Guild Wars 2

 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Aug 28, 2012
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3192 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,380 out of 3192
  2. Mixed: 386 out of 3192
  3. Negative: 426 out of 3192
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  1. VectorManuel
    Aug 13, 2023
    6
    The game is dying, it used to be great but not now.
    Pros:
    * It's casual and "poor" friendly - If you want to play an mmorpg while working full time, this is the best, and if you can't afford a monthly sub, this is it! * Till Living World Season 4 - It has best features and story is alright. * New player friendly - New players can get to high levels easily now, plus free to play players    The game is dying, it used to be great but not now.
    Pros:
    * It's casual and "poor" friendly - If you want to play an mmorpg while working full time, this is the best, and if you can't afford a monthly sub, this is it!
    * Till Living World Season 4 - It has best features and story is alright.
    * New player friendly - New players can get to high levels easily now, plus free to play players could also experience a lot of good contents.

    Cons:
    * Story - It went real bad after lws4, I don't understand how another country's political problems are a concern for a foreigner(Us), We discover a new land and somehow got involved into their politics (EoD). Apart from story, the scripts have gone bad too, it felt like written by teenagers, the story plots weren't as immersing as it was for PoF.
    * Content - Not being a monthly sub game, it finally took a toll on them, since there aren't much (or any) new content to put out, they can't sell their expansions like before. EoD is an example of how they tried to sell what little they had. Now they changed to mini expansions (5 bucks less).
    * Politics - I don't want to get into details, but like any other American entertainment industry, they went political. Funny thing, they sold a "political inclusion" and didn't make it look like one, but lately it's changed.

    Is it worth to buy/play it?
    Short term - Yes! Go for it. It's worth every penny (till lws4).
    Long term - Probably not, unless they bring good story later on then go for it (maybe new features too).    … Expand
  2. spice9
    Jul 18, 2023
    6
    It's great for the first 100-200 hours or so. You're out in a massive well-crafted world exploring, helping people, and slaying various creatures. The maps are large and detailed and they feel alive due to the living world system.
    Then, suddenly you reach max level, and it simply starts to get old - and not for a good reason. The tasks simply become far too repetitive and formulaic.    It's great for the first 100-200 hours or so. You're out in a massive well-crafted world exploring, helping people, and slaying various creatures. The maps are large and detailed and they feel alive due to the living world system.
    Then, suddenly you reach max level, and it simply starts to get old - and not for a good reason. The tasks simply become far too repetitive and formulaic. Endless thinly-veiled fetch quests, move from point A to point B, click this button here, talk to this guy there. In addition to that, there is artificial difficulty in the form of things simply taking TOO DAMN LONG! What should be a regular mid-boss ends up having a health bar that takes 7 whole minutes to slowly whittle down using the repetitive button-mashy combat wherein you simply cycle through all your abilities without much thought. And yes, I am using the meta DPS build and rotations. It feels like ****
    I understand its an MMO, but it feels like an absolute slog to play at times. Other games keep longer harder boss fights engaging by having good mechanics and satisfying combat. Multiple phases, skill checks, etc.
    With GW2? Yeah let's just make this boss "harder" by giving him 5x the health he should have. Forget good mechanics, forget satisfying gameplay.    … Expand
  3. Pohch
    Feb 21, 2022
    5
    Игра из детства, помню как играли в локальном мультиплеере с братом. По части геймплея - в одночасье игра становится обычной фармилкой денег.
  4. Rhacal
    Nov 2, 2020
    7
    Guild Wars 2 is still a great Game without any Question, but with a few "but.."Moments!
    You have Acces to:
    - Open World which is gigantic and after years you can still find secret Eastereggs, but....(few Maps are lagging very hard and most of them you need to pay for like Path of Fire Expansion Maps or Living Storry 4 Maps, all other Maps are fine so far) - Fractals which are the    Guild Wars 2 is still a great Game without any Question, but with a few "but.."Moments!
    You have Acces to:
    - Open World which is gigantic and after years you can still find secret Eastereggs, but....(few Maps are lagging very hard and most of them you need to pay for like Path of Fire Expansion Maps or Living Storry 4 Maps, all other Maps are fine so far)
    - Fractals which are the deleveloped Options to Dungeons
    - Dungeons which are nice for the first time but ArenaNet never upgrade it in the whole time...so the Final Loot is...and you can more or less easy Solo the Dungeon with a Hearth of Thrones / Path of Fire Expansion Build
    - Raids which are not too hard in all, but you still need alot of "know how"
    - World vs. World where you can fight against other Servers in a big Map to Control Sectors
    - PvP, like..hey: PvP :)
    ____________________
    Templates for Gear and Skills
    - Before ArenaNet take over there was a Free way to save Builds+Gear by a Programm called ArcDPS, now ArenaNet have there own System and its....
    You start with 2 Gearslot, 3 Skillslots, but each Class has a Condition Build, Phsysical Damage, Heal, Tank, Support Builds and for Raids you need different Gear and Skills as in Fractals or for Open World, also World vs World is different...so if you want to play it little bit more as a Weekendend Hobby you need to spend ~7€ for EACH Slot on EACH Character to a max of 5 Slots. Otherwise you need to spend alot of time to switch the Gear all the time one by one. This was a great idea, but more or less its behind a paywall to get a good comfort for your Character.
    - Also a point that is good and bad at once: The Gear, if you are Level 80 you cant get better Gear after the Ancient Gear which is pretty easy to craft after 2-3 Month Playtime. So its very nice if you want to take a break, come back later and you dont need to upgrade the whole Gear again, but that also means that you need your own goals for the Game to set, without it can get boring very fast!
    So keep this in Mind.
    ____________________
    Positive:
    + Many different Characters to play
    + Huge Map, many ways to do something like Meta-Maps, Fractals etc
    + Good solid Story
    + Content for a Year if you want to explore the Maps, Story's, see any Content and find all the little Secrets in the World etc
    + No pay to win, just many COMFORT Items like Unlimited Harvest Tools etc

    Negative
    - Map-Lags for Paid Content, but instead of fix this issues they are more interested to bring new Content (what means they dont care realy about !!!in my Opinion!!!)
    - You need to set up your own goals to still have fun after round about a half year when you finished the Story, get your Gear etc
    - Dungeons are realy fine and nice, but are no challenge after reach Level 80
    - Few Maps are realy hard to explore until you get a Mount!
    ____________________
    All in All: Its a great game that is defently worth it to explore, but with a bad taste after around a half year! If you dont want to upgrade your gear each few Month and able to set your own goals in a Game and more a "Story, Explore, Find out" Dude instead of a "I need always something to do by the Game, Dailys, Items Grind, hard Challenges" its a DEFENTLY YES in my Opinion!
    ____________________
    Personal Hint: If you want to explore the Game without big frustation Moments play until Level 20-30 and if you still like it, look for a Guild which can support you with great Informations "how to..." and how to explore the big World!    … Expand
  5. Zophibee
    Sep 8, 2020
    6
    As a player of 3 consecutive years I have seen a lot from this game, and unfortunately a lot of disappointment. The story updates in Living World S4 were incredible and something I looked forward to. However now the storylines are dull, hardly much thought put into them, and all they do is give us meaningless rewards we don't need, plus a giant map with a meta that gets nerfed almostAs a player of 3 consecutive years I have seen a lot from this game, and unfortunately a lot of disappointment. The story updates in Living World S4 were incredible and something I looked forward to. However now the storylines are dull, hardly much thought put into them, and all they do is give us meaningless rewards we don't need, plus a giant map with a meta that gets nerfed almost immediately. It's incredibly hard to earn decent gold in this game unless you know every trick and devote all your time to doing everything. They make expensive gem store items as the focus of their monetization. Premium skins are 1,600 to 2,000 gems while normal skins are worth about 400 gems each. 800 gems costs 10$ USD so a skin priced at 2,000 gems is worth about 30$ to them. That's expensive! 30$ for a game skin or food? Everything is paywalled to some extent. Need a previous episode? 200 gems please! Want to switch servers? 500+ gems please! Not to mention the developers have ignored WvW so much that it's nearly unplayable. They gave us a mount to draw people in, only to have them leave once they obtained the mount. Waste of time, waste of materials, and waste of effort. WvW is dying as a result of the neglect, and I think this game only has 3 years left before it ultimately succumbs and shuts down. I've been playing MMOs for over 10 years, I've seen the signs before and GW2 is a sinking ship because of the developers neglecting the players and the changes we truly need to see. Their response? Working on 3rd expansion instead of what we wanted. That's their answer to everything. So, play the game now while you can, because I'll be shocked if it lasts more than 3-5 years from now.… Expand
  6. Shimmeywill
    Mar 3, 2020
    7
    While this MMO has some decent mechanics, the overall gameplay and mission experience isn't something I want to return to. Combat is stale.
  7. colnaghi
    Feb 4, 2020
    7
    Great graphics, nice character customization (not as good as Tera in this aspect), gigantic worlds and plenty of quests to perform and mobs to fight.
    Swimming and diving are amazing adds to the game possibilities that cannot be seen that often on other mmo's.
    It may take a while until you grasp the inner works of the complex crafting system.
  8. KuriousJorj
    Feb 7, 2019
    5
    Don't listen to the nerds, fanbois, and weaklings. This is AT BEST, a mediocre game.

    First off, the combat is spastic and spazzy. It's bad. If you take ritalin, maybe you'll get off on it. If you have standards, you'll hate it. Sorry nerds, you're not that fast and real weapons move slower than wiffle-ball bats. Also WTH is wrong with the target-lock? Unbelievably amateurish.    Don't listen to the nerds, fanbois, and weaklings. This is AT BEST, a mediocre game.

    First off, the combat is spastic and spazzy. It's bad. If you take ritalin, maybe you'll get off on it. If you have standards, you'll hate it. Sorry nerds, you're not that fast and real weapons move slower than wiffle-ball bats.

    Also WTH is wrong with the target-lock? Unbelievably amateurish. Always switching for NO REASON, always turning off and losing target lock on certain bosses FOR NO REASON.

    There is no story. And the cut scenes are super cheap. Just two characters standing and talking, totally dialogue driven, with a plain static background. Looks like something from 1998. The opposite of cinematic, the opposite of immersive.

    I have no idea what the history or mythos of this world is... and the game makes no attempts to tell me. No opening cut-scenes or anything similar. It's almost like they don't even care if you care about the world, it's history, the races in it, or why you're doing what you're doing. Almost like they ACKNOWLEDGE this is a shallow empty grind-fest.

    The world is boring and soulless. That's both in the towns and out in nature. You encounter the same enemies in the earliest maps that you face the whole way through... thus there's no sense of progression in that respect either.

    The story missions frequently disconnect, and always right at the end, forcing you do to everything all over again. This is a common problem that has existed for years.

    There are so many currencies and windows and specialized vendors, the whole damn things is so cumbersome and unnecessarily complicated.

    Platform jumping. Yes. It's required, and it's all thru this p.o.s. game.

    All of that makes it an empty, boring, tedious grind. This is not a good game, it's not an enjoyable game. It might appeal to those who think they look kewl, but really look like "the Star Wars kid," but unless you're a soyboy, you'll not be able to stand this mediocrity.    … Expand
  9. Svoby42
    Dec 19, 2016
    7
    I used to play it lot. I used to. But they wreck everything up. Like the dungeon. They nerfed dungeons. The best part of the game. That is why i wont ever come back to this game.
  10. Crackfarmer
    Nov 9, 2015
    6
    The most annoying thing in this Game is to explore the whole Map, i mean who gives a flying **** about some useless Houses inside of Caves or Camp with enemy Npc's inside? I don't. Cpu utilization is terrible, 80% cpu usage on 4,5 ghz cpu is a joke. This Game is an awful example of how coding can end if you smoke too much kush.
  11. jonesen
    Oct 15, 2015
    6
    Okay decent mmorpg but nothing in the game that keep me interested for long. The weapon and spell mechanic combination were a very nice touch. Great graphics but beyond those two things nothing else felt interesting.
  12. Augustus75
    Sep 2, 2015
    6
    Definitely a game for younger gamers. From cartoony Pokemon type graphics, to childish voice emotes when leveling up or performing certain skills, this is a large departure from the original guild wars games.

    That said, the game is extremely polished, and very well made. As an adult, I can't possibly become interested in this type of game. However, I absolutely appreciate the    Definitely a game for younger gamers. From cartoony Pokemon type graphics, to childish voice emotes when leveling up or performing certain skills, this is a large departure from the original guild wars games.

    That said, the game is extremely polished, and very well made. As an adult, I can't possibly become interested in this type of game. However, I absolutely appreciate the excellent job they did in creating a fast paced, all encompassing game for younger and casual players. Would not recommend it as a serious game however for veterans of mmorpgs, or those seeking a mature game.    … Expand
  13. SpaceRaptor
    Jun 21, 2015
    6
    It's not awful, but it's not all that great either. While I don't hate this game, since people give it so much praise I'm going to focus on where it falls short. GW2 advertises itself as a lot of things that are only really quarter truths. I think the most outlandish false advertising was the "dynamic event system". To quote:

    "The living world of Guild Wars 2 is filled with thousands of    It's not awful, but it's not all that great either. While I don't hate this game, since people give it so much praise I'm going to focus on where it falls short. GW2 advertises itself as a lot of things that are only really quarter truths. I think the most outlandish false advertising was the "dynamic event system". To quote:

    "The living world of Guild Wars 2 is filled with thousands of dynamic events that constantly change based on the actions of players like you. You never know what you’ll discover when you log in!"

    This is true, until you log in the second time. The "events" are inherently no different than your standard "My dog **** on my neighbour's lawn so I need you to to deliver this apology cake 3 meters due south." generic MMO quest. The only thing GW2 changed is that now they walk and talk, and you have to repeat them over and over and over and over. And no they don't impact the world in any meaningful way because just as there are no permanent consequences, there are no permanent solutions.

    Some other half truths from their video on their combat page: "If a big attack comes your way, you can dodge roll out of the way" - Yes, if your endurance is full. And you can only dodge roll twice before you have to wait for it to recharge, making it feel entirely pointless. "It has the action of a shooter, the strategy of an RTS and the depth of an mmo". Haha, no. The action is entirely third person and repetitive. The "strategy" is practically non existent given the ridiculous limitations on evasion, cool downs, heals, skills, blocks and what have you. A common cause of death is not lack of skill, but lack of skills.

    The story is at points questionable, laughable or boring. The writers start by trying to prop you up as an unbelievable speshul snowflake which is most evident in the human starting story, where despite the military evacuating the entire town allow you, random civilian #4832, to stay and fight for no apparent reason. Or perhaps the Norn, where at level 1 you slay an ice wurm people widely praise and give you a title for and they continue to praise you for it even when you get to a level that you could've one shot it at.

    I should also mention both story and game mechanic wise, NPCs are inherently useless unless they're Trahearne. In which case, he is a paradox of being the most uselessly important person in the entire world. By this point the writers are really trying to make you feel like you're just another John Smith in a world populated by characters no inherently more important or special than the other. While commendable in theory, it's entirely awful in execution given Trahearne just takes credit for everything you do.

    In one of their promotional videos before the release of the core game, one Anet spokesperson said something along the lines of “If you're a FPS gamer you'll like playing Guild Wars 2”. Hilarious, because my boyfriend who exclusively plays only FPS and RTS games absolutely reviled this game. I could never get him to play it with me for more than an hour. His major gripes being the combat system which I already semi elaborated on (and it hits harder for FPS/ RTS gamers) and the levelling system (linearity).

    You're very much locked into an area of what you can do via arbitrary numbers. And you're not rewarded for seeking out challenges (I mean real challenges, not the “but it's your level” kind of challenge), in fact you're outright punished for it. And if we keep in mind how relatively fast it is to level, the entire system just makes itself redundant. You could have maps and characters where everything is just “a challenge” instead of a level, but instead you're punished every time you make a new character by being restricted to repeating the same content over and over. “Oh god, not this event/ map again”. And then there's dead maps problem caused by this.

    And speaking of end game, there isn't one. Yes, by all technical means there are things to do at level 80. The problem is, these are the same things you've already being doing in your treadmill climb to end level. Anet did at one point say "The whole game is the end game". That is the one whole truth they've said. So you kind of end up with a game that is marginally more enjoyable than your average MMO by a couple inches, but after a couple level 80's and tiring of the lack of features you find yourself logging in maybe once a month to play one new content release, get bored of it and then let it collect dust on your desktop till the next time you get bored of your other games.

    The one good thing I can say about GW2 is you don't feel like you have to spend a year to catch up to other players when you do return. Given this, I wouldn't call it a waste of money.

    In summary, meh. It's kind of OK.    … Expand
  14. Ixnatifual
    Apr 13, 2015
    5
    Yet another overhyped MMO that turned out mediocre. Basic gameplay feels really clunky here, perhaps even worse than Warhammer Online. It's missing that MMO feel of games like World of WarCraft and EvE and feels more like a kindergarden. Somewhere in the construction of this game ArenaNet missed many of the important things of the genre. Building your character, the feel of being in aYet another overhyped MMO that turned out mediocre. Basic gameplay feels really clunky here, perhaps even worse than Warhammer Online. It's missing that MMO feel of games like World of WarCraft and EvE and feels more like a kindergarden. Somewhere in the construction of this game ArenaNet missed many of the important things of the genre. Building your character, the feel of being in a world, and perhaps most importantly, HAVING FUN.… Expand
  15. marc5477
    Dec 31, 2014
    7
    Probably the best MMO available and fits a wide range of audience. Anyone can pick it up and be successful at the casual level yet there is enough intricacy that the hardcore crowd can do their customary min/maxing. They nice thing about this MMO is it receives a lot of love from its developer. World events are frequent and the stories are always moving along to keep people interested inProbably the best MMO available and fits a wide range of audience. Anyone can pick it up and be successful at the casual level yet there is enough intricacy that the hardcore crowd can do their customary min/maxing. They nice thing about this MMO is it receives a lot of love from its developer. World events are frequent and the stories are always moving along to keep people interested in raids and bosses. The bad news is that the game is easy... then again, all MMO's have devolve to this problem since WoW became successful and I cannot fault the developers for wanting to make enough money to keep their jobs. There are some nice features in this game that others lack, most notably, exploration is rewarded and it really is fun to run into random puzzles in the world and try to figure them out. Some of those jumping puzzles are very memorable and well placed. In fact, if you are not alert or reading a guide, you can miss them altogether which is really cool when you find them on your own. The game has your standard crafting professions as well as class trees that are fairly well balanced allowing for many viable builds. PvP is ok and world PvP is somewhat fun but I was never a PvP guy so I didnt play as much of it. I personally enjoy exploring new areas and getting the best gear within reason (kind of like trophies for me). The nice thing about Guild Wars 2 is that everyone has means to get some of the best weapons in the game. You can do it the old fashion way of raiding or your can earn it in other ways such as PvP or crafting or just through in game wealth. I like the mini-instances in the game but the one thing that I dont like is itemization. Loot in the game just feels useless and most items only have value because they are torn down via crafting. I suppose there is no way around this in an MMO (or even 1 player games) and it has been a gripe of mine since my early gaming days. Anyway, its a great MMO. No subscription fees to worry about and most anything can be bought with in game currency and time. You can buy some cosmetic upgrades or more storage slots but honestly, there is no reason to do so. I would recommend playing the game normally and saving up for the upgrades since there is nothing else worth spending in-game money on anyway.… Expand
  16. Livskis
    Dec 9, 2014
    7
    I'm a 2+ year veteran of this game and have been playing since launch. I have 3000+ hours logged on all my characters combined. This is hands down the best MMO out there. The graphics are fantastic. The character models and animations are amazing. The combat is the best combat out of any MMO that I've ever played, and I've never had as much fun leveling a character in other games as I haveI'm a 2+ year veteran of this game and have been playing since launch. I have 3000+ hours logged on all my characters combined. This is hands down the best MMO out there. The graphics are fantastic. The character models and animations are amazing. The combat is the best combat out of any MMO that I've ever played, and I've never had as much fun leveling a character in other games as I have in this one

    On the other hand, the game hasn't changed much since launch. The developers are SLOW at releasing patches. In the PvE department, Arenanet is experimenting with their Living Story which is about 30-60 minutes of new content released every 2 weeks followed by an endless grind for cosmetic gear. There is no end game. The hardest dungeon in the game is called Fractals, and it's incredibly easy even on the hardest difficulty. To reach to the hardest difficulty you need to run this dungeon 50 times, each time advancing in a difficulty tier. Furthermore, during the later levels you receive an irremovable debuff that will just kill you until you have the right gear. To obtain the right gear you complete Fractals over and over and over again for an item that will drop once per run per day in addition to crafting armors and weapons with dozens of materials that, again, you can only create once per day. It's a long and tedious grind that becomes stale very quickly.

    The world bosses, while impressive looking, are stationary structures (yes they are actually classified as structures and not creatures) that occasionally fling attacks at you. For the majority of the world bosses, players gather at its feet and attack its toes until it dies and don't even get me started on the game's primary antagonist. Everything is just disappointing.

    World vs World vs World (or WvW) is a mode that pits 3 different servers together for control of various structures in 5 different and huge maps. At first it was amazing. The giant battles that were waged at launch were simply spectacular, if not rough on my PC. However there are glaring balance issues in this mode from the different types of food you can eat which grant you obscene buffs that would just break the game. Furthermore as a competitive PvP player, I did not find much competition. There were instances where I would face off against 10+ people by myself and would end up victorious. Of course I can't completely fault Arenanet for the prowess, or lack thereof, of the players of its game. But quite frankly the game mode doesn't promote skill progression as much as it does reliance on gear and food.

    PvP is the game mode which I enjoy and play the most. One of GW2 PvP's biggest strengths is the even playing field. There is no gear or level advantage. When you enter the PvP area you are immediately boosted to max level and have all your abilities unlocked. You are also given the same equipment as everyone else. Then it's all a matter of entering an arena and brawling. However like I said earlier, Arenanet is incredibly slow at releasing patches. This is very problematic when it comes to balance. For example, at a certain point in time Arenanet overbuffed the Warrior class and did not tone it down for over a year. Warriors dominated the entire PvP scene and simply put it was not fun to play (I do not play a Warrior). Balance patches come every 6 months and often aren't great though the current metagame is quite good.

    There is only one game mode and quite frankly it's extremely stale 2+ years in. The devs have promised new things and, once again, are extremely slow at delivering. New content is being worked on they said over a year ago. A big problem with this single game mode is that Arenanet has balanced the classes in accordance to this game mode. That means if and when new game modes are released, there will be glaring balance issues. For example the current and only game mode is conquest which focuses on capturing and holding points. The Thief, which is an assassin type class, have a build that's focused on stealth. It's nearly unkillable and deals a lot of damage but isn't commonly used because while in stealth you cannot capture or prevent the capture of a point. If something like deathmatch is introduced, these once useless builds will now be dominating and further toss balance into disarray. And we do not want this because of the speed in which Arenanet releases patches.

    The PvP population is extremely tiny relative to other competitive games. There are a few community organized tournaments every week/month and the same teams win every time simply because there is no competition. Part of that I attribute to the toxicity of the community. While nothing compared to other communities like DotA or LoL, players in this game just can't seem to get along much less form a team with one another.

    I've run out of room so I'll just say that despite my disappointment for the potential of the game and the ineptitude of the devs, I still think it's the best MMO out there. Buy it now    … Expand
  17. nugerium
    Dec 9, 2014
    7
    Good graphics, but scenic places have little purposes.
    Good game play, since you get to control the attacks.
    Bosses and interactions with players are good. Most quests are boring, despite their idea of a dynamic world where your contribution affects the game. Storyline is horrible, and the main quests is extremely boring. Many pets, but most are disinteresting. Big, beautiful world,    Good graphics, but scenic places have little purposes.
    Good game play, since you get to control the attacks.
    Bosses and interactions with players are good.
    Most quests are boring, despite their idea of a dynamic world where your contribution affects the game.
    Storyline is horrible, and the main quests is extremely boring.
    Many pets, but most are disinteresting.
    Big, beautiful world, but you'll spend too much time wasted exploring.
    Extremely difficult to navigate, travel. I've never seen anything like this, not even in the first Warcraft.
    Difficult to get creative in crafting.    … Expand
  18. Expospeed
    Dec 6, 2014
    5
    GW2 is an acceptable MMO with innovative features, including auto quest pop-ups, a dynamic world, and world vs world pvp. Also, there is no subscription fee. However, this game suffers from a few unfortunate problems. My breakdown is as follows:

    1. Graphics: 8/10 - detailed with great art style 2. Gameplay: 3/10 - large world to explore, but after a couple of hours of play, game    GW2 is an acceptable MMO with innovative features, including auto quest pop-ups, a dynamic world, and world vs world pvp. Also, there is no subscription fee. However, this game suffers from a few unfortunate problems. My breakdown is as follows:

    1. Graphics: 8/10 - detailed with great art style
    2. Gameplay: 3/10 - large world to explore, but after a couple of hours of play, game becomes stale - new skills aren't innovative or satisfying, and becomes a grind
    3. Progression: 2/10 - not challenging at all, gear is also unappealing
    4. Story: 5/10 - average story

    Overall, average game.    … Expand
  19. Mudgee
    Nov 24, 2014
    6
    Quick, fast-paced and semi-fun. GW2 was a slight change of pace for the MMO scene. In honesty however, it couldn't manage to find myself spending much time with this game. Despite its relevant fun and semi interest, it quickly dried up and just became another MMO incapable of maintaining a flailing interest. Playable, not replayable.
  20. TimTeamTebow
    Nov 15, 2014
    7
    I have a little over 1000 hours into GW2 and I really enjoy it.
    The only real complaint I have is with the devs.
    The game just isn't growing the way it really should. They've added 2, maybe 3, new PvE areas and a new World vs World vs World area since release. They've added a lot of cosmetic items and items to craft, but I wouldn't call that something that all players could enjoy.    I have a little over 1000 hours into GW2 and I really enjoy it.
    The only real complaint I have is with the devs.
    The game just isn't growing the way it really should.
    They've added 2, maybe 3, new PvE areas and a new World vs World vs World area since release.
    They've added a lot of cosmetic items and items to craft, but I wouldn't call that something that all players could enjoy.
    Wheres the new dungeons, the new classes, the new PvP maps??
    The combat for PvP is great, its mostly based on your timing so its fairly rewarding and doesn't stale too easily...Except you play the same handful of maps.
    PvE combat isn't too good, the first few hundred hours are exciting, but then the flare goes away and it becomes a bit boring. You run dungeons for gold, but there is little to no challenge anymore. Open world content is equally easy. There are ways to challenge yourself, like soloing a dungeon , but its not really supported. No achievements from it, no loot bonus, much slower than a full group which is easy to find.

    Given the cost, I would encourage everyone to atleast try GW2. The cheaper heroic version is good enough. the extra $20 for the deluxe edition has very little impact on your gameplay.    … Expand
  21. unlimitednk
    Nov 7, 2014
    6
    Stealth implementation in this game is bad. It’s not about thief, or mesmer or any class, but about stealth. I played all classes, you can try and see for yourself too. We won’t agree ever on everything, some people just like it as it is, and unless you played other games too, and have somehting to compare, can really understand how fun can be, when your opponent can counter whatever youStealth implementation in this game is bad. It’s not about thief, or mesmer or any class, but about stealth. I played all classes, you can try and see for yourself too. We won’t agree ever on everything, some people just like it as it is, and unless you played other games too, and have somehting to compare, can really understand how fun can be, when your opponent can counter whatever you do.
    Can someone who uses stealth be killed, defeated? Sure. You need to learn what to do and what not, but that’s true always.
    Can any class and build defeat any class and build? Certainly will be more difficult to do it on some or next to impossible on other (even if network latency, lag, player skill and so on is ignored).
    Then what’s wrong with stealth? “Learn and adapt, and stop crying” – true… just do that, but some will end with a bitter taste after these fights, and no fun at all. That’s the problem – games meant to be fun. For some, it is, no matter what, they like it. Let those who don’t like to tell you why we lose players…
    I despise stealth and I feel shame, guilt and I know I almost cheated, whenever on my thief I decide to use stealth, to get away from a fight that vent badly, or just recover and try again. Since that can be done endlessly, most of the time, unless you are not skilled enough. I know that rarely, if ever, my opponent enjoyed that fight. It all comes down to your personality: if you can be proud and taunt after such fights, then stealth is for you. That’s you, have fun. Play with those who feel like this.
    The others will post things like the OP, will play other games, or like me, will prefer to play on other class, and ignore thieves – I fight back if attacked, but don’t care to chase them and don’t care to kill them – they are just like other negatives in this game, such as lag when occurs – you have to endure these and find something else to do. Can stealth be changed, so it’s use or playing against won’t “kill” the fun in some of us? Can everything be improved? Can we listen to each other and try to find solutions together? I hope so. Very much.    … Expand
  22. MothaFlippin
    Aug 10, 2014
    5
    First of, this game has an amazing potential with it's innovative action-based combat system and awesome PvE. From the moment you create your character you get to know the main mechanics of the game and of your class. The classes give you big variety and a lot to choose from.
    From level 1 to 80 the game is amazing, lots of exploration, a nice way of telling you the plot and making your    First of, this game has an amazing potential with it's innovative action-based combat system and awesome PvE. From the moment you create your character you get to know the main mechanics of the game and of your class. The classes give you big variety and a lot to choose from.
    From level 1 to 80 the game is amazing, lots of exploration, a nice way of telling you the plot and making your character progress through that plot. The exp rate is high making it a smooth expirience and not focusing a lot on repetitive grinding quests. The new dynamic events are pretty good however could be better. You can easily reach lvl cap (80) in about a month and from that moment on the game just goes downhill.
    After you hit lvl cap the game turns into a gigantic grind fest, with everything in the game consisting of mindlessly zerging around certain zones and that's it. The PvE after reaching lvl 80 is all that, there is no character progression everything you do is grind grind and grind for a hope of better skins, you have no objectives nor rewards for doing better or poorly at certain situations. There are a few dungeons (about 5) in the entire game, which are pretty decent but that get pretty repetitive and boring after a while with no enemy mechanics other than: "Dodge or Die/Get Knocked Back into a Hole".
    The game population has been decreasing a LOT with the bad decisions and back feedback of the devs that seem to let everyone confused. Dubious the development paths being taken day after day, the developers seem to ignore most of the requests on the forums and just do their own thing.
    The PVP and WvW is a mess (even tho it's still probably the best PvP MMORPG game), with certain classes just being dominant in every aspect and other classes just being completly irrelevant since day 1 of this game.
    The lack of patches to focus on balancing classes just lead to classes such as Warrior being dominant both in PvE and PvP with no one to ever representing any kind of challenge to them and other classes (eg Ranger) being so weak that it doesn't justify having any of them in any part of the game.
    The lack of holy trinity (Healer, Tank, DPSer) instead of leading to everyone feel useful just leads to everyone feeling useless and easily replacable and just leads to not justifying any build other than full-DPS.
    Overall the game represents no challenge at any point, badly balanced (leading to a bad WvW / sPvP expirience), with little to no-content being added and dubious development paths being taken over and over again.
    If you are looking for maybe a month or so of content, go ahead, otherwise you will be very quickly hit in the face by boring and monotonous events.    … Expand
  23. MarcTryon
    Jul 16, 2014
    6
    This is a game a really wanted to like and I did give it a good six months. It has beautiful character models, an fun combat system, a non-gear based pvp system, and dynamic content (DC). The latter, DC, is what really got my attention, and is, in fact, what the publisher hyped about the game.

    Other things are interesting too, from the little (account wide banks and currency) to the    This is a game a really wanted to like and I did give it a good six months. It has beautiful character models, an fun combat system, a non-gear based pvp system, and dynamic content (DC). The latter, DC, is what really got my attention, and is, in fact, what the publisher hyped about the game.

    Other things are interesting too, from the little (account wide banks and currency) to the big, especially the hub-free questing.

    Yet, somehow, for me, the whole is much less than the sum of its parts. I did enjoy maxing out a few characters and exploring the world. But after all, it just seemed a bit stale. The DC is quite weak in the end, much less interesting to me than RIFT's DC. The questing gets tedious and, quest-granting method aside, is still the same old kill-this/fetch that.

    Maybe they fixed this in the last few months but when I left, many folks were doing a very dull zone boss spawn loop in the starting zones collecting goodies. It was quick, it was efficient, and it was terribly boring. It's also a travesty of dynamic content: yes you had to wait for a boss to spawn but they spawned in the exact same order. No variation in timing or bosses.

    Pre-launch they promised that your actions would affect the world. If those in zone don't stop the bandits poisoning the water supply, it remains poisoned. Trouble is, while sometimes it does get poisoned, it doesn't really have any effect and more typically, if an event fails, you just immediately go to the next "fix it" step in the chain, essentially getting a slightly longer version of the quest.

    PVP was fun for a while and I think the cosmetic gear only rewards is interesting but A) why couldn't I wear this gear as town-wear so I could show it off outside of PVP and B) after level 30 or so, there was 50 or more levels of grind before there was any more gear I was interested in.

    In the end, I just got bored with it. I do sometimes pine for those gorgeous character models and sexy gear but when I pop on again after the publisher sends me their latest hook, I feel the same distaste for the game that I felt for WoW after playing it for three years solid. I just can't face the tedium. There's too little to hold my attention.

    Most of the gamers I know are the same way- fun for a while but easy to move on to something else. So if you can get it cheap, I think you can expect a few months of play out of it but don't be surprised if it does not hold your long term interest.    … Expand
  24. mikelovichNor
    Jun 9, 2014
    5
    This game should have two reviews, one pre-megaserver and one post it.
    The pre-megaserver game was great. It had servers with their own communities and faces that you will most likely recognize. It also bolster the World V World population by how easy it is for guilds to recruit.
    Each server/world has their own pride, much like a nation. And it was very easy to organize guild events.    This game should have two reviews, one pre-megaserver and one post it.
    The pre-megaserver game was great. It had servers with their own communities and faces that you will most likely recognize. It also bolster the World V World population by how easy it is for guilds to recruit.
    Each server/world has their own pride, much like a nation. And it was very easy to organize guild events.
    ---------------------------------
    With the advent of the megaserver, everything I mentioned above were destroyed.
    Everyone now pve in one server which feels very bad to me because it's like helping your enemies in WvW get items/gold which they will use against you in WvW. What a stupid concept. Before this patch you know at least that most of the people you're helping on events were your own server pop with a few guests, now it's just mostly strangers. It's like taking a road trip, but instead of going with friends you pickup unknown peeps.------------------------------

    Now, the only people that would like gw2 is newbies who didn't know about the pre-patch gw2. It's like Anet deliberately culled the veteran population of gw2 so they could appease the casual newbie players(newbies who will realize later on that there is now no meaningful endgame content). ------------------------

    I don't know what anet is thinking. Besides, vets are the ones most likely to spend real money in the gem store. The only money they'll get from casual/newbie players are the game initial purchase. If it is their plan to gain short term money instead of guaranteed long term then it's probably an indicator that gw2 won't last much longer, and they're trying to get as much money before bailing out.---------------------------

    This is why I'm leary of Wildstar too. The same publisher(NCSoft) in gw2 manages wildstar. It's easy for me to think that what changed the gw2 into a megaserver is a financial decision(so they would incur less bandwidth). And I have a nagging suspicion that NCsoft has a hand in that. If that's the case then what would NCsoft do in wildstar that changes game mechanics so much like the gw2 megablunder.
    ---------------------------------------
    I gave a 5(average) for the review because it is now just one of the one world generic mmo out there.    … Expand
  25. chronoT
    Apr 5, 2014
    6
    When I initially played Guild Wars 2 I enjoyed the graphics and game play because it was something new. Sadly though I quickly got bored and stopped playing when I hit level 50. The world itself is massive and there are many quests, but it gets repetitive after a while and kind of stale in general. I know though that opinions on MMO's don't mean much because some people like them and someWhen I initially played Guild Wars 2 I enjoyed the graphics and game play because it was something new. Sadly though I quickly got bored and stopped playing when I hit level 50. The world itself is massive and there are many quests, but it gets repetitive after a while and kind of stale in general. I know though that opinions on MMO's don't mean much because some people like them and some people don't. I am starting to get the feeling that MMO's aren't for me, or maybe they need to release something innovative instead of the same thing over and over.… Expand
  26. BountyCritic
    Apr 4, 2014
    5
    Although good, very overrated. If you're looking for the next big MMO, this wont be it. It's a simple distraction which will last you about 200 hours max, which aren't always that fun. It is good value per money if you only account for the play time, although it is quite boring sometimes and if you want good value for your money that you will actually enjoy, just buy a single-player RPG.Although good, very overrated. If you're looking for the next big MMO, this wont be it. It's a simple distraction which will last you about 200 hours max, which aren't always that fun. It is good value per money if you only account for the play time, although it is quite boring sometimes and if you want good value for your money that you will actually enjoy, just buy a single-player RPG. It's overrated, since it's buy-to-play and doesn't require a 15 dollar-per-month subscription, although chances are, you're not going to play past that month anyways.… Expand
  27. gamer4life1
    Mar 12, 2014
    5
    GW2...bought it because of all the hype, all the adverts and reviews. Well, once again disappointed. Feel as though people rant and rave about this mmo for some hidden agenda or reason. I bought it and played it for awhile. Then after a few months hiatus I thought my interest or viewpoint would be renewed so I returned and lo and behold; Nope....It just feels generic and the visuals areGW2...bought it because of all the hype, all the adverts and reviews. Well, once again disappointed. Feel as though people rant and rave about this mmo for some hidden agenda or reason. I bought it and played it for awhile. Then after a few months hiatus I thought my interest or viewpoint would be renewed so I returned and lo and behold; Nope....It just feels generic and the visuals are hollow and flat.

    The music is great though and the character creation and classes are unique enough to warrant a small bit of interest, but beyond that it seems bland. The dialogue is atrocious and does nothing to move the story. Most of the time I was just clicking "next" or "skip" really fast. Overall Guild wars 2 is sorely lacking and unfortunately most games published in markets outside Europe and America are sorely lacking in the development department...they always seem "aloof" or "floaty" for some odd reason. No offense to any, but it's to much of a fact to be disregarded or dismissed.    … Expand
  28. Claytality
    Jan 31, 2014
    5
    Don't get me wrong, the game is good, but the way people were speaking and writing about it you would expect it to be the next huge evolution in the MMORPG genre. It is not.
    There are a few great improvements, such as "dynamic events" which let you join in on any world event regardless of your level (won't scale you up though). But if I am being honest this is more of a convenience than    Don't get me wrong, the game is good, but the way people were speaking and writing about it you would expect it to be the next huge evolution in the MMORPG genre. It is not.
    There are a few great improvements, such as "dynamic events" which let you join in on any world event regardless of your level (won't scale you up though). But if I am being honest this is more of a convenience than a major game changer, it simply makes it faster to run around and engage in the world rather than having to find a party/guild, etc.
    The gameplay/battle is standard cookie-cutter MMORPG fare from 2006. If you enjoy pressing tab to target, then your character auto attacks or you use a few skills till its dead, then this game will live up to your expectations. I will say the dodge system is a nice small change, but it only goes so far.
    sPvP is your standard capture points, etc. While the game brings a few new welcome changes to the genre, it in no way redefines MMOs. Dull target/autoattack engine from WoW 2006.

    I spent about a month thinking over whether to buy this game, looking at gameplay, reviews, etc. I finally bought it on sale for $40. I was sorely mistaken. I had more fun with Terraria and I bought it for $2.50.
    Simply put, do NOT buy into the hyped up reviews from 2012 who reviewed it the day after it was released and use all sorts of nice words like "fantastic, amazing, beautiful, game-changer".    … Expand
  29. zmaint
    Jan 25, 2014
    5
    Very good looking game. Great quest system, doesn't feel like a grind to get to 80. Mechanics are well-polished. Good sound effects and ambience.

    Crafting is a complete and total waste of time. Very very very few customization options for your toon. You can dye your armor. That's it. There are only about 3 different "skins" for gear for each class for about every 20 lvls. As    Very good looking game. Great quest system, doesn't feel like a grind to get to 80. Mechanics are well-polished. Good sound effects and ambience.

    Crafting is a complete and total waste of time.

    Very very very few customization options for your toon. You can dye your armor. That's it. There are only about 3 different "skins" for gear for each class for about every 20 lvls. As you lvl you look like everyone else. When you hit 80, you look like you did when you were 20 and still like everyone else. Sure sure you can run 9000000000000 raid instances and maybe get something different. No thanks.

    There's not even anything in the in game cash shop worth buying. Total waste of a cash shop IMO.

    PVP.... game is supposed to be built around it. Q up, only 1 of 2 things happens. You wander around with NOTHING to do, and NOONE else in the zone.... OR you get insta zerg raped. Hooray.    … Expand
  30. shywen2004
    Jan 3, 2014
    5
    The good:
    - good to look at
    - something different - dynamic events The bad : - gets old quick - grindy despite what anet tells us - you will spend a considerable amount of time in overflow or queus - If you want to join anything awesome, you have to show up 1hr ahead of time due to overflow/queu - you can get in-game cash by paying anet real money - No end game - Moderated    The good:
    - good to look at
    - something different
    - dynamic events

    The bad :
    - gets old quick
    - grindy despite what anet tells us
    - you will spend a considerable amount of time in overflow or queus
    - If you want to join anything awesome, you have to show up 1hr ahead of time due to overflow/queu
    - you can get in-game cash by paying anet real money
    - No end game
    - Moderated like game for children (names containing poop, pee, puke will not be tolerated. Cussing may land you a temporary ban)

    Good/Bad depends on what you like:
    - Very casual
    - Relatively easy learning curve

    Unless you have 60$ lying around and does not have any games to spend it on. I would suggest you get a different game. It's fun at first but it will get old quick. Once you hit 80 and realize you simply do the same thing rinse and repeat everyday and the fact that you can buy in-game cash from Anet... yeah it's different than your average mmo. The saying the more they change the more they stay the same rings true in my experience. How is this not like any chinese free-to-play mmo when you can buy in game cash?    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best PC Game of 2012
5
#5 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
4
#4 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    90
    GW2 has made a powerful impact on the MMO scene, confirming years of expectations. Stunning presentation and revolutionary design guarantee a thoroughly enjoyable experience. However, it’s not flawless, nor complete. The beautiful vistas, the massive PvP element, the rich leveling experience- those can offer hours of gameplay, but the endgame is desperately seeking for enrichment. [November 2012]
  2. Gaming Nexus
    Jan 2, 2013
    95
    Guild Wars 2 surpasses the original in every aspect, from its massive and atmospheric world to its addictive and engrossing gameplay.
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  3. RPG Fan
    Nov 28, 2012
    80
    After spending fifty hours with GW2, I have a lot of praise for ArenaNet's work and the way it changes up some of the typical trappings of the MMO. And yet, I find myself thinking less and less about it each day. It's not a declaration against the product, mind you, but simply a fact that this game still is very much an MMO, and your enjoyment will directly relate to how much you enjoy the genre. For many who were hoping for a clean break from MMO design philosophy, Guild Wars 2 will probably come across as a slight disappointment. It pushes the genre slightly forward, however, and could lead to even further development in the future.
    Read full review
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