The hype train has left station.
It is currently barreling towards us at an unstoppable rate of 700MPH. Colin Johanson laughs maniacally as the conductor throws on the breaks, sending an ear shattering screech through the air. Will the hype time stop in time? Will the players be underwhelmed? Why can't I log in?
Find out right about.... Now.
While I still believe TERA currently has the most reactive combat in an MMO to date, I have to commend ArenaNet for keeping what is basically the traditional MMO combat formula and giving it there own twist.
Don't be mistaken, GW2 combat is still very much "click ability, do damage" but how the skills are laid out, how they are restricted and how the weapons sets/tool sets (I'm an engineer) effect how your character performs adds a unique flavor to the combat.
It works like this. The weapon you have equipped will decide what abilities you can use. For instance I can use a pistol and dagger and the abilities I have available will be different than if I duel wield swords. This puts the player in the position of having to decide his play style rather than his spec. Tool kits also work similar to this.
One component I'm not a fan of, however, is the dodge button. Dodge is very useful and is practically a requirement if you want to survive... Which is why I hate it. Dodge would have made so much more sense if only rangers or thieves could use it, but why are these fully armored warriors rolling all over the battlefield? As it stands, dodge is tolerable, but doesn't really make much sense. It just doesn't fit in with some of the classes.
Oh and the game is difficult, hardcore players rejoice.
Game play and functionality:
8/10
2) Story and plot:
I was pleasantly surprised in this aspect. I always knew Guild Wars had great lore, and when I heard they were going to add personal story, my initial reaction was that Anet was just trying to get the SWTOR crowd (which is fine; companies should be allowed to compete as long as they don't alienate their core philosophy). Imagine my surprise when the personal story was... Well, good... Very good. Your choices in character creation have a very palpable effect on your characters quest line and the personal story is fully voiced which is a very big bonus.
Overall the actual story itself is at least above average and the fact that the interesting quest objectives compliment the story very well make it a win/win situation.
The story has some great elements, but the actual plot and characters don't breach that "great" mark.
Story and plot:
7/10
3) Dialog and script:
As with most MMOs, Guild Wars 2 script is just sorta "passable". And in most cases (outside personal story) this is fine since a lot of quests are simply "click guy, receive objective", therefore much of the dialog runs along the lines of "Hey, here's a book, click on it and something crazy would happen". Thankfully the action of doing the quest makes up for the not-so-good dialog.
Overall, Guild Wars 2 script is pretty average
Dialog and script:
6/10
4) Technical graphics:
I'm a bit iffy about reviewing this aspect on Guild Wars 2, since when I logged in, most of the time I was surrounded by hundreds of people so I never really got a good chance to test the optimization. I can say however, that while my frame rate was god awful a lot of the time, the fact that there were 200+ people around and the game was still remotely playable speaks good things about the optimization. Not great things mind you, but I never crashed and my GPU was fairly stable.
As far as looks go, the graphics options of Guild Wars 2 isn't very extensive, however, the game does look pretty great. The edges and textures are sharp and crisp and Anet spares very few details when it come to making something look good.
Technical graphics:
8/10
5) Art style and direction:
Ever since I saw the first screen shots of Guild Wars 2, I fell in love with the art style. It looks like a mix between western character and environment design with a hint of eastern flare. Really, it is quite gorgeous.
The most breathtaking sight for me was standing on a hill next to a water-well, looking at the absolute colossal scale of Divinities Reach.
A lot of developers try to achieve this kind and yet fail miserably. A lot of the time what happens if the game will end up everything just blown up to ridiculous proportions. Every tent is 20 feet tall and every door could fit an army of people in it. Why? One of the aspects I loved the Warhammer Online was the incredible art direction (which I still believe has the best art direction of any MMO on the market) and Guild Wars 2 certainly comes close. Everything seems tuned just rate and I love it.
Art style and direction:
9/10
6) Sound design:
Jeremy Soule... Oh, I'm sorry, you needed more reasons to love the sound in Guild Wars 2? Alright then.
Guild Wars 2 carries the industry standard of good, crisp sound, yet suffers slightly from some unconvincing voice acting and multiple use of the same voice actors.
Don't get me wrong, some of the voice acting is great such as Steve Blum taking center stage in the Charr quest lines. The rest of the voice actors range from passable to above average so a point will be docked. Aside from these aspects, there really isn't must to say about the sound.
Sound design:
9/10
7) Level design:
We've come to it at least. The feature that Guild Wars 2 will be remembered for. The level design.
I can not put into words how captivating the levels are, how massive the capital city is, and how fun it is to explore.
To put into perspective, I found myself, several times, wondering aimlessly around Divinities Reach. I wasn't really doing anything, I just wanted to see what was in the city, and believe me, there is PLENTY in the city. People talking, children running, mini games, strange sights and a plethora of other wonders to behold... And this was just in the starting area (which took me 27 hours to fully explore, by the way).
Coupled with the great design choice of the teleporter and "point of interest" system, Guild Wars 2 offers plenty motivation to explore.
An MMO world has never felt more alive, dynamic, and wondrous.
Level design:
10/10
8) User interface:
Not a big fan of this aspect. Aside from the fact that ArenaNet will, presumably, not allow add-ons, the user interface can be very overwhelming for a new player.
Although the actual set up is very clean and minimalist, it just sort of throws everything at you and lets you sort out the mess.
I remember I was playing with my friend and we were all put into a separate overflow server. A pop-up window said something along the line of "You've been put into an over flow server, you will switch to the actual server when a slot is available"
And I was left thinking... "What?". All I had at that point was questions.
What's an overflow server?
Where are my friends?
Why can't I switch to my friends instance?
How do I leave this battleground?
Hopefully Anet will add helpful tips and tutorials for the player to navigate around their overwise impressive interface.
Also, no chat bubbles (though I'm 99% sure this will be in by release)
User interface:
6/10
9) Production value:
Guild Wars 2 has the art, it has the lever design, it has the sound design, and I'm happy to say it has the quality of life.
Guild Wars 2 has the art, it has the lever design, it has the sound design, and I'm happy to say it has the quality of life.
Granted there are a few features missing that I'm hopeful will be in for release but aside from the few, Guild Wars 2 feels like a modern MMO. You've got plenty of do and there are so many little details that make you appreciate just how much effort went into making this world a place that you want to stay in.
That aside, some features ARE missing and assets like animation could use a little work
Production value:
8/10
10) Overall elements:
I believe players will be getting a pretty substantial package when it comes to Guild Wars 2. From the moment you really get into the game, you can tell that Arena Net has been around the block and that they are not afraid to take risks. And like high risks, there are high rewards.
Guild Wars 2 feels like a lot of games. It feels like ArenaNet dissected Guild Wars 1, WoW, SWTOR, Warhammer Online and put all of the best elements in those games and gave people a world that comes alive. Although some of those elements didn't make the cut, we can always hope that they will be a small enough task to add before launch.
Overall elements:
8/10
Personal Score:
9/10
Technical Score:
78/100
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