Guild
Wars is my kind of MMO RPG game. It's as though my
complaints have been addressed and someone has crafted
an almost perfect example of an online, multi-player,
role-playing game.
When
new games debut we are often so enamored with their
uniqueness that the flaws are overlooked. It's not
until we become comfortable with the genre that we
begin to see the seams. That doesn't mean that we're
a bunch of ungrateful complainers, we're just helping
to further refine the genre. Online multi-player games
suffer from some flaws that we were once eager to
accept but now realize there's little need for them.
Guild Wars has not simplified the gameplay but it's
streamlined some of the elements and eradicated some
of the more annoying ones.
Comprises
of two main modes, single and multi-player, the single-player
mode gives you all the advantages of the multi-player
mode without the hassles of real people. At least
you'll get a chance to get used to things before you
have to play with other humans. Actually a lot of
the hassles such as losers lying to wait to pummel
you for experience points is a thing of the past.
Your party will consist of three other AI (henchmen)
which do a fine job of accompanying you on your quests
except they always seem to be under-powered for the
enemies that you meet.
Towns
can still be used for trading, buying, selling, recruiting
party members and picking up quests. The quests are
relevant to the storyline. You will actually feel
like you've accomplished something instead of just
grabbing treasures and experience points. It makes
you feel part of the community and that's one of the
tricks that will keep you coming back.
Choosing
party members is a bit of a crapshoot. You can't tell
what class they are until you see them. It's important
to have a well-balanced variety since most of the
missions require diversity, which emphasizes teamwork
- another feature that will make you feel part of
a community.
Each
character can only carry eight slots worth of spells
- not hundreds. You will notice that there are other
restrictions in Guild Wars such as linear missions
and virtually unavoidable fights but it all serves
to keep the action flowing although you can't help
but feeling shoved around a little.
Monsters
will run at you when they see you and even if you
refuse to fight and run away they will chase you for
a long, long time and make you virtual life miserable.
There is a lot of fighting so you might as well get
used to it. Taking on low-level characters is a waste
of time. You hardly get any experience points and
they seldom drop anything that you can use. The monsters
will drop weapons and stuff that will allow you to
create things but they don't drop any armor. Your
energy is always regenerating but you have to wait
until the battle is over before your health kicks
in. But it does quickly and you can be off and fighting
in no time.
Travel
is fast and easy although you will face plenty of
battles. It does tend to get repetitive but you can
always enter the multi-player modes for some diversion.
There are different arenas that you can play in that
include Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, King of the
Hill and Team vs. Team. The load times are fast, there
is no slowdown and best of all, no online fee.
The
environments are stunning. They have been carefully
crafted to appear as realistic as possible within
the context of such a fantasy world. The graphics
are rich, well-detailed and convey a huge sense of
scale. The music tries hard but it just doesn't make
a great impression. It's best relegated to background
music as you won't likely be humming any memorable
melodies. Cutscenes are great and immerse you into
the storyline which closely trails the gameplay.
Guild
Wars is not perfect but it's so close I can almost
taste it, and the taste is sweet. Real sweet.
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