodge the attacks and control the flow of enemies with conditions e.g blind, cripple ect.
Also because of this it makes you have to take notice of the world and its enemies. So if lets say a Ettin raises his club up for a slam attack you do not! just stand there you see he is going to do this and you can dodge it or use a skill that might nock him over or something like that. It adds a element of skill that just standing in one spot does not do, you soon learn when the best times to dodge are.

Your skills also change depending on which weapons/focuses you have in each hand. The left side of the skill bar is for the first three skills and the last two next to them is for the item/weapon you have in you right hand. The last five skill slots are for you self heal and your utility skills and elite skill. All the classes bar the Elementalist can quickly switch out between two sets of weapons on the go making it easier to adapt to different situations. The Elementalist can't quickly switch between weapons because they already have four different elemental attunements that change their skills for their weapons so you might say instead of about ten skills between weapon sets the Elementalist has about twenty but changing attunements has a cool down so it can't be spammed.

My overall impressions of Guild Wars 2 are that it is a great new fantasy world to enjoy and explore full of wonderful lore and depth that I know I will enjoy for years to come.

Just wanted to add some clarification to Pete's comment.

The GW2 site clearly states that only pre-purchase editions of GW2 are eligible for beta access and the 3 day head start. The only physical pre-purchase edition sold was the CE that sold out months ago and you had to pay up front then, hence “pre-purchase”.
That is why pre-orders don't get this and its not MA's fault

I'll keep my review short.

I've played a lot of MMOs in the past, starting way back with Ultima Online when it launched in 1997. Of all the games from then till now, I've never enjoyed the leveling process as much as I did in guildwars two. The questing system is very unique and the dynamic events are extremely engaging. Each zone has it's own completions which make for a very enjoyable gaming experience.

However, upon reaching level 80, I've been somewhat let down with the game. I know that having no real gear progression was one of the draw cards for the game, but if you're coming from other games that do have gear progression (which is pretty much all other MMOs) you're in for a bit of a shock. Yes there are dungeons to do, zone completions to fnish and pvp to do, but for me, they don't really equal endame. I'm not talking about the lack of raids either. I'd just have liked the dungeon gear to be better so you have something to strive for. You can get a full set of exotic crafted gear within days of being 80, and the legendary items are more or less cosmetic only.

The skills and weapon system is fun. I had no intention of playing guildwars two at all but was convinced by friends that i'd met through other games to give it a try. As someone who disliked many of the ideas the game implemented, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it actually is.

Just a quick note on the pvp, while my PC and bandwidth don't let me experience it to it's fullest (without lag) it was enjoyable. If you enjoy pvp you'll probably enjoy level 80 more than I have.

Overall, the game is good but it could have been fantastic with more meaningful PvE content at level 80. But at least with no sub, I can go back to it whenever I want without digging out my credit card, which is also a bonus.

The best MMORPG I have ever played. Everything in the game is just awesome, the gameplay, the lore, the graphics, even the frikkin artworks looks amazing.

This is the first time I have played an MMO and the game has consumed a lot of my spare time. You can play five different characters with five different builds from Rangers through to Mesmers. There is a personal story line in PvE which has the same outcome regardless of which race you choose. The story becomes challenging once you encounter high level NPC enemy (you may need the aid of other players or guild members). Between the story; PvE, World vs World and general grinding for equipment, gold & dungeons, crafting & world events this game is value for money.

The only negative side can be the lag as you play on European or North American servers; the lag can be exceptionally bad in world vs world when large sale battles are happening which effects most people regardless of country of origin.