In a world where conflict is rife, the only true peace lies in death. The land of Tyria is dying, and it's up to you to save it from certain demise. But who will take the fall? That is a choice only yours can make.
Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes place in the land of Tyria five centuries after the events of the original Guild Wars. In this sequel, players must attempt to defeat evil minions threatening what little peace remains in order to stop all-consuming darkness from taking control once again.
To start off with this review I think it's important for readers to know exactly what I'm looking for when trying out a game. When I first start to play any game, the first thing that draws me in is the story. At first glance, it seems like Guild Wars 2 takes place in a generic fantasy world where dragons are rumored to be extinct and you have the option of choosing between five different races - each with its own unique history and culture. The second thing that interests me would be the fighting system, as far as MMOs go some fighting systems can seem very passive, but I think Guild Wars 2 does a pretty damn good job at keeping it fast-paced while also giving you plenty of options on how you want your character's skills to play out during fights - whether that be spells or melee combat.
Continuing onto artwork; this is another big draw for me. A fantasy world isn't complete without butterflies fluttering over sunny mountains and chest-high grass swaying in the wind. The developers behind this MMO did a really good job at capturing that aspect of nature to make the game seem alive.
But what about the actual content? To be honest, I think there's plenty of it...if you can keep up with it all that is. Some people would say that Guild Wars 2 is very overwhelming because of how large everything seems to be - but I'd have to disagree on that front because, personally, I didn't find it too difficult to get into. There are plenty of quests flying around which give you reason enough to go out exploring.
As far as the controls go, I think there's also room for improvement. For starters, you can't click on objects that are very close to you which makes it impossible to loot corpses without moving away from them entirely - something I found pretty annoying because in most other MMOs you have the option of right-clicking on items to get a drop-down box with all sorts of helpful things in it.
However, if there's one thing I hated about this game it would definitely be the beginning. You start off your journey by choosing what race and profession you want to play as - and this is where my first problem arises: Guild Wars 2 is made up of five playable races: Norn (tall, muscular creatures who are excellent craftsmen), Asura (short guys with a thirst for knowledge and power), Charr (a cat-like race of highly intelligent, aggressive warriors), Human (average Joe's of the world) and Sylvari (wood elves).
Each character has its own unique starting location but regardless, you start off as some kind of peasant boy/girl who gets killed by an evil force - I would say the story isn't very original so far...but if we're comparing it to other MMOs then at least they've done something new: most other games just see your character getting killed by an evil dragon or whatever and you simply respawn afterward.
If there is one thing that I didn't like about this game it would definitely be the beginning. You start off your journey by choosing what race and profession you want to play as - and this is where my first problem arises: Guild Wars 2 is made up of five playable races: Norn (tall, muscular creatures who are excellent craftsmen), Asura (short guys with a thirst for knowledge and power), Charr (a cat-like race of highly intelligent, aggressive warriors), Human (average Joe's of the world) and Sylvari (wood elves).
Each character has its own unique starting location but regardless, you start off as some kind of peasant boy/girl who gets killed by an evil force - I would say the story isn't very original so far...but if we're comparing it to other MMOs then at least they've done something new: most other games just see your character getting killed by an evil dragon or whatever and you simply respawn afterward.
When creating your character, the biggest decision of course is what profession he/she will play as. There are a total of eight possible professions so far - but only four out of those have been confirmed for being in the base game: Warrior, Elementalist, Ranger, and Thief.
Everyone's got their own unique skill set depending on which profession they chose, each profession can complete different tasks that others cannot. I myself chose to be an Elementalist - which allowed me to deal damage from a distance using multiple spells while also having the ability to heal myself or others. I definitely had fun playing this profession but some people complained that its role is way too similar to the other professions so if you're looking for something unique then you might have to try out all of them before making your final decision.
The character level limit has been confirmed to go up to 80 at first, even though there are plans on extending it even further with future updates - which means you won't be forced into grinding levels once you hit the maximum level cap.
Overall, I think that GW2 is an excellent MMO and definitely one of the best out there right now because of how easy it is to get into without feeling overwhelmed by its content. If story and graphics aren't your things and instead you just want a good, fun game to play while also meeting new people online then I would definitely say GW2 is worth checking out.
