Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Oct 23, 2015
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 981 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 670 out of 981
  2. Mixed: 72 out of 981
  3. Negative: 239 out of 981
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  1. Archon_Wing
    Oct 27, 2015
    7
    Guild Wars 2 was a fairly standout MMO, as I have never gotten into MMOs in the past.-- I've never been fond of excessive treadmills and progression that would trivialize previous progress. The expansion keeps a lot of this, as in the past, most of the content is by and large, optional and most of one's previous progress is still left intact.

    The new zones introduced are visually    Guild Wars 2 was a fairly standout MMO, as I have never gotten into MMOs in the past.-- I've never been fond of excessive treadmills and progression that would trivialize previous progress. The expansion keeps a lot of this, as in the past, most of the content is by and large, optional and most of one's previous progress is still left intact.

    The new zones introduced are visually stunning, accompanied by a story that is far superior and involving than the one found in the original. It may not be a literary masterpiece, but I see in-game stories as ways to get into the action, so it doesn't have to be. As always, Guild Wars 2's strongest strength is providing the atmosphere both in visual and auditory details that really makes brings forward the scope of the aftermath of events that have transpired. The zones aren't just larger-- they feel larger as well. In addition the enemies here are generally stronger than those found in the open world and also seem to have decent AI which is a nice contrast to the game pre-expansion. The new gliding mastery also drastically changes how movement works and is suited to the larger map size.

    Unfortunately, despite having the larger sense of scope, in terms of exploration, it feels oddly linear. This is because you must gather certain masteries in order to progress. The passageways tend to be rather narrow and meandering and going off the beaten path often just leads you into either certain death or realizing you need something else to progress. Oh, and whatever class you were using will get an elite specialization, but it will require you to do most of the content anyways, so don't count on it for help.

    But that's not the worst problem. The maps are so huge that you can go for a while without seeing a single person which was never a problem in the past. It can be mitigated with the "Looking for Group" tool, but I find it quite an annoyance especially when some of the hero points are intended for multiple players to do. Yea I understand this is an MMO. So it's not really good for the solo player if you were in the original game.

    Contrast this to the base game, where you could journey to any of the first 5 starter zones and explore the map in any number of ways. HoT exploration feels like it's on rails by contrast.

    But by any means, this is not a bad addition to Guild Wars 2. So why the low rating?

    Well, I primarily play World vs World and the new maps introduced are also interesting but are generally too large and complex when centered a mode where one expects to face players, not the environment as much. And much like the PvE maps, finding players, enemy or allied tends to be a issue. There are some interesting concepts at play here, such as structures being harder to attack and more interesting structure mechanics, but they seem a bit overtuned and meant for larger groups. Finally, there's the issue of World vs World progression being tied down the gated specialization mechanics-- World vs World can access them via a randomized item drop which is far more tedious than its pve counterpart. However, as of this writing, Arenanet has addressed some of these concerns and has lessened some of the requirements.

    In the end, I appreciate the designer's will to expand on concepts that already existed and also to cater to a more hardcore fanbase. However, it's very clear that a lot of these things are not suited for me, and the game seemingly lacking in polish in a number of places such as the rather unintuitive PvP Guild missions and other minor things like having daily achievements for content that no longer exists in addition to the empty feel that seems present in a lot of locations just makes me feel the game was rushed to some degree. Given that this is merely a first impression and I expect changes for the better in the future, this may mean HoT has the potential to be an excellent addition. In fact, since this initial writing, some steps were already being taken to addressed, so at the very least you have a company that's willing to listen to player. As for now though, I would say don't rush for it.    … Expand
  2. season2003
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    Great job on reviewing the Hero Points and the story gating. 250 points and level 1 mastery is much much much better than the crap you bring to us at the very beginning. Now I can set back and enjoy my elite spec while going through the new content. Cheers
  3. xjustin357
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    More than I expected and I had high expectations for this game.

    The story was amazingly amazing. It took you on a roller coaster ride of emotions and the ending fight was perfect.

    The content and map design gives you so much to do. I wish I had more time to write stuff about this but im lazy af so anyways 10/10 must buy if you've played the core guild wars 2 game.
  4. Razor4884
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    A-net hit the ball out of the park with this expansion. I've hardly sunk my teeth into it but I can already taste the juices.

    They decided to not raise the level cap (as that would invalidate gear earned to date), but decided to add a whole new progression in the form of masteries. With these, you can really feel your character's progression.
  5. Piratemot
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    HoT is a great expansion, and of course if you try to rush it, masteries will seem like a grind, but you only ever need to get them once for your account, and you really only need the first levels to continue with the personal story.
  6. OutOfPoint
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.

    Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress. Hero points which are character based and needed    This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.

    Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress.

    Hero points which are character based and needed for unlocking elite specialization seem to be too much, but the latest update has them reducing the total points needed from 400 to 250.

    Overall, I'm having fun with HoT and can't wait to play it after work each day!    … Expand
  7. Belmagus2
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns is a 10/10, A+, extra-credit affair of an expansion pack, adding a tonne of extra features, quality of life improvements and explorable locations. This is enough to sell me on the expansion, and truly proclaims Guild Wars 2 as king of MMORPGS in this new era of immersive combat, mutable worldstate and sideways progression.

    What makes this a perfect expansion is the    Heart of Thorns is a 10/10, A+, extra-credit affair of an expansion pack, adding a tonne of extra features, quality of life improvements and explorable locations. This is enough to sell me on the expansion, and truly proclaims Guild Wars 2 as king of MMORPGS in this new era of immersive combat, mutable worldstate and sideways progression.

    What makes this a perfect expansion is the story. By god, the story. The game pushes out pathos and catharsis by the truckload, story beats flowing naturally (and in stark contrast to the first barely-passable attempt at a personal story...) giving a real sense of power, structure and growth in your character's emotions, personality and RESPONSIBILITY.

    If ArenaNet can keep the same design philosophies as before, keep nurturing a MMORPG environment where you're never unhappy to see another player and show responsiveness to the playerbase's wishes (See recent changes regarding Elite Specializations.) then GW2 will only ever be superseded by GW3.    … Expand
  8. Sinreth
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion only contains improvements to the base game, and is well worth the cost. Expansions should always improve and expand on the base game, and this one does that. If you didn't like Guild Wars 2, you might still not like this expansion.
  9. PanicGiraffe
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    It is as a vanilla WoW vet that I say, this is the single greatest expansion I have ever experienced the launch of. The complexity of the new areas, the improvements made to the game's mechanics and the compelling story make this expansion truly peerless.
  10. Admiral_Napkin
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    While I haven't even gotten close to finishing the story, just the zones, music, and new mechanics have blown me away. The adjusted elite spec prices are perfect, which was my only major complaint so far.
  11. Sephard
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The smoothest launch of an expansion I've seen so far.
    ArenaNet have stepped up their story telling game a LOT, with the HoT story being superior to the old Personal Story. The new maps are beautiful and intricate, filled with little nooks and crannies you just HAVE to see. Elite Specialisations are balanced and SO much fun to play with - the new class /Revenant/ has become a well    The smoothest launch of an expansion I've seen so far.
    ArenaNet have stepped up their story telling game a LOT, with the HoT story being superior to the old Personal Story. The new maps are beautiful and intricate, filled with little nooks and crannies you just HAVE to see. Elite Specialisations are balanced and SO much fun to play with - the new class /Revenant/ has become a well polished and (in a good way) complicated part of the game. Can't give them anything less than a 10!    … Expand
  12. cauterized
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    I love this expansion. I never had issues with the Mastery and specialisation "grind".. the Masteries are unlocked account-wide anyway, and the specialisation skills are well, specialisations, and rightfully should not be available upon character creation.

    What issues I had with this expansion can be summarised quickly: the non-soloable Hero Points in the new zones, the annoying bugs,    I love this expansion. I never had issues with the Mastery and specialisation "grind".. the Masteries are unlocked account-wide anyway, and the specialisation skills are well, specialisations, and rightfully should not be available upon character creation.

    What issues I had with this expansion can be summarised quickly: the non-soloable Hero Points in the new zones, the annoying bugs, how the new materials cannot be kept in the bank slots, and how confusing it is to navigate around the layers of maps that is the Tangled Depths.

    These issues aside, it has been amazing exploring the new maps. No longer can you idle around in "unsafe" areas, you have to fight smart and understand your class mechanics. Gliding, which had seemed corny when it was first introduced, turned out to be a fun and fantastic exploratory tool - too many times have we fallen to our deaths due to not being able to glide outside of the new maps. There is really no real need to "grind" or to complete maps in a linear manner - take your time to explore, jump around the maps, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the new zone that is the Heart of Magumaa.    … Expand
  13. Kezika
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Great complex level design, awesome storytelling and cinematics. Quick at listening to their community and making desired changes on a timely basis. I have been having a blast all weekend playing Heart of Thorns content.
  14. thexlr8d
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love the challenge to obtaining the elite specializations, and the addition to Fractal of The Mists. Only downfall is the story still has a lot of bugs to squish. The dungeon rewards being heavily nerfed is a downside to the new release as it was a big pillar of PvE content. The new maps complement the greatly improved Story. And the new weapons and armor are all superb! The story was left on a slight cliffhanger, but it paves way for a great new season of Living World!… Expand
  15. DavidZetavon
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    So Far so great the new PvE content is challenging and fun, The masteries are a decently paced grind towards progression you want. The story is awesome, more immersive and gripping. The new zones look amazing and have wonderful musical scores to back them up.

    Gliding as always is a fun and interesting way to travel and the new adventures give you and friends a fun new way to challenge    So Far so great the new PvE content is challenging and fun, The masteries are a decently paced grind towards progression you want. The story is awesome, more immersive and gripping. The new zones look amazing and have wonderful musical scores to back them up.

    Gliding as always is a fun and interesting way to travel and the new adventures give you and friends a fun new way to challenge each other in little mini games. Anet is also taking the communities feedback well even lowering the elite specs cost.(Even though like some people like me thinking it's not really needed)    … Expand
  16. IrisAtlast
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    10/10 great expansion to a GREAT game!
    I LOVE my chronomancer and the dragon hunter is super sick too! I cant wait to see where they take this awesome game :)
  17. Gerchak
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion has been absolutely stellar. The storytelling, Elite Specializations, End-game Mastery system, and all around general Quality of Life improvements have revitalized the game for many people. I can only image how good it's going to get with upcoming Raids, continued bi-weekly living world story releases, and all the other staples that Anet have embedded into their online world. 10/10.
  18. Sabawoyomu
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Straight up the best online-based game I've ever played. The personal story was straight AWSOME. The maps are so fun to just run around in, the events are long and interesting, the designs for armors and weapons are as usual top notch.
  19. StacyX
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Heart of Thorns expansion for Guild Wars 2 has brought in some much needed changes to the game and added a great way to progress your characters - the Mastery System. That coupled with the nine new specializations, maps, new class, guild halls, etc is coming together to be a wonderful expansion to a great game.

    ArenaNet has thrown out the idea that an expansion means raising the level    Heart of Thorns expansion for Guild Wars 2 has brought in some much needed changes to the game and added a great way to progress your characters - the Mastery System. That coupled with the nine new specializations, maps, new class, guild halls, etc is coming together to be a wonderful expansion to a great game.

    ArenaNet has thrown out the idea that an expansion means raising the level cap that traditional MMOs offer that keep people chasing after ever higher levels and ever more gear grind. The gear grind is finally over! Once you achieve the highest teir gear in the game that's it, they will never raise the gear level or level cap - which means all your hard work is never invalidated by future expansions and updates.

    The new maps are beautiful, the Mastery System is a fun way to give your character meaningful progression without creating power creep and without creating an environment in which new people first coming into the game are left at a huge disadvantage. The new maps and events are a lot of fun, and everything has been given a level of detail and beauty that has to be seen to believed.    … Expand
  20. Excelliate
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    Amazing expansion. Beautiful map design, improved story, amazing soundtrack. Adds much needed endgame progression, and adds in-depth systems for guilds and groups. The expansion brings challenging and engaging content to a game that was already innovative and fun.
  21. TerminalMontage
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    The expansion improves upon everything that was already great in this action packed, fast paced MMO. Gliding, pretty environments, engaging content, I'm having such a blast.
  22. blinddemon
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The Expansion is amazing %_% so many things to do and explore, then have to unlock masteries which unlock more things to do in areas you have already been to. beautiful lands, astonishing music definitely 10/10 no questions asked.
  23. DeviousDVS
    Oct 27, 2015
    8
    Every aspect of the game has been refreshed, rebuilt, or updated in the Heart of Thorns expansion, without diminishing the already great content in Guild Wars 2. While I was nowhere near reaching any sort of saturation point with this game, the expansion has given me a lot to think about and provided some new goals to aim for.

    Probably the standout change for me is the increase in    Every aspect of the game has been refreshed, rebuilt, or updated in the Heart of Thorns expansion, without diminishing the already great content in Guild Wars 2. While I was nowhere near reaching any sort of saturation point with this game, the expansion has given me a lot to think about and provided some new goals to aim for.

    Probably the standout change for me is the increase in viable build variety. So many fun and interesting ways to surprise your opponents, or creative ways in which to deal with mobs. Really good fun.    … Expand
  24. Splatypus
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    10/10 in almost everything. Well worth the money, it provides hours of gameplay. The story is awesome, and the new zones have amazing replay value. New classes and specs are amazingly balanced and the new PvP maps and gamemodes are the most fun I've ever had in an MMO PvP.
  25. ohsnapitskelz
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    GW2: Heart of Thorns is everything an expansion should be. It builds on the formula of the original game and shows just how much ArenaNet have developed their design formula since the base game's launch.

    The new mastery and elite specialization systems add so much horizontal progression to the game without removing too much from the base game itself. Instead, these systems let you    GW2: Heart of Thorns is everything an expansion should be. It builds on the formula of the original game and shows just how much ArenaNet have developed their design formula since the base game's launch.

    The new mastery and elite specialization systems add so much horizontal progression to the game without removing too much from the base game itself. Instead, these systems let you continue to power up your characters with new abilities like gliding and jungle languages that let you trade with merchants from the new maps. Alongside these features, the elite specializations allow players to transform their classes into completely different versions of the vanilla ones, and introduces countless new mechanics to the game.

    But, ArenaNet doesn't stop there! There are plenty of new maps to explore, including one for the new PvP game mode Stronghold, one for World vs. World, and two for the new guild hall feature introduced with the expansion. The PvE content itself takes place over four beautifully crafted maps that expand vertically from the roots below the ground to the tips of the trees to create a play area much larger than any maps seen in the base game.

    Amazingly, nearly nothing went wrong with this launch. It's common to see games having server issues and countless bugs at launch, but Heart of Thorns seemed to avoid this entirely. What bugs there were rarely (if ever) hindered progress, and were typically patched within 24 hours of being reported.

    On top of all of that, the quality of the expansion is mind blowing. The wonderful voice acting and new version of pre-rendered cutscenes used for the story instances makes for an incredibly immersive experience, and the beautiful music only adds to that. The environments and textures themselves are truly works of art, bringing the simultaneously beautiful and brutal Maguuma Jungle to life.

    A few of the systems required a bit of polish after launch, but they were addressed within days of the launch. Some systems are getting a small re-balance to account for player feedback, while a few small bugs are being patched out.

    All in all, Heart of Thorns has proven to be an incredible expansion. No expansion comes without a few flaws, but don't let those distract you from the amazing experience that the game provides. Plus, ArenaNet has proven they will do anything to improve the experience due to player feedback.

    I can't wait to see what the Living Story system and the launch of raids brings in the next month!!    … Expand
  26. Nebular
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    The user score is NOT ACCURATE. People who were disappointed about having to actually play the game to unlock things bombed metacritic with 0/10 reviews. ArenaNet has since made it easier to unlock things and most people have not changed their reviews anyway. The expansion definitely deserves more than a 0/10, no matter what your issues are with it.

    This expansion might have had the    The user score is NOT ACCURATE. People who were disappointed about having to actually play the game to unlock things bombed metacritic with 0/10 reviews. ArenaNet has since made it easier to unlock things and most people have not changed their reviews anyway. The expansion definitely deserves more than a 0/10, no matter what your issues are with it.

    This expansion might have had the smoothest release in MMO history. Within hours everyone was able to log in and play. I have not heard of any game breaking bugs. ArenaNet has been very quick with bug fixes and other improvements based on player feedback. Despite many people complaining, the majority of players who are actually taking the time to give it a chance are having tons of fun with it.    … Expand
  27. morroIan
    Oct 27, 2015
    4
    Grindy content designed to hide the fact that here is not enough content in the expansion to justify the high price tag (equal highest for any mmo expansion). The story is good, the map looks fantastic but is painful to get around and as I said the mechanics of the content are grindy to stretch out the time. The elite specs are also quite cool on the whole but are bug ridden, the expensionGrindy content designed to hide the fact that here is not enough content in the expansion to justify the high price tag (equal highest for any mmo expansion). The story is good, the map looks fantastic but is painful to get around and as I said the mechanics of the content are grindy to stretch out the time. The elite specs are also quite cool on the whole but are bug ridden, the expension was released far too early in this regard.… Expand
  28. Hadee
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Everything is great! Anet listened to community feedback and made huge improvements to the expansion less than a week after it went live.

    They are still continuing to improve and expand on what's already a solid and well made expansion.

    10/10
  29. Arean
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    Heart of Thornes falls just short of a perfect expansion and launch. There actually only three things that bothered people, and those three combined probably account for 80% of the negative reviews that the expansion received so far. And there are also three things that players really love about the expansion. Both aspects are strongly linked actually.

    1) The expansion brings elite    Heart of Thornes falls just short of a perfect expansion and launch. There actually only three things that bothered people, and those three combined probably account for 80% of the negative reviews that the expansion received so far. And there are also three things that players really love about the expansion. Both aspects are strongly linked actually.

    1) The expansion brings elite specialization. Instead of a new gear tier or level cap, Arenanet provided us with horizontal progression. The elite specialization doesn't make use stronger, it gives more options. A new weapon you can use, new skills, new traits. The design philosophy was that this had to be unlocked/earned by playing through the expansion map. Meaning that players only got their full elite specialization after they had played trough most parts of the expansion maps. However, a lot of players wanted to play through the expansion with a new build. This will be changed so player can access the elite specialization a lot sooner. The technical detail is that the number of hero points required to unlock the elite specialization is going to be reduced from 400 to 250.

    2) The expansion maps are vastly different then most game maps. There are at least three different layers. Just like in a real jungle, you have the ground, the undergrowth and the canopy. So getting around on the maps is a lot harder at first. This is until you unlock masteries. These account bound extra 'skills' allow you for example to use a glider, jump on certain mushrooms, take short cut tunnels. When the expansion launched a lot of people didn't understand that you only need the early masteries to get around quickly in the maps. Those early masteriesare actually easy to unlock.

    3) Bugs. There was a bug that spread out the player base over to many instances of the megaserver. This resulted in a lot of half (or worse) empty maps, who then couldn't do the meta events. This is getting addressed today, with the same build as the changes to the elite specialization. There were also several progress blocking bugs in the personal story missions. Most are already addressed.

    And there are also three things that players really like in the game:

    1) The story is amazing. Both the stories being told on the maps through the events, and the personal story are the best the game has ever had. There's comedy and tragedy, decisions to be made, and even slight variations between certain races. At one point you have to make a choice on how to compose your party for the end fight. Like what you see in Mass Effect and Dragon Age. It was the hardest decision for me in any game, ever. This expansion actually feels like 1/3 of Dragon Age Inquisition.

    2) The mobs and the combat is very good. A lot of new mobs came with the new maps and they each have distinct mechanics that you have to adapt your tactics to. AFk attacking, just pressing one skill, ignoring mobs, that isn't possible hear. A lot of players asked for a higher difficulty, and Arenanet delivered. And it's not difficulty trough stats on the mobs but through mechanics. This again overwhelmed a lot of players at launch date who then cut down the content before actually learning it.

    3) The maps. As overpowering they are when you first try to move through them, they are awesome once you get used to them. As I said before, you need masteries to get around. And the more you have, the easier the maps become to transverse. The players also had to get used to the fact that the entire maps change a lot. There's a day and night cycle and both have several stages . The events and objectives change according to the stage the map is in. And this is off course also influence by on what level of the map you are playing. If you count everything together the new maps have three times the amount of content then the older maps, in what's now called 'Core Tyria'.

    Conclusion: a lot of players were really negative in the first two to three days because they didn't expect the how the expansion would challenge them. From the legitimate criticism of the expansion, most things have already been addressed. So the expansion deserves a 9, it really does.    … Expand
  30. Heteroscedastic
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    Story: 10/10: Amazing improvement compared to the original games story. A much more focussed and impactful narrative assisted my improved storytelling tools.

    Open world 10/10: Four complex maps with varied layered content catering for multiple player types. Plus new metroidvania style movement/ exploration abilities! I'm yet to try out WvW and SPvP since the expansion launched so    Story: 10/10: Amazing improvement compared to the original games story. A much more focussed and impactful narrative assisted my improved storytelling tools.

    Open world 10/10: Four complex maps with varied layered content catering for multiple player types. Plus new metroidvania style movement/ exploration abilities!

    I'm yet to try out WvW and SPvP since the expansion launched so may update my review once I get round to those!

    Features: 10/10 Great new social/ customisation features in the form of Guild Halls. Really interesting horizontal progression systems in the form of masteries and elite specialisations.

    Raids are yet to be released so hold on to your cash if you are only interested in those!

    Many of the negative reviews here are part of an organised campaign by players who wanted a change to the games progression system. Personally I had no issues with this system. In any case Anet have now responded to these criticisms, hopefully some of these users will reconsider their opinion of the game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best PC Game of 2015
10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
15
#15 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2016
    85
    Heart of Thorns is so good I forgot the flaws that made me lose interest in the original game after my initial delight with it. [13/2015, p.64]
  2. Games Master UK
    Jan 3, 2016
    85
    Not the biggest expansion, but it enhances the best parts of an already magnificent MMO. [Christmas 2015, p.75]
  3. Edge Magazine
    Jan 3, 2016
    80
    In spite of the odd stumble, it's a wonderful journey. [Jan 2016, p.120]
See all critic reviews »