Guild Wars

The Good
The graphics are truly astonishing for this game. Perhaps the best seen in an online RPG so far, even after the "bloom effect" (if you don't like this effect, you can turn it off in the options under "Post-processing effects"). Graphics aren't everything but it definitely helps immerse you in this world. The world is rather large and there are several places to visit with different terrain, whether it be the sand dunes of the Crystal Desert, the beautiful tropical beaches of Kryta or the volcanic wastelands of the Ring of Fire - each area is quite breath-taking in its splendour.

In terms of gameplay, Guild Wars is probably more similar to Diablo than World of Warcraft (which many people like to compare it with). Guild Wars isn't strictly an MMORPG. True it has several people playing it online (so that's the MMO part) and true it is basically an action-based role-playing game (so that's the RPG part) but it's more of a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game as Arena.Net likes to call it). Unlike traditional MMORPGs, "dungeons" or the wilderness, is "instanced" for a player and his/her party, this is similar to how Diablo creates dungeons (except in Diablo the actual terrain was randomised too). The only places where you get to interact with the entirety of the game's population is either through the in-built messaging system or in towns. This may not appeal to some but since I'm a fan of Diablo it suits me just fine. In fact, the benefit of instancing is that you dramatically reduce the workload on server resources as dungeons can be created on demand, rather than being online 24/7.

Although everyone has different tastes in music, I think the music for Guild Wars is fantastic. Critically-acclaimed composer, Jeremy Soule, responsible for the music in classics like Morrowind and Knights of the Old Republic, continues to create beautiful orchestral music that is a perfect fit for the fantasy world of Tyria. The sound effects and voice acting are on par with other quality RPG titles.

The Bad
There's nothing I have much to complain about in this game, although I have read a number of complaints from players about what they didn't like. For starters, your level is capped at 20, so if you're one of the sorts that likes to thunder on their way to level 99, this isn't the game for you. Also some people have complained about the PvE (Player-versus-Environment) aspects of the game getting in the way of PvP (Player-versus-Player) and vice versa. However, this is already changing with Arena.Net releasing patches every week to attempt to bring about not only game balance changes but features that will help to satisfy both people who prefer pure combat or ones who like a little bit of storyline on the side.

With regards to what I personally don't like though - I think it would've been nice if there was the option like Diablo to play Guild Wars PvE on a LAN, disconnected from the Guild Wars servers, with local characters. If that was the case, Guild Wars would've been slightly more superior to Diablo in my humble opinion, but as it stands, it's probably as good :).

The Bottom Line
Guild Wars is like a contemporary, online-only version of Diablo or Diablo II. If you liked Diablo or its clones and aren't bothered with having to connect to a server each time to play, give Guild Wars a go. Also, for the ones that enjoy playing in a clan or team and fighting against other human players with a variety of skills, Guild Wars is definitely right up your alley as well.

The Good
Before Guild Wars, I had never played an online title before, as much as the opportunity was always there. The one thing that always scared me off was the subscription based systems that every title had. I just didn't fine it reasonable to pay for the game at full price, then have to pay per month to continue on after the initial free period (they always try and suck you in, I might add), especially when I don't really get that much time to play video games every hour of the day, which in my eyes is the main reason to play an MMORPG.

So along came Guild Wars ... wait a second? Free? I can play as much as I want and not pay a cent more? Praise the heavens! Someone is listening to us!!

So off I went into the wide world of Guild Wars. It plays out much the same as, say, Everquest or World of Warcraft. Create your own character from a range of options, and then you build your character up through various missions, exploring the world within a game and maybe even making a few friends along the way.

Where GW differs from other titles is the emphasis more on strategy then 'point and click, hoping the spell works'. You can build up the most powerful beast you can imagine, but in the end they may not make any difference at all if you don't have some idea of your enemies ... or your allies. While working as a team is a priority, essentially you can play the game by yourself with assistance from AI bots, who do a decent job I might add. So you need to understand their strengths compared to yours, and use that as an advantage in battle.

Guilds, as the games name suggests, is the other key addition in the game. Outside of the 'world', there's an option to play against other Guilds or players separately. It's more then just a secondary add-on, too. Huge tournaments can be created, where by you and your Guild can compete against others in a deathmatch like environment. Any rewards you make can be transferred from the PvsP character to the World character, and visa versa, though with its limitations. For example, you can purchase improvements to your characters powers within the World, but only be able to use them for PvsP games.

Anyway, enough about explaining. How does it play? Very well, I must say, and not just because it's free. There's plenty to like about GW, from the visual splendour to a huge environment that can take many hours to explore ... hell I'm still going. Everything else falls into place well, from a solid musical score and voice-overs, to an interesting fable played out as you complete each mission. Speaking of, the main story will keep you occupied, but there's plenty of other things to complete on the side as well.

The Bad
It's hard to come up with any major criticism of Guild Wars. Granted, I do have the right machine to play the game the way it was meant to be played. Perhaps that's one minor gripe, then. But as with all MMORPG's, you can't expect to get the most out of them with a slow PC, so high specs are warranted.

Gameplay wise, exploring the game could be just a tad bit better. I find it at times frustrating that my character can't jump over a small ridge, making me have to backtrack a long, long way to get to that same point just a metre away. It does happen fairly often, those kinds of situations, and whether that's a design flaw or a reasonable move to reduce 'cheating' by evading conflict with enemies is an interesting debate.

The Bottom Line
It's free. It's arguably better then World of Warcraft. And with the constant updates flowing and a strong user base, it's hard to pass up the opportunity to join such a well crafted and well supported title. This, as my review summary suggests, is the way online games should be made. Do away with subscription fees and give people a reason to shell out for the game and the endless expansion packs that will follow it. If you build it right, they will come ...