Factions
takes the GW experience up a few notches. by
Patrick Evans
June
23, 2006 - Last
summer, NCSoft took on the MMO world by flying right
into the face of convention and providing a quasi-MMO
experience without the monthly subscription fee. The
ability to adventure through the world of Tyria with
friends, or fight against them in 8-on-8 PvP battles
hit a chord with many RPG fans that thought Final
Fantasy XI or World of Warcraft too hardcore or too
expensive.
Nearly
a year later, their trend continues. Releasing Guild
Wars: Factions, the stand-alone expansion/tie-in/sequel
that does not require the original to play, Arena
Net and company hope to keep those frugal gamers happy
with their unique brand of competitive and co-operative
fantasy combat. After having spent many, many hours
with Factions, one must think that this crew has been
quite successful.

The
storyline behind Factions is a slightly different
experience for those who do or do not already own
the original, but early on it centers on an eerie
sickness that is spreading across Cantha and infecting
the good citizens, quickly making short work of the
Emperor and any other stability in the Oriental-inspired
nation. If you own the original, you can complete
an easy quest and earn the right to travel to Cantha
via Lions Arch, retaining all your equipment,
statistics, skills, and pets, and get right to fighting
the infection. New players will have to earn their
spurs.
Having
experienced the opening chapter of this game from
the standalone side and the tie-in option, the difference
is really negligible. The training missions in Factions
are better structured in that they provide introductory
text explaining all the features very early for newcomers
instead of asking you to simply improvise and rely
on the advice of strangers.

Factions
features a slew of new content that justifies a standalone
50 dollar price tag for owners of the original. Two
new professions, Assassin and Ritualist, add to the
somewhat slim selection of six character types, while
300 new skills have been included in both the original
and expansion professions. A smaller price tag would
have encouraged just about everyone with the original
to purchase Factions, but with the impressive list
of additional material and explorable areas, it should
be seen more as a sequel of sorts than anything else.
In
its core gameplay, Factions does everything it can
to blend the PvE (Player vs. Environment) and the
PvP aspects of gameplay. New game types have been
added to the original Mission/Quest selection, including
Challenge Missions, that give specific scoring or
time objectives such as holding a specific point against
oncoming waves of enemies or completing a mission
in under a certain time-limit.
Guilds
can choose to ally themselves to either the Luxons
or the Kurzicks, two opposing houses that cant
seem to get along, and fight for supremacy much like
the original Guild Wars described, well, the Guild
Wars (look in the instruction booklet, its there!).
This leads to the real meat of this stand-alone, the
Alliance missions. Multiple teams allied to these
two houses constant fight to control resource points,
which in turn determine control of towns and outposts
throughout the land. In conquering more and more territory,
alliances will then gain access to Elite Missions
that are more challenging, and more rewarding, than
those found elsewhere.

When
stacking Factions, and Guild Wars for that matter,
against its MMO competition, its difficult to
gauge given the different structures that they take.
NCSofts game bills itself as the non-MMO, as
the game creates individual instances
for a party whenever it leaves a town, enters a mission,
ect. However, it one-ups most every other MMO by allowing
any person that creates a character in Tyria or Cantha
to meet up with any other player in Tyria or Cantha
worldwide (assuming they have the required key codes
for the respective titles), without having to choose
a specific server like FFXI, Dungeons and Dragons
Online, and WoW. It allows for much more accessibility
all around, but especially for newer players with
little experience.
Player
vs. Player combat is a main focus in this title, and
Guild Wars still features the best competitive combat
found in an MMO. Eight on eight combat is a frantically
paced strategic fare that challenges the different
builds that each team puts on the field. While the
best action takes place on the field, preparation
and communication is vital, which leaves teams looking
for voice-over IP solutions, such as the Teamspeak
provided by the game, or outside programs like Ventrillo.
One complaint against this setup is that there is
little way to know what is being cast against you
at any given time aside from targeting and monitoring
the spell-caster that is assaulting you. In the heat
of battle, where multiple spell-casters will be targeting
tanks and flanking archers/support characters, it
can be very difficult to pin down what strategy the
enemy team is running.
The
original Guild Wars looked very good on high end computers,
but what impressed many was how well it handled graphically
on mid-to-low end machines. Factions is no different
and even provides more impressive environmental areas
with terrain encased in Jade and sprawling urban cities
serving as both safe-havens and combat arenas. Character
animations are superb, there is just enough variety
in armor and weapon selection to keep things fresh,
and the various lighting effects are impressive. If
anything, magic spells can, at times, seem underwhelming,
especially when you drop a meteor on a crowd and you
see them all fall without actually having witnessed
the meteor crash.

When
taking a look at its competitors, Guild Wars: Factions
will certainly appeal to anyone that has an RPG itch.
Anyone that looks at FFXI or WoW and thinks Where
do these people find the time will be right
at home. The level cap at 20 ensure that it is all
about strategy, not level grinding. Fairly balanced
and sharp looking, it may lack some of the depth of
its competitors but it does more than hold its own
by providing an exciting competitive combat experience
rounded out by impressive visuals on anyones
system and the right MMO aspects sprinkled throughout.
By
Patrick Evans
CCC
Staff Writer
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