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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Pakla
    Aug 5, 2014
    9
    Awesome game, everything is great until you will do everything. Endgame almost isn't existing. Stopped playing this regularly year ago after 1500 hours and completing all my tasks - get nice looking armor, legendary weapon and all achievements from pve. PvP as for me is boring, only edge of the mists give some fun but how long you can do one and the same thing over and over. There was noAwesome game, everything is great until you will do everything. Endgame almost isn't existing. Stopped playing this regularly year ago after 1500 hours and completing all my tasks - get nice looking armor, legendary weapon and all achievements from pve. PvP as for me is boring, only edge of the mists give some fun but how long you can do one and the same thing over and over. There was no new content, maps and all that could force me to play more this game for long time. Lately Arena Net started to release updates regularly with more interesting story and permanent content to pve what brought me back to game. To play this you only need to pay for game and believe me, this is worth it. No subscription, not using gem shop will not make you looser. Just some skins and other things that no one really needs. There is a lot of content to do. If you care about content to price value go ahead and play this. As new player you will be overwhelmed by content… Expand
  2. CaptainMushroom
    Jul 13, 2014
    8
    Not the groundbreaking, revolutionary game we were promised, but great nonetheless. This game combines the best features from other games, and adds its own flavour, making it even better. It's not as good as its claiming to be, but one of the best choices right now anyway. It does at times tend to feel like a singleplayer RPG though, so find a group to play with and you should be fine.
  3. Severianizer
    Aug 9, 2013
    8
    Guild Wars 2 is an exciting new MMO. Instead if hardcore gear grinding and repetitive questing, thre are dynamic events. These can occur anywhere in the world, with a huge boss at the end sometimes )

    If I have any complaints, it's the dungeons. They are way to hard, and you should be level 80 with moderate gear to actually do them well.
  4. Swindlemoontwi
    Aug 21, 2013
    8
    This is not entirely the greatest game on earth but its not the worst and it shows. I took a break after a while because I was a wee bit disappointed in how long it takes to find certain events to get XP because this game doesnt hold your hand very much (Consider this a grateful thing) but it still shows promise basically because of almost everything you do gets you XP and thats what IThis is not entirely the greatest game on earth but its not the worst and it shows. I took a break after a while because I was a wee bit disappointed in how long it takes to find certain events to get XP because this game doesnt hold your hand very much (Consider this a grateful thing) but it still shows promise basically because of almost everything you do gets you XP and thats what I needed from a MMO for a long time. Because basically I dont last one very long and if I did, I would get bored but this game doesnt get you bored as fast as other MMO's however if you play long enough you feel like you want to take it easy and move on to something else which is totally fine. Its still money worth spent and please ignore these negative reviews because these people LOVE to complain about how much they dont like it and thats the problem with certain people's attitudes these days. Anyways this is still pretty fun and a great gem, you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately you still need a good computer to run it at ULTRA graphics that being said playing it on low settings isnt all that disappointing considering thats all my laptop can do for now till i get a better computer. This is revolutionary because its the first game to choose what you want to do without restrictions. World is really big and you can go to other races locations if you feel like it. However the personal story needs a really big facelift because I want it to be more personal rather than choosing what they made... THAT ISNT PERSONAL UNLESS YOU MAKE THE STORY YOU WANTED! Other than that I love this game I love the dialogue that non important characters say and the Asura is the most clever race I ever played on. GO ASURA! Thank you Arenanet for impressing me and not making me look bad. Yes I played the original but its nowhere near as fun as this one. This a truly a great gem you should try out and plus check the website because there is signup for a three day trial coming up this week!… Expand
  5. BecauseIcan
    Sep 28, 2013
    10
    After experiencing an MMO like guild wars 2, the thought of playing a game with backtracking fetch quests makes me shudder. The innovation in this game is like no other. Even though some MMOs such as DCUO eliminate backtracking it still has fetch quests and a ruptured community. In gw2 the graphics are stunning. The community is very pleasant due to the dynamic events system in the gameAfter experiencing an MMO like guild wars 2, the thought of playing a game with backtracking fetch quests makes me shudder. The innovation in this game is like no other. Even though some MMOs such as DCUO eliminate backtracking it still has fetch quests and a ruptured community. In gw2 the graphics are stunning. The community is very pleasant due to the dynamic events system in the game which require you to cooperate with other players instead of camping there and waiting for someone to kill it and loot its chest. It also paves the way for new MMOs as previous MMOs have either a pay-to-win or a monthly subscription fee, GW2 however doesnt need either of those. In game purchases are mostly for aesthetics and you only need to make one payment to play the game as long as you'd like.… Expand
  6. DeusXCom
    Jul 30, 2014
    8
    Beautiful and incredibly extensive world, which despite it's gigantic size doesn't lose the touch for details. I generally don't like MMO's and this is essentially still an MMO with many of it's annoyances, but for some reason GW2 seemed much more sympathetic than the rest. Tyria is an amazing world to explore with many gorgeous vistas and I enjoyed my time spent in there. I loved theBeautiful and incredibly extensive world, which despite it's gigantic size doesn't lose the touch for details. I generally don't like MMO's and this is essentially still an MMO with many of it's annoyances, but for some reason GW2 seemed much more sympathetic than the rest. Tyria is an amazing world to explore with many gorgeous vistas and I enjoyed my time spent in there. I loved the character creation and all the differences in the branching story lines and different races, lots of replayability here. After capping the experience levels on 80 it lost the momentum for me and I was finishing the story for the sake of finishing it more than anything, but it still entertained me in a good way for hundreds of hours and that's an achievement that many other games can only dream of. 8/10… Expand
  7. Joey_Matakias
    Sep 19, 2016
    10
    In my opinion the mmorpg's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) are the best game in the life, i create a review of Guild Wars 2 cause i play lot of time to the first Guild Wars, and i play lot of time to Guild Wars 2 ( i have play 1238 hours in 1484 days, for the moment). For me Guild Wars 2 is the best mmorpg's in the world but I have played a lot of mmo such as World ofIn my opinion the mmorpg's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) are the best game in the life, i create a review of Guild Wars 2 cause i play lot of time to the first Guild Wars, and i play lot of time to Guild Wars 2 ( i have play 1238 hours in 1484 days, for the moment). For me Guild Wars 2 is the best mmorpg's in the world but I have played a lot of mmo such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Neverwinter, Star Wars The Old Republic and many more, Guild Wars 2 is the best mmo cause he have a beautiful open world the graphics, in max is beatiful, the history is so interesting, Guild Wars 2 have a good living world, for me Guild Wars 2 is just perfect, the pve is enormous (i like so much the donjons, raid, and my favorite THE FRACTALS), Guild Wars 2 have also a good Pvp, the competitif games was extremely good to play, and for the real gamers with a good guild, the wvw (world versus world) the wvw is perfect cause when a big team fight enter 2 guilds or just a bus it's so exciting a 200 vs 200, mostly when we are a tempest (
    meteor rain ;p). For conclude if you hesitate to play Guild Wars 2, well then do not hesitate(and I think Guild Wars 2 has the best community)    … Expand
  8. CinderellaMan
    Sep 4, 2012
    9
    I am not a big MMO fan. I did play Age of Conan and LOTRO for about a year... but they could not keep my attention. The reason: some quests require a party. I don't play enough to join a guild; I just want to jump in for 30-60 mins and have fun. I have played GW2 for about 10 hours and have not had to join up with anyone. I can essentially play the game solo with group events occuringI am not a big MMO fan. I did play Age of Conan and LOTRO for about a year... but they could not keep my attention. The reason: some quests require a party. I don't play enough to join a guild; I just want to jump in for 30-60 mins and have fun. I have played GW2 for about 10 hours and have not had to join up with anyone. I can essentially play the game solo with group events occuring randomly... no need to "get organized". I really like this approach that caters to my class of gamer. Now, how well this works in high level zones with smaller populations remains to be seen... but for now I'm very pleased with my $60 purchase.… Expand
  9. Yoshiwol
    Sep 17, 2012
    10
    The game is astonishing, I have played WoW for 6 years and every other MMO I haven't even bothered to try, all of them have been the same. Finally a game breaks the mold. I quit WoW almost a year ago now (DS my final raid after raiding everything since Vanilla). I won't sit and explain what most of the critics have already said, suffice to say, even if you don't like RPG's or MMO's, giveThe game is astonishing, I have played WoW for 6 years and every other MMO I haven't even bothered to try, all of them have been the same. Finally a game breaks the mold. I quit WoW almost a year ago now (DS my final raid after raiding everything since Vanilla). I won't sit and explain what most of the critics have already said, suffice to say, even if you don't like RPG's or MMO's, give the game a go, it has something for everyone.… Expand
  10. Jacksonbauer
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Simply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, thisSimply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, this game deserves a 10. The story is really well thought out, though the dialog can be a bit strange, and the combat system is fresh into the MMO scene, considering GW1 technically wasn't an MMO. That being said, this game feels like an RPG, and still sucks you in like the best of the best MMOs. So do yourself a favor by getting this game. Without a subscription fee, its impossible to pass the temptation.… Expand
  11. mahuang
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    Played the betas, and read all the hype. I'm max level now, and it was even BETTER than expected. By FAR the most meaningful dynamic combat system in any MMO, despite not advertising it. Dodging and positioning actually matters in this game, unlike TERA or Mabinogi Legends where it's mostly for show. If you're not dodging in the endgame dungeons, you're gonna die. That's it. Graphics notPlayed the betas, and read all the hype. I'm max level now, and it was even BETTER than expected. By FAR the most meaningful dynamic combat system in any MMO, despite not advertising it. Dodging and positioning actually matters in this game, unlike TERA or Mabinogi Legends where it's mostly for show. If you're not dodging in the endgame dungeons, you're gonna die. That's it. Graphics not the best but big MMOs always have toned down graphics to attract more people. GREAT armor design. Not stupidly sexy or ridiculously fantastic, but fashionable and realistic. The only game with similar amount of content is WoW. SWTOR, Aion, TERA, Secret World etc don't even come close. And best of all, NO PAY2WIN. Only pay4skins. There isn't a single item in the shop that makes you better at PvP. Like Guild Wars 1, GW2 has staying power. Games like Aion and Rift quickly dropped to a few thousand concurrent players, GW1 still has several times that amount after 7 years. GW2 will be even better.… Expand
  12. Kallwren
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    I'm a bit of an mmo fanatic, I tend to try out (if not purchase) nearly every major mmo release. I'm a long-time WoW player (I started on day one of release and only very recently stopped playing regularly), and I've also made my way through FFXI, Rift, SWTOR, Warhammer, FFXIV, The Secret World, Tera, and a number of others. For years I found myself returning to WoW because other games,I'm a bit of an mmo fanatic, I tend to try out (if not purchase) nearly every major mmo release. I'm a long-time WoW player (I started on day one of release and only very recently stopped playing regularly), and I've also made my way through FFXI, Rift, SWTOR, Warhammer, FFXIV, The Secret World, Tera, and a number of others. For years I found myself returning to WoW because other games, while ambitious, frequently fell down in one area or another and failed to really capture my attention. Often the graphics lacked any real art style, or the questing was repetitive or the story lacked distinction. Guild Wars 2 finally seems to have gotten it right. Unlike many games I don't get the impression that they were trying to make the next wow-killer. Rather they seemed focused on just making the most engaging game they could and it really shows. The art and graphics are beautiful and atmospheric, I often enter a new area and find myself screeching to a halt to stop and appreciate the environment. The story, while unfamiliar to me (I didn't really play GW1) seems well crafted and the personal storyline is drawing me in to this new world and making me care about characters that aren't Thrall or Jaina. I recently received a msg in my game mail in response to a completed quest that was so charming that I haven't wanted to delete it and frequently my guildmates and I are sharing snippets of npc conversation that we overhear as we travel this online world.
    As for gameplay, I'll admit that initially part of me was doubtful about doing away with the holy trinity of tank, dps and healer. But removing these set roles seems to make everyone have to focus on working together, an interesting and at times difficult challenge but it's proving to be rewarding. Being able to change up abilities by swapping weapons really helps keep combat fresh and interesting and the combo system encourages you yet again to learn how to play well with others and then rewards you substantially for doing so.
    Above all I love the questing system, I feel like my job is to go off and explore and find adventure rather than to follow a trail of breadcrumbs and perform a list of chores and that's why I play games, so I can be a big damn hero. GW2 has definitely won me over.    … Expand
  13. Atreidesx
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    I started Guild Wars 2 a skeptic. It looked like WoW, controlled like WoW, and follows the same basic structure that revolutionized the genre, but grew stale (for me) over the years. Comparisons to WoW are definitely fair, but somehow Guild Wars 2 makes everything fresh and fun again. The ability to instantly teleport to any waypoint you have visited is incredible. The action packedI started Guild Wars 2 a skeptic. It looked like WoW, controlled like WoW, and follows the same basic structure that revolutionized the genre, but grew stale (for me) over the years. Comparisons to WoW are definitely fair, but somehow Guild Wars 2 makes everything fresh and fun again. The ability to instantly teleport to any waypoint you have visited is incredible. The action packed combat feels like more then a numbers game. You don't just stand next to your foe exchanging blows and cycling skills. Rather, you jump and dodge, switching weapons on the fly. Colossal world bosses inhabit even the starting zones, and I love the jumping puzzles (essentially platforming segments) that inhabit hidden caves and lead to treasure. The way that higher level characters get downleveled in lower zones in brilliant. It makes it fun to run around with friends that are higher/lower level then you. When you face a boss, you both get to contribute (instead of a max level character one shotting it for you). So yes, I give this a 10. I wanted to be disappointed by this one, but I'm having a blast so far.… Expand
  14. Qwald
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    It's the first time in many years I had that much fun playing a video game! It's not that new, but it's so refreshing! With all the dynamic events, the view points that requires some jumping here and there, points of interests, crafting and gathering. Everything is fun and worth doing in any zones! You always get xp and challenge! It's always different.
    Best game for me in the 5 years
  15. ClowLiReed
    Sep 23, 2012
    9
    Really funny game! I already spend 300 hs on it and don't regret buying it. Some times the non-story-quest get really boring(but it always happen in all MMOs). For me this game has four strong points: -It encourages you to explore the world
    -If people help you in a quest is really helpful and not annoying like in others MMO
    -No monthly fee, Play whenever you want without guiltiness    Really funny game! I already spend 300 hs on it and don't regret buying it. Some times the non-story-quest get really boring(but it always happen in all MMOs). For me this game has four strong points: -It encourages you to explore the world
    -If people help you in a quest is really helpful and not annoying like in others MMO
    -No monthly fee, Play whenever you want without guiltiness
    -And the best it's the WvWvW and PvP, really really addictive    … Expand
  16. Singgihsatch
    Sep 25, 2012
    9
    hmm worth to spend buck for this game..
    altough i aint play the first sequel but when im play GW 2 i fall in love with this game..

    best graphic and story make a player enjoy play this game..
  17. AlienMagi
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    The game brought everything that was promised. It's an excellent example of an mmo that tries something different successfully. A purchase is definitely recommended.
  18. redfrick
    Aug 31, 2012
    9
    Guild Wars 2 is without a doubt the best MMO on the market today and it is only 3 days old as I write this. After playing the game since Beta it has ruined every other MMO out there for me. No game available today can touch it. There are pieces of other games that when added up could be as good as this game is but not one MMO has as much awesome as this one does. While waiting forGuild Wars 2 is without a doubt the best MMO on the market today and it is only 3 days old as I write this. After playing the game since Beta it has ruined every other MMO out there for me. No game available today can touch it. There are pieces of other games that when added up could be as good as this game is but not one MMO has as much awesome as this one does. While waiting for Guild Wars 2 to be released I played a few of the "top" MMOs out to kill time. Let me tell you this, I didn't last more than one hour in any of them. After getting a taste of what Guild Wars 2 had to offer every one I tried seemed stale, tired or just plain boring.… Expand
  19. hidefrompublic
    Sep 1, 2012
    8
    GW2 is not a "WoW" killer because "WoW" is already been killed by blizzard maybe 3-4 years ago. First thing i experienced was that you don't spend time talking to NPC in order to receive a quest which i believe is a great way of making mmo-rpg fun because you already consume time walking around the world clueless. However i'm gonna make it easy for those that are debating to try a new MMOGW2 is not a "WoW" killer because "WoW" is already been killed by blizzard maybe 3-4 years ago. First thing i experienced was that you don't spend time talking to NPC in order to receive a quest which i believe is a great way of making mmo-rpg fun because you already consume time walking around the world clueless. However i'm gonna make it easy for those that are debating to try a new MMO by stating few key points on why you should get GW2. Of course i might have missed few things but i only wrote on what interested the most. Everyone is different and experience differently (not everyone is gonna like GW2).

    Positives
    +If you are sick of WoW, then you should try GW2. +If you don't like talking to NPC's then you should get GW2. +If you love "zergfest questing," then you should get GW2 (i actually like zergfest, not sure what people are complaining about).
    +Better graphics than WoW (anything is)?
    +No rush on leveling
    +Free to play
    +No more debating on healers/dps/tanks
    +Easy questing overall
    Negatives
    -Getting use to a new MMO (especially after playing WoW for 4 years).
    -Walking/moving dynamics feels a little weird and camera view (maybe it's just me).
    -Not user-friendly for those that are new to GW2.    … Expand
  20. LVCritic
    Sep 3, 2012
    9
    This Is The Best MMO So Far ! I usually never write reviews but this game deserves it. I played WOW from the beginning and this game actually made me stop playing WOW. SWTOR failed to do that and I thought I would never see a MMO that would change that, but it did. I know it has some problems but I'm sure they will get them fixed in the coming updates. The one thing I really don't like isThis Is The Best MMO So Far ! I usually never write reviews but this game deserves it. I played WOW from the beginning and this game actually made me stop playing WOW. SWTOR failed to do that and I thought I would never see a MMO that would change that, but it did. I know it has some problems but I'm sure they will get them fixed in the coming updates. The one thing I really don't like is the ingame store and the biggest grip I have with that is the extra bag slots you have to purchase and crafting bag slots for every new character I'm really against that or they should change it so karma points will buy bag slots. As for the rest of the items in the store there no big deal since leveling in this game is best so far it doesn't feel like it drags so you don't feel the need to purchase store XP boosts. And I like how it slows down gold farmers since you can use your gems to buy gold. I Like that idea. That would be my biggest grip with the game. But the this game has awesome gameplay you really have to try it to see how it puts to shame all the other MMOs. And one guy who reviewed this game said that he doesn't like the way you have to unlock skills. He is wrong WOW does that this too once you get to a certain level you have to buy more skills with gold. But this game uses skill points to buy more skills and it seems you can buy more skills even after you level capped but don't worry there is a limit to the skills you can get. But once you get them all it's like getting more ways to play the game. I Have to say this even with the store flaw this game. This is the Best MMO to date ! The reason I didn't give it a 10 is because nothing is perfect. Sorry for the spelling mistakes and grammar issues But I'm Limited on time I have to leave Town on a trip. All the users reviews that are low are most likely WOW fan boys and you tell by they way they compare this game to WOW.… Expand
  21. Andore
    Sep 5, 2012
    9
    This game restored my faith in MMOs. It's the best thing since Ultima Online.
    Not only the best theme park ever made, but one of the greatest games ever.
  22. AcFree
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    An excellent breath of fresh air in the field of MMO's: While not ground breakingly different from the standard formula it does more than enough to keep both MMO veterans, and new comers alike entertained for hours on end.
  23. Humblehawk
    Sep 1, 2012
    10
    Many of tje negative reviews here are personal issues, rather than true reviews of the game. Sad really. If you review at least say you do not like the graphics or mechanics, something objective. Anyhow, Guild Wars 2 in my humble opinion is simply awesome. Easily worth $60 investment and perhaps even some cash shop appearance items. Who can resist a few cool or cute minis following youMany of tje negative reviews here are personal issues, rather than true reviews of the game. Sad really. If you review at least say you do not like the graphics or mechanics, something objective. Anyhow, Guild Wars 2 in my humble opinion is simply awesome. Easily worth $60 investment and perhaps even some cash shop appearance items. Who can resist a few cool or cute minis following you around. The best part of the cash shop is that there are no items in it that are needed t play play the game to its fullest. Its simply cosmetic or convenient. I think the look in the world is awesome. I've caught myself just looking around in awe more than once. Coming out of one particular shore town I walked out on to the beachand rounding rock cropping there on the water line, I looked up to see in the distances across the water a huge floating rock island with a castle on it. Mega awesome moment. The graphics are not state of the art, using older tech, but the way Anet uses that tech is stunning. And optimized for even slightly older machines. I use 5i intel with Nvidia 460GTX average fps is in the 60s. Do not listen to the griefers or the haters. Buy this game and enjoy the sovial aspect of the game. Play at your own speed. A++… Expand
  24. stefmor90
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    First off, this game is nothing like the first. Each have their own qualities and differences. The world is beautiful and there are decently sized zones which I wish were less rectangular and maybe a bit larger, but no game is perfect. Then there are the classes. As someone who loves combat and strategy in a combination, the engineer is dominant in both categories. And the best part isFirst off, this game is nothing like the first. Each have their own qualities and differences. The world is beautiful and there are decently sized zones which I wish were less rectangular and maybe a bit larger, but no game is perfect. Then there are the classes. As someone who loves combat and strategy in a combination, the engineer is dominant in both categories. And the best part is that the engineer neither feels underpowered or static in its abilities. It takes factors from games like TERA such as real time dodging and weapon size making a factor on how much is required to back up to dodge. Also there is nothing more badass then being a mesmer with a floating two handed sword that shoots magic. There are tons of ways to mix up your class depending on what you can use, like an engineer can use a unique pistol and shield combination, hunters using guns and throwing weapons at the same time, and so on. As stated by others, this game has a strange dynamic questing system, as in there are no quests, but rather areas for completing various tasks for a final quest-like reward. This makes the game not a back and forth rinse and repeat game, but lets you explore the world without constantly checking the quest log where to go. If there was any way to describe this game shortly I would say it's a game that takes the good qualities out of other MMO's and combines them in a new and interesting way, as well as adding new elements on top. It's the correct way an MMO should be made.… Expand
  25. Shadows_Of_Fall
    Sep 4, 2012
    10
    I have to say, it's been a very long time since I've found so much enjoyment in a game. A long time since I got so much for my money. A long time since I can say I've truly enjoyed almost every aspect of a game. And that game is GW2. The game does have its flaws, but they're nothing major.

    The combat is a little less 'actiony' than TERA but I welcome the change as I felt TERA was a    I have to say, it's been a very long time since I've found so much enjoyment in a game. A long time since I got so much for my money. A long time since I can say I've truly enjoyed almost every aspect of a game. And that game is GW2. The game does have its flaws, but they're nothing major.

    The combat is a little less 'actiony' than TERA but I welcome the change as I felt TERA was a little too 'all over the place' and chaotic. GW2 finds a nice balance between TERAs combat and WoWs combat. All classes heal themselves, can survive if you play them well and can be good at dealing damage. I have yet to see a situation where I went 'damn, I need an _____'. If I die, it's cause I failed to dodge, stood in AoE or ignored my heal.

    Questing is a combination of Dynamic Events (events which happen in the world around you and often tell the story of a zone (centaur attacks, portals to the netherworld, ongoing struggle against dragon minions etc)) and Renown Hearts ('standard quests' marked by large hearts where you have several ways to help out locals, Renown Hearts generally tell the story of the people who live in their zone/their daily lives). Together, these make the game unique and interesting. I also have to say that it really rewards exploration and getting lost in the world.

    Each race feels truly unique (and in 4/5 cases, unique to the genre itself) and classes all feel different (I love how a Warrior uses a Longbow differently than a Ranger). Some people are complaining that your first 5 skills are determined by your weapon, but I rather enjoy the concept of having a certain fighting style with a weapon versus it simply being a stat stick. I do however wish there were slightly more options within a weapon, just incase I didn;t like 1 out of 5 greatsword skills or wanted to change things up.

    Perhaps the biggest current complaint is the supposed 'lack of endgame' but that's, in truth, almost a non-issue. If you take your time enjoying the game as you go, taking time to explore and craft and perhaps even jump into some World vs World vs World or structured PvP, you won't have to worry about any sort of grind and the game will feel plenty full. Pair that with 12 dungeons JUST for level 80 and a total of 32 dungeons in the game AS WELL AS continuing support from ANet in the way of added Dynamic Events and possibly even more dungeons or regions ASIDE from planned Expansions, and the game has a ton of stuff to do now, with more on the way.    … Expand
  26. Nimraphael
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    Stop for a second and just take a long, hard look at Guild Wars 2... and open your mind. The game is not infallible - no game is and a 10 is not an indicator hereof - but the game does so, so, so many things right. From encouraging people to help each other and be nice by not punishing team efforts, to its marvellous artistic vision, to its engine's sheer ingenuity and power (compare thisStop for a second and just take a long, hard look at Guild Wars 2... and open your mind. The game is not infallible - no game is and a 10 is not an indicator hereof - but the game does so, so, so many things right. From encouraging people to help each other and be nice by not punishing team efforts, to its marvellous artistic vision, to its engine's sheer ingenuity and power (compare this game's engine to other MMO engines of the past half decade - it's fantastic), to it's wonderful gameplay. We have not seen anything this well crafted for a decade. With Guild Wars 2 you're watching not only one of the best games of the last decade, you are also given the opportunity to herald in a new age of gaming; one where subscription fee isn't a given, one where a cash-shop doesn't equal monetizing people shamelessly, one where fun, cooperation and team-effort is rewarded and encouraged rather than not. An age where a game's longevity is determined by its fun and enjoyment rather than grindy gear treadmills. You can support this by buying Guild Wars 2.... Or you can breathe a bit of life into a stale, stagnant and dying iteration of the genre by holing up in your comfort zone and buying MoP. The choice should be easy; GW2 is not only a better game but also comes from a company that respects corporate CSR, whereas the other comes from a company that hasn't delivered a unique IP in over 12 years, who shamelessly monetize consumers through treadmills and who's under the aegis of Activision, notorious for its lack of Corporate Social Responsibility.… Expand
  27. whatever523
    May 12, 2019
    9
    - Graphics are nice.
    - The world is big, detailled and believable.
    - Controls are the best of any MMO, the combat is super fluid and feels great. - World vs World PvP is super fun - The story is pretty dull and the way the NPCs act feels childish and unrealistic. It's a better story than WoW and Twilight, but still... - I don't like the shop system. Prices between ingame and real    - Graphics are nice.
    - The world is big, detailled and believable.
    - Controls are the best of any MMO, the combat is super fluid and feels great.
    - World vs World PvP is super fun

    - The story is pretty dull and the way the NPCs act feels childish and unrealistic. It's a better story than WoW and Twilight, but still...
    - I don't like the shop system. Prices between ingame and real currency fluctuate and inflate too much and while in theory you can get everything for ingame gold, it's too expensive.

    Overall, the value you get here is quite insane. GW2 is arguably the best MMO and it has no monthly costs.    … Expand
  28. Sideline
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities!I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities! But the weapon swapping in GW2 is probably even more interesting simply because it gives you access to a larger bank of skills; skills are defined by the weapon you are holding. You can switch weapons dynamically during combat which is awesome and you can even change your skills any time during the game, no need to go to an outpost to reorganise your skill bar. Elementalists don't have the weapon swapping ability but they can switch between four attunements(air, fire, water and earth) anytime during combat... awesome! What sets GW2 apart from other games of the genre is the dynamic events which can occur anywhere, anytime in the world, and they require cooperation between players; downed allies can be revived eliminating the frustration of being teleported to a resurection shrine and having to walk all the way back. Areas are no longer instanced except for dungeons and story line missions. There is no tedious fetching quests anymore. Instead quests occur in specific locations on the map and you don't have to stray too far to complete them. You can now choose between five different races: Human, Charr, Asura and Silvari. They all have the same stats and abilities but they add a nice flavor to the game. Crafting disciplines were added which opens up a whole new dimension to Guild Wars. The trading post (the equivalent of the auction house in WoW or Diablo) is a nice addition. Item stats are more varied and make more sense than before. Graphics are amazing for MMO standards and the areas are breathtaking. I cannot comment on the PvP aspect of the game as I haven't tried it yet. The only annoying thing I can find is the constant pop-ups telling you that you are in an overflow because the instance is full but that will hopefully be fixed soon. So if you love MMOs or RPGs Guild Wars 2 is a must!… Expand
  29. JakeLunn
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    I am stunned. Truly stunned.
    There has been a long line of MMORPGs ever since World of Warcraft designed the genre. Many were predicted to be "WoW killers" or "Revolutionary", but many lost their subscribers or switched to a free-to-play model a few months later. It's only been a few weeks for Guild Wars 2, but the content I have experiences so far is so breathtaking that I see no way    I am stunned. Truly stunned.
    There has been a long line of MMORPGs ever since World of Warcraft designed the genre. Many were predicted to be "WoW killers" or "Revolutionary", but many lost their subscribers or switched to a free-to-play model a few months later. It's only been a few weeks for Guild Wars 2, but the content I have experiences so far is so breathtaking that I see no way now, or any time in the future, that this game will die out. This game adds so much depth, creativity, and fun to the MMORPG genre that I can see it becoming a new home for the MMO players who have been looking for a new one. This game IS revolutionary, and it IS going to last a long time. I don't have to go into detail about the game to prove my point, just go out and buy it. No subscription fee makes this an extremely worthy investment.    … Expand
  30. OhRly
    Sep 17, 2012
    10
    There is something fishy about the ratings, I aggregated the critic scores and it was a 97, I think someone fiddled with the review, or was poorly aggregated. Mistake or not, this needs to be fixed. Also, don't consider loisho's review, he/she seems to hate everything, giving Dead Space 2 a 0/10, Skyrim a 0/10, GW2 a 4/10 (his/her highest score!) and DD (not D&D) a 1/10.
  31. sin151
    Sep 4, 2012
    9
    Let me start of by saying two things first of all I do NOT give high scores for the sake of giving them and I usually only take time to write reviews if I really like the game. Second of all, all I have seen from the lower to mid ratings is complete jealousy that it beat out their favorite MMO. I'm sorry, but AN did so many things right and so little wrong.

    I would like to go over some    Let me start of by saying two things first of all I do NOT give high scores for the sake of giving them and I usually only take time to write reviews if I really like the game. Second of all, all I have seen from the lower to mid ratings is complete jealousy that it beat out their favorite MMO. I'm sorry, but AN did so many things right and so little wrong.

    I would like to go over some things that I felt were not touched upon in several of these other reviews that are just so brilliant. First off the story, music, atmosphere, combat, pvp, and events are perfectly done and incredibly engaging anyone who says otherwise; it's just not their cup of tea or again they are jealous that it really is done this well. Arenanet's attention to detail is unfathomable, the amount of work that went into their puzzles and mazes and keeping it varied consistently is nothing short of extraordinary, you always feel like you are doing something new or different when you come upon these. Then their are skill challenges and if you are lucky enough to solo of these it really does give you a sense of difficulty and what you still need to master, whether it be timing, precision, or just combos. I really enjoy a particular one where the guy kept you laughing the entire time. Next, the group events these are not so much engaging as game changing literally. If you fail to stop a Giant attack on a city for example, then you will not be able to use any merchant or events in this area until that Giant has been taken down. Likewise whole areas can shift from control to NPC to enemies based on if you succeed or fail an event. There is alot more to touch up on, but I feel these few should give players an idea just what makes Guild Wars 2 so enticing.

    Then we have to cons these range from miniscule bugs to the very simplistic crafting. The bugs from what I have seen so far are few and far between whether it's getting stuck in the map, creates that just give up, or NPCs that don't want to advance the story. There is always a workaround and they never bring you out of the experience. Then there is the crafting, which is mainly build up resources, refine said resources, use special materials to make inscriptions or insignias and repeat. I do like the discovery tab, but they give you almost zero recipes that are not common sense, really taking away the feeling of making something special to just the next thing on the list to get your bar higher. I feel if they added more mystery and adventure to their recipe making that people would have alot more fun crafting.

    This is just a small slice of what GW2 have and the PROS well outweigh the CONS, do yourself a favor and give it a try for yourself with no subscription fee you never locked into anything and can quit anytime and pick it back up later. I feel that my purchased was well justified and I hope you will feel the same. I did want to say one more thing the WvW feels exactly like the brilliant mode from DAoC and can be jumped in at anytime, which offers its own rewards and xp towards PvE. There simply is too many thing to about, I just hope people who read this actually see a better reason to pick it up, as for me I am back to enjoying this game 100 fold.    … Expand
  32. NastyN8
    Sep 6, 2012
    9
    My experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discouragesMy experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discourages social player interaction because in many cases, nothing needs to be said to accomplish a goal. 3. Many of the utility skills seem useless to me for PVP or PVE. However, this could just be due to my lack of experience with my profession or the game in general. 4. Lack of tutorial. This is actually a plus for me because I like figuring things out, but I can see how this would frustrate some people.

    The good points in Guild Wars 2 result in a much longer list for me, so I will just stick to the major points: 1. Doing arbitrary redundant tasks (such as traveling back to a city to free up inventory space) are nearly eliminated. 2. With the character creation options, armor dyes, utility skills, trait points, transmutation, and weapon selection - character customization is on par, if not better, than any MMO out there. I have yet to see another Charr Necromancer that looks like me, so finding one that does look like me and has the same weapons/traits/skills seems highly unlikely. 3. Questing/exploration structure is very well thought out and dynamic events prevent the boredom from setting in. 4. Compared to other MMOs and similar games, the launch of GW2 went VERY smooth. There are minimal bugs and plenty of content at launch 5. Doing lower level content is still challenging and rewarding. To my knowledge, this is the first MMO to accomplish this and it opens up a staggering amount of additional content to play through. 6. Any race/profession combo is allowed 7. Players are encouraged to work together. You get good rewards for participating in an event, you get exp for reviving another player, exp and rewards are given to all players that participate, and resource nodes cannot be "stolen" by another player. 8. Graphics are really good. I have a very nice gaming computer and I still can get 95-100% use out of both my GPUs on high settings. Not many games on PC do that for me. 9. PVP is well balanced at launch! Making everybody level 80 for PvP is a brilliant idea too.    … Expand
  33. HunterZolomon
    Sep 11, 2012
    8
    This is a near perfect MMO. Incredibly well polished and rich in content. All systems, combat, crafting etc. are all well thought through and beats every competitor out there. The PvP, WvWvW etc. is awesome. Excellent sound (Soule score!) and graphics top it all off. So, why an 8/10? Guild Wars 2 lacks something the original game had in spades, an exciting storyline. The first Guild WarsThis is a near perfect MMO. Incredibly well polished and rich in content. All systems, combat, crafting etc. are all well thought through and beats every competitor out there. The PvP, WvWvW etc. is awesome. Excellent sound (Soule score!) and graphics top it all off. So, why an 8/10? Guild Wars 2 lacks something the original game had in spades, an exciting storyline. The first Guild Wars pulled me into the world of Tyria and refused to let go. I'll never forget fleeing across the Shiverpeaks with the survivors of Ascalon exploring the world as we went. Guild Wars 2 has none of the excitement that went with the original game storywise. The first 20 levels are about hunting random bandits and centaurs! No sense of urgency, excitement or scale at all, despite the stunning environments and vistas. The game would have benefited greatly from a much stronger story hook from the start.… Expand
  34. Lionhearted
    Sep 13, 2012
    8
    GW2 did what the last 7 years (and 100+) of mmos haven't really successfully, and thats innovate over WoW. The question is does it matter? The game is much better than other mmos gameplay-wise, and has "some skill", it's terrain complexity is a 10 of 10 also. The questing isn't rat race driven ect. I gave GW2 an 8 and that is rated on a curve, the amount of sheer creative input in thisGW2 did what the last 7 years (and 100+) of mmos haven't really successfully, and thats innovate over WoW. The question is does it matter? The game is much better than other mmos gameplay-wise, and has "some skill", it's terrain complexity is a 10 of 10 also. The questing isn't rat race driven ect. I gave GW2 an 8 and that is rated on a curve, the amount of sheer creative input in this game is impressive. GW2 is also the best MMOPVP I have played except maybe Champions online Zombie apocolypse, it's tailored largely like Lotro. But still, is this what weve been waiting for? It still has most of the immersion breaking mmo qualities, it gives you ability to "do your own thing" but the carrot on the stick has simply been switched from quest completion to "map completion". Is that better? A little, but I think only because it's newer. Also the dynamic events and pulling the social "level" walls enhances the game greatly. but again does that make mmos worth your time? I think it is finally with GW2 that we can see MMOs are deeply and fundamentally flawed, and it isn't just the trinity, it isn't just a lack of story of combat immersion. It's a lack of everything else, environments that are intelligent, personal social roleplay, all this replaced with cartoony mass media appetite filler, ect. online games need to be brougt back to the drawing board .. back down to why nerds actually played social games in groups 30+ years ago (and no they weren't addiction based every-night-entertain-me games). Because even 13 years after EQ began the first farm questing, we have still been seeking some actually engaging "imagination play". And it is simply not possible under mmo business as usual gameplay function. We need to start understanding what makes a game a game roleplay ~ roleplay~ and simple online interactive media .. just media and not a game~ After having said all that I can still say I "enjoy" the game and wish Arenanet even more success.. they did themselves proud ~ for a mmo. (and PS innovated many more things beyond whic a single post can hold)… Expand
  35. Footstick
    Sep 23, 2012
    9
    Very refreshing mmo, and with no monthly fee, it's a winner! The "quest" system is what i liked most and why I find it so refreshing. Great job Arenanet, can't wait to see where you take this game.
  36. fiRsTcLAiMs
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    This game is amazing. i love wow and all blizzard games but this game is better than wow in almost every way. all the young kids or ignorant adults that are giving this game a 0 because there computer sucks or has no good maintenance are stupid and quickly show that they wont ever rate any game fairly. for one, they gave the game a 0 on day 1 of release. which shows they didnt even botherThis game is amazing. i love wow and all blizzard games but this game is better than wow in almost every way. all the young kids or ignorant adults that are giving this game a 0 because there computer sucks or has no good maintenance are stupid and quickly show that they wont ever rate any game fairly. for one, they gave the game a 0 on day 1 of release. which shows they didnt even bother to check the whole game out before reviewing it. or they can just be wow fanboys. a lot of work had to go in this game from what i see and i cant disrespect the developer by giving them a 0 because the game has a few bugs or small launch issues that will be fixed. when diablo came out it was unplayable for me because i would get kicked every 30 seconds but as frustrated as i was, i didnt come in here and gave them a 0. the problem is now fixed and the game is great. metacritic needs to figure out how to get these dumb 0 score reviewers out of here soon. be fair with this game and all games and dont hate or be mad that your computer sucks and makes the game play like crap. this is the wow killer and i love wow but i admit that this is it. but now is diablo, starcraft and guildwars 2 from now on for me.… Expand
  37. Timber
    Sep 19, 2012
    10
    First, as a GW VETERAN there are some things I can say as negative. Problem (or not so much) is that GW2 works, and it works very well. Could it be better with henchman? with monks? With the old currency, without damn repair and pay for map travel?? sure. But it's still a FAT 10 out of 10 to me. It's beautiful and huge and a pleasure to play.
  38. Sugewise
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    Absolutely amazing game. This is the mmo that I've been waiting for. A wonderfully beautiful pve experience and a skill based meaning full pvp system! If you're an mmo fan, you are doing yourself a dis-service by not playing this game!
  39. ynotndalton
    Sep 3, 2012
    9
    First off, i don't see how people can say the graphics aren't good in this game. Turn all the settings to max and turn on supersampling and the textures are awesome .. that mixed with the art style and the world looks fantastic along the lines of AOC.. way better textures than skyrim.. (not hating on skyrim just proving a point). Hear people saying the dynamic events aren't reallingFirst off, i don't see how people can say the graphics aren't good in this game. Turn all the settings to max and turn on supersampling and the textures are awesome .. that mixed with the art style and the world looks fantastic along the lines of AOC.. way better textures than skyrim.. (not hating on skyrim just proving a point). Hear people saying the dynamic events aren't realling dynamic they are static and repeating, while that may be true they do a fantastic job in making the world feel alive and making it way easy to end up playing with other live people.. Loved it in Rift but the problem was they were always the same.. rift events.. no variety.. in GW2 they are different.. maybe repeating at the same area but as you explore they are varied.

    I think the real seller though is the convienence factor.. everything that was a waste of time or annoying in other mmos they have made super easy.. Mail from anywhere, fast travel everywhere but only after you've explored it. No incredible grind. Quest rewards are mailed directly to you. Ways to gain xp are so varied. Head to unlock a vista encounter a dynamic event on the way back complete with 20 others.. do a heart find a point of interest.. etc etc. VS with other mmos -> Go to hub collect 10 quests on a list of tasks such as... collect 20 rat hides and vice versa .. go out and grind them down .. run back turn them in.. rinse and repeat. Armor customization is a breeze . Pvp is so easy to get into. Combat is Awesome for one reason really.. u can freakin move while channeling spells and abilites .. no stand in one spot for a 3 second channel .. Your constantly moving positioning.. casting channeling all at the same time. People say customization is limited.. only because it appears that way at the beginning.. throught traits , race abilites .. weapon skills and utility and healing skills and elite skills.. and 2 swapping weapons .. you actually have more options in the long run of interesting abilities than in other mmos.
    Take for example .. i'm and elemental norn.. i can equip dual daggers ... and have 5 skills x 4 elements for 20 skills at one time just on that weapon loadout.. then u have sceptor / focus.. staves rods all with 5 skills x 4 elements.. on top of that is the utility skills unlocked and healing slot.. then transform into a bear or other creature with the norn race.. thats alot of thinks to do imo. Bottom line... Other mmo's is akin to clocking in and grinding... GW2 is akin to logging in and playing..
    puts the fun back in this genre    … Expand
  40. jigme
    Sep 3, 2012
    9
    Fun, if predictable and uneven. I have played all the major MMOs and have had the most fun with this one. It is well designed, accessible, and yet with depth and detail. My only issues have been minor and largely have to do with this being a new game (no auction house yet, etc). I can see this having the most playability and longevity of any game I have played in years.
  41. Antisceptic
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Looks great, feels great, sounds great, plays great, runs great. PvP is perfectly balanced, PvE is dynamic and interesting, World vs World is always changing and has such an epic scale. The Music is by Jeremy Soule. The achievements system rewards you for every aspect of the game, which is good, because this is the best MMORPG ever created.
  42. Muan142
    Sep 19, 2012
    8
    In the longer portion of this review I'll try to address some of the common complaints I see leveled against the game, but, in short, my opinion thus far is that It is an enjoyable improvement over every other MMO I've ever played, though it has some weak points and takes some getting used to. The most common complaint I see is that the graphics aren't that great. I haven't played TheIn the longer portion of this review I'll try to address some of the common complaints I see leveled against the game, but, in short, my opinion thus far is that It is an enjoyable improvement over every other MMO I've ever played, though it has some weak points and takes some getting used to. The most common complaint I see is that the graphics aren't that great. I haven't played The Secret World or Tera so I can't make a real comparison, but I can say the graphics don't look bad and I'm even impressed every once in a while when I turn around or look up to see a view like a landscape painting and realize I just travelled over that. Besides that, I've been playing games since the SNES and Genesis and I have to say, I haven't seen any major graphical improvements in the past 5 or 6 years, so saying it looks like a game from 2006 really doesn't strike me as a big insult. Guild Wars: EotN came out about then though, and GW2 does look significantly better than that. Secondly, there is the zerg-rush style combat people have complained of. To be absolutely honest, yeah, combat in big groups does feel pretty disorganized and I haven't been in a party since I started the damn game. Despite never joining a party though, I have to say that I've fought alongside other players multiple times every single time I logged on to GW2, unlike the solo grindathons I encountered in other MMOs, and if most of that group combat was a glorified zerg-fest, I don't really see too much wrong with that. It's a side-efect of making each player able to fight independently because you are never able to count on having a group in any MMO without AI partners. In other MMO's I've played, I can't remember being in a party most of the time anyway. In Phantasy Star Universe, I believe I partied up with someone else exactly once in the 6 or 7 months I played. This is the first MMO I've played that really felt like a multi-player experience through and through, and if we had to turn it into a glorified zerg-fest to do it, it doesn't take away too much from the enjoyment. As to the content of the events, it is basically the same as quests in other MMOs. Renown Heart quests are generally a little more complex but most of the dynamic events either involve killing bosses, escorting NPCs, or defending locations. All I can say is that, while you're basically doing the same sot of things you might have done in other MMOs, at least dynamic events generally bring players together so you won't be working alone. If you're in a big group and you don't know how to fight in a group, your role can feel insignificant. You fight differently in a group, shifting between support capabilities and ranged attacks and if you try the same tactics as when you fight alone you'll be ineffective. I haven't played WvW yet so I can't say anything to defend it. My own criticism of GW2 would be that it does a horrendous job of explaining itself. It is very easy to start thinking of it in terms of other MMOs and get frustrated. It's not a revolution, but neither is it quite cookie-cutter enough that you can't just pick it up and play like any other MMO. The professions work differently, the events work differently, even the way you acquire items works differently. Not a ninety-degree turn, but still, enough to through you off, even if you come to the table expecting something different. Also, I think I liked GW1's solo-oriented play-style better, but that's only after having played it for like six or seven years before putting it down. I also have several other minor complaints like the insane respawn rate and that the settlements on the map generally are not labelled, the early human storyline was so boring I just decided to forget about it for a while and enjoy leveling my character and exploring foreign lands. Events tend to cycle in rapid succession meaning that the effects of your actions last about 20 seconds, but that's mostly due to the massive number of players constantly triggering new events. It would be unfair to them to make your achievements last twenty minutes and force them to wait around that long to play the event themselves. This will probable change over time as concurrency rates go down. There are also several bugs, but that's what it means to be an MMO at launch. I give it a 9/10 because so far I haven't found any glaring issues I can identify and I've really started enjoying the game now that I realized there's a lot more depth to the professions than I'd previously thought. There are, however, several improvements I see they could make in the future updates, and if they don't address these issues my opinion will likely drop to a 7or 8.… Expand
  43. Intox
    Sep 11, 2012
    10
    Amazing Game, unlike any other mmo when it come to leveling.
    Experience is gained from almost doing anything, from crafting to exploring and all things in between.
    There is something for every type of player, no need to play 500 hours to feel your character is getting some wear. Anet's very strict enforcement of the rules is making the play experience that much better, I am sure many    Amazing Game, unlike any other mmo when it come to leveling.
    Experience is gained from almost doing anything, from crafting to exploring and all things in between.
    There is something for every type of player, no need to play 500 hours to feel your character is getting some wear.

    Anet's very strict enforcement of the rules is making the play experience that much better, I am sure many casual players are familiar with the "rage" that follows when 1 mistake is made.
    NO such thing in Guild Wars 2, unlike some other MMO's where abuse of fellow players is ignored
    Suspensions and bans are handed out to the abusive players.

    No need to be afraid to try something new because you don't know if some other player is going to start harassing you for not knowing how to play your first time.    … Expand
  44. Kuzzi
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    Hands down the greatest game I've ever played, and I have close to a thousand titles under my belt. Not sure why, but the critic score is lower than I expected...
  45. Decretorius
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is the most fun I've ever had playing an MMO, and I may end up deciding it's the most fun I've ever had with any video game.

    To provide some context, I've played Ultima Online, Wow, the original Guild Wars, and SWTOR. For a variety of reasons, none of them kept my interest for too long. GW1 showed promise but didn't feel like the full-fledged MMO I was looking for. Then    Guild Wars 2 is the most fun I've ever had playing an MMO, and I may end up deciding it's the most fun I've ever had with any video game.

    To provide some context, I've played Ultima Online, Wow, the original Guild Wars, and SWTOR. For a variety of reasons, none of them kept my interest for too long. GW1 showed promise but didn't feel like the full-fledged MMO I was looking for.

    Then GW2 came along. It retains all of the best parts of GW1 (the environments, emphasis on skills, etc.) and improves on everything the original got wrong. GW2 is fully persistent, has improved crafting, improved presentation, improved questing (i.e. "dynamic events"), open-world PvP ("WvW"), and still doesn't have a subscription fee. This is a big point for someone like me with a job that demands long hours and a six-month-old. I play when I have time, and if I don't have time, I don't have to worry about "wasting" $15 per month. Also, the level of polish is extraordinary. You may say that many of the features listed above aren't new, and that's true. But they all work so well that they still feel refreshing.

    There are other little things that really increase my enjoyment in game. These include being able to deposit collectibles into the bank from anywhere in the world, fast travel, and getting experience rewards for just about everything. It's hard to imagine playing an MMO without these features after having experienced them.

    Perhaps my favorite improvement is the combat. Gone are the days of staring at my skill bar and going through rotations. Just as ArenaNet intended, I find myself actually watching the fight, using skills on the fly as appropriate, dodging, and focusing on positioning. It may not seem like much, but considering that a big part of any MMO is combat, these improvements make the game much more fun than the other MMOs I've played.

    Is there any room for improvement? Of course, The trading post was down for a while (but is up now), and there have been a few bugs to work out, but: (a) that's to be expected with any MMO launch; and (b) it hasn't detracted from my enjoyment of the game. Simply put, I've had an absolute blast every second I've spent in GW2.

    One final thing I want to say is about the reviewers who are complaining about bans and giving the game a zero. THIS IS A GOOD THING. 99.9% of people who play the game will never have to worry about being banned because they won't pick racist character names or intentionally exploit bugs, thereby ruining the economy for others. And make no mistake, the people who were banned were intentionally exploiting things. ArenaNet stated that the only people who were permanently banned were exploiting the same bug hundreds of times, and the bug itself was that rare gear was priced at 1/1000th of its normal price. If you bought something hundreds of times at 1/1000th of its normal price, you knew what you were doing and have no excuse. For the rest of us, we should be thrilled that ArenaNet is sticking to their guns and preserving the integrity of the game for the non-exploiters at the expense of a few 0's on Metacritic.

    Bottom line: if you have even a passing interest in MMOs, get this game. And if you don't, watch a couple videos and read some more reviews, and if you're at all interested, get the game. Without a subscription fee, GW2 is a relatively low-risk purchase with a ton of upside.    … Expand
  46. SadlyNot
    Sep 1, 2012
    8
    Starting with the good, this is a fantastic MMO. The combat is a big improvement on the standard button mash and stand still that a lot of MMOs have established. The world is gorgeous, you actually have lots of motivation to explore instead of grinding the same spot. Leveling is easy, so if you want to hit end-game you can do so. Even then, you don't need to hit end-game to enjoy the PvPStarting with the good, this is a fantastic MMO. The combat is a big improvement on the standard button mash and stand still that a lot of MMOs have established. The world is gorgeous, you actually have lots of motivation to explore instead of grinding the same spot. Leveling is easy, so if you want to hit end-game you can do so. Even then, you don't need to hit end-game to enjoy the PvP and WvW because you are scaled up. Overall, awesome experience for the first few days playing with friends. Also, the launch was great. I logged in the second servers became available at 9 pm PST and enjoyed hours of play. A few things were down, like trading and mail, but compared to some other big launches (Diablo 3) at least I could play immediately.

    The bad - I haven't been able to play for three days. Won't get into details but in short I changed my password because of recent hacks and now I can't log in. Support is being swarmed with users having similar login issues, so as a relatively young company not used to dealing with this much traffic don't expect much help beyond a confirmation for a while. Not saying they are a trash company - I'm saying that if you haven't bought this game yet, do yourself a favour and wait a few weeks. By then support will be working, there won't be in-game problems like mail system and trading being down, and you can fully enjoy the game from day 1 of purchase.    … Expand
  47. Krushull
    Sep 2, 2012
    9
    I think the average user score is quite fair. There are obviously some people who may not like the game, Blizzard fanboi's aside. The days of tough, complex MMO's are long gone to make way for the 10 year old gamer generation. The lack of End Game will probably affect this game sooner or later, while PvP is fun the imbalance really affects it and constant battles just outside our world'sI think the average user score is quite fair. There are obviously some people who may not like the game, Blizzard fanboi's aside. The days of tough, complex MMO's are long gone to make way for the 10 year old gamer generation. The lack of End Game will probably affect this game sooner or later, while PvP is fun the imbalance really affects it and constant battles just outside our world's spawn area have really ruined the experience for me. After a few hours of WvW I really haven't seen any of the mechanics apart from spamming each other in the middle of nowhere. Unless there is some balance in place PvP at the moment really minds me of the old Tarren Mill vs Southshore days of WoW.

    PvE is fun but getting locked in to 4 skills per weapon is starting to become old already and I'm not even very high level. Traits etc might break this up but it doesn't really seem to be enough. Instead of swapping weapons it would be good if you could just use both weapon skill sets on the fly to make it a little less monotonous.

    F2P is a good feature especially on a high a end title but I'm sure content will be released quite quickly that we will need to fork out cash for and buying gems etc is already looking quite tempting.

    Will it stand up against Mists of Pandaria or the test of time? We will see.    … Expand
  48. hrangel92
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    The game is amazing. One of my biggest concern with most games is combat. I've played ToR, Aion, and Rift. One of the things i hated about most of those games was the combat. especially ToR. Some abilities would have the animation take priority over the effect, so you would basically use and "instant cast" stun but it's animation would take 2 seconds! To some this isn't really a big dealThe game is amazing. One of my biggest concern with most games is combat. I've played ToR, Aion, and Rift. One of the things i hated about most of those games was the combat. especially ToR. Some abilities would have the animation take priority over the effect, so you would basically use and "instant cast" stun but it's animation would take 2 seconds! To some this isn't really a big deal but to me it's pretty game breaking especially in PvP. One of the major reasons I kept going back to WoW was because of the combat, it just flows way better than any of those games. Guild Wars 2 combat isn't as great in terms of flow but the way its structured is really good. You run around with 2 weapon sets (1 for elementalists but you get 4 elements to swap through instead) and you swap them around during combat. You can really customize your play style by having a burst combination in set and a tanky combo in the other or w/e you like. The pvp in this game is also amazing. The sPvP is really putting an emphasis on skill rather than gear as everyone has equivalent gear. World vs. World vs. World pvp is HUUUUUUUUUUUGE think of like 4 or 5 Tol' Borads put together. Although you can only zone into one of the four areas it is still pretty big area. Combat and more specifically PvP are an important part for me playing an MMO and this game has great combat and great PvP. If you're like me and enjoy these aspects of the game I really do recommend this game. I mean even Arena Net are hosting their own tournaments for this game and have high hopes of it becoming an eSport.… Expand
  49. eboko
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    First MMORPG I've truly enjoyed since oldschool Star Wars Galaxies. Tyria is utterly gorgeous, and yet it's not the kind of resource hog you find in games like Age of Conan - the setpieces are absolute art, and everything is very efficiently rendered. The gameplay itself is a breath of fresh air. Everything feels fluid and natural - for once I can explore areas at my leisure, go follow myFirst MMORPG I've truly enjoyed since oldschool Star Wars Galaxies. Tyria is utterly gorgeous, and yet it's not the kind of resource hog you find in games like Age of Conan - the setpieces are absolute art, and everything is very efficiently rendered. The gameplay itself is a breath of fresh air. Everything feels fluid and natural - for once I can explore areas at my leisure, go follow my friends around and just enjoy the game world without worrying about quest "chore" lists. I'm just getting into pvp, but so far it seems like it'll be fun and challenging, and not entirely dependant on gear. Another amazing aspect of this game is that it's free to play after purchasing the box. You're probably thinking, "Oh, well that means it'll be full of flashy, obnoxious cash shop buttons and pay-to-win gear." I'm extremely pleased to inform you of the contrary. The in-game gem store is not only subtle and polite, but it is filled with legitimately interesting cosmetic and convenience-providing items that in no-way harm the balance of the game.

    The only downsides I can think of so far are related to the growing pains that any newly-released MMORPG is guaranteed to experience, but even those aren't that bad compared to other launches in my recent memory. Almost every "issue" GW2 is currently facing is related to the extreme burden placed on their network by the million + people enjoying the game. Over the week, secondary game features such as the trade post and mail system have been sporadically unavailable, but it's clear that they are making great progress in getting those services back up. If you're burnt out from the tedium and grind of linear themepark MMOs, take it from me: you should definitely check out Guild Wars 2.    … Expand
  50. zolias
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    This game has been the most fun I have had in any game period, thats all its about is fun not about lame elitist and gear grind garbage its all about pure fun if you dont like it simply stay away.
  51. dinhjk
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    I think we already know a lot about GW2 so I'm only going to focus on somethings that might be confusing for people. [--A--] Game launches are unusually the peak performance you expect for a game (Take this into account for many negative reviews). [--B--] The combat system is neither stale nor overly hard. You can't expect to play this like other MMOs (I know some have said it's overlyI think we already know a lot about GW2 so I'm only going to focus on somethings that might be confusing for people. [--A--] Game launches are unusually the peak performance you expect for a game (Take this into account for many negative reviews). [--B--] The combat system is neither stale nor overly hard. You can't expect to play this like other MMOs (I know some have said it's overly complicated, and others have said it's a re-hash of other games, but in all honesty I have not seen this kind of flexibility in other MMOs. You can kite and hide and sliver your opponent down. Or you can play smart and blind your opponent, interrupt major attacks and not even move. I've done it both ways. People just aren't giving this game a unique opportunity like they should.) [--C--] ANet is awesome. Somehow I think too many people have left out the love and care that this company has for their game. At one point during the launch week, they shut down their store. Now before you consider this a flaw, think about it this way: They said it was to stop current customers from experiencing lag. This store is also their (so to speak) business model. They don't have a subscription, they try to make money off the initial purchase but also from their in-game store. And they shut it down. For customers to experience less lag from the few customers who were buying too much from them. And the content isn't hard for them to add. In one Beta Weekend Event they created something solely for that weekend that took up many players the whole weekend and it only took ANet 3 hours to install it. From "idea" to "working game copy". It just can't be stressed that ANet wants you to play a game and enjoy the art that they've worked very hard on. I find it hard to critique them when what they aimed to do.... they did very well.… Expand
  52. Rok
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Others have already said it, even officially on reviewing websites, and I was one of the first to say it: yes, the long-awaited "WoW killer" is here! This doesn't mean that Blizzard will pack up and leave, but it means that WoW's near-monopoly, after 8 long years, is long gone now, thanks to Guild Wars 2.

    This does [not] come from a Guild Wars or ArenaNet fanboy; on the contrary, I'm a    Others have already said it, even officially on reviewing websites, and I was one of the first to say it: yes, the long-awaited "WoW killer" is here! This doesn't mean that Blizzard will pack up and leave, but it means that WoW's near-monopoly, after 8 long years, is long gone now, thanks to Guild Wars 2.

    This does [not] come from a Guild Wars or ArenaNet fanboy; on the contrary, I'm a WoW veteran who played WoW from day 1 EU release, and fell in love with WoW about 7 or 8 years ago, almost as much as I fell in love with Guild Wars 2 today! Believe me...if anyone can remember their excitement and love for WoW during the first week of release, hold that feeling and thought, and do know that GW2 can give you the same feeling [today]! If you let it.

    Guild Wars 2 puts all the sins of WoW through the years in the trash can of gaming history: all the fighting, spite, ill-will, frustration, anger and hatred among players, fighting over the most trivial of things, like a metal ore node, or an epic drop...all that greed and spiteful competition that Blizzard bred in our hearts, turing WoW's community into one of the worst gaming communities around, with so many jerks and anti-social people moving around...even Blizzard's guild leadership policies today breed the worst feelings and can take away years of hard work and effort from a guild master if something happens in real life and they need to spend a prolonged period of time away from the game...that guild master can return to the game to find their guild simply gone! That's how far Blizzard has gone in creating a game that just literally breeds hatred, frustration, elitism, spiteful competition, and distrust in the hearts of its community. And frankly, I've been waiting for years now for a "WoW killer", at least personal one that can help get my social fun away from all this negativity. And that personal WoW killer is here, thanks to ArenaNet with their Guild Wars 2.

    And let me tell you, I bought Guild Wars 1 at a bargain price, just to try it, and didn't like it at all. I bought Age of Conan, and it very quickly disappointed me. I never bought Rift because, although it was definitely a solid, polished, and fun game, it just felt like I'll be back to another WoW somehow. Never tried TERA because it was obviously a grind fest. Never bought The Secret World, even though I had hope in it in the very beginning; brilliant idea and nice creative new ideas, but unfortunately all gone to waste in bad graphics and uninspired or lackluster combat mechanics and feel...it's kind of like shooting a plastic gun compared to shooting the real thing at a shooting range, you know? SWTOR was lovely in many ways; I absolutely loved that each & every quest was spoken, loved the dialogue options in it, loved the romantic and partnership story twists that you can unearth while questing, but unfortunately, the graphics were uninspired and the combat, again, felt like shooting a plastic gun. After all those tries and years, finally Guild Wars 2 came along, with beautiful, awe-inspiring graphics (at least at the high settings with a gaming PC); lovely variety of world and personal quests (although they can certainly learn more from BioWare in this department and perfect the writing and storytelling further in GW2); soothing or motivating music; impressive sound effects, some of which have even already become iconic, like "Refreshing!", which is used by GuildHead as the punchline after the website name nowadays; and the icing of the cake, absolutely awesome combat mechanics [and] visuals...I'm telling you, just walking around killing stuff, without any NPC asking me, is sooo much fun in GW2! Combat is just inspiring and awesome in Guild War 2, literally! Whatever it is you choose to be, or whichever Profession (GW2's term for "class") you choose, combat just feels solid, awesome, and good, and [looks] good. If you are a Warrior wielding a two-handed hammer, it feels the whole freakin' ground is shaking once you land that final slam on the enemy; if you are a Ranger wielding a bow, everyone around you can see and hear your rain of arrows falling on groups of enemies; if you are an Engineer or Thief, dual-wielding pistols, you feel like a cowboy from the wild west just bam-bamming enemies; if you are an Elemental, you can see and hear your enemies wailing & see them flailing madly from your fire spells as they breath their last and roll on the ground then stop forever and ...all that, in any Profession, you are dodging attacks and strafing right & left (if you want) whichever spell or attack you're pulling. Combat in GW2...is...just...awesome!

    Hey, see you in Tyria!    … Expand
  53. zaurus
    Sep 6, 2012
    10
    This game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO'sThis game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO's like WoW and aren't capable of adapting to anything different.

    A problem I see a lot of people make is they go into low level zones and do the easy events there and just button mash or try to do "rotations" and assume the combat is dull and easy because they are able to get away with that. Try some higher level dungeons or PvP against skilled players and you will see that there are no "rotations" in this game. You have to adapt to what is going on in the fight and use your abilities wisely so you don't waste them at times when they aren't as helpful. And I saw someone mention dodging doesn't work and they still get hit? This person obviously doesn't know what they are doing because dodging works 100% of the time.

    The dynamic events DO make a difference in the world. Not all of them do, and even the ones that do make a difference don't always do it in a huge way. But the fact that some can and do make a big difference in the world easily makes this system better than the standard quest system found in most MMOs. Something to keep in mind too is that these events often trigger new events when they complete. Stick around a while and pay attention to what the NPC's are saying and doing after an event, it adds a lot of immersion to the game.

    The weakest part of Guild Wars 2 is the personal storyline. I definitely has some cheesiness to it. But again, most MMO's don't even have anything like this (except for SWTOR of course). So it's better than not having it at all.

    I see a problem with people complaining about security too, and for the most part they are right. It would have been nice if ArenaNet had implemented some type of authentication system BEFORE release. However, myself and many others have been playing without these issues. Just don't be an idiot and use the same password for every game/website you go to.    … Expand
  54. thathugeguy
    Sep 7, 2012
    9
    What makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
    I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it's    What makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
    I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it's more immerse than we've seen before in any MMO.
    The leveling system is quite neat as well. Where as other MMO's aim for individualism Guild Wars 2 puts much emphasis on word TEAMWORK. There's on individual experience from mobs, they're all shared with all the other player participating in killing, sharing is caring right? The tasks are completed by a few different ways, so you feel like you can finish a quest like you want to, you don't always have to kill trillions of mobs, you can for example pick up trash or something like that, isn't quite revolutionary, but brings a great feel of freedom to it.
    The combat mechanics is actually great, not your basic-button-smashing-and-standing-still-style of combat, you actually have to move and dodge actively and use your snares and stuns in order to survive. This is very rewarding that your individual skill might help you bring down a more powerful enemy rather than your statistics.
    The PVP has that same skill mechanic implemented, since you have to dodge and move around corners to avoid damage and do that really challenging skill requiring dance that you do on PvE as well. The World vs. World vs. World is a great thing, you fight for your own realms benefits, which is quite neat and it seems balanced enough, realms who run over other realms get moved up and those who cannot cope will be placed with weaker opponents to guarantee at least some bonuses for your realm.

    Why aren't I giving a 10 to a game that is great?
    Several technical issues I might say. A-net still has to work on stability and WvW lag-issues and trading post issues of course. In pre-launch everything worked at least good but then came the launch and the lags and everything went to full **** but now a few weeks after the launch everything seems good, minor lags and bugs still exist, but nothing too bad anymore.

    In conclusion Guild Wars 2 renews the MMO-genre enough to fight against the big mighty World of Warcraft but still keeps some basics untouched which is a must if you want to attract people to play. Watch out World of Warcraft, you got a challenger....And it's gonna kick your Panda-ass all the way through Tyria.    … Expand
  55. sircerx
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    Absolutely astounding. There's something for everyone, even the ex-WoW veterans. PvP is truly skill-based, not about who has the better gear. World vs. Word (read: server vs. server) is a perfectly chaotic clusterf*ck, PvE is never boring with events around and dungeons on top, plus there's lots of uncharted exploration. At $60 and no monthly fee, it is a much better deal than ToR for $60Absolutely astounding. There's something for everyone, even the ex-WoW veterans. PvP is truly skill-based, not about who has the better gear. World vs. Word (read: server vs. server) is a perfectly chaotic clusterf*ck, PvE is never boring with events around and dungeons on top, plus there's lots of uncharted exploration. At $60 and no monthly fee, it is a much better deal than ToR for $60 and $15 a month. Also unlike ToR it is not a bleak, repetitive game that rewards time investment over skill.

    A piece of advice for reading reviews - if they say they quit after an hour, their review simply doesn't count. You can NOT see this game in an hour. It is most akin, like it's predecessor, to Magic: the Gathering. It is a complex, nuanced, combinatorial, tactical experience that leverages your "deck building" (read: skill selecting) skills as much as your reaction time (there's collision detection and realistic, live-action dodge-rolling) and time management skills (to rez, or not to rez?).

    No need to try before you buy - it's some grade-A stuff.    … Expand
  56. drakomel777
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    This game is amazing, beautiful and so alive, compared to other MMORPGs out in the market right now. I've played World of Warcraft for 3 years now and it was fun, for those 3 whole years. But let me just say that when I played Guild Wars 2, it felt like I had more fun than in those 3 years of playing World of Warcraft. Some people might ask, what can this game offer that other gamesThis game is amazing, beautiful and so alive, compared to other MMORPGs out in the market right now. I've played World of Warcraft for 3 years now and it was fun, for those 3 whole years. But let me just say that when I played Guild Wars 2, it felt like I had more fun than in those 3 years of playing World of Warcraft. Some people might ask, what can this game offer that other games cannot? Well, my answer to that is "life". What ArenaNet did to the game was not only to make a game enjoyable by everyone, but also make a game with a world that feels so immersible and alive. Just yesterday, before I wrote this review, I was playing GW2 with my brother, finding and mining ores until suddenly an NPC just came up to us and asked us to help his village. And we just followed the NPC. And by the time we arrived at his village, it as overrun by centaurs. So me and my brother fought and won and it was a really satisfying experience. Another example was when the NPCs just go about their lives, talking about their past adventures and making moves no other NPCs from MMORPGs can do. But this is just a fraction of detail as to how the world is alive. You will find out more when you play the game itself.

    Another feature is the personal story. This is a very big rpg element which was introduced to GW2 and I have to say, ArenaNet did an amazing job. The personal story lets you choose from plenty of choices which will affect how your character interacts with other NPCs and how his story will be laid out. The personal story is not like SWTOR's character story. In SWTOR, it just like letting your character play a big script and the only choices you make will affect only how you interact with your companions but it is different in GW2 since the choices you make will actually affect your character, your home instance, your NPC friends and your story. For example, you are given two choices to either save your friend or the city, when you choose your friend, there be more branches added to the story, but if you choose the city, different branches will also be added. So in short, everything you choose in your Personal Story will affect everything about your story.

    The features that I gave above are only a tiny bit of the features Guild Wars 2 has to offer. IF you want to find out more. Buy the game and see for yourself :D I guarantee you will like it.

    For me, I feel that Guild Wars 2 really deserves the GOTY award, although I am not sure if MMORPGs can win GOTY awards at all.

    So to anyone who reads this. I gave Guild Wars 2 a perfect 10 because of my experience with the game and not how the game is presented, so our opinions may vary.

    So once again, buy the game and if you like it, then have fun :D    … Expand
  57. trichomes
    Sep 8, 2012
    8
    I was backing this game before it came out, just like I did with the first guild wars, I played beta with both games, and liked what I saw, but again, I feel the way I felt with the first one, boring, clunky, and no, there is still no better MMO then WOW, " in the fantasy mmo world". I hate what WOW has become, but yet, it destroys this game in every facet of mmo's. I see alot of peopleI was backing this game before it came out, just like I did with the first guild wars, I played beta with both games, and liked what I saw, but again, I feel the way I felt with the first one, boring, clunky, and no, there is still no better MMO then WOW, " in the fantasy mmo world". I hate what WOW has become, but yet, it destroys this game in every facet of mmo's. I see alot of people saying gw2 is better PVP, I don't think it's even close to WOW's pvp. I made an 80 in less then 1 week, wtf is that? sorry, but this game has too many flaws and shortcummings that have been explained by others. I've been wanting an mmo to replace WOW for quite sometime, this isn't it. Graphics are over-rated, pvp/pve is hugely over-rated. Professions are silly....just not my cup of tea. Still, all and all, it's a descent mmo for the casual player new to the genre, and may grow on you. Also, yeah, there's no month fee like other mmo's, but it still cost money to have internet, for me, over $60 a month, so, this game is not free to me at all, if there was an offline pve mode, or an ability to run my own dedicated server with some friends for pve, then, yeah....it's free afterwards. Good luck to arenanet, and for those who love this game, I'm happy for you, me, I'll be waiting for the next mmo, maybe elderscrolls online ha ha.… Expand
  58. Nariax
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    This game is fantastic, beautiful graphics, tons of content, and a huge, immersive world. The quality of this subscription-free game shows up how laughable the subscription model is.
  59. Renegadexf
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    I'm in Love with this game, specially using my eyefinity setup also its pay to play n such amazing graphics at every zone,what else can i ask for ? :]
  60. untoten123
    Sep 12, 2012
    9
    Overall a great game! I made a YouTube video on it's gameplay and what's so great about it. Make sure to check it out.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT8HAYUz74g
  61. 3lfk1ng
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    First of all, my playstyle is hardcore and I have a lot of MMO experience.

    I have been playing MMO's for almost 10 years starting with the release of Shadowbane. I have subscribed to roughly 8 different MMO's during that time-frame, BETA tested another 10 or so, and I am not afraid to admit that World of Warcraft was my previous favorite MMO. but now...Guild Wars 2 has easily taken    First of all, my playstyle is hardcore and I have a lot of MMO experience.

    I have been playing MMO's for almost 10 years starting with the release of Shadowbane. I have subscribed to roughly 8 different MMO's during that time-frame, BETA tested another 10 or so, and I am not afraid to admit that World of Warcraft was my previous favorite MMO.

    but now...Guild Wars 2 has easily taken the throne as my #1 favorite MMO of all time. Despite minor issues at launch which in no way affected my ability to login, level up and actually play the game, this game is nothing short of amazing. There is just so much detail and depth, all while offering players the ability to play hardcore or casual... with no monthly fee. You can login for an hour or two and walk away feeling accomplished.

    The crafting system is a blast. The learning curve for playing classes can be steep, but only if you want it to be. There is no longer a need to grind for gear or farm for reputation. If you have a steady job, you can be just as good in game as your jobless friends. There is no need to set aside two nights a week for raiding or collecting the materials beforehand. No need to avoid playing with other players that might take your loot. No longer do players have to ask for a gear score or look you up on armory before doing a dungeon. They have almost completely eliminated the whole standing around for 30minutes looking for a healer or a tank fiasco. Finally, this game is based on skill. It's not about who has no life and the ability to invest the most time. It's a game where you can login, hit level 2, and go straight into PVP and be on almost even grounds, only skill will determine how well you do.

    ALL of the things that were (mostly) dreadful in previous MMOs, have been made (mostly) enjoyable in Guild Wars 2. Huge thanks go out to ArenaNet. I disliked Guild Wars 1 but this game is totally different and phenomenal. There is absolutely no reason that anyone should even consider continuing to pay and play World of Warcraft or any other MMO for that matter unless you dislike the fantasy genre all together... in which case, the fact that you're reading this would suggest otherwise.

    I give it a 96/100
    There is always room for improvement.    … Expand
  62. Kashinoga
    Sep 12, 2012
    9
    This is the first game ever, in which I genuinely have had a great, fun time playing. I am not forced to grind or to do anything that makes the game feel like a chore. Playing with friends who've just got the game is not a burden (content scales!) and best of all, there's no subscription fee.
  63. deusemx
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    Awesome, in a single word best describes my experience thus far with Guild Wars 2. After sinking over 100 hours in the game, achieving level 60, rank 5 in structured PvP, and battling it out in World vs World (where I spend the majority of my time) I still cannot find enough time to play this game. I write you this review only because I am stuck at work and cannot log in from here ;)

    I    Awesome, in a single word best describes my experience thus far with Guild Wars 2. After sinking over 100 hours in the game, achieving level 60, rank 5 in structured PvP, and battling it out in World vs World (where I spend the majority of my time) I still cannot find enough time to play this game. I write you this review only because I am stuck at work and cannot log in from here ;)

    I wanted this game to be my PvP game as the first Guild Wars had a reputation for it. I wanted something to replace WoW's PvP for me. I played WoW for both 3v3 arena and rated battlegrounds which I achieved 2750 an 2450 ratings respectively. I wanted a game that rewards skill and strategy and not time spent playing and I believe GW2 does just that. This is a game about positioning and coordinated execution. There exists "Combo Fields" and "Combo Finishers" in which any Combo Finisher that interacts with a Combo Field gains additional power. This system of synergy allows coordination to rein king. Structured PvP is interesting because the moment you step into the structured PvP zone your character reaches maximum power equal with all others. If you think you see an overpowered combination you can quickly and easily copy their setup to see for yourself. The competitive mode is 5v5 on a 3 node king of the hill map, a standard configuration. I haven't quite figured out all of the mechanics of all the classes so I cannot really comment on balance but it feels good so far. Each class is very customizable almost to the point of being overly complex. Of your 10 abilities half of your abilities depend on the weapon(s) you are wielding while the other 5 are selected from a pool of skills depending on your class and then there are additional traits that affect you in various ways. However, World vs World PvP is where you'll most likely find me. Defending and laying siege to towers, forts, and even castles. Huge battles with over 100 strong on both sides. Your entire server is your team and you are against 2 other servers in a battle to control the most territory--to get the biggest slice of the pie. Periodically the servers get mixed up and paired based on your servers performance. Right now things are a little dicey in WvW due to all the mixing currently. Sometimes one server greatly overpowers another but with the mixing and match-rating it will inevitably create a better experience as time goes on. But now for the bad news! As much as I love this game it does have some technical problems. I have a Crossfire video card configuration but I am not able to make any use of my 2nd card. Some areas in the game drop my FPS while others are brilliantly smooth. The queue times for World vs World were initially exceeding 2 hours! The queues have come down since then. This game definitely has some growing pains but Arenanet seems dedicated to fixing it. They patch the game every single night. I remain hopeful that they will iron out these issues but I am still having a blast regardless.    … Expand
  64. orange56738
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    This is a great MMO and it is getting better. Forget WoW. This is it! I love the fact that the holy trinity of tank/healer/dps does not exist nor is it necessary. The game is not about gear or grinding. All those other annoying things in other MMOs have been gracefully dealt with in GW2.
  65. Falcor
    Sep 20, 2012
    8
    So far i am realy enjoying the game itself. the combat system is great, the personal storyline all that, but there is one major flaw. one that people often overlook. the support team are nothing short of incompetent. they struggle to help with even minor issues. i can understand that they take a long time to reply, the game just launched and tonns of people are contacting them for aSo far i am realy enjoying the game itself. the combat system is great, the personal storyline all that, but there is one major flaw. one that people often overlook. the support team are nothing short of incompetent. they struggle to help with even minor issues. i can understand that they take a long time to reply, the game just launched and tonns of people are contacting them for a variety of reasons, and some people appear pleased with the work suport does. but me and alot of the people i play with have had naugth but infuriating dealings with the suport team!… Expand
  66. theDangel
    Jan 9, 2014
    10
    Over my three accounts in this game, I have easily spent over 1,500 hours and I don't regret it a bit. This game is absolutely charming and wonderful.
  67. SHiRKiT
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    I've been playing MMO's since 2000, when I started playing Ultima Online. That was the best game I've ever played, until Guild Wars 2 came out. The same non-leveling feeling is here, different from other MMO's. You don't need to be strong to be in PVP areas, and even if you are high level, you can still go for lower level zones and still get some good rewards there. This is a game totallyI've been playing MMO's since 2000, when I started playing Ultima Online. That was the best game I've ever played, until Guild Wars 2 came out. The same non-leveling feeling is here, different from other MMO's. You don't need to be strong to be in PVP areas, and even if you are high level, you can still go for lower level zones and still get some good rewards there. This is a game totally different from any other game I've ever playing, motivating me to continue playing it. I'll wait to see how is the high end content being managed, and how the currency will be. For example, in WoW (which I've played for 4 years) nowadays gold means nothing, as anyone has 10k to spare. I totally hate those behaviours, and if that also happens to GW2, I'll be really, really sad.… Expand
  68. Hiei987
    Sep 6, 2012
    10
    This is first MMO since Wow that has all the potential to be a hit for many years to come. ArenaNet have taken a lot of risks with going away from the traditional MMO style, but most of them have been received quite well. The game attracts all of types of players and provides a great amount of content fit for any player, whether casual or hardcore.
  69. Scoobydruid
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    Game is a breakthrough in MMOs. It respects my time and doesn't favor people with monster amounts of time over adults with families and jobs. Grinding is essentially eliminated and the world event quests are very fun. No pressure to get to max level. Extremely Casual Player Friendly. RvRvR is fun and you can participate early one once you've acquired a few skills (otherwise you don'tGame is a breakthrough in MMOs. It respects my time and doesn't favor people with monster amounts of time over adults with families and jobs. Grinding is essentially eliminated and the world event quests are very fun. No pressure to get to max level. Extremely Casual Player Friendly. RvRvR is fun and you can participate early one once you've acquired a few skills (otherwise you don't have enough skills to do much).

    Lots to do. This game rivals any of the MMOs that have sub fees. The fact it has no sub fee is simply astonishing. The quality is second to none.    … Expand
  70. mromih
    Sep 22, 2012
    10
    Incredible. The only downside is struggling with the addiction to play everyday. Beautiful graphics. Incredible sound effects and music. And you can do sooo many things in this game other than just concentrating on killing monsters for farming xp or entering an instance for 3 or 4 hours and ending without any loot cause you lost all rolls (like ..well.... you know) This is a WELLIncredible. The only downside is struggling with the addiction to play everyday. Beautiful graphics. Incredible sound effects and music. And you can do sooo many things in this game other than just concentrating on killing monsters for farming xp or entering an instance for 3 or 4 hours and ending without any loot cause you lost all rolls (like ..well.... you know) This is a WELL balanced game. PC gaming always will rule!… Expand
  71. Tempestozaur
    Sep 27, 2012
    10
    An amazing game! I especially like the exploration part of hidden caves and dungeons spread around the world which in general reward you with loot chests or special events.
  72. Kangamangus
    Aug 30, 2012
    10
    The game is good bang for your buck, especially if you don't want to pay over and over again for content that will probably become routine if you crack out on it. No monthly fee is a strong point. Some people will say Diablo 3 is good for that reason, but I never got a chance to connect to the servers before I got my money back. Also, you don't have to worry about your account beingThe game is good bang for your buck, especially if you don't want to pay over and over again for content that will probably become routine if you crack out on it. No monthly fee is a strong point. Some people will say Diablo 3 is good for that reason, but I never got a chance to connect to the servers before I got my money back. Also, you don't have to worry about your account being banned if someone hacks it, because it's your fault if you get hacked in the world of Blizzard. As far as the game goes, it's familiar MMO in interface and typical fantasy themes, but some unique twists keep it interesting. I never found myself bored or wishing I didn't have to cross the map, because no matter where you are, there are usually world events happening nearby. These are missions or objectives that vary in size and difficulty, and anyone can participate. You don't have to worry about competing for kills or drops, though, as you get your own loot. Most of the time, other people's contribution counts towards yours. Kinda neat, making the community and players friends instead of foes, more often than not. Yes, someone can still draw adds to your fight and get you killed. You'll never stop stupid people or jerks from being on the internet. Blizzard and their junkie whore fan base is proof of this. A lot of concessions were made for the player. You can send mail from anywhere in the world, and download crafting resources to your bank from any where in the world, meaning you can loot an insane amount before you'll need to sell stuff or visit your stash. This game was working 3 days before launch, and has been working very consistently since official launch. No need to defend that.… Expand
  73. betelguise
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is fun. However...
    If you rush to max level (PvE only) thinking that's where the "fun" starts, then you may hate this game.
    There is no rush, there is no endgame. There is no monthly fee. The game is like Skyrim, by that I mean the journey is the fun, not the ending. Or it's like a good book. What? I will try to explain. The best books can't be opened to the last chapter    Guild Wars 2 is fun. However...
    If you rush to max level (PvE only) thinking that's where the "fun" starts, then you may hate this game.
    There is no rush, there is no endgame. There is no monthly fee.
    The game is like Skyrim, by that I mean the journey is the fun, not the ending.
    Or it's like a good book. What? I will try to explain. The best books can't be opened to the last chapter and enjoyed. It's the journey and the experience to get to the end that is entertaining. Same with GW2.

    Play it, don't rush and enjoy the journey, not the ending.

    Don't like to read? OK
    Do you like to have sex? It's not the squirt at the end that makes it fun, it's getting there and everything in between that's the fun. The squirt is just the ending.
    PvP is flat out fun. No uber gear to pwn nubs. All are equal. It's all how you play.

    There are issues but what massive mmo does not have those.
    Anet is working to fix the issues and doing a fine job so far (15 days from launch and there is a patch every day)

    For a flat fee and a game that can entertain for years, this is one bad ass game!    … Expand
  74. DamoclesRising
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    This game offers much to players starved for change and innovation, while still giving the great feeling of progression and reward MMORPGs strive to give. Players are naturally encouraged to play together thanks to systems they have in place, and are all rewarded equally for things they participate in, whether that be quests or simply kills. Rewards also scale to your level, and your levelThis game offers much to players starved for change and innovation, while still giving the great feeling of progression and reward MMORPGs strive to give. Players are naturally encouraged to play together thanks to systems they have in place, and are all rewarded equally for things they participate in, whether that be quests or simply kills. Rewards also scale to your level, and your level scales to the difficulty of the event. The event itself scales in difficulty to the number of people currently partaking in it. Guild system is great, providing cool things like Guild Emblem armor, or banners for forts in WvWvW, the multi-server persistent siege-warfare pvp battlefield. that being said, once you hit max level, the game returns to feeling like a grind as you try to obtain all the best gear, but it still provides a fresh experience in doing so thanks to the innovative gameplay. There were some bugs on release, but most have been dealt with in a timely manner. Its a great game guys, try it out.… Expand
  75. victor2012
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    I played WOW starting BC
    I feel that WOW was like a job - login at raid time, try boss, try again...ever, to make a raid progress.
    spend time and money for nothing. Also no content updates since 2011, but anyway each patch was just new boss skins. GW2 became as a fresh air! Really great game! Beautiful, big and deep. I just relax and enjoy playing Really GW2 feels like a MMO. In GW2    I played WOW starting BC
    I feel that WOW was like a job - login at raid time, try boss, try again...ever, to make a raid progress.
    spend time and money for nothing. Also no content updates since 2011, but anyway each patch was just new boss skins. GW2 became as a fresh air! Really great game! Beautiful, big and deep. I just relax and enjoy playing
    Really GW2 feels like a MMO. In GW2 finally you see other people in the world who help you to make dynamic events for example, in wow (during leveling) you play almost solo.    … Expand
  76. eroninja
    Sep 27, 2012
    10
    After playing this game hardcore for over a month, I feel that the hype has finally worn off and the game truly deserves a 10 rating. It's by far the best MMO right now, even better than World of Warcraft (though that's mostly due to Blizzard's failings).

    Arenanet delivered on every promise they made prior to releasing the game. You are always happy to play with other people, you    After playing this game hardcore for over a month, I feel that the hype has finally worn off and the game truly deserves a 10 rating. It's by far the best MMO right now, even better than World of Warcraft (though that's mostly due to Blizzard's failings).

    Arenanet delivered on every promise they made prior to releasing the game. You are always happy to play with other people, you never feel like you're forced to compete against others, the visuals are stunning, character creation is surprisingly deep, and the action during even the most mundane event is amazing and fun. Anet has taken MMO gamers off the hamster wheel (endless loot cycle) and given us a game that's supposed to be fun. I can honestly say they delivered.    … Expand
  77. teejaymmk
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    Really a big breath of fresh air after playing countless WoW clones for the better part of 10 years now. If you are like me and have long been bored of the tried and true formula approach to all MMOS for the past 10 years, this is what you have been looking for. Just give it a shot, its free so why not?
  78. stocean
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    This game made me think that Arenanet might be the new Blizzard at least for me. The quality and quantity, effort put in, and fun you expected from Blizzard but couldn't get recently, this game has them all. The game looks amazing especially for an mmo The music, voice acting, and sound effects are top notch The gameplay is very fun and challenging. The game's longevity also seems veryThis game made me think that Arenanet might be the new Blizzard at least for me. The quality and quantity, effort put in, and fun you expected from Blizzard but couldn't get recently, this game has them all. The game looks amazing especially for an mmo The music, voice acting, and sound effects are top notch The gameplay is very fun and challenging. The game's longevity also seems very optimistic. Firstly there's no subscription fee! So you could come back anytime you want. Also there are many different stories, professions to play through in a variety of ways. Lastly the game's endgame focuses on horizontal scale rather than vertical scale. Vertical scale is your typical WoW raid or D3 tier system in which you get higher and higher gears as you play. In vertical scale, once the contents are gone, there's not much to do. Since GW2 is a Horizontally scaling game it focuses more on customization and PvP where your skill, choice, and play rather than your gear, gold, and playtime matter. High-end dungeons only reward cosmetic items and don't really give you a gameplay edge over others. This is generally much better for replayability unless you add contents faster than gamers consume. Anyways, this game really can't go wrong with its great quality and huge amount of contents. I urge you to go buy this game if you want a very decent mmo with both good PvE and PvP.… Expand
  79. nodq
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    Really? Really? .... Really? The best MMO since WoW, and this time for SURE people! You can not compare WoW and GW2 but you can compare MMO releases and the fun of it and the feeling it brings at release + bugs etc. and GW2/Arenanet made an awesome job for sure. 9.5! Giving 10 because of 0 rating trolls here.
  80. InfinityBlaze
    Aug 30, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is amazing. There is no other word for it. The art style is minimalistic and charming. The combat is fun and fast paced. And there's no tedious, addictive gameplay with the $15 sub fee. Not to say its not addicting though. Guild wars 2 has great PvP, an engaging story, and fantastic crafting. MMO player or not, GW2 is a must buy.
  81. plaguebourne
    Aug 31, 2012
    10
    This game impressed me in closed beta both in quality and amount of things to keep me busy. The map flow is impressive given the event locations are nonlinear. It's the first time I've played an MMO in years that has offered me a challenge, looked beautiful, and kept me wanting more. I also am impressed with the fact that the dev team made leveling a bit of a challenge and seemed to wantThis game impressed me in closed beta both in quality and amount of things to keep me busy. The map flow is impressive given the event locations are nonlinear. It's the first time I've played an MMO in years that has offered me a challenge, looked beautiful, and kept me wanting more. I also am impressed with the fact that the dev team made leveling a bit of a challenge and seemed to want it to be an important part of the game rather than a quick grind to max level/endgame content... and looking at the amount of leveling content and the quality of it, I can see why. This game makes me want to explore every corner of every map, tame as many creatures as I can, and learn as much about the lore of the world as I can absorb. Also, the crafting system is fun, allowing you to discover new recipes and enhancement items rather than just serving you up the recipes and making you sit and grind out a hundred of one item.

    Congratulations to the ArenaNet team on an amazing accomplishment. You've taken a bitter old hardcore MMO gamer and made her a believer in the genre again.    … Expand
  82. Alargus
    Aug 29, 2012
    10
    BEST GAME EVER! Definately a great sequel to the legendary Guild Wars. I am very excited to max to max out all of my characters. They mastered every aspect of MMO's
  83. WeTehPeople
    Aug 30, 2012
    9
    I'll admit, at first I was skeptical about Guild Wars 2. My overall impression of the gameplay and information collected by internet sources made me think this game had a lot of promise. Problem is, I felt that way about a lot of MMO's that also emanated "Promise". Turns out this is actually quite a fantastic game. Not to mention F2P? I mean come on. The concern people express in theirI'll admit, at first I was skeptical about Guild Wars 2. My overall impression of the gameplay and information collected by internet sources made me think this game had a lot of promise. Problem is, I felt that way about a lot of MMO's that also emanated "Promise". Turns out this is actually quite a fantastic game. Not to mention F2P? I mean come on. The concern people express in their negative views is quite minimal. Okay, lets get this straight, this isn't going to be some ground breaking "New Age" of MMO where everyone is going to go ape sh*t over it. If you've never played an MMO you might not like it...on the other hand you might fall in love with it. Its a quality game, combats fun, visuals are good, voice acting is okay, but most of all the community is awesome! 9/10. Finally an MMO WORTH my time.… Expand
  84. Kingmannie
    Aug 30, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is utterly fantastic. I'm not even going to begin to compare it to other MMO's because this game is in a league of its own. Apart from the hiccups that every huge MMO gets during launch, Guild Wars 2 has drawn me straight into its amazing story based PVE experience, exciting PVP (wvw) experience plus its enthralling and beautiful world. I get all this without having toGuild Wars 2 is utterly fantastic. I'm not even going to begin to compare it to other MMO's because this game is in a league of its own. Apart from the hiccups that every huge MMO gets during launch, Guild Wars 2 has drawn me straight into its amazing story based PVE experience, exciting PVP (wvw) experience plus its enthralling and beautiful world. I get all this without having to worry about money coming out of my bank account each month and how much 'value' I'm getting. I can pick this up or leave this down yet I find myself unable to stop playing and I can anticipate based on the history of their expansions that it will have me hooked for a very very long time. Some of the pros I see immediately in terms of gameplay are; The lack of grinding due to interesting and varied approach to experience rewards... yes that right you can travel the whole map and PVP and level up at the same time. When your actually doing the PVE content you can do dynamic events which number in the hundreds across a sprawling beautiful map, they are fun varied and interesting. When you get to the story, its presented in a more personal light, you don't just click on an NPC and click the text off again. You actually see your character in all his/her glory with the gear and your creative input on the screen. Whether you love PVP, PVE, story based content, exploring content or just sheer messing about Guild War 2 has it all at a low cost without the super addicting but highly negative push of a monthly fee. Guild Wars 2 does it all and does it with style, do yourself a favour and take the chance. SB… Expand
  85. tallanx
    Sep 6, 2012
    8
    I like how all the troll posts are spouting lies that are so obvious you can see them a mile away and a quick search on youtube will prove them to be false. Of the negative reviews that are not troll posts, I'd like to point out a couple of things: 1. People complaining about there being no Raids, no Holy Trinity etc and how they bought into the hype and was disappointed are stupid. ThatI like how all the troll posts are spouting lies that are so obvious you can see them a mile away and a quick search on youtube will prove them to be false. Of the negative reviews that are not troll posts, I'd like to point out a couple of things: 1. People complaining about there being no Raids, no Holy Trinity etc and how they bought into the hype and was disappointed are stupid. That stuff has been public knowledge for more than a year and in fact some of those things were actually used by the developers themselves to promote the game. If you know the game won't have those things, why buy it and then complain that they don't have those things? If you didn't know about those things, then why say that the game is different from the hype? Whether you like it or not is subjective of course, but it is exactly as promised. 2. Account Security. First and foremost, the large majority of people who lost their accounts to hackers only have themselves to blame for not keeping their details secure. That being said, ANet does need to improve certain parts of their security features, such as adding a 3 failed tries = timeout on their website (I have not checked recently, so they may have already added this). So ANet has to take partial responsibility for the accounts that were hacked through brute force methods, but the majority? It was their own fault. 3. Banned accounts. Anybody saying "I'm innocent why was I banned?" is likely lying. Go do a search for the Reddit thread with all the ban information. The large majority of those who complained were actually banned for perfectly acceptable, valid reasons. Some of them were so ashamed that ANet knows exactly what they did they actually deleted their original complaint. The minuscule few that were actually innocent were given apologies and un-banned quickly after a review. CS staff are humans too, sometimes they makes mistakes, but looking at the evidence the majority of bans were well deserved. What ANet can actually improve in this area though is to modify their "You we're banned" message to include the reason why. Now for actual comments about the game. This game plays like a TES game in that you are dropped in a world, with a little bit of direction and then you are mostly left to your own devices. People who like exploring and goofing around experimenting with stuff will love it. There are so many little nooks and crannies everywhere, it's insane. People who prefer a more linear, hand-holded/guided style of game likely will not. The combat plays in some ways like an FPS, but from third person view. In a traditional MMO, if you see a mob your own level attacking you, you eat the damage and stand still and attack while consuming stuff like potions when necessary. In this game, you need to actually dodge out of the way, either by moving sideways, hiding behind terrain objects etc (a la FPS games) or using the "temporary invincibility" dodge button that you can only use twice in quick succession and other damage mitigation skills. It's not quite "action-combat" but I would say is a hybrid between traditional MMO combat and actiony FPS style combat. Anybody who says that the Holy Trinity still exists is lying. You CAN get through certain situations using a Holy Trinity type setup (early game), but you will find that it is a lot harder and more inefficient than playing the game the way it's meant to be played, by watching the screen, not the hotbar. And being aware of your surroundings instead of focusing on hp bars. The Dynamic Events system is great, it makes the world feel alive. Everybody who says "it's just WoW questing" are slow people who are either blind or unable to read instructions, they mistake Renown Hearts for Dynamic Events, ignore the real Dynamic Events when they see one and then complain about it. Renown Hearts are static events that the game uses to draw you to Dynamic Event hot spots. They are two different things and serve different purposes, the majority of the PvE content are the Dynamic Events, Hearts are only there as a guide and was only added because initial play testers felt they needed more direction.The only real problem that the game has is that they underestimated the demand for their game and so had some infrastructure teething issues (which has already seen some marked improvements over the past 2 weeks). In fact, other than the usual small to medium bugs here and there that you expect from a software this size and scope, all of the other issues are infrastructure/capacity related. TLDR: The game is well designed with some excellent systems in place. They need to improve some of their backend infrastructure, which they have publicly acknowledged and are addressing. If you don… Expand
  86. femogiga
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    This has to be the best game I have ever bought. I had vaguely heard about guid war 1 but did not bother to investigate what genre it was.i stumbled upon a review of gw2 on one of my tech news feed and immediately went to amazon to purchase the game on the Saturday after release. Apparently I was lucky as it went out of stock one hour later.promptly installed and I can say that I haveThis has to be the best game I have ever bought. I had vaguely heard about guid war 1 but did not bother to investigate what genre it was.i stumbled upon a review of gw2 on one of my tech news feed and immediately went to amazon to purchase the game on the Saturday after release. Apparently I was lucky as it went out of stock one hour later.promptly installed and I can say that I have been hooked ever since. Am still learning the ropes , reading guides and getting to know the mechanics of the game. I chose to be a ranger and have levelled to 14 but I have to tell you ,my misses has not pleased at all. I have seen wow in the past and was not impressed.repetitive,cartoonish and childish.not to talk of £10 a month subcription.but this one is just different.watching event and the environment changing right beyond your eyes is just unbelievable. And the beauty of this game on my top range new build ;the graphic is something else. Let just say I have not touched mw3 in the past week. There is something or somewhere to discover everyday.it is also unbelievable that the game is free. I can see guild war becoming the multi billion dollar franchise like call of duty in coming years. This if they concentrate on doing things well and making it bette .rather concentrating on excessive profit. If this game had been sold for £50 , it would have been worth it. They should avoid the temptation of the subscription model.Focus on the community and improve the game . For anybody wondering whether to buy, forget those expert reviews. Buy buy.… Expand
  87. Warfist
    Sep 5, 2012
    8
    Not the revolutionary genre changing game many of GW2's more zealous fans tried to tout pre-release, but a very solid, very good MMO with plenty to do and best of all no subscription fee.
  88. 200mg
    Sep 9, 2012
    9
    This game is NEXT LEVEL. Absolutely fantastic graphics, gameplay, everything....You can tell the devs really paid attention to detail, it's the little things like auction from your backpack, instant mail, the robust travel system, the list goes on and on and on. This is an MMO milestone!!! If you like MMO's you will love this game!
  89. Shadamehr
    Sep 8, 2012
    9
    This is what WoW should have been if Blizzard had the courage to do a revamp. I'll be honest, my first opinion wasn't great, just so much to take in with no idea what I was doing. Played for an hour then didn't come back to it for a few days. Then I found the more I got into it, the more depth I found. The amount of detail is amazing. If you are an explorer type like me you're going toThis is what WoW should have been if Blizzard had the courage to do a revamp. I'll be honest, my first opinion wasn't great, just so much to take in with no idea what I was doing. Played for an hour then didn't come back to it for a few days. Then I found the more I got into it, the more depth I found. The amount of detail is amazing. If you are an explorer type like me you're going to have a blast, this game encourages exploration. Finding and completing secret areas are real achievements. My only worry is that a lot of players, PvP players in particular, who don't like challenges while leveling or taking too long to get to end level (its the reason why WoW's ezy mode leveling is so popular), will force leveling nerfs on Arenanet. As a 5 year player that gave up on WoW last year during the B Team's Cataclysm, I thought I'd found my WoW replacement in SWTOR, but their stupid choices of adopting a game engine that wasn't theirs and a rigid led by the nose main game questing has dulled my enthusiasm for it. GW2 has none of the stunlocks or flopping around for the best part of minute while the game loads up graphics that SWTOR suffers from (eg. exiting Corellia, Alderaan spaceports, Tattooine, Balmorra etc.).
    The game actually has elites (called Veterans) roaming the countryside. It encourages grouping up (you don't have to be in an actual party, you all get credit so long as you participate) to defeat them, or you can try soloing them for a greater challenge. It also encourages rezzing fallen players, they show up as icons on your minimap, and you earn xp for doing so. The only downside I can see is its crafting system, out of the 3 MMOs I'd rate SWTOR's the best and GW2's the weakest. You are always starved of mats. I have a sneaking suspicion this is to encourage impatient players to buy gems (an in game currency) from their online store. Apart from that 9/10.    … Expand
  90. AlexBugella
    Sep 1, 2012
    10
    So, I've been looking for a good MMO for awhile, and I think I found it. GW2 is no doubt a great MMO. The character creation seems to provide players with enough to make their character unique, in terms of looks and even play style. The combat I find to be really interesting. Each weapon type has its own skill associated with them and the more you use these weapons, the more you use theSo, I've been looking for a good MMO for awhile, and I think I found it. GW2 is no doubt a great MMO. The character creation seems to provide players with enough to make their character unique, in terms of looks and even play style. The combat I find to be really interesting. Each weapon type has its own skill associated with them and the more you use these weapons, the more you use the weapon type, the better skills you unlock for the weapon. Fights are pretty strategic at times, especially when fighting higher level enemies and using your various abilities, including the new dodge mechanic. Crafting is pretty much the same as other MMOs, useless, but in GW2, Crafting gives you tons of XP. The in-game world is pretty huge and with a way point system, discover way points and teleport to them later for a small fee. Now, the really reason to play an MMO is to play with your friends and tons of people, which GW2 doesn't disappoint in their new PvP game type, World v World v World. Its really exactly what it sounds like, 3 servers fight each other on 1 map, for 3 days. each server has their own area to defend from the other 2 servers but theirs also an unclaimed section of the map where the servers fight for constantly and which ever server holds this area, pretty much wins the match. But this game type is some much fun, in a flock easily 20 to 40 people heading to an enemy controlled base, clashing with their group of 20 to 40 people, and its all out war and so satisfying when you are slowly gaining ground. I would tell you to get the game just to play WvWvW, but honestly, every aspect of the game makes this a good buy, and hey, you pay the flat 60 bucks and no subscriptions, if you want to put more money into it you can, to get things like XP boosts or vanity items. I wouldnt be surprised if we start to see WoW fade out because of this game.… Expand
  91. skeith
    Sep 20, 2012
    10
    This is the best MMORPG I have ever played so far. It doesn't suck your money like a hungry vacuum. Leveling is at ease. Full voice acting in main story. Exploring is also fun and actually rewarding. Very soothing music. Please, try the game, it doesn't even need monthly subscription to play.
  92. KCSW
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    Fun game play. Nice Graphics. bye trinity, good riddance. Funnest MMORPG I have played in a while. Recommended for everyone.

    See you all in game.
  93. coustoe
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    Best game I've played in 5 years, great gameplay mechanics, decent story line, great art and the best part? no subscription fees, the Auction House system is amazing, its like actually trading stocks. I can't count all the innovative features, including the skill system, everything felt easy, like I was never grinding, quest are easy and the majority are autojoin, no more looking forBest game I've played in 5 years, great gameplay mechanics, decent story line, great art and the best part? no subscription fees, the Auction House system is amazing, its like actually trading stocks. I can't count all the innovative features, including the skill system, everything felt easy, like I was never grinding, quest are easy and the majority are autojoin, no more looking for groups. the fighting mechanics are amazing with lots of action fighting mechanics, much better than tera.

    Guildwars2 thanks for restoring my faith that mmos can be great again.    … Expand
  94. kaldric30
    Sep 9, 2012
    9
    Great game. Graphics are amazing. The events are a nice replacement to one-time quests. Waypoints make travel easy. Combat is very fluid, and with limited hotkeys very easy to learn.
  95. ZDB
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    Despite a few flaws at launch, this game is the new gold standard for MMORPGs. I've been playing MMORPGs since Ultima Online and no game has provided the amount of entertainment that Guild Wars 2 has in the brief time that I've played it. Some games might have done certain elements better; WoW has better dungeons, SWToR had a better story, but those games were seriously lacking outside ofDespite a few flaws at launch, this game is the new gold standard for MMORPGs. I've been playing MMORPGs since Ultima Online and no game has provided the amount of entertainment that Guild Wars 2 has in the brief time that I've played it. Some games might have done certain elements better; WoW has better dungeons, SWToR had a better story, but those games were seriously lacking outside of their strengths. Guild Wars 2 has the total package: fun PvE with epic world bosses, PvP that is well balanced and addicting, and a story that draws you in and immerses you in the lore of the world. Oh and did I mention it looks fantastic?… Expand
  96. Ridd21
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    Guild wars 2 is a amazing game is it perfect? no but its close enough, yes it has bugs that need to be fixed and they are as quick as possible but coming from a former WOW player of 4 years this game feels modern it feels up to date unlike other MMO's ive played including SWTOR and rift. people worried about PVE because no raids well I can tell you take 5 people in the dungeons in EM andGuild wars 2 is a amazing game is it perfect? no but its close enough, yes it has bugs that need to be fixed and they are as quick as possible but coming from a former WOW player of 4 years this game feels modern it feels up to date unlike other MMO's ive played including SWTOR and rift. people worried about PVE because no raids well I can tell you take 5 people in the dungeons in EM and you will encounter many deaths. This game isn't easy as say WOW everything isn't handed to you on a silver platter. The basic mob in GW2 can kill you its a skill game and if you can't learn when to dodge your going to struggle. its no longer looking at a rotation like crazy or waiting for Deadly boss mods to call stuff out for you to move in GW2 its a team effort in dungeons 3 people cant carry the other 2 players if they just don't cut it like you can it most MMO's. people have been wanting a game with a challenge and is fun well here it is. and if you don't cut it like probably half of the 139 negative reviews don't go fussing on site sayings it a crap game because its far from it. GW2 is a beautiful game both in art and graphics with the talk of maybe allowing Direct X 11 in the future as a option will only make it more beautiful of a game. The combat is fun the traits and skills are fun and as a person with a lvl 80 Thief I can tell you their is plenty of endgame its actually almost overwhelming all the things to do at 80. Dungeons for awesome looking gear. WVWvW is a blast (and I'm not a big pvp person) and farming to get ready for the Legendary's. just to name a few but the list could go way on. Overall if your tired of outdated MMO's or new to MMO's I think you will engoy it.… Expand
  97. Dhurk
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    GW2 is an amazing game. I think it have features for lots of kind of players. Casual players can walk over an astonishing world carefully created, play structured PvP (with exactly the same character as a hardcore player), etc. Hardcore players can play Dungeons (story and explorable mode), play World vs World, re-roll PvE with different Personal Stories, collect weapons and armors skins,GW2 is an amazing game. I think it have features for lots of kind of players. Casual players can walk over an astonishing world carefully created, play structured PvP (with exactly the same character as a hardcore player), etc. Hardcore players can play Dungeons (story and explorable mode), play World vs World, re-roll PvE with different Personal Stories, collect weapons and armors skins, get some titles... One nice thing is that you get xp on almost everything you do (crafting, killing, quests, world exploration). Of course GW2 doesn't have years of polishing, but it had a truly amazing start. If that's not enough: it has zero fee!!!… Expand
  98. Fritz91
    Sep 20, 2012
    9
    I am thoroughly enjoying GW2. I can jump in and play for an hour or so, or I can play for 6, it's all easy and fun. I never feel the grind, and the world is stunning. Overall, it's just a really good game.
  99. michaelnator
    Mar 16, 2014
    9
    I will start off by saying that I have put in well over 500 hours of game play in Guild Wars 2!
    This is overall an excellent game!
    The combat system in the game is excellent with the combat dodges, weapon based abilities and combo abilities! The first time going through the game and leveling up is the most fun you will ever have in an MMO, there is 0 grind involved in leveling up in    I will start off by saying that I have put in well over 500 hours of game play in Guild Wars 2!
    This is overall an excellent game!
    The combat system in the game is excellent with the combat dodges, weapon based abilities and combo abilities!
    The first time going through the game and leveling up is the most fun you will ever have in an MMO, there is 0 grind involved in leveling up in fact, if you choose not to do the quests in the mainland you can choose to level up by playing the world Vs word if it more suits your style.
    Each dungeon in the game is very fun and different from one another with multiple paths, a story mode and unique boss fights!
    Also, there is a PvP arena which uses seperate gear from the mainand. You unlock new weapon skins and finishers by leveling up here, which gives a great incentive for many players to participate.

    However, I do remove 1 point from a perfect 10/10 score for three reasons.

    1. There is not much to do in the "endgame" once you have acquired the best gear in the game
    2. The content added to the game does not interest me much. A good majority of the content is called "living story" which is basically just a one time boss fight, which usually has it's bugs on release and generally ruins the overall experience of the content.
    3. The World vs World PvP in this game, despite being an amazing experience for the first few weeks you play the game, can get boring rather quickly because of the concept. This is largely due to the way that it is played, which is zerg vs zerg combat and the bigger zerg wins.    … Expand
  100. Twocents
    Aug 31, 2012
    9
    Too many people giving this game an undeserved zero. While the worse elements of this game could be rated as low as a 7.5, the best elements could easily be given a perfect 10. Having scrutinized this game over anything and everything, my rating would range from 8.5 to 9.5, with my consistent rating at 9.25. My advice for anyone reading user reviews, ignore anyone who put down a zero. ReadToo many people giving this game an undeserved zero. While the worse elements of this game could be rated as low as a 7.5, the best elements could easily be given a perfect 10. Having scrutinized this game over anything and everything, my rating would range from 8.5 to 9.5, with my consistent rating at 9.25. My advice for anyone reading user reviews, ignore anyone who put down a zero. Read what people wrote who gave this game anywhere from a 6 to a 9, as their reviews aren't driven off some immature emotional outcry. Also, if you are still unsure about this game, wait a while. Watch videos, read reviews, read about the classes and gameplay. If you are still on the fence, don't buy it, or play it at a friends house. Just don't buy it and rate it a zero for no real reason, as no game really deserves a 0 unless it flat out does not work.… Expand
Page:

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.
    Read full review
  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
See all critic reviews »