Guild Wars 2

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

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3192 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,380 out of 3192
  2. Mixed: 386 out of 3192
  3. Negative: 426 out of 3192
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  1. Piata
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    Phenomenal game. It removes a lot of the things I hate about MMOs (monthly fee, gear grinds, pointless time sinks, the holy trinity of classes) and adds a bunch of great things (rewards for exploration, jumping puzzles, dynamic combat, branching story lines, "open" quests). There's a lot of value here for $60.
  2. wizegamer
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    with a decent machine you can play this game with almost max graphics and it looks amazing. small things make a big diffrence birds and small forest animals cover the forests you never feel alone even in big zones. the events and collecting are made so that you are not competeing with other people which is a plus can tell you how many times ive run for a tree or collection spot to havewith a decent machine you can play this game with almost max graphics and it looks amazing. small things make a big diffrence birds and small forest animals cover the forests you never feel alone even in big zones. the events and collecting are made so that you are not competeing with other people which is a plus can tell you how many times ive run for a tree or collection spot to have another person beet me only to realize that hey i get to collect to. when you die you get a grace period to bring your self back or others to raise you. and dont get me started on the fact that its FREE TO PLAY best mmo as of right now.… Expand
  3. KevinCam
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    great game, great graphics, not too happy that sPvP is seperate from the main game, I guess there is WvW for that. on that note, WvW brings back the good old memories of RvR from DAOC.
  4. intruder313
    Sep 21, 2012
    9
    Having played almost every MMO since the dawn of the genre (right back to MUDs) I've been jaded for a very long time and was almost hesitant to try yet another - the fact it was Subs-Free helped me overcome that reticence.
    I love it. While I've yet to reach the "Endgame" I can certainly say that so far it appears to be the best MMO ever - to the point that I've got 7 characters already    Having played almost every MMO since the dawn of the genre (right back to MUDs) I've been jaded for a very long time and was almost hesitant to try yet another - the fact it was Subs-Free helped me overcome that reticence.
    I love it. While I've yet to reach the "Endgame" I can certainly say that so far it appears to be the best MMO ever - to the point that I've got 7 characters already and regularly playing 5 of them without feeling bored or feel like I'm wasting time I should be spending on my "Main" (the fact that a lot of the game is Account-shared helps). Dynamic Events are fun without being annoying like Rift's Rifts, the Hearts revolutionize questing and deliver on the promises WAR made about questing but absolutely failed to deliver.
    It's almost a no-brainer this one: once you've bought the box it's free forever. You'll probably find you do spend money on increasing the stingy Bank space and you might want more than 5 characters but otherwise the rest of the opportunities to spend money look easy to ignore/resist.    … Expand
  5. Deadalon
    Sep 20, 2012
    5
    Like many others - Ive now played alot more and Ive got abit of diffrent opinions about few things. The big bad thing about the game is the dungeons. They are just bad in so many ways. The settings are underwhelming. The encounters are just boring most of the time, unbalance and now ANet devs have changed alot of things and broken ALOT and created alot of new bugs that make them evenLike many others - Ive now played alot more and Ive got abit of diffrent opinions about few things. The big bad thing about the game is the dungeons. They are just bad in so many ways. The settings are underwhelming. The encounters are just boring most of the time, unbalance and now ANet devs have changed alot of things and broken ALOT and created alot of new bugs that make them even worse. FOr example - ppl are not getting rewards cause of a bug that penalies ppl that run the dungeons to quickly. THe thing is - some ppl that are not doing speed runs are still getting low or no rewards.

    SO stay away from the dungeons if you want to enjoy the game abit longer. If your like me - you would probably quit when you see how badly they are designed and implemented.    … Expand
  6. mranere
    Sep 20, 2012
    9
    The only problems I have with this title are the dungeons are a annoying, everything is a boss it seems and there are a lot of them. The rewards are, generally speaking useless and when they are good, it's not for your class. But I don't dungeon much. The other is that rewards seems to be on the weak side of things, specifically the loot. WvW - it's a blast, I love it! Overall, outstandingThe only problems I have with this title are the dungeons are a annoying, everything is a boss it seems and there are a lot of them. The rewards are, generally speaking useless and when they are good, it's not for your class. But I don't dungeon much. The other is that rewards seems to be on the weak side of things, specifically the loot. WvW - it's a blast, I love it! Overall, outstanding title I intend on playing for years to come.… Expand
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  10. Zucheto
    Sep 20, 2012
    9
    I have been looking for a game to keep my attention since I got bored of WoW a couple years ago, but nothing really has kept me too entertained for very long... until Guild Wars 2. Within the first 2 days I had put 20 hours into the game, and I have not even scratched the surface. Tons of stuff to do, great combat system, that is very interactive and actually takes skill to do well. IfI have been looking for a game to keep my attention since I got bored of WoW a couple years ago, but nothing really has kept me too entertained for very long... until Guild Wars 2. Within the first 2 days I had put 20 hours into the game, and I have not even scratched the surface. Tons of stuff to do, great combat system, that is very interactive and actually takes skill to do well. If you're trying to get off the WoW train, then this is where you want to go.… Expand
  11. MsSpecialEd
    Sep 19, 2012
    10
    Most fun I've had in an MMO. The game is beautiful, tons of fun and addicting for all! The pve, pvp, and WvWvW is all amazing and really well done. Finally a game where you can do whatever you want.. Explore, do dungeons, pvp, WvW, and more! Also, this game is harder than your average MMO. Which is good! Who doesn't like a challenge?
  12. 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.
  13. 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
  14. Nataraja
    Sep 17, 2012
    7
    I will preface this with a caveat - I tried very hard to like the original GW and just never got into it. I am also very picky about my games right now and fantasy games are a bit stale to say least.

    I much prefer a more recent game that I will not go into but it lacks any sort of decent end game. To me that is where GW2 shines with the open world events, sidekick level system (so you    I will preface this with a caveat - I tried very hard to like the original GW and just never got into it. I am also very picky about my games right now and fantasy games are a bit stale to say least.

    I much prefer a more recent game that I will not go into but it lacks any sort of decent end game. To me that is where GW2 shines with the open world events, sidekick level system (so you can't face roll content lower than you) and the dynamic events that alter the world - but what really shines is the PvP, both structured and WvWvW - Especially the WvWvW. I can lose days in that setting.

    The instances are decent and the lack of a trinity is AWESOME. However there are things that drive me nuts:

    - the game gets repetitious and leveling an alt is tedious at best
    - the dynamic events follow about 3 or maybe 4 templates and get old
    - there are some unresolved bugs that seem to continue to evade the devs
    - Its another -ANOTHER - fantasy game
    - Asura are annoyingly cutesy and should be exterminated like the rats that they are
    - The setup for the cash shop makes it seem like ArenaNet constantly has its hand out
    - There are parts of the game that should just be totally reworked (the abysmal writing and voice acting in places - especially the Norn area)

    So its a decent game and for $60, assuming you don't go CE or use the cash shop, is better than most single player games - and it has no sub fee so you can come and go guilt free.

    So its a decent game - but is it revolutionary? Not really. Its a very VERY safe game compared to other recent games and in the end will be a nice diversion from things that are truly revolutionary that I consume like a rabid animal.    … Expand
  15. 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
  16. SchroederRock
    Sep 17, 2012
    9
    Having put countless hours into Guild Wars, I can now say with confidence that this is the MMORPG that stands the best chance of dethroning World of Warcraft. It's also one that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Guild Wars 2 is the modern MMORPG that offers a more streamlined and comfortable experience in open-world exploring and PvP for players of all skills/experience. And instead of ignoringHaving put countless hours into Guild Wars, I can now say with confidence that this is the MMORPG that stands the best chance of dethroning World of Warcraft. It's also one that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Guild Wars 2 is the modern MMORPG that offers a more streamlined and comfortable experience in open-world exploring and PvP for players of all skills/experience. And instead of ignoring players who want to be crafty or explorative, GW2 rewards them. I've really enjoyed some of the elements Guild Wars 2 has borrowed from other excellent action/adventure games (like Skyrim or Assassin's Creed). Those elements help give you drive to do certain things to completion, which often nets you achievements and bonus gear, XP, and an assortment of treasures. The game isn't a radical departure from MMORPG's, but it offers enough of a refresh to earn your $60 investment (without forcing you to buy into a subscription). There is a small learning curve to parts of this game, but nothing is unlearnable or un-masterable. If you've been waiting for a game to come along to pull you away from WoW's stale-ish experience or you just gave up on MMORPGs because of their lack of innovation, Guild Wars 2's world is one you need to experience.… Expand
  17. 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.
  18. gameplayer
    Sep 17, 2012
    4
    buy if you like semi free to play pve and uncomplicated pvp with awkward, counter intuitive controls, avoid if you like games a little more challenging
  19. BrokenPipe
    Sep 16, 2012
    9
    Game in which everyone will find something for you. No matter how much time you can dedicate to game, you can fully enjoy it. I think this is what make it completely different from other MMO games.
  20. mmomaster
    Sep 16, 2012
    10
    Before I write my review, I just want to get something out there. It is really frustrating for me to see all these bad reviews based solely on account hackings, launch hiccups, or poor customer service due to the unexpected influx of new players. These issues have nothing to do with the overall quality of the game, and will have no impact on prospective buyers in a few months time. ThisBefore I write my review, I just want to get something out there. It is really frustrating for me to see all these bad reviews based solely on account hackings, launch hiccups, or poor customer service due to the unexpected influx of new players. These issues have nothing to do with the overall quality of the game, and will have no impact on prospective buyers in a few months time. This creates a severe imbalance in terms of user reviews, as those who encounter problems such as those I mentioned above come here to rage, while those who have a had a great customer service experience or no hackings just expect that from such a well polished, fantastic game and don't bother coming here to review. And don't get me started on people just flat-out lying on here. Yes, you can play with friends. Yes, you have more than 5 skills. I honestly think most of the people on here rating less than 6 are either being bought out by rival companies, or played the game for 30 minutes during the initial launch. Anyways, now that that's off my chest. This is the without a doubt the best MMO out there. The visuals are picturesque, and the stories are entertaining and even humorous. But when it comes to an MMO, the most important things (at least in my opinion) are combat and questing system. These areas in MMOS have sat relatively stagnant since basically forever. Gear based combat with little focus on player skill, and quest-hub based fetch/kill quests. Guildwars 2 takes huge steps towards remedying these awful aspects of MMOs. The questing system is incredible, with a great balance of the random dynamic events, exploration and renown hearts. And the combat is extremely skill based, with gear mostly being used to compliment your build. (I'm not going to go into a bunch of detail here, hopefully any potential players are interested enough to read some detailed reviews on these systems by people who can actually write)

    One of my favorite non gameplay related features is the complete lack of subscription fees. Becasue of this, Arenanet is not incentivized to make boring, grindy content to keep players busy while they drain 15$ a month out of them. This means that (no matter how sad this sounds) I'm actually excited to play this game because its fun, not because I'm being dragged through it by a carrot-on-a-stick leveling/gear treadmill.    … Expand
  21. geohams
    Sep 16, 2012
    10
    Like WoW in its time, Guild Wars 2 borrows the finer aspects of its predecessors, but also blends in enough variety and freshness to give it the edge we always craved from the "WoW killer" MMORPG. Stylistically, it feels like what a Final Fantasy MMO should've been, but with the technical crispness of WoW's best moments, strong world PvP like Dark Age of Camelot, and world group eventsLike WoW in its time, Guild Wars 2 borrows the finer aspects of its predecessors, but also blends in enough variety and freshness to give it the edge we always craved from the "WoW killer" MMORPG. Stylistically, it feels like what a Final Fantasy MMO should've been, but with the technical crispness of WoW's best moments, strong world PvP like Dark Age of Camelot, and world group events such as those found in Rift.

    Incredibly, the PvE aspects are as good as any game I've played, which I felt was a huge shortcoming of the original Guild Wars. Granted, I'm only a short way through the plotline, but the way it's going I don't think I'll be bored with any aspect of the game any time soon: whether multiplayer or solo, against players or monsters, questing or crafting or simply exploring the rich game world, everything in GW2 scintillates.

    This game rules. Buy it, play it, love it, tell your friends, and don't forget to go outside once in a while...    … Expand
  22. sangct
    Sep 14, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is awesome, it was more than I could expect. The game is fantastic and I really love all the beautiful details... the quality is way above any other MMO I've played. The personal story is intriguing and you can't stop playing.
  23. Tykune
    Sep 14, 2012
    7
    This game is better than the other moderately entertaining games out there, such as TERA and some of the other F2P games out there, but while the graphics are stunning and the story play is stellar, there are some flaws that this game acquired. I am not at all saying that this game is bad, but has a lot of potential, and has a long way to go to fix itself up to from that cracked crystalThis game is better than the other moderately entertaining games out there, such as TERA and some of the other F2P games out there, but while the graphics are stunning and the story play is stellar, there are some flaws that this game acquired. I am not at all saying that this game is bad, but has a lot of potential, and has a long way to go to fix itself up to from that cracked crystal gem to a flawless diamond gem.

    Pros: Great Graphics - It is rare to find awesome, cutting edge graphics in any other game. This one in particular, takes the cake in being unique and note-worthy.

    Excellent Story - The fact you can pick your own background and progress through the story on a global scale, yet blend together with other players in the world around you, is a very rare thing to find in an MMORPG. This is what makes the game in itself unique and fun to play.

    Cons: Buggy and Unfulfilling Events - The events themselves are quite buggy and they leave a feeling of unfulfillment. You could litrally kill 3 things, and go take a dump while they event wears out, and you will get a gold medal and max rewards. This is something in my opinion should get fixed right away.

    Unbalanced Classes - Some of the classes are boring and unpolished, and as NCsoft stated 'unfinished', except for warrior of course. Some of the classes are useless in PvP and in some cases, nearly useless when soloing.. or at least makes it extremely difficult.

    Summary - In general, this game is not too bad at all.. in fact, it is great and holds a lot of potential, but it needs some sprucing up and fixes here and there, and a bit of changes before it can really be worth its money. I'd honestly say let the game mature a bit, then maybe NCsoft can clean it up.    … Expand
  24. HashuePoe
    Sep 14, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is the most original MMO in an over saturated market. This game continues to entertain and deliver new thrills. Arena Net has designed a game that encourages exploration and makes the world feel vast and alive. Guild Wars 2 has also created the most dynamic and interesting combat system. If you try to just button mash or spam an attack you will not succeed. The end gameGuild Wars 2 is the most original MMO in an over saturated market. This game continues to entertain and deliver new thrills. Arena Net has designed a game that encourages exploration and makes the world feel vast and alive. Guild Wars 2 has also created the most dynamic and interesting combat system. If you try to just button mash or spam an attack you will not succeed. The end game content is vast and very challenging. This creates an environment where everyone wants to compete and play since the dungeons are designed for 5 players only. Each one of the 5 players are required to play and if they have a weakness it will be exposed. The crafting system is a breath of fresh air and never feels tedious or awkward. I highly suggest this game to any type of gamer. Guild Wars 2 offers something for any game type.… Expand
  25. Dusty_Hayes
    Sep 14, 2012
    9
    Guild Wars 2 is one of the best MMO's to be released in many years, its skill based mechanics is superb creating a really fun and addictive PvE PvP and WvWvW content and environment. ArenaNet has crafted their game very well, the aesthetics have been carefully crafted and fitted together, coupled with Jeremy Soule score it makes Guild Wars 2 look, sound and feel amazing while stillGuild Wars 2 is one of the best MMO's to be released in many years, its skill based mechanics is superb creating a really fun and addictive PvE PvP and WvWvW content and environment. ArenaNet has crafted their game very well, the aesthetics have been carefully crafted and fitted together, coupled with Jeremy Soule score it makes Guild Wars 2 look, sound and feel amazing while still setting its grim yet beautiful tone within the Guild Wars lore. Guild Wars 2 innovates the genre with very simple and yet very effective innovations and sets new high standards and mile stones for future MMO and all this with no subscription fees, ArenaNet as just not only put everything else in the genre to shame, but most of the MMO developers and their publishers too deep shame.… Expand
  26. 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
  27. CurtisQ
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    This is one of the finest games I have ever played. It succeeds in all areas that I care about in an MMO. It is fun to play by myself and interact with other people I don't know and its also fun to play with friends you know. You can play with any of your friends thanks to the downleveling system which I think is an awesome idea. The world is beautiful and charters look great, the storyThis is one of the finest games I have ever played. It succeeds in all areas that I care about in an MMO. It is fun to play by myself and interact with other people I don't know and its also fun to play with friends you know. You can play with any of your friends thanks to the downleveling system which I think is an awesome idea. The world is beautiful and charters look great, the story quests are also great in my opinion, its the only MMO I have ever played that has made me care about the story in any way shape or form. All around an amazing MMO and no subscription fees! It doesnt get much better than this for $60 if you ask me.… Expand
  28. BrinZalazar
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    I'm very happy with GW2, I have enjoyed every second I have played the game and look forward to being able to spend more time with it. There is so much depth, but it's easy for me to pick up and play and learn new things. If you are on the fence I'd say now is a great time to start playing. :)
  29. Khalisto
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    For Presentation they get a 10! There is detail in everything you encounter even the idle character animations.
    Graphics on a high end PC is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, true artistry! Not just higher polygon count or pixels.
    Sound is a perfect 10! The music and the ambient sound lures u in this fantasy world. Gameplay is by far the best offered in any game period! You got    For Presentation they get a 10! There is detail in everything you encounter even the idle character animations.
    Graphics on a high end PC is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, true artistry! Not just higher polygon count or pixels.
    Sound is a perfect 10! The music and the ambient sound lures u in this fantasy world.
    Gameplay is by far the best offered in any game period! You got strategy, fact action clicking, responsive moves, counter moves the combat actually feels alive! Not just stand there an spam 1 2 and 3...
    Lasting Appeal receives a 9! The world is huge and u like great exploring this world on a main character as well as on an alt. having different races and classes give me many month of enjoyment    … Expand
  30. TheBrutal
    Sep 13, 2012
    2
    Game play is boring and feels very disconnected. When you die it sends you to the ground like your having a last stand which i found to be very frustrating and frankly just not needed. As for questing it was a bit different which was nice but if you wanted to play alone and quest you can just count that out because its based on there being many people there to help you. The games notGame play is boring and feels very disconnected. When you die it sends you to the ground like your having a last stand which i found to be very frustrating and frankly just not needed. As for questing it was a bit different which was nice but if you wanted to play alone and quest you can just count that out because its based on there being many people there to help you. The games not bad if you've never played an mmo before but if you are a veteran it going to be the same thing you've seen everywhere else. I give it a 2 because the graphics were good but it had nothing else going for it.… Expand
  31. MrBungle420
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    Seriously the most innovative MMO.

    Any low reviews are people with out-dated computers, WoW fanboys or outright Blizzard employees.

    There is NOTHING bad about this game.
  32. Dear
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    I followed the creation and production of Guild Wars 2 for the past three years, and I have to say it has lived up to and even surpassed my greatest expectations. I love this game, from the gorgeous artistry in every detail, to the way gameplay is so seamless you progress without meaning to, to the masterfully executed storytelling that truly makes you feel important, a direct force in anI followed the creation and production of Guild Wars 2 for the past three years, and I have to say it has lived up to and even surpassed my greatest expectations. I love this game, from the gorgeous artistry in every detail, to the way gameplay is so seamless you progress without meaning to, to the masterfully executed storytelling that truly makes you feel important, a direct force in an actually, really, truly epic fight to save the world. Arenanet has been brilliant the whole time, by the way. They've done a most commendable job in communicating with and paying attention to their fans/playerbase on a refreshingly personal level. 10/10, 5 stars, two thumbs up, and a standing ovation.… Expand
  33. TheVindelator
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    Loving this game so far. You'll see Guild Wars 2 clones in the coming years. WARNING: You need a really good computer to run this. The minimum system specs aren't going to cut it. This game is more demanding on your comp than anything I've ever seen.
  34. 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
  35. 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.
  36. 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
  37. Gonko
    Sep 13, 2012
    10
    Fantastic game, closest mmo to "perfect" I've seen since wow, Plus, with no sub fee, you don't feel pressured to play to get your moneys-worth out of it, staggeringly good PvE exploration and WvW is fantastic.
  38. Darxide
    Sep 12, 2012
    1
    Boring enough to not care to write an entire review on.

    Do yourself a favor and pass it up for something more interesting and engaging like The Secret World.
  39. 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
  40. otinanai
    Sep 12, 2012
    3
    GW2 starts off very strong in the first 20 levels but most players quickly realize how poor the quest(dynamic event/heart) variety is. I can't even count how many times I had to defend a camp from X waves of enemies, or collect objects on the ground for an NPC. Entering a new zone doesn't feel new at all. Dynamic events become trivial when the players make a zerg, and most are impossibleGW2 starts off very strong in the first 20 levels but most players quickly realize how poor the quest(dynamic event/heart) variety is. I can't even count how many times I had to defend a camp from X waves of enemies, or collect objects on the ground for an NPC. Entering a new zone doesn't feel new at all. Dynamic events become trivial when the players make a zerg, and most are impossible when solo/duo.

    The game makes it difficult and not fun to group with friends. If you get 20 meters away from someone in your group, they disappear both on the screen and on the map. Doing hearts pretty much forces group members to solo, and ignoring hearts doesn't feel right as you are skipping a lot of content.

    The PvE endgame is mediocre at best. The level 80 zone requires absolutely no skill, only a big enough zerg, time and patience.

    PvP combat is plagued by poor class balance and unnecessary new features like the downed state, which creates frustration whether you kill or die. sPvP is completely cut off from the rest of the game, and its progression is only cosmetic, which only a small minority of players will find interesting.

    WvW has poor performance on most computers (for example my PC gets 60+ fps in PvE but only 15 in large battles in WvW), lacks any progression which will turn off most PvPers, and only allows one and only one playstyle if you want to be effective: Zerging. Arena.net tried to imitate DAoC's brilliant RvR, but they decided not to copy important features like realm ranks/realm points, long duration crowd control and 8-man groups (to allow more playstyles like group vs group, small group, soloing) and a huge PvP dungeon like the amazing Darkness Falls.

    The positives are that the game is buy to play and doesn't require a subscription, and that the developers seem to have ambition, which gives me hope that the game might improve over the next years.    … Expand
  41. 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.
  42. Ultramerican
    Sep 12, 2012
    10
    There are a lot of people throwing poor reviews at this game to be edgy, and it's pretty unfair. I've played dozens of MMOs, from launch, including WoW, Warhammer, City of Heroes/Villains, Rift, UO, EQ, Champions Online, SWTOR, Asheron's Call 1 & 2, and countless others. This game is better than the best parts of all of them. It polishes every mechanic, every zone, every experience to aThere are a lot of people throwing poor reviews at this game to be edgy, and it's pretty unfair. I've played dozens of MMOs, from launch, including WoW, Warhammer, City of Heroes/Villains, Rift, UO, EQ, Champions Online, SWTOR, Asheron's Call 1 & 2, and countless others. This game is better than the best parts of all of them. It polishes every mechanic, every zone, every experience to a brilliant gleaming shine. I didn't raid more than 3-4 nights, total, in the 5+ years I played WoW, through every expansion up to a month after Cataclysm's launch. I'm a PvPer at heart, and become bored if the combat is in any way unresponsive (Warhammer, Rift, SWTOR, Champions Online, etc) or if the game itself can't compel me to reach maximum level.

    This game has me enjoying leveling so much that I'm not quite maximum level yet, simply enjoying the process. I hate leveling. And I love leveling in Guild Wars 2. It's incredible. I've barely scratched World versus World and structured PvP, and those are my main goals in the long term. On top of that, the combat is responsive and unique, requiring awareness of what's going on outside your UI. There are no enemy cast bars. There is no "healer" or "tank" class, every class can do a bit of everything in different ways.

    The game world is gorgeous, the character customization is extensive, the content is refreshing and avoids being monotonous. This is the best MMO I've ever played, not because its predecessors were terrible, but because it learned from everything they did and avoided every mistake, while approaching each part of an MMORPG from a new, creative angle. I give this 10/10 without hesitation after just over two weeks of playing, over a hundred hours in total.    … Expand
  43. MuthSera
    Sep 12, 2012
    0
    Pros> The game is so damn beautiful it's astonishing. The voice acting and pacing are pretty nice, for sure. Probably the best WoW-like MMO that I've ever played in every single aspect.. But this game only excels when compared to WoW.. which is like comparing yourself to a chimpanzee with down syndrome.
    Cons> Guild wars 2 does not even began to compare to Guild wars 1 when it comes to    Pros> The game is so damn beautiful it's astonishing. The voice acting and pacing are pretty nice, for sure. Probably the best WoW-like MMO that I've ever played in every single aspect.. But this game only excels when compared to WoW.. which is like comparing yourself to a chimpanzee with down syndrome.
    Cons> Guild wars 2 does not even began to compare to Guild wars 1 when it comes to PVP. PVP was all I did, really. We had the previous capability customize all our skills and come up with unique combinations, and we had the ability to select 2 classes. We had structured PVP, 4v4, GVG, HA, Hero Arenas, Codex Arena, Kurzicks vs Luxons in capture point battles, fort aspenwood, and even 2 team colaberative missions. We had hundreds of hexes with unique effects, now reduced to causing some condition or another. All of that was lost. I mean, I really think the game is AMAZINGLY polished, but what made guild wars 1 so damn good, what brought all us fans to it, was that it was very unlike WoW.. and BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THIS: In the ways that guild wars 2 is like WoW, it's better than WoW, but if it had been able to keep it's own unique strengths in the process instead of ditching them to be like WoW, we'd have really, actually, had the perfect game. :x I still have high hopes, however, as Arena net is nothing if not made up of brilliant members capable of correcting design mistakes.    … 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. 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
  46. iiro
    Sep 12, 2012
    5
    My character r was engineer, and it was ridiciusly underpowered!
    I leveled till 35 and entered first dungeon, and my skills SUCKED in there.
    All i could do is practically auto attack from further away on bosses, becouse i dont have any other ranged skill, Seriosly? Im **** engineer, i got a rifle and bullets, Why does it sucks and doesnt have any skills? Was disappointed in that.    My character r was engineer, and it was ridiciusly underpowered!
    I leveled till 35 and entered first dungeon, and my skills SUCKED in there.
    All i could do is practically auto attack from further away on bosses, becouse i dont have any other ranged skill, Seriosly? Im **** engineer, i got a rifle and bullets, Why does it sucks and doesnt have any skills?

    Was disappointed in that. Otherwise its good solid game, Just skills on engineer sucks, thats why im not playing it.    … Expand
  47. elcritico
    Sep 12, 2012
    6
    After about level 15 you will have every weapon skill learned, and after a few levels the rest of the 4 offensive skills you can use, at which point is when the weapon/skill system starts showing its limiting and suffocating side - play like the game tells you or GTFO. The game is great for the first week, and after that you start noticing that it really has nothing to keep you playing.After about level 15 you will have every weapon skill learned, and after a few levels the rest of the 4 offensive skills you can use, at which point is when the weapon/skill system starts showing its limiting and suffocating side - play like the game tells you or GTFO. The game is great for the first week, and after that you start noticing that it really has nothing to keep you playing. Structured PvP part of the game is disconnected from the rest, and really feels and plays like a separate game with the same engine - it sports its separate level treadmill, items and crafting. The only redeeming quality this game brings to the table is - no subscription.… Expand
  48. 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
  49. 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
  50. 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
  51. 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 ? :]
  52. 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
  53. astralphoenix77
    Sep 11, 2012
    5
    Guild Wars 2 was hyped as a revolutionary breath of fresh air in the MMO genre, so what did we get? Let's take a look.

    Gameplay mechanics: combat was a big disappointment, with fixed weapon skills creating some of the most shallow combat mechanics I've ever seen. My Guardian deals with every enemy in the game in the same way: 4, 2, 3, 1-1-1. It gets dull after 3,000th enemy. Events and    Guild Wars 2 was hyped as a revolutionary breath of fresh air in the MMO genre, so what did we get? Let's take a look.

    Gameplay mechanics: combat was a big disappointment, with fixed weapon skills creating some of the most shallow combat mechanics I've ever seen. My Guardian deals with every enemy in the game in the same way: 4, 2, 3, 1-1-1. It gets dull after 3,000th enemy. Events and champion fights turn into a huge zergfest where the much-vaunted inter-player combo system gets lost amidst a hail of skill FX and isn't required anyway. +Power/+Precision/+Critical Damage (PPCD) items are the only thing of any importance, since you take so much damage from enemies (sometimes up to 75% of your max HP in a single hit from some standard enemies) that any pretense of boosting your defence is a joke. As a result, PPCD equipment costs 10x as much as other equipment on the trading system (which is thankfully now up). However, balance issues are to be expected on a new MMO release and so I'll give ArenaNet some leeway on this.

    Crafting is done better than in most MMOs, with little things like speeding up crafting of large numbers of items and the deposit all collectibles being welcome additions to a feature that can be a painful experience in other MMOs. The amount of EXP that can be gleaned from crafting, however, is in my opinion far too high and I reckon I got at least 1/3 of my levels from crafting (Lv.80 max, so 25-ish levels).

    Story: since this game is a true persistent-world MMO, the story takes a back seat, unlike the original Guild Wars where instancing (whatever you thought about it) did allow for an unusually good story-driven experience in PvE. Guild Wars 2 lacks the suspense and intrigue of the original story, since you know who the big bad is right from the start, and plays out largely forgettably and predictably. Discussion and cutscenes have been relegated to little conversations on a background, which is disappointing, lacking the cinematic story-driven experience of Guild Wars. My advice: do not play GW2 for the story.

    World PvE: The Renown Heart system and Dynamic Events were pedalled as the best thing since sliced bread by both ArenaNet's marketing division and various professional reviewers. Obviously these people had not done their research, as Warhammer Online had done this sort of public quest system back in 2008, to quite considerable success. GW2 lifted it, divided it, and gave us Renown Hearts, which are fetch/kill quests under any other name, but they work okay; and dynamic events, which can be fun but often suffer through having either too many players (zerg) or too few (impossible to complete). The Vistas and Skill Point Challenges are a nice touch, but the whole game feels very meta as a result and it ruins immersion somewhat.

    PvP: I have personally found PvP to be a mixed bag in this game. sPvP with teams of randomly assigned players going up against each other is quite fun and requires some degree of tactical skill. Lobbing trebuchets at your guildmates (who happened to be assigned to other team) is great fun. The WvW unfortunately is not so good at the moment as, like the major PvE events, it degenerates into a monstrous zergfest where the server with the most players (usually the French in my case) online always controls everything and everyone else gets diddly-squat. ANet needs to balance this, perhaps by limiting the number of players on each battlefield to an amount equal to that of the smallest actively represented server, but we shall see.

    Graphics: this game is beautiful, boasting the highest graphical fidelity I have ever seen in an MMO, and it is impressive. On the other hand, the game's engine optimisation and netcode are poor at the moment to say the least, but hopefully there will be some patches that address my 3 frames per second in a zerg against a champion boss. With regards to the art style, some people will like the new, more vibrant art style, while others (especially some fans of the original Guild Wars) will lament the move to a world that is more like WoW in both colour and feel, including the cheesiness of the NPCs.

    Music/SFX: The music is almost entirely ripped from the first Guild Wars, so it's a bit of a cop-out frankly. Otherwise sound effects are solid, but unspectacular. There really is not much more to say about it.

    Verdict: ArenaNet took everything that was great about Guild Wars...and threw it into a fire. Instead, they made a WoW clone and stole WAR's public quest/event system as its driver. In fairness, the aspects that have been borrowed are well implemented. But there is nothing innovative about Guild Wars 2. Shallow combat and lack of high-end content mean you will probably drop this game after a couple of months. If ANet can get balance updates and new content in my opinion may improve, but right now this game is a rough diamond at best.    … Expand
  54. Kimomarudotcom
    Sep 11, 2012
    10
    This MMO is amazing. It does ape so many of the mechanics that make MMOs great (and, yes, if you're sole intention is to level up you will certainly be grinding), but it's ambitious in so many ways. Events are dynamic, so in just roaming the country side you'll find yourself joining in on dynamic world events, harvesting resources to craft weapons, armor, and jewelery or even justThis MMO is amazing. It does ape so many of the mechanics that make MMOs great (and, yes, if you're sole intention is to level up you will certainly be grinding), but it's ambitious in so many ways. Events are dynamic, so in just roaming the country side you'll find yourself joining in on dynamic world events, harvesting resources to craft weapons, armor, and jewelery or even just traveling to all sites marked on world map for the completionist players. I must say, however, that the greatest thing about it is the Black Lion Trading company, GW2's online market. Ever get tired of storing stuff in your inventory just to sell them back in town? Right click on your inventory objects and sell them right away on Black Lion - you'll get money for them later when people buy what you posted. So awesome. Tired of grinding for gold to buy armor on Black Lion? If you're like me, paypaling ten dollars is definitely the way to go - the gold I got in return was more than enough to amp up my character and still have plenty left over for my character bank account. I'm on level 45 so far and GW2 remains one of my favorite games this year. GW2 is a triumph of the genre and you're missing out if you don't pick it up.… Expand
  55. ElizLestrad
    Sep 11, 2012
    1
    As a Guild Wars fan, it truly breaks my heart to be forced to give such an amazing MMO's sequel such a poor overall score, but Guild Wars 2 might have well been made by a completely different developer as it totally missed the mark on what made its predecessor a great game.

    While Guild Wars 2 brags about its "player unique stories" (or however they phrased it), the plot totally misses    As a Guild Wars fan, it truly breaks my heart to be forced to give such an amazing MMO's sequel such a poor overall score, but Guild Wars 2 might have well been made by a completely different developer as it totally missed the mark on what made its predecessor a great game.

    While Guild Wars 2 brags about its "player unique stories" (or however they phrased it), the plot totally misses the mark cinematically and writing wise. In Guild Wars, the story was paced quite well with only one or two minor side quests that needed completing before you got to the next mission area. Missions also contained bonus side quests that if completed could bring in oodles of xp, which is always a good thing. Unfortunately, Guild Wars 2 breaks one of writings biggest no-nos in that it butchers the pacing of the story with so much filler (grinding) that by the time you level up the three or four required levels to do the next mission, the momentum of the story has already been lost. At the same time, the story fails to deliver a memorable villain in the likes of Shiro Tagachi or Varesh Ossa. With my character at level 30 and well into the "story", I have yet to come across a villain I either cared about or thought of as memorable. At the same time, the horrible cinematics pale in comparison to their Guild Wars predecessors, going from an actual cutscene to nothing but "talking heads".

    Then you have the lack of instancing and henchmen/heros. Two of the best things that ever happened to an MMO. Gone now are the days that you can enjoy the world and the story in solitude without having to worry about fifty other people doing the same quest. Henchmen/Heroes were also an awesome part of Guild Wars, albeit slightly flawed intellectually. As one who was looking forward to improved AI and a removal of gold/item stealing, I was greatly dismayed when they announced their horrific new "Dynamic Level Adjustment", one of the worst features of an MMO since pay to win stores and player driven economies (I'm looking at you Final Fantasy).

    Another huge caveat is the lack of questing. Sure this game has "events" and "group quests" that will appear at "random" around the different zones, but with so few per area, and with them and story missions offering little xp, not only will you find yourself stuck in the same area till you are ready to blow your brains out, but that you'll be grinding the same quests over and over and OVER before you can enjoy the actual point of Guild Wars, the story.

    Finally we get to the terrible skill system and lack of armor. If Guild Wars suffered from anything, it was a massive lack in armor variants. Guild Wars 2 compounds this by having even fewer armors. And while Guild Wars offered the great benefits of dual classing and more skills than one could possibly fathom, Guild Wars 2's system is like the difference between pre and post searing Ascalon. There's no comparison.

    In the end, Guild Wars 2's biggest flaw was to sell out on everything that made it great trying to cater to 'main stream MMOers' and in doing so, completely failed to hit the target in almost every way.

    End Score 1/10

    PROS:
    +1 Graphics

    CONS:
    -3 points for lack of instancing
    -2 points for removal of henchmen/heroes
    -2 points for dynamic level adjustment
    -2 point for lack of normal quests and poor story implementation
    -1 for story missions not being repeatable, lack of armor variants    … Expand
  56. Ectogamut
    Sep 11, 2012
    2
    Unfortunately, I fell for the overwhelming amount of great reviews for this game. After seeing that the game had "sold out" of digital download copies, I thought, "maybe this is the mmo to end all mmos." So I rush down to a brick and mortar store to pick up a hard copy, install, create an account. Within 8 hours I get an email telling me that some clown in China is trying to access myUnfortunately, I fell for the overwhelming amount of great reviews for this game. After seeing that the game had "sold out" of digital download copies, I thought, "maybe this is the mmo to end all mmos." So I rush down to a brick and mortar store to pick up a hard copy, install, create an account. Within 8 hours I get an email telling me that some clown in China is trying to access my account....great! Anyhow, I launch the game expecting pure awesomeness. What I see is a graphical amalgamation of Wow and Aion, which works out pretty well, because if you average out the years in which those engines were put into play, then you come up with graphics circa 2007...that's generous. Everything else is completely predictable - kill this, collect that, don't worry about the story. This is what killed SWTOR in my opinion; you can't try to polish up the things you like about various MMOs, slap them together and expect a miracle. And that's what you see here - a little bit of WoW, Aion, Rift, SWTOR, and a few of the legacy items that made the first GW successful, but ultimately the game is devoid of any revolutionary mechanics. On the other hand, I've been playing The Secret World for a little over 2 months now, and besides the very few bugs remaining, it has captivated me from day one! Fantastic gfx, engrossing storyline, challenging skill system, the ability to be absolutely anything with the mere swapping of skills that are available to everyone. While it may not be for everyone, at least it advanced the genre so that people can see where we could and should be with these games. How fans tolerate the same mediocre fodder is beyond me.… Expand
  57. 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
  58. 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
  59. thekidd
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is a revolution. The way how it all works together is amazing. You gain experience almost from everything you do, so you no longer need to play it for 20 000 hours to reach the best equip and to enjoy high level instances. I am playing a norn ranger and it is so much fun, with all the pets you can tame and all the skillsets you can use. Another thing is the enviroment, it isGuild Wars 2 is a revolution. The way how it all works together is amazing. You gain experience almost from everything you do, so you no longer need to play it for 20 000 hours to reach the best equip and to enjoy high level instances. I am playing a norn ranger and it is so much fun, with all the pets you can tame and all the skillsets you can use. Another thing is the enviroment, it is stunning. Despite the problems with the trading post I must say it is a game that really deserves the 10/10… Expand
  60. Picklepaws
    Sep 10, 2012
    2
    Why is this game getting such high reviews? It takes a few hours but under the shiney wrapper tha flaws come quick and they are huge.
    -Abilities are bland.
    -Character development is non-existent. -Combat invovles mashing same 4 to 5 buttons - you unlock a few more but I already mention the abilities are terrible - so you'll just mash 4 of the available 8. -Gear is bland and generic-    Why is this game getting such high reviews? It takes a few hours but under the shiney wrapper tha flaws come quick and they are huge.
    -Abilities are bland.
    -Character development is non-existent.
    -Combat invovles mashing same 4 to 5 buttons - you unlock a few more but I already mention the abilities are terrible - so you'll just mash 4 of the available 8.
    -Gear is bland and generic- little variety - if you see someone of the same class odds are pretty high he's rocking same stuff you have. Lots of dyes but the underlying gear all looks the same.
    -Crafting is pointless - you'll find the same gear - so nothing you craft is of any value on the auction.
    -Local events are pointless Zerg fests mashin gthose 4 butons and wondering what if anything you did.
    -NPC voices are poorly done and repetative.
    -About as much depth as an episode of iCarly.

    -SO I paid my $60 - leveled to 30 - uninstalled the game and took a long shower to wash off the dirty feeling from playing it. You have been warned.    … Expand
  61. MysticSham
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    Game play is enjoyable, security isn't up to par though which can ruin any good game... numerous people getting hacked and account name can be changed is easier than password changes makes one question why release a game with such a huge flaw...
  62. 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
  63. Kamikazenz
    Sep 10, 2012
    7
    I agree with alot of the mid-range user reviews posted so far. After purchasing the game, i can see where all the hard work and development time went, the game looks great stylistically, and i like how they have attempted at every turn to make the game different from the mass produced MMORPG norm. Breaking the holy trintiy of Tank Heals and DPS and making it work is no easy feat in anI agree with alot of the mid-range user reviews posted so far. After purchasing the game, i can see where all the hard work and development time went, the game looks great stylistically, and i like how they have attempted at every turn to make the game different from the mass produced MMORPG norm. Breaking the holy trintiy of Tank Heals and DPS and making it work is no easy feat in an MMORPG. but for me it doesnt work. im enjoying the game immensely dont get me wrong, and can see why people will love it. but for me its a filler game i will play out untill i get bored, it hasnt quite grabbed my attention in the same way other games in the genre have. which is no fault of the game itself, maybe thats me as a player?. in summary, the game is excellent for what it is. worth the purchase. but for me personally, i will probably put it aside when the WoW expac or similar comes out.… Expand
  64. dtater
    Sep 10, 2012
    6
    I have never written a metacritic review before, but I needed to make an account to review this game. I was incredibly excited for this game, but it simply has some issues that cannot be ignored. It IS well polished, and the team is constantly patching any bugs. Trading post glitches are pretty much gone. The problem with the game is not serves or bugs for me, but in the fundamentalI have never written a metacritic review before, but I needed to make an account to review this game. I was incredibly excited for this game, but it simply has some issues that cannot be ignored. It IS well polished, and the team is constantly patching any bugs. Trading post glitches are pretty much gone. The problem with the game is not serves or bugs for me, but in the fundamental game play.

    It was a novel idea to get rid of defined roles like tanks and healers, but ultimately, I feel it was a poor decision. The professions play far too similarly to one another. The destruction of "roles" means that everyone has a heal, everyone does some damage, everyone has some debuffs. And even ignoring the similarities between professions, the skill choices WITHIN a profession are lackluster with the weapons you pick defining over half of your skills that DO NOT CHANGE THE WHOLE GAME! So most of the skills you enjoy at level 1 or 2 are probably the same 5 you'll be using up until level 80. At least in games like WoW you can look forward to gaining new cool skills all the way as you level up. Because your skills are the same, combat becomes quite repetitive VERY quickly. The talent tree is a nice addition, but it simply isn't very deep. Just very small benefits, nothing substantial that you really can't wait for.

    Also the loot drops are not as quite as enjoyable or rewarding as they are in WoW. There ARE more useable types of loot and more magic item drops; HOWEVER, they are all very, very generic. There is a Greatsword of Precision, a Greatsword of Might, a Greatsword of "such-and-such-a-stat". There are very few weapon and armor models, the weapons/armor are all generically named, and the only difference are a few points in what attribute is affected. There need to be more "boss-type" special loots. Not like dungeons, but just elite type named mobs that drop some nice named, custom, non-generic weapons and armor. These are very very few and far between in this game. Therefore getting loot is just not exciting or pleasurable.

    I have played this game quite a bit. I've really really TRIED to like it, because, after all, I spent $60 on it. But each time I play, I find myself getting bored and forcing myself to keep playing just because I don't want to feel like I wasted my money. But I can honestly say that I wish I would have had my $60 right now, and wouldn't really the miss the game.    … Expand
  65. 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.
  66. mrw5555
    Sep 10, 2012
    3
    Someone please explain to me the purpose of this game. I have waited 4 years for this game to come out and it really might be the worst game I have ever played. I love MMOs but Guild Wars makes no sense, the combat is awful , the open world combat everyone talks about is just pure chaos, you just dont feel like yor actually doing anything, just one of the horde. I just run around andSomeone please explain to me the purpose of this game. I have waited 4 years for this game to come out and it really might be the worst game I have ever played. I love MMOs but Guild Wars makes no sense, the combat is awful , the open world combat everyone talks about is just pure chaos, you just dont feel like yor actually doing anything, just one of the horde. I just run around and really dont even want to kill any mobs as the xp is awful. I really wanted to like this game but really am so confused of how this is fun at all.… Expand
  67. MistahYebba
    Sep 10, 2012
    7
    There are too many characters in my review to post it here, so please check out my review at CURSE forums. http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/63286-guild-wars-1-vs-guild-wars-2/

    Thank you!
  68. 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
  69. Baroic
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    I have to say when i first downloaded this game i had such high hopes because i was a big fan of guild wars 1 but after a week of playing its let me down bad .. first i have to say i dislike the weapon skill bar it gets soooo boring fast and i feel like rerolling another class just to change the skills, you can change weapons around for different skills but god 80 levels of the same fewI have to say when i first downloaded this game i had such high hopes because i was a big fan of guild wars 1 but after a week of playing its let me down bad .. first i have to say i dislike the weapon skill bar it gets soooo boring fast and i feel like rerolling another class just to change the skills, you can change weapons around for different skills but god 80 levels of the same few weapons is just not fun.
    The pve is fun at the start but is more or less the same till end game gets a little harder but you can go from level 1 - 80 without talking to another person...
    The lac of skills is just silly you find yourself running around waiting for cd's on 5 skills while spamming the same 5 weapon skills. sorry but give me 30 keybinds any day.
    Pvp is fun and i do like the battle ground system as you can just jump on in at any level ,also the WvWvW is fun but needs work all in all pvp is whats best about GW2.    … Expand
  70. 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.
  71. Gwendle
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    The game has very little variety. There's nothing about the PvE system that is different than any other MMO, except maybe GW2's system is rather bland. I have yet to try PvP, but from what I am hearing from others who have, it's just as boring as PvE. Anyone who gives this game a 10 or even a 9 hasn't played the game enough to discover the monotony in store for them.
  72. Morgora
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    A nice mix of single-player RPG and MMORPG. Lots of character customization (face, hair, body, etc.). A branching personal story for each race and profession chosen. Cooperative gameplay is encouraged and rewarded. Dynamic Events are engaging and some can change the map depending on whether you win or lose. Game mechanics prevent ninja-looting, mob camping, and resource node contention.A nice mix of single-player RPG and MMORPG. Lots of character customization (face, hair, body, etc.). A branching personal story for each race and profession chosen. Cooperative gameplay is encouraged and rewarded. Dynamic Events are engaging and some can change the map depending on whether you win or lose. Game mechanics prevent ninja-looting, mob camping, and resource node contention. Lots of NPC to NPC dialog that can be quite funny. PvP that's actually skill-based and not gear-based. IMHO, GW2 is better than UO, EQ, and WoW. Your mileage may vary.… Expand
  73. Jokica
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    Well I need to say that this is the MMO of the year, if I compare it to WoW there is almost no grinding, you can play your own story, which is great btw. When you level, you are just "falling" in to the events/quest, so no need to go to NPC take a Q and then go to location A, and so on... Not mentioning you can complete almost all events by killing mobs or you can collect something or doWell I need to say that this is the MMO of the year, if I compare it to WoW there is almost no grinding, you can play your own story, which is great btw. When you level, you are just "falling" in to the events/quest, so no need to go to NPC take a Q and then go to location A, and so on... Not mentioning you can complete almost all events by killing mobs or you can collect something or do various things, just brilliant.
    Jesus, you can even level by collecting materials for crafting and by crafting, I was cooking a sue and I gain level, WTF???
    PvP je great, pure action you need to take cover, jump, doge... it is totally different than the one in WoW.
    And so on, for now I just couldn't find a really bad thing in it, that's why I am giving it 10.    … Expand
  74. DirtyBird07
    Sep 10, 2012
    9
    Game is great.
    People who complain about dated graphics aren't playing on high settings. Turn settings way high and you'll see its a great visual game. (requires as pretty decent rig)
    PvE and storyline is actually engaging. Most MMOs (IE FF11) you're wandering around having no clue what the point of your adventure is... not the case here. Definitely a good story line with plenty room    Game is great.
    People who complain about dated graphics aren't playing on high settings. Turn settings way high and you'll see its a great visual game. (requires as pretty decent rig)

    PvE and storyline is actually engaging. Most MMOs (IE FF11) you're wandering around having no clue what the point of your adventure is... not the case here. Definitely a good story line with plenty room for expansion.

    PvP takes the cake. Very awesome. Try it to see what I mean. World vs World is awesome.

    I give it a 9 because we're two weeks after release and still the trading post (AH) is up and down.
    I also give it a 9 because leveling is almost too easy. People are maxed out at lvl 80 already! thats obnoxious.
    I give it a 9 also because of the GEM STORE. Understand this is a free to play game, and they need to make money somehow. But I truly dislike games that add a store where players can pay to be the best at the game with little skill. Gem store allows you to buy gems where you can spend them on super equipment and timed exp boosters etc... laaaaaaame.

    Overall great game though - very very well done.    … Expand
  75. Dasor
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    One of the best game ever developed.
    The secret Jumping Puzzles are just amazing, a new feature in mmorpgs that should be added everywhere.
    I've been waiting this game since 2007 and i'm very satisfied.
  76. MasterDiwa
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    I always wanted to get distracted in an MMO. To get lost in its world. In Guild Wars 2, I am so lost and always distracted by everyday surprises. It has everything I ever wanted in a modern MMO.
  77. KeksReloaded
    Sep 10, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is a milestone in MMORPG history. With its dynamic quest content, it's giant world, it's wonderful artdesign, it's interesting classes and it's epic bossfights Guild Wars 2 is nothing like everything you have played before. Get ready to be blown away from this masterpiece. Five interesting and very different races, eight classes with multiple different approaches and a giantGuild Wars 2 is a milestone in MMORPG history. With its dynamic quest content, it's giant world, it's wonderful artdesign, it's interesting classes and it's epic bossfights Guild Wars 2 is nothing like everything you have played before. Get ready to be blown away from this masterpiece. Five interesting and very different races, eight classes with multiple different approaches and a giant battleground with 3 whole servers fighting against each other seal the deal.… Expand
  78. Toohonest
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    The good:

    -Environments look great. So do characters (except for humans). While graphic engine is not state of the art or anything, it is good and artists did good job with it. -Leveling proces is smooth, with no need to run to NPCs to take quests. You just get in area, have several options how to fill bar. Additionally game rewards exploring with hidden caves and bosses everywhere.    The good:

    -Environments look great. So do characters (except for humans). While graphic engine is not state of the art or anything, it is good and artists did good job with it. -Leveling proces is smooth, with no need to run to NPCs to take quests. You just get in area, have several options how to fill bar. Additionally game rewards exploring with hidden caves and bosses everywhere. All that adds to the feeling that you can just go into the world and explore while your character progresses automatically.

    -Removal of alot of timesinks. Instant travel to specific points spread out around maps is a great time saver unless you actually did enjoy 15 minut flights to your destination. Also little things that really help saving time. Like "sell junk" option at vendors or automaticly sending gathered materials to bank which btw. also has special slots ther for such items. I believe they now even alowed crafting without need to manualy go to bank. All of that saves you alot of headaches.

    The bad:

    -Controls lag, delay or unresponsiveness. Whatever you want to call it. You tap a key, and there seems to be 200ms delay before your character starts moving. Either there is some crappy animation acceleration system or your character literally waits for server response when moving. Either way in 2012 something like that is absolutely ridiculous and that alone kills gameplay in this game for me.
    Sometimes stuff does not work. I press button, there are no cooldowns, yet it does not register. So you naturally end up spamming keys like crazy in order for attacks to actually work.
    Additionally tons of melee skills are really castable with short half second casts or so. Now I understand that most likely why this got implemented is so you can dodge hits. But end effect of controls lantency + randomly not working key press + castable skills that should be instant + some skills that make you stand in place before you finish animation + weapon switches = most unresponsive, laggy and frustrating control scheme I have seen in the last decade.

    -I hope you like to use 3 attacks over and over. Combat is nothing more than regular action bar skills based one + manual dodge even though screaming fanboys try to tell you otherwise. Nothing wrong with such system in itself if you get proper ammount of varried skills. Well I got bad news.
    For most classes you get 2 weapon sets. That is 2x5 buttons for weapons, 5 buttons for utility skills and 4 for class skills. First slot in weapons is autoatack (yes I am not kidding) so that leaves you at best with 17 buttons out of which you will have access only to 13 at one time without weapon switching. Utility and profession (class) skills are often on long cooldowns (30-90 seconds), some are buffs,heals or passive.No big deal right, afterall you can switch to second set of weapons anytime right? Joke, 10 second cooldown on weapon switch, have fun.
    End effect of it is that you end up spamming 3 attacks and presing few other buttons once a minute because not only second set of weapon has CD but depending on class actually might suck and not be worth using. Talk about boring. There are rare classes where you do get to use a bit more buttons but that brings into the question balance of difficulty of playing a proffesion (class) and in the end, still is not enough. Fun factor of combat varries from "id rather watch paint dry" to "meh, whats for dinner".

    Additionally because there is such small ammount of buttons available you end up with laughable buff/debuff system. You don't get skills that counter specific type of debuff out of lets say 10 types. No, instead you get skills like "remove random debuff","apply random debuff","convert random debuff into random buff". You even have passive skills removing debuffs.
    On a possitive side there is combo system where passing or shooting through various aoe speels you can get some effects, which nicely add another layer to combat. Still doesn't counter the feeling of boredom though.

    -Dungeons are just abomination. You would think that in game that has no problems dealing with dynamic event where you have 30 players vs 50 mobs, dungeons should be epic with 20 weaker mobs + several stronger at once in awesomelly design halls. Well here is epic for you. You get tiny claustrophobic corridors where camera gets constantly stucked, usually 2-4 trash mobs with obscene ammount of health and you stand there hitting them forever and ever and... I fell asleep. Then you get to boss who like to spam ability or two over and over which you have to dodge.

    -Lack of trade button. Awful auction house interface. The meh:
    Music, voice acting, goofy animations depending on race, poor choice if you like "ugly" races. Cliched story and dialog. Spell sounds are meh, I don't like casters in this game at all. I don't feel the destrucrive power behind them. Dynamic events are faceroll zerg, PvP is lame.    … Expand
  79. Opulet
    Sep 10, 2012
    7
    PROS: $60 flat, WvW, sPvP 5v5 Tournaments, Latter parts of PvE without Heart-Quests, Dungeons, Puzzles, Top Tier Boss fights in both instanced and open world situations, Non-invasive money shop. CONS: Weak Personal Storyline during early-mid game, Early Heart-Quests, Random 16 player sPvP, Lack of more game-modes in sPvP, OVERALL: Top quality content at $60, no monthly fee. Better thanPROS: $60 flat, WvW, sPvP 5v5 Tournaments, Latter parts of PvE without Heart-Quests, Dungeons, Puzzles, Top Tier Boss fights in both instanced and open world situations, Non-invasive money shop. CONS: Weak Personal Storyline during early-mid game, Early Heart-Quests, Random 16 player sPvP, Lack of more game-modes in sPvP, OVERALL: Top quality content at $60, no monthly fee. Better than anything else on the market at the moment.… Expand
  80. johann1978
    Sep 9, 2012
    7
    Its a good Casual Game, with great PvP. But it is NOT the best MMORP of the last Years. The story is lame and presents acts thrown together, Events seem to have nothing like quests ( kill XY 90% of the Events) still to often as a Hack & Slay ( more then 3 Players at a Event)
    There are many other examples where you realize that it's just standard, only the PvP is great! But it is Guild    Its a good Casual Game, with great PvP. But it is NOT the best MMORP of the last Years. The story is lame and presents acts thrown together, Events seem to have nothing like quests ( kill XY 90% of the Events) still to often as a Hack & Slay ( more then 3 Players at a Event)
    There are many other examples where you realize that it's just standard, only the PvP is great! But it is Guild Wars, I expected this.
    My Score ist 8.5 /10    … Expand
  81. 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!
  82. woNd3R
    Sep 9, 2012
    6
    Beware my friends, this game is not what they told us it would be

    I would like to take a moment and say that i ve been playing MMO's since Ultima Online, then tried Final Fantasy which i found terrible and then some friends made me play Daoc , Dark Age of Camelot was a hell of a game for it's time. Yes Pve was pretty much non existant and even with the expansion Raids felt kinda boring    Beware my friends, this game is not what they told us it would be

    I would like to take a moment and say that i ve been playing MMO's since Ultima Online, then tried Final Fantasy which i found terrible and then some friends made me play Daoc , Dark Age of Camelot was a hell of a game for it's time. Yes Pve was pretty much non existant and even with the expansion Raids felt kinda boring since there wasn't any artificial intelligence with the bosses. But hey, that game was all about Pvp and yes Pvp was awsome , there were keep raids , siege situations and much more. In certain ways that game felt epic. Then wow came around and Wow was a hell of a game. Coming from a game where questing was non existant and you had to grind all your way to the max lvl and going to a game where you had a tons of quests to lvl up was a big step ahead. Yes Wow's Pvp sucked hard, Wow never delivered hero classes, siege weapons, raid honor from Thrall or other Town bosses. But it had the best Pve experience one could ever hard. Vanilla wow was an epic game and encounters like Onyxia or Ragnaros can confirm that.

    Why am i speaking of past games? Because those games were REVOLUTIONARY. One for it's pvp , the other for it's pve. Obviously both of the games after a couple of years became boring and repetitive but when they were launched they were AWESOME.

    I reached Naxxramas with my own guild on Wow and on Daoc i reached rank 6.

    Afterwards i played many mediocre games like Aion and Rift. Tbh i stopped playing Aion around 25 lvl since the game didn't have enough quests and it was all about grinding something that i actually hate nowadays. I managed to get much higher on Rift but Rift was like Wow with portals spawning everywhere, something that was also boring after a while.

    Then i tried Diablo 3 , which is not an mmorpg , but it's something time consuming much like an mmo. Diablo 3 is probably the biggest letdown in gaming history and so i was looking for something to move forward.(yes i ve played also Diablo 2 ) And then i started reading about Guild Wars 2 and how the game was unconventional and how questing was not boring and how Pvp was awsome and bla bla bla. Yes i don't expect that the producers tell me that the game sucks or that they didn't actually add anything but hey the game seemed to be something totally new and fresh. I tried to like the game but it was all in vain. Game doesn't offer anything new, graphics aren't great tbh, might be if you compare them with Wow but it's 4 years i don't play that game, Pvp seems Daoc WvW only that you have to button mash all the time useless skills that actually don't make the difference. And yes lvling up is still boring. There were a couple of quests that were kinda cool, one with the ogre transactions but the rest was always the same thing. Crafting was copy paste from all the other mmos, gathering resources same thing and the whole thing was not rewarding. The combat system is boring , it's boring since lvl 5, pressing 5 buttons without consequences is boring. Don't get me wrong running around , evading attacks is awesome but this combat system is extremely flawed. My personal opinion is that either there is a combat system like Demons/Dark Souls either the combat system has to be more elaborated. You can't have something in the middle. Either something very simple but yet difficult to master , either something very complex that needs to be executed perfectly.

    How about the world? Well since i ve not been stuck in wow for the last 4 years and since i ve tried Age of Conan, Aion and Rift i have to say that the world isn't anything fresh. It's the usual mmo world , exploring and puzzles were on Rift also but i found out that jumping games were a good idea, poorly implemented. I think that the next serious MMO in the industry will be a game which will actually allow you to move and jump in the same ways as Mario does. Otherwise it becomes boring after a while since there isn't any REAL difficult in the jumping process but the obstacles are crows or ravens or stuff like that.

    WvW pvp is bad , Zerging has ALWAYS BEEN BAD since 2003 ! And it is still bad in 2012, there is no skill in zerging and with 5 buttons and no group play Pvp is bad. Also slow movement in the pvp map is one of the worst things ever seen. 9 years ago you had Minstrels with movement buffs ...

    The worst part of the game is that thanks to their dynamic events there is no reason to socialize and meet new people through the game in order to party up and get things done. You just attack a mob with other 20 people and that's it. For all i care they can all die i ll just keep hitting.

    My conclusion is that the game is super Hyped, many people got the usual 5$ for each post and the game in a couple of months is gonna be kinda dead, not from the lack of pve but because Pvp is bad and doesn't reward players.    … Expand
  83. 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.
  84. Zockling
    Sep 9, 2012
    9
    The general consensus is that GW2 gets ridiculously many things right, so I won't reiterate its great aspects. Instead, I will put into perspective some of the most common criticisms a few people seem to think justify sub-5 scores (hint: they don't).

    Complaint: The removal of the trinity makes the game a zerg fest. Translation: I prefer a different genre of MMO. The removal of the    The general consensus is that GW2 gets ridiculously many things right, so I won't reiterate its great aspects. Instead, I will put into perspective some of the most common criticisms a few people seem to think justify sub-5 scores (hint: they don't).

    Complaint: The removal of the trinity makes the game a zerg fest.
    Translation: I prefer a different genre of MMO.

    The removal of the trinity is a tradeoff. ANet sacrificed group structure and scalability for the ability to play with anyone, anywhere, without hassle. This is a vital point of distinction from the WoW-type games, without which the game would be doomed just like SWTOR, Rift, Aion, etc. The outcome is totally a matter of taste and people who prefer the more structured ways of the trinity should play the other excellent MMO, WoW, instead. I don't like beat 'em ups but I wouldn't give one a 0 score just because it's not my cup of tea.

    Complaint: Hearts/dynamic events are just "gather 10 boar butts" questing in disguise.
    Translation: I dislike world PvE in MMOs.

    You see, there's only so many ways a character can interact with the world that scale to a persistent MMO environment. A big chunk of that is just killing and gathering. GW2's weapon-based skill bar improves this a bit by allowing a broader range of interaction with world items in hearts/events. But at the end of the day, MMOs will always be more repetitive than single player games. Which makes GW2's achievement of making world PvE fun again for the vast majority of players even more impressive.

    Complaint: The graphics suck.
    Translation: I didn't bother cranking up the graphics from the very conservative defaults.

    There's not much to say about this one. GW2's graphics are extremely scalable. On the lowest settings the game looks like vanilla WoW, on the highest it's one of the best-looking games out there. That's not to say there shouldn't be improvements to performance on the higher quality levels so more people can enjoy the game at its shiniest.

    Complaint: The voice acting sucks.
    Translation: I am not playing the English client.

    Unless you haven't noticed, game developers stopped making quality foreign localizations some 15 years ago. While this is certainly a deficiency of the product, I'd rather ANet concentrate on improving the game as a whole than make sure the clients in the lesser languages are on par with the English one. This comes from someone who isn't a native English speaker.

    Complaint: I was suspended or banned.
    Translation A: I am a notoriously unpleasant individual and should stick to single player games.

    The more guilty they are the louder they whine when a developer exercises their zero tolerance harassment policy. Feel free to check out ANet's infamous Reddit thread "Suspensions for offensive names and inappropriate behavior" for the hilarious details.

    Translation B: I (re-)use weak passwords and/or don't know how to secure my computer.

    The issue that accounts could be hijacked without the email password is inexcusable, but that doesn't change the fact that the account would have had to be hacked in the first place. Which in most cases would have resulted in a ban even without the attacker hijacking the account. It's important to understand that whoever gets his or her account hacked is not the only one suffering the consequences, but the game as a whole. That's why ANet have to be adamant with banning compromised accounts. Hey, it's the internet. Be careful out there.    … Expand
  85. 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
  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. fingfrenchy
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    You've heard all the pros, and some cons that are actually constructive... It's an awesome game, It's so much fun, I'd give it a 9, but it's a 10 to off set the spamming trolling fan boiedom that is trying to drag the deserved score down. Get it, play it, and I'll see you out there!!
  88. Grenzor
    Sep 8, 2012
    5
    Gameplay: 4/10 Why so? Because It's always fun to do some stuff with people around. But harvesting eggs and washing cows is no fun after 80+ hours of playing is no fun at all. Maybe some people enjoy it. Not me. And I also take X and bring it to Y kind of stuff is annoying (90% of quests I've done). There are many games around which makes you to do so.

    Graphics: 5/10. (Textures) Well    Gameplay: 4/10 Why so? Because It's always fun to do some stuff with people around. But harvesting eggs and washing cows is no fun after 80+ hours of playing is no fun at all. Maybe some people enjoy it. Not me. And I also take X and bring it to Y kind of stuff is annoying (90% of quests I've done). There are many games around which makes you to do so.

    Graphics: 5/10. (Textures) Well it's 2012. And if you ask full price for a game, you must at least try to be good at everything.

    Locations: 9/10 Fact is a fact. Locations are beautiful. They did a good job on this one.

    PvP/PvE: 3/10
    PvP require skill. Because in MOST cases you will be able to take down 1 or 2 enemies and die immediately after. Because of skill system, which is terrible. It just forces you to spam everything what's out of cooldown. If you are not doing so, you're doing it wrong.
    PvE is another weak point of this game. Let's start with "events". In most cases you see a mob, random spells flying everywhere. You don't even feel like you're doing everything. Not a challenge at all. Just be there, make sure to press 1, 2, 1, 3, 1 ,4. And your work is done.

    Audio: 4/10
    Well I don't feel the music. Voice actors are TERRIBLE(!). Spell sounds are fine.

    Also ingame shop? Really? After paying 60    … Expand
  89. 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
  90. 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
  91. Calico01
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    Fresh, innovative, social... Guild Wars 2 has it all and a lot more. Beautiful Art and Graphics, wonderful Soundtrack by the messiah of the Games Industry Jeremy Soule, 3 Worlds in glorious and ever changing Battles, structured Team PvP, etc. the list goes on and on and on. No Subscription Fee, No Pay-to-Win, No **** To quote a famous Youtube Critic: Bad-Ass Seal of Approval 10/10,Fresh, innovative, social... Guild Wars 2 has it all and a lot more. Beautiful Art and Graphics, wonderful Soundtrack by the messiah of the Games Industry Jeremy Soule, 3 Worlds in glorious and ever changing Battles, structured Team PvP, etc. the list goes on and on and on. No Subscription Fee, No Pay-to-Win, No **** To quote a famous Youtube Critic: Bad-Ass Seal of Approval 10/10, Legendary Status.

    This is the first MMO of the next Generation. Not a revolution, but a huge step of evolution. And a call to to arms for the entire Industry.    … Expand
  92. Labenthal
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    For the hardcore raiders, I wouldn't suggest buying this game. At least not buying it yet. For the casual gamer who normally doesn't have time for MMO's, this game is worth every penny and then some. You won't feel the need to play everyday to keep up, and you won't feel like your getting screwed for doing so. It is a very fun game to just play and enjoy, so far (2 weeks of play), it hasFor the hardcore raiders, I wouldn't suggest buying this game. At least not buying it yet. For the casual gamer who normally doesn't have time for MMO's, this game is worth every penny and then some. You won't feel the need to play everyday to keep up, and you won't feel like your getting screwed for doing so. It is a very fun game to just play and enjoy, so far (2 weeks of play), it has yet to give off the "This is becoming work" feel to me. To sum it up, when I log on to guild wars 2, I don't feel like I'm playing another mainstream MMO. This game gives off a very unique feel. I have been playing games as a hardcore gamer for over 4 years now with a friend of mine. We both bought this game being super excited about the PvP, and turned around to love just about everything there was to love about this game. Upon our first two days of playing together we kept talking to each other and asking, "Dude, what should I do?" But it wasn't a negative what should I do. This game is so overwhelming with choices when you first start off, its simply astonishing. With that in mind, me and my friend have always been in a rush to hit max level and be the first to do everything, which meant no exploring the world, and no stopping every 3 seconds to grab a crafting node. Last night we hopped on looking to progress some more and continue leveling, instead we found over selves quick traveling around the world and collecting tons of crafting nodes for xp, all the vistas, points of interest, skill challenges, and way points.

    This game has a very appealing feel to it, I highly suggest trying it out. *Note* I'd really like to give this game a 9.5 instead of a 10 since i feel it leans closer to 10. However, I choose 10 over 9,because a 9 just doesn't do this game justice.    … Expand
  93. Gothic90
    Sep 8, 2012
    8
    If I want to describe GW2 with one sentence, I would say: "an MMO that gets most of what it intends to do right." There are three separate worlds of the game, sPvP, WvW and PvE. sPvP features flat progression: there's build differences, but there is no vertical gear difference (you can choose different gear but it's always about trade-offs). This is imo the most important feature of GWIf I want to describe GW2 with one sentence, I would say: "an MMO that gets most of what it intends to do right." There are three separate worlds of the game, sPvP, WvW and PvE. sPvP features flat progression: there's build differences, but there is no vertical gear difference (you can choose different gear but it's always about trade-offs). This is imo the most important feature of GW style PvP. Newcomers shouldn't have an unfair disadvantage of having worse gear than old players. Also good players shouldn't need an artificial faceroll advantage over lesser players. sPvP should be skill based instead of gear based. Classes can build into different roles and adds more variety to PvP. WvW may seem like a zergfest, but mindless zerg will seldomly win you games. Supply control, being responsive to opponent movements and strategies are all important. Three faction is also a good thing to bring back from DAoC. While two factions can't artificially ally, when your server claims more land, there is indeed a higher chance of being attacked from both sides. The only problem I have with WvW is that some servers have heavy Asian/Russian/Oceanic population and they have different time schedule, and their rating often under/over estimate their strength. Hopefully Anet can release an Asian server to alleviate this problem. I also wish there would be more focus on open field battle rather than base offense/defense. The PvE world is, unfortunately, not that awesome, and quite a few issues needs to be fixed. Exploration reminds me of Skyrim and is a pretty good part of the PvE world; The reward system is quite nice, coin/karma segregation design is elegant: it discourages annoyances such as gold farmers (they'll have to farm a lot harder than usual), but is not so frustrating to normal players. However, a few problems: dynamic events could be a little more friendly towards solo players; right now some events take too long for solos or 2-3 players and may become an issue once the heat from release is over and newbie zones become less populated. The PvE world, especially the personal storyline, is also quite buggy unfortunately. Some dungeons are also too hard, especially Ascalonian Catacombs; it seems to have an unreasonable difficulty. Trade post was not so good for the first week. Though I heard it's a conspiracy theory to discourage gold farmers, and in that case it's not good but understandable. Overall the PvE world isn't on a smooth release. I also happen to not like the dungeon reward system that rewards you more for going to a same dungeon over and over again than going to all dungeons. Overall it is a good MMO and a pretty smooth launch, and since it doesn't have a subscription fee, I can play at any time I want and don't feel "I have to play tonight, or it's not worth my subscription". Cash shop items are also not unfair towards free players. Problems of the PvE world needs to be patched, and hope Anet adds some more varieties to PvP. Other than that, the game is pretty damn good and I have been playing it almost non-stop.… Expand
  94. Zefis
    Sep 8, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is a revolution. The way how it all works together is amazing. You gain experience almost from everything you do, so you no longer need to play it for 20 000 hours to reach the best equip and to enjoy high level instances. I am playing a norn ranger and it is so much fun, with all the pets you can tame and all the skillsets you can use. Another thing is the enviroment, it isGuild Wars 2 is a revolution. The way how it all works together is amazing. You gain experience almost from everything you do, so you no longer need to play it for 20 000 hours to reach the best equip and to enjoy high level instances. I am playing a norn ranger and it is so much fun, with all the pets you can tame and all the skillsets you can use. Another thing is the enviroment, it is stunning. Despite the problems with the trading post I must say it is a game that really deserves the 10/10… Expand
  95. 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
  96. 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
  97. Bahska28
    Sep 7, 2012
    4
    PVP is the only part i care abut and it was ok but needs some work, specifically WvW play. Over half the time is spent running back to the fight that got boring fast. The other half was spent getting one shot by ranged and arrows from siege weapons.

    The game may be good in a few month to a year when they iron out some of its flaws but for now as a pvp it just didn't hold up to my expectations.
  98. howdydoody
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    This is a very enjoyable game. I have been playing MMO's for several years and i would say this is my favourite. Nice look, sound and gameplay is very active. Some hiccups to the launch but everything seems to be settling down and from my Arenanet experience gamer support is awesome. Security was a concern but new email verification has kept me from getting hacked. Come join the fun don'tThis is a very enjoyable game. I have been playing MMO's for several years and i would say this is my favourite. Nice look, sound and gameplay is very active. Some hiccups to the launch but everything seems to be settling down and from my Arenanet experience gamer support is awesome. Security was a concern but new email verification has kept me from getting hacked. Come join the fun don't miss out on a new style MMO.… Expand
  99. Rockmen
    Sep 7, 2012
    0
    the game is decent but... their security and user support are HORRIBLE. my friend got hacked... they have a serious flawed system where a hacker could just simply go to your account and with your password just change the email where every notification arrives without you need to accept or confirm a notification to your email, then if u try to recovery your account u cant because everythingthe game is decent but... their security and user support are HORRIBLE. my friend got hacked... they have a serious flawed system where a hacker could just simply go to your account and with your password just change the email where every notification arrives without you need to accept or confirm a notification to your email, then if u try to recovery your account u cant because everything will go to the HACKERS EMAIL, how retarded they were to make that system, also the automatic recovery system is disabled so everyone including users who forgot their password have to summit tickets to account support... I'm really disapointed, they only hacked his GW2 account he has lots of games and other valuable accounts.… Expand
  100. 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
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critic Reviews

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