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Guild Wars Review
by Jedi Guardian
Ooooh, look at the knight in shining armor
I know, I know. The Raider hates Online RPGs. Not because they're turning what would be America's future into game-addicted zombies, but because they're pointless. They're fun for a couple of hours and then you're bored. For the record, Guild Wars is not an MMO. Never was, never will. It's an online role playing game with real-time combat. Think Diablo, but more graphically polished and with a bigger idiotic fanbase. Also, if you ever read Electronic Gaming Monthly or PC Gamer, you might have heard of the expansion packs. Well, in this review, I'm going to review Prophecies, the original, vanilla game. I have played this game extensively and come with me to find out if it's truly worth the purchase. Okay then, avanti!
Welcome to the continent of Tyria, a land of magic, steroid-taking warriors and emo necromancers. Tyria is composed of the usual repertoire of exotic RPG locales such as desert, snowbound forest, jungle, tropical coast, a ruined city and volcanic islands. The enemies are some of the most interesting I've seen in an RPG. My personal favorites would be the Char. Others are as eye-feasting as well. Since this isn't an MMO, you get your own view of the game when out on the world map, meanin; you don't see anyone besides you and your party while slaying monsters. However, you can meet other players in outlooks, towns or cities. The missions and quests aren't much fun. Conundrum, yes. But, alas, they're repetitive and mundane. I need to point out that quests and missions are completely different things. Quests are sometimes optional, while missions are not; you need them to advance. They come in two flavors: mission only or with bonus (which gets you xp faster). Too bad some of them feel like a chore. Ooh, I get to guide a couple of ghosts to see their living son! Joy. Although there are some quests that are short and fun, there are just too many flops, especially when you require the assistance of the "community" (more on that later).
Yeah. More like Guild Wars faggot.
The story (well, the main story) is about fulfilling the prophecy of Tyria: to destroy the dreaded Lich King so you bestow peace and harmony permanently onto the continent. Yeah. I've read better stories out of Brian Jacques. Too bad there are too many events unraveling for the player that they distract you from the main story. From helping some dwarfs to annihilate the rival clan to going on a mission to protect a mountain fort from invaders, there's lots of inner stories to keep anyone distracted from caring about the fate of the continent. I mean, who cares if the humans from Ascalon City get invaded by the Char? The Char are awesome, dude! There are some class specific missions, but they're too short and come in too late in the game. Disappointing. At least Diablo had somewhat of an intricate story. My attention span for this game is that of me playing Final Fantasy VII, at my current age.
Quite the original monster design, eh?
The graphics are sharp, to say the least. They're more realistic than World of Warcraft. From the newbie area to the last missions on the Ring of Fire Isles (last world), the graphics are just pretty to stare at. And wait till you reach the major cities in the game (they're jaw dropping). It doesn't surprise me that the visuals are so good; after all, Guild Wars was and is developed by the people who brought forth Battle.net (now they're called Cnet), along with lead designers from games in Blizzard's oeuvre such as Starcraft, Warcraft III and Diablo. The special effects are my favorite aspect. It reminds me when I used to religiously micromanage the heroes on my copy on Warcraft III (under some heavy modifications by using the Map Editor), just to see my Night Elf Warden cast her arsenal of abilities. Who cares if my battalion of Orcs is getting slaughtered? My Tauren Chieftain is getting reincarnated right in the middle of the battle field! Damn, I'm getting off track. The point is, the special effects in Guild Wars remind me of the old Blizzard flair, the good Blizzard flair. The graphics are amazing, even for an RPG that doesn't require a monthly fee.
Is it just me or does this resemble Europe?
The sound is another selling point. The musical score is serene as it is catchy. I mean, it's written and scored by Elder Scrolls' composer, Jeremy Soule (by Elder Scrolls, I mean Morrowind and Oblivion). I read from PC Gamer that the expansion pack Nightfall had an even better soundtrack. Man, if only I had an extra CAN 50 Dollars to spend! The sound effects of the game are your standard blasts, roars, moans, screams, yelps, and booms from past online RPGs. The voices in this game are a mixed bag. While there is talent like Steve Bloom and Jim Cummings, there are voice actors that makes me assume that they are the assistant designer's brother's cousin's former roommate. Nonetheless, they give a mood for the game, whether it's drama or action. Even if you don't own a Dolby Surround system hooked on your PC, it's still a treat for the ears (mostly because of the musical score).
This Elementalist is very kawaii!!
The gameplay is stream-lined (mostly like many MMO and semi-MMO are nowadays), making it easy for anyone to get a hold of. I was quite satisfied by the complex yet simple gameplay found in this game. For example, there's a bar located on the bottom of the screen. In this bar, you assemble your spells, but you can only equip 8 of them. So not only do you need bring a small supply of abilities/spells, you have to bring your best bets as well (like healing if you're a Monk). The game's mechanics are reminiscent of every RPG I played since I was 10, or mostly like WoW. But unlike World of Warcraft, not all the classes have spells numbering in the millions (more like in the thousands). I prefer this type of linearity; at least I don't have to look for that damn Crow Form spell scattered among my 60+ spells bar. There are 6 classes in total in Guild Wars (Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Necromancer, Monk, Mesmer) and 4 more included in the expansions (Dervish, Paragon, Assassin, Ritualist), but let's stick with the vanilla game, all right? All 6 classes have a specific role, but you can also combine those six classes to make a secondary class to your build (ex. Warrior/Monk or Monk/Mesmer, just like my characters). Supposedly, it adds depth to your character, since a stand-alone warrior won't survive by just being a warrior. He/She has to be a Warrior/___. The blank would most often be filled with Monk. Which reminds me, this game suffers from a severe case of Two Classes Only syndrome. Mostly everyone is either a Monk, Warrior or both. Not enough Mesmers or Necromancers. I don't blame this game for its disease, I blame the community who infected the game and spread it like the Black Plague did to medieval Europe. The thing that upsets with this game is that some class are too overrated compared to others (Monks are a perfect example of that), while others are underrated, like the Necromancer class. This disparity hurts the game's chance at class balance.
I have the power!!
Overall, the community dampens Guild Wars experience the most. The community is a clusterfuck of idiots (aren't they always?). Lots of cheaters, lots of whiners and an unsustainable economy (there's no easy way to sell your drops or treasures). I've been playing the game for 2 years (I took a well deserved break from it) and nothing has changed - no new useful content, just new elite weapons to get the community fighting over, new hard dungeons, and new assholes to ruin the fun. The community is so disorganized that I decided the best team that I assembled were AI controlled henchmen. Yeah, riveting. When the best players in a game are computer controlled warriors, stop playing, please. Believe or not, I was kicked out of the game for ruining a bunch of pricks' fun. They kept attacking me with racial slurs, so naturally, I ruined their 100th time-trying quest. The next day I tried to logged in, I received an "Login Error" message. So I emailed Cnet (they're responsible for the servers) and they wrote back to me, telling me I've being kicked out for "inappropriate behavior". Yeah. Because I was the one who called that 15 year old a "spic faggot", right? But where there are jerks, there are nice people. I made some friends among the vast area of chicken-shits. Luckily, most of them quit the game after the first major update. There's also has been complaints of bots and online gold purchasing. If the game developers want to improve the community, they should have a market to sell item drops. At least they're improving rooting out the cheaters, but there's still work to do and I know that they won't institute my treasure auction idea without a monthly charge.
In all, the Prophecies (that's the vanilla game for those not keeping track, I don't own the expansions and never will) package needs some polishing, and the makers should've focused on the vanilla game and not keep pumping out expansion packs. I don't know. Maybe NCSoft is trying to mimic Blizzard. The good news about the game is that you don't pay a monthly fee. The graphics and the sound are spectacular. Sadly, the community brings it down. If this were a single player game, it would great, but as it is... It's good, but could've been better. So if you want to play a polished, more user-friendly incarnation of Diablo II, then Guild Wars is right for you. For the rest of us, it might be a waste of money. I remember seeing X-Play reviewing this game a couple of years back and Morgan Webb gave it a 4 out of 5. Trust me, she was being too kind. She didn't focus on the multiplayer aspects; instead she focused on graphics and sound (she even called the sound average). Well, to differ from Miss Webb (yep fellas, she's still single), I give Guild Wars: Prophecies a 3 out of 5.