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Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Bringt drei Asura zusammen, und ihr habt vier Meinungen!", mault Ihr Begleiter Vekk im Addon. Ha! Das mag wohl gewöhnlich der Fall sein, aber bezüglich Eye of the North dürften mir selbst die streitsamen Wichtel zustimmen: Es ist großartig! Dieses Missionsdesign, diese Zwischensequenzen, diese Hauptfiguren! Und auch wenn die Technik beim Alten geblieben ist, sieht die Erweiterung in meinen Augen doch noch besser aus als das letzte Abenteuer Nightfall. Instanzen waren nie so detail-, Dungeons nie so abwechslungsreich. Kurz: Guild Wars war niemals schöner.

Eye of the North is de eerste volwaardige uitbreiding voor Guild Wars die meteen ook nog eens vol zit met content, gaande van nieuwe items tot het toevoegen van minigames om reputatie te verdienen. Ook grafisch ziet deze uitbreiding er knap uit, zelfs nog een tikkeltje beter dan alle voorgaande Guild Wars hoofdstukken. Bovendien laat Eye of the North het toe dat je je stilaan kunt voorbereiden om binnenkort Guild Wars 2 te spelen, een uitermate interessante functie voor fans van de reeks

Loyal fans of the original Prophecies campaign longed for a true expansion to cap off the story and give their high level characters a greater challenge. GWEN delivers that challenge in a package dedicated almost entirely to the roleplaying campaign. The engaging story and characters, coupled with gorgeous graphics (especially the fire effects), provide plenty of motivation to drive players on. Heroes looking to prove their might and fighting prowess need only open the doors to the Eye of the North.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North delivers to the table plenty of new content for veteran players. The sheer amount of new terrain rivals each of the three GW chapters, as does the number of new skills. The move away from missions and towards dungeons is welcome - bringing some much needed change to the PvE dynamic. The fact that it is suited only for veteran players might put off newcomers, but it makes the experience that much better for all the longtime players of GW. Highly recommended!

Die Erweiterung versteht es unheimlich gut, die bisherigen Guild Wars Kapitel zumindest gedanklich mit dem kommenden Nachfolger zu verknüpfen. Sämtliche neuen Features sind auch dieses Mal eine sinnvolle Neuerung, die sich gut in das Universum einfügen (ok vielleicht abgesehen von den Minispielen, hier fehlt mir ein wenig der RPG-Bezug). Wer bereits einen Stufe 20 Charakter in den Startlöchern hat und mit diesem neue Herausforderungen bestreiten möchte, der wird an Eye of the North sicherlich nicht vorbei kommen, obwohl ich die Hauptkampagne trotz dreier Storystränge viel zu kurz für eine reine PvE-Erweiterung finde. Für alle, die hauptsächlich PvP betreiben, finde ich den Kaufpreis jedoch zu hoch, denn faktisch bringt ihnen das Addon nichts neues, mal abgesehen von schöneren Rüstungen und Waffen.

Eye of the North is actually the end of the beginning if you will, as game studio ArenaNet has decided to focus on Guild Wars II instead of continuing to pump out new chapters. The good news for longtime fans is the expansion wraps up quite a few loose ends, including what happened to the little girl Gwen who you saved in the first Guild Wars tutorial. It seems Gwen is now all grown up, an officer in the guerilla army that seeks to free your former homeland of Ascalon from the merciless Charr. You'll also be introduced to some cool new gameplay features, including 18 multi-level dungeons to explore; new mini-games like Dwarven boxing and Polymock; and a customizable Hall of Monuments where you can display your hard-won gear and greatest accomplishments.

The game still is linear in the path you take through it, but GWEN is terrific fun. You will need to learn squad management skills a bit better, but you are driven to do so by the flow of the story. Great graphics, great sound, great adventure – GWEN is a first-rate expansion.

Guild Wars-Spieler, die schon alle bisherigen Highlevel-Gebiete im Schlaf durchwandeln (beispielsweise den Hochofen der Betrübnis), reiben sich angesichts der neuen Herausforderungen und Belohnungen in Eye of the North begierig die Hände. Die spannende Hintergrundgeschichte der kurzweiligen Kampagne führt die neuen Rassen (Norn, Asura, Zerstörer) elegant ein und bereitet die Spieler thematisch auf Guild Wars 2 vor. Satte 150 neue Skills und jede Menge toller Ausrüstungsgegenständen sorgen dafür, dass Sie Ihre lieb gewonnenen Charaktere weiter verbessern dürfen. Stellen Sie sich aber darauf ein, kräftig zu farmen, wenn Sie alle neuen Inhalte erleben wollen. Die Fans sind bislang geteilter Meinung über dieses neue Feature. Eye of the North bietet weder neue PvP-Modi noch frische Spielerklassen oder gar -rassen. Das hebt sich Arena Net für Guild Wars 2 auf.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North is elke eurocent meer dan waard, en het herinnert ons eraan dat meer van hetzelfde (zij het zelden) ook een troef kan zijn. Als je nog altijd Guild Wars speelt, dan moet je Eye of the North eigenlijk gewoon kopen, want het is speciaal voor jou gemaakt en stelt zelden teleur.

Eye of the North is niet zo memorabel als voorgaande Guild Wars delen maar blijft nog steeds de moeite waard om te spelen.

Without a doubt there are people that know more about Guild Wars than a newbie like me, but Eye of the North will appeal to any fan of this game. EotN offers nothing else than more of the same, and it's clear the makers are already working with Guild Wars 2. This doesn't prohibit that this expansion is worth buying though, as it provides more of that same addictive, action-packed and tactical RPG-fun.

Nach wie vor sieht „Guild Wars“ gut aus und die Geschichte um die Zerstörer ist spannend. Für Spieler, die in erster Linie mit menschlichen Kontrahenten wetteifern wollen, bietet „Guild Wars – Eye of the North“ aber nicht viel Neues. Störend sind die Ladezeiten, wenn ein neues Gebiet betreten wird. Dennoch ist das erste „richtige“ Add-on wegen der interessanten Geschichte und der eindringlichen Stimmung eine „gute“ Wahl.

It's also remarkably tactical, requiring smart choices that enable you to take just the right eight skills into battle. This is the stuff that makes the expansion worth every penny, and reminds us that getting more of the same can (albeit rarely) be a wonderful thing. If you're still playing Guild Wars, Eye of the North is an easy purchasing choice because it was made just for you, and it rarely disappoints.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North is an enjoyable extension to one of the most solid MMO experiences out there, even if it doesn’t add much for PvP gamers or anything at all for anyone who hasn’t hit level 20 yet in the initial campaign. Everyone else will find hours and hours of fresh PvE gameplay, expansive new lands to explore, and a set of new skills to try on for size. It’s also a bit of a tease for Guild Wars 2. After all the goodness of this version’s various offerings, it’s hard not to look forward to the next installment.

All in all, Guild Wars: Eye of the North is a solid expansion to a series already brimming with content. While there hasn't been much new added to table and the brief campaign and shoddy technical graphics leave a bit to be desired, the sheer amount of new content will undoubtedly please long-time fans. Since this is the last game until the official Guild Wars sequel, there are far worse ways it could have panned out. Ultimately, if you enjoyed the previous games and are looking for more of the same, then Eye of the North will definitely scratch that itch.

To an extent, of course, Eye of the North comes pre-sold to the Guild Wars fan. Many of the elements that would be considered shortcomings in another games' PvE content are exactly what Guild Wars's veteran player base enjoys. In this sense, Eye of the North is a success. It offers the PvE collecting and snipe hunting they've enjoyed for the past few years in a significantly upgraded package. The Hall of Monuments alone (and its promised bonuses in Guild Wars 2) will be enough for many of them to want to jump on board and they'll certainly have a great time with all the new stuff the expansion offers. Guild Wars newbies, though, would be well advised to try one of the main Guild Wars packs (Prophecies, Factions or Nightfall) before committing to Eye of the North.

Ultimate conclusion! Offering new items, skills and other general stuff for level 20 Guild Wars players certainly justifies the lessened price tag, but I'm not sure that the overall quality of the adventures here can really be said to make this one of the more interesting outings into the Guild Wars universe. They're just not interesting enough. For example, one of the early core quests sees you hunting a bear-monster that teleports away and regenerates for what is presumably 'dramatic effect'. In fact it means that it makes no difference what you do, you can stand back and let him get hit by your henchmen and wait for the next waypoint to pop up. No matter how good you are, you won't kill him - it's in the script. And it's very dull.

I have enjoyed the content overall. The expansion dungeons are vast and very well done graphically. It felt like an epic adventure at times, and the difficulty bar was raised significanlty. Just crossing to a new area is a challenge in itself. I recommend this expansion to anyone with the original Guild Wars campaign. It wont knock your socks off with content, but it is a good addition to people looking for something fresh in this already vast game.