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Guild Wars


Created 1989
Publisher NCsoft
Developers ArenaNET

Second only to the World of Warcraft, Guild Wars boasts a membership of around of six million players worldwide. Part of its popularity is down to the fact that it is free to play. The only cost is the price you pay for the game either online or in the shops. Unlike Warcraft, you are only able to create human characters to play. However, when Guild Wars 2 eventually makes the shops, you will be able to add additional races, the Asura, Charr, Norn and Sylvari. Unlike other fantasy games, e.g. Warhammer and Warcraft, they have chosen not to go down the Middle Earth style, ie Dwarfs, Elfs, Orcs and Trolls. There are dwarves but they are secondary to everything else especially to humans and the Charr. There are three independent games known widely as campaigns (Phrophecies, Factions and Nightfall) and one expansion, Eye of the North to play. Although they are independent, your guild can have people playing games from all four in it. You could be chatting to someone playing Nightfall whilst yourself playing Factions. Your characters will however not meet one another unless they are in the same zone. Each zone, you will do a simple training quest before you enter the game for real. The only time you will encounter other players is when you are in a town or group up for a quest. You are able to create groups with both player characters and non-player characters. Creating npc groups is highly recommended. You can create a max of four characters per game but you can add more I believe by purchasing extra characters. Characters can have a max of two professions, in other games this would be known as classes. Buying and selling is like any other game of the genre. Money and items drop from character you have killed. The whole point of the game is to create an interactive world and you are able to create or join guilds as when needed. There are no mounts by which you can ride, you must walk everywhere. There is a system which does allow you to travel from town to town just by clicking on the map and there's no cost in doing it and no waiting whilst you move. One of the irritating things of the game is that every so often, the game needs to download new files and there seems to be a lot of instanced area where you have to enter. Swapping between area is quick but there no fluidity to it. Of whats been played so far, there are a few different monsters, eg Nagas and Mantrids. Dragons are presumeably reserved for higher levels. Character customisation is quite basic, hair color and style, skin colour and height. Clothing colour can be also customised. The screen shots are from Factions campaign. Swimming and running, two fundamental activities of people movement which are both missing from this game. However they are both expected to appear in the next version of the game.

The Campaigns


Guild War: Prophecies
This was the first game to be released back in 2005. It is set on the continent of Tyria which is being threatened by the Charr from the North. You begin before the Searing, an event when the Charr launch their attack on your world. The Charr are a race of bear like monsters who feature prominently in all compaigns and will be playable one day. During the time before the Searing, you learn new skills and prepare yourself for combat because once the Searing has happened, there's no going back. Your start town is Ascalon but theres a lot to see outside the town. The game has a sort of Manga style artistry about it.

Guild Wars: Factions
The second of the three campaigns, this game has a more Japanese historical feel to it. There are a number of Pagoda like buildings throughout the game. You start in Shing Jea Island (Cantha) and move swiftly to the Monestry to learn and begin your training. There are two unique professions to this game. They are Assassins (very much like rogues of warcraft) and Ritualists who wear hats that cover their heads. Hats can be hidden.

Guild Wars: Nightfall
The third campaign, sees an ancient Egyprian theme to the game with the dress sense. Two professions in addition to the basic ones from the Prophecies campaign have been added to this game, they are Dervish and Paragons. The Dervish looks very much like what you would expect ancient Egyptians wore with their hoods.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North
The only expansion of the game in the original series. You need a character to be at least level 10 to be able to venture forth into the new world. The campaign versions of the game allow you to get to level 20 which is the highest level attainable. Given that Guild Wars 2 is in development, we doubt we'll see another expansion any time soon/

Guild Wars: Guild Wars 2
A massive updating of the game that has been in development for nearly two years (written May 2009). It is meant as a complete overhaul of the game which should make it less instanced based and more hopefully like Warcraft and Conan. It is set many decades into the future after the events of Eye of the North. Unlike previous games as mentioned previously, there will be the opportunity to make characters of different races.

Professions


Profession: Monk
A primarily healing character that is useful for when going into battle with more than one enemy.

Profession: Warrior
The strongest of all the professions, they are able to tank enemies thus diverting their attacks from the weaker forms. Like other warriors in other games, their attack power has to be increased rather than it reducing as the attack begins.

Profession: Ranger
A skilled marksman with the bow and arrow. They are able to charm a pet into providing attack and protection, they are equivalent to the hunter class found in Warcraft.

Profession: Elementalist
A person who can call on the powers of the four elements (Air, Water, Fire and Earth) to provide the necessary attack and protection.

Profession: Necromancer
A person who revels in the undead who can summon the undead so that they can fight along side them. The characters themselves look a bit undead. Roughly equivalent to the Death Knights that were added to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion of Warcraft.

Profession: Mesmer
A character that can perform illusions to confuse and attack the enemy.

Profession: Ritualist (Factions Only)
Able to summon ghosts and aparitions to fight along with them. Known for wearing headscarfs covering their eyes however these can be turned off if you find them irritating.

Profession: Assassin (Factions Only)
A crafty, sneaky character that can move round the battleground dealing high amounts of damage to the enemy. Equivalent to Rogue classes in Warcraft.

Profession: Paragon (Nightfall Only)
A spear carrying warrior that acts as a support to the rest.

Profession: Dervish (Nightfall Only)
A holy warrior whose main weapon is the Scythe and can transform themselves albeit briefly into gods.



Screenshots


Guild Wars




Trailers


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