Guild Wars 2

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

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3192 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,380 out of 3192
  2. Mixed: 386 out of 3192
  3. Negative: 426 out of 3192
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Sideline
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities!I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities! But the weapon swapping in GW2 is probably even more interesting simply because it gives you access to a larger bank of skills; skills are defined by the weapon you are holding. You can switch weapons dynamically during combat which is awesome and you can even change your skills any time during the game, no need to go to an outpost to reorganise your skill bar. Elementalists don't have the weapon swapping ability but they can switch between four attunements(air, fire, water and earth) anytime during combat... awesome! What sets GW2 apart from other games of the genre is the dynamic events which can occur anywhere, anytime in the world, and they require cooperation between players; downed allies can be revived eliminating the frustration of being teleported to a resurection shrine and having to walk all the way back. Areas are no longer instanced except for dungeons and story line missions. There is no tedious fetching quests anymore. Instead quests occur in specific locations on the map and you don't have to stray too far to complete them. You can now choose between five different races: Human, Charr, Asura and Silvari. They all have the same stats and abilities but they add a nice flavor to the game. Crafting disciplines were added which opens up a whole new dimension to Guild Wars. The trading post (the equivalent of the auction house in WoW or Diablo) is a nice addition. Item stats are more varied and make more sense than before. Graphics are amazing for MMO standards and the areas are breathtaking. I cannot comment on the PvP aspect of the game as I haven't tried it yet. The only annoying thing I can find is the constant pop-ups telling you that you are in an overflow because the instance is full but that will hopefully be fixed soon. So if you love MMOs or RPGs Guild Wars 2 is a must!… Expand
  2. hitthegoat
    Sep 7, 2012
    7
    I like this game. Is it perfect? No. But I dare you to name a perfect game. Sure, the dynamic events was done in Rift, and sure the combat system is similar to Tera, and the quest system is similar to Warhammer, but who really cares? IMO they were done better in GW2 and that's more important. I find the graphics to be good, not the best ever, but then again, I'm not a graphics fanaticI like this game. Is it perfect? No. But I dare you to name a perfect game. Sure, the dynamic events was done in Rift, and sure the combat system is similar to Tera, and the quest system is similar to Warhammer, but who really cares? IMO they were done better in GW2 and that's more important. I find the graphics to be good, not the best ever, but then again, I'm not a graphics fanatic and I certainly can't believe anyone finds them to be "bad." I haven't experienced any of this "floaty" or "disconnected" game play/controls, I honestly don't get it, I find the controls and the combat to be fun. And personally, I find the smaller amount of available skills to be fun, the one thing that I came to dislike about WoW (and saw that SWTOR has done) is the insane amount of skills on action bars you would have on your interface, which just caused annoying clutter to me, almost half of your screen is buttons and menus. To me that seems less like I'm playing a game, and more like I'm monitoring equipment of some kind, almost like working. One complaint that I do have is the lame selection of Elite skills, at least on my Norn. 3 of the first available 5 are shape shifting, and 1 of the 2nd tier is shape shifting, they might be fun, but that's not really my style. And whilst perusing through the numerous negatives, I see a lot of comparison to SWTOR, and that just irritates me to no end. Quit comparing games to other games. There's a reason this game is called "Guild Wars 2" and not "Star Wars: The Old Republic," they're different games made by different people with different features, the only similarity is that they're MMOs.… Expand
  3. Bravo4
    Sep 7, 2012
    9
    I have tried most MMOs out there over the years ever since the original Everquest. WoW, EQ2, AoC, Star Wars (both), Rift, Secret World, etc., and I always get bored before too long. For some reason when a new one comes out I think, "This will be the one!" Well it seems I have finally found the right MMO for me in Guild Wars 2. I really think this MMO fixes many of the issues thatI have tried most MMOs out there over the years ever since the original Everquest. WoW, EQ2, AoC, Star Wars (both), Rift, Secret World, etc., and I always get bored before too long. For some reason when a new one comes out I think, "This will be the one!" Well it seems I have finally found the right MMO for me in Guild Wars 2. I really think this MMO fixes many of the issues that put-off newcomers to the genre. This is a very accessible, very entertaining game. The manner in which they have made grouping up seem almost effortless and completely organic, should be a future standard IMHO. There are numerous other positives I could mention, and very few negatives. Suffice it to say that if you just haven't been able to find an MMO that you can really get into, this is the right one for you.… Expand
  4. thathugeguy
    Sep 7, 2012
    9
    What makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
    I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it's    What makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
    I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it's more immerse than we've seen before in any MMO.
    The leveling system is quite neat as well. Where as other MMO's aim for individualism Guild Wars 2 puts much emphasis on word TEAMWORK. There's on individual experience from mobs, they're all shared with all the other player participating in killing, sharing is caring right? The tasks are completed by a few different ways, so you feel like you can finish a quest like you want to, you don't always have to kill trillions of mobs, you can for example pick up trash or something like that, isn't quite revolutionary, but brings a great feel of freedom to it.
    The combat mechanics is actually great, not your basic-button-smashing-and-standing-still-style of combat, you actually have to move and dodge actively and use your snares and stuns in order to survive. This is very rewarding that your individual skill might help you bring down a more powerful enemy rather than your statistics.
    The PVP has that same skill mechanic implemented, since you have to dodge and move around corners to avoid damage and do that really challenging skill requiring dance that you do on PvE as well. The World vs. World vs. World is a great thing, you fight for your own realms benefits, which is quite neat and it seems balanced enough, realms who run over other realms get moved up and those who cannot cope will be placed with weaker opponents to guarantee at least some bonuses for your realm.

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

    In conclusion Guild Wars 2 renews the MMO-genre enough to fight against the big mighty World of Warcraft but still keeps some basics untouched which is a must if you want to attract people to play. Watch out World of Warcraft, you got a challenger....And it's gonna kick your Panda-ass all the way through Tyria.    … Expand
  5. xMountainDrewXx
    Sep 7, 2012
    2
    Guild Wars 2 looked to be a very hopeful game for me, a game I thought I would be playing for a decent 6 months or more, around the same timeframe I played WoW a few years back. The way the game was advertised was very well done, they made the game looks so clean and crisp, the graphics looked amazing. What they did was professionally iced a crummy cake. The game is very deceiving atGuild Wars 2 looked to be a very hopeful game for me, a game I thought I would be playing for a decent 6 months or more, around the same timeframe I played WoW a few years back. The way the game was advertised was very well done, they made the game looks so clean and crisp, the graphics looked amazing. What they did was professionally iced a crummy cake. The game is very deceiving at first. The diverse character creation draws you in, and you choose what your characters going to be like, before you even experience them playing the game. I played human mostly, and made a guardian and engineer. After killing a few centaurs from some random town attack, I'm called in to help fight some massive rock hand that emerged from the ground. After joining the 10 other players that are smacking the rock with their daggers and bullets, the boss dies with like 5 minutes, and then my character passed out. I'm then told to help the town out with their daily chores, watering corn, feeding cows and destroying wasp nests. Wtf? What happend to all the centaurs, why did they even attack. To be honest, I think the storyline and moral behind all this is very generic and didn't really interest me at all. The skills are very limited, and get very tedious after a while. The skill/trait system is very dry, and didn't inspire me to go further at all. The instanced city ruined the whole 'epicness' and the teleportation system isn't a very creative way of travelling. WvW consisted of attacking a gate for 15mins before it was destroyed, and showed little potential for melee clases, as they got destroyed if they ran into a 20 man pack of players, all AoEing the ground and using their root abilities to pretty much ruin melee potential. The last stand skill ruined pvp, as it always felt I had to kill the player twice, instead of a nice clean one shot. It was way too balanced as well, giving every class ability ranged and heal abilitys, there is no special "individuality" among the classes as they could all do similar things. The biggest reason I didn't continue though was the lack of potential. What was the point of hitting level 80, when you get the same benefits at any point of the game. They wanted to make the game balanced and fair, and they did. I got my money back on the game after playing the 3-day head start and a few days after that. If you've played WoW and loved it, don't play this game. This is all my opinion guys, many of you probably like the style of the game, but I guarantee you, after 6 months, this game will barely be heard of.… Expand
  6. Enclave_X
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    (Skip to 3rd paragraph for the actual review of the game)

    Basically this review is coming from an experienced gamer who hasn't had much experiences with mmos. Even though I'm only 19, I've been playing games since I was about 6. I've read about a few mmos here and there. People tried to get me to play World of Warcraft, and honestly it didn't look fun. (Some people will hate the comment    (Skip to 3rd paragraph for the actual review of the game)

    Basically this review is coming from an experienced gamer who hasn't had much experiences with mmos. Even though I'm only 19, I've been playing games since I was about 6. I've read about a few mmos here and there. People tried to get me to play World of Warcraft, and honestly it didn't look fun. (Some people will hate the comment I know...) Really the only mmo I ever played a lot of was Runescape. Honestly that was alright, but basically I used it as a time waster ( And a time waster it is..) because of its accessibility as a browser based game. I also tried SWTOR but only played for the first 2 weeks of my 3 month membership.

    Overall I have not been too impressed with the mmo genre... That is until I watched some people playing the beta of this game. I started watching content about Guild Wars 2 out of pure boredom a week before release. As a gamer I tend to keep up with games that are being released. The minute I saw the game on a small iphone screen I couldn't stop thinking about it. The next thing you know I watched probably 20+ videos in that week and couldn't even touch a game I was so excited for it. I didn't even know there was a Guild Wars 1 and something about Guild Wars 2 just "mesmer"ized me (Hah Guild Wars humor). I quickly preordered it and had my friends do the same. They don't like mmos either and I told them I'd pay them back if it was bad that's how confident I was this would be a huge success.

    Then came the release day, as soon as I was able I picked up the game and began its lengthy install. I was shocked at the 4-5gig patch especially since I have a 10 gig internet cap but it didn't bother me. I just told my parents I'd cover the internet bill (Which will be huge this month). Finally it was installed. I logged into my registered account and was taken to the character creation screen. I made my first character a Human Engineer. I was extremely impressed with the detail of the character creator. It was on par with one of my favorite series, The Elder Scrolls. The opening cinematic was also just as good. I thought this is finally what I've been waiting to see, an mmo with console like features. Already I fell in love with the story and I hadn't even played. Once that cinematic ended however, I literally became absorbed into my tv screen. I played for maybe 2 hours straight and it felt like 15 minutes that's how much fun I was having. I told my brother who was also playing, why couldn't we have wasted the summer on this instead of Diablo 3. Guild Wars 2 is one of the most impressive games I've played in a long time. The world feels full, characters are alive, events occur when I'm not around, people are generally pretty respectful, the stories flow, the graphics are amazing, combat is responsive, leveling is at a nice pace, the scaling is amazing, and aside from a few launch issues and small bugs and inconveniences, this game is just fun. That is the best word I can use to describe this game, is fun. I haven't felt this addicted to a game since Fallout 3. I am impressed on what the delivers delivered to the gaming world. I hope this game earns the success it deserves. Oh and by the way my friends love it. (Phew!)

    Good luck on your adventures! and if you haven't bought it yet you're missing out! :D    … Expand
  7. Inmysights
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    I have been a gamer all my life and I still remember the feeling I had the first time I picked up and played WoW, the first time I went to warsong gulch and ran screaming with a flag chased by those damnable horde, walked across the bridge in stranglethorn vale...... but as games do, it got old. Vanilla wow is a dream we all had that has long since faded from memory leaving behind theI have been a gamer all my life and I still remember the feeling I had the first time I picked up and played WoW, the first time I went to warsong gulch and ran screaming with a flag chased by those damnable horde, walked across the bridge in stranglethorn vale...... but as games do, it got old. Vanilla wow is a dream we all had that has long since faded from memory leaving behind the beastly cash cow that is wow nowadays. This brings me to GW 2. I was skeptical to say the least. Up until a week before the head start I was not even going to buy it. But I did...... and damn it I am having a blast. I have not enjoyed a game this much in years. I can't put into words everything that makes GW2 worth ppls hard earned money and time but I can guarantee no one will buy it and feel like they didn't get their moneys worth, and 9 out of 10 will feel as I do. Arena.net have brought the magic back to mmo's. This is a must buy. And free to play? Get in there my son. Today I found a hidden doorway in the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, made my way through a booby trapped cave with pressure plates and the ground crumbling beneath my feet only to emerge in an underground cavern to find a ghost ship and a wicked jumping puzzle that took me 15 minutes to beat.....to finally earn an achievement and a splendid chest. In WoW if u tried to go off the beaten track like that the best you can hope for is falling through the ground to your death.... And I have not even mentioned the dungeons which are hella hard but rewarding or the World vs world vs world pvp that ate up 3 hours of my life last night as I lead my server to domination..... I could go on but I think by this stage if u are still reading u are either a fan or are going to buy the game so stop wasting your time and get playing!… Expand
  8. tallanx
    Sep 6, 2012
    8
    I like how all the troll posts are spouting lies that are so obvious you can see them a mile away and a quick search on youtube will prove them to be false. Of the negative reviews that are not troll posts, I'd like to point out a couple of things: 1. People complaining about there being no Raids, no Holy Trinity etc and how they bought into the hype and was disappointed are stupid. ThatI like how all the troll posts are spouting lies that are so obvious you can see them a mile away and a quick search on youtube will prove them to be false. Of the negative reviews that are not troll posts, I'd like to point out a couple of things: 1. People complaining about there being no Raids, no Holy Trinity etc and how they bought into the hype and was disappointed are stupid. That stuff has been public knowledge for more than a year and in fact some of those things were actually used by the developers themselves to promote the game. If you know the game won't have those things, why buy it and then complain that they don't have those things? If you didn't know about those things, then why say that the game is different from the hype? Whether you like it or not is subjective of course, but it is exactly as promised. 2. Account Security. First and foremost, the large majority of people who lost their accounts to hackers only have themselves to blame for not keeping their details secure. That being said, ANet does need to improve certain parts of their security features, such as adding a 3 failed tries = timeout on their website (I have not checked recently, so they may have already added this). So ANet has to take partial responsibility for the accounts that were hacked through brute force methods, but the majority? It was their own fault. 3. Banned accounts. Anybody saying "I'm innocent why was I banned?" is likely lying. Go do a search for the Reddit thread with all the ban information. The large majority of those who complained were actually banned for perfectly acceptable, valid reasons. Some of them were so ashamed that ANet knows exactly what they did they actually deleted their original complaint. The minuscule few that were actually innocent were given apologies and un-banned quickly after a review. CS staff are humans too, sometimes they makes mistakes, but looking at the evidence the majority of bans were well deserved. What ANet can actually improve in this area though is to modify their "You we're banned" message to include the reason why. Now for actual comments about the game. This game plays like a TES game in that you are dropped in a world, with a little bit of direction and then you are mostly left to your own devices. People who like exploring and goofing around experimenting with stuff will love it. There are so many little nooks and crannies everywhere, it's insane. People who prefer a more linear, hand-holded/guided style of game likely will not. The combat plays in some ways like an FPS, but from third person view. In a traditional MMO, if you see a mob your own level attacking you, you eat the damage and stand still and attack while consuming stuff like potions when necessary. In this game, you need to actually dodge out of the way, either by moving sideways, hiding behind terrain objects etc (a la FPS games) or using the "temporary invincibility" dodge button that you can only use twice in quick succession and other damage mitigation skills. It's not quite "action-combat" but I would say is a hybrid between traditional MMO combat and actiony FPS style combat. Anybody who says that the Holy Trinity still exists is lying. You CAN get through certain situations using a Holy Trinity type setup (early game), but you will find that it is a lot harder and more inefficient than playing the game the way it's meant to be played, by watching the screen, not the hotbar. And being aware of your surroundings instead of focusing on hp bars. The Dynamic Events system is great, it makes the world feel alive. Everybody who says "it's just WoW questing" are slow people who are either blind or unable to read instructions, they mistake Renown Hearts for Dynamic Events, ignore the real Dynamic Events when they see one and then complain about it. Renown Hearts are static events that the game uses to draw you to Dynamic Event hot spots. They are two different things and serve different purposes, the majority of the PvE content are the Dynamic Events, Hearts are only there as a guide and was only added because initial play testers felt they needed more direction.The only real problem that the game has is that they underestimated the demand for their game and so had some infrastructure teething issues (which has already seen some marked improvements over the past 2 weeks). In fact, other than the usual small to medium bugs here and there that you expect from a software this size and scope, all of the other issues are infrastructure/capacity related. TLDR: The game is well designed with some excellent systems in place. They need to improve some of their backend infrastructure, which they have publicly acknowledged and are addressing. If you don… Expand
  9. Necromus
    Sep 6, 2012
    0
    I highly recommend that you try this game out on a friend's account or wait until there is a free trial available before you buy this game because it is very different than other MMOs and also very different than what all the hype says about it. Many of the ones who rated this game 10 seem to be "yes men" drinking the Guild Wars 2 "kool-aid" without critical thinking. I get the impressionI highly recommend that you try this game out on a friend's account or wait until there is a free trial available before you buy this game because it is very different than other MMOs and also very different than what all the hype says about it. Many of the ones who rated this game 10 seem to be "yes men" drinking the Guild Wars 2 "kool-aid" without critical thinking. I get the impression that many of them have played only the original Guild Wars but have never played another MMO, or have only played World of Warcraft around 2004-2005 before all the major improvements that improved WoW over the years such as phasing, etc. After reading an aritcle where ArenaNet Founder Mike O'Brien said "We were number two to World of Warcraft with Guild Wars, now we want to beat them" and over-hype such as how the Guild Wars 2 web site currently says "Join the MMO Revolution..." I got suckered into thinking this game was going to be something great and pre-purchased it. I soon learned after 60 minutes of gameplay that I had been duped. I kept playing it to see if it would grow on me, but after every two hours of trying to get myself to enjoy the game I just would have to log off out of sheer boredom. This is the first time I have bought a game and been so dissapointed that I regretted the purchase. The reasons I don't like the game are: 1) The combat system is horrible. When you press one of your action bar keys, it does not feel like your character is responding, It is hard to see what you are hitting with your abilitie what hitting you. The combat is very similar to WoW vehicle fights where you just spam buttons 1-5 on cooldown. Add running in a circle to dodge stuff and you've pretty much mastered the game.. Due to lack of mob tagging all of the dynamic events involving bosses or waves of NPC foes seem to be zergfests where a dozen or so players are attacking the same boss/foes and really you feel like your part is so minimal that you are insignificant. 2) Poor story telling: The personal story NPC cut-scenes where you see two badly voice-acted NPCs standing at the left and the right of the screen in front of a painted backdrop are lame.What was extremely annoying for me for the personal story was the way that every time you completed one or two simple steps in the personal story you would have to leave the personal story and go and grind your level up doing other things because your weren't high enough level for the next personal story step. They need to either make the personal story scale with your level or just get rid of the personal story all together imo, the personal story does not seem to be connected to the outside world anyway.3) World Questing: WoW-clone quests just without the middle-man: If you've played WoW or any WoW-clone you've done these types of quests before, fetch a number of these things, kill a number of these things, place a number of these things over there, etc. Guild Wars 2 presents them a little differently however. Instead of list of fetch 0/10 things, kill 0/10 things, put 0/10 things there, you get a bar that says something equivalent to "Help Bob by fetching things, killing things and putting things there" and you can do any or all of the things repeatedly until the bar fills up at which point you get mail from "Bob" saying something like "Thanks for the help! here's some coins and a piece of armor!", you don't even have to go to a mailbox. For me personally, it feels like I am just doing a bunch of random tasks. I prefer the old way where you talk to an NPC and listen to him speak and/or read his test giving you a back story to why you are doing what you are doing and return to him when you are done because it gives you a sense of purpose for doing stuff, without that it really just feels like just a grind, when according to the hype, Guild Wars 2 was supposed to be less grindy than other MMOs.I originally gave Guild Wars 2 a 3/10 I've lowered it to 0/10 for a few reasons. a) Someone seems to be gaming the metacritic system to remove negative reviews (including b) there are way to many guild wars fans just giving the game a 10/10 without any critical thinking c) a large number of accounts have been hacked, d) Guild Wars 2 policies to ban players for 72 hours for swearing when they have a profanity filter build into the game makes no sense, e) Banning players for 72 hours for minor naming offenses when it is a first offense is extreme. I think some cases such as names that contain swear words or making racist remarks are indeed worthy of a 72-hour ban, but being banned for 72 hours for naming yourself something "Adolf Critler" is a little excessive for a first offense, a forced name change and a warning would've sufficed. I'm also not clear if a parodied name like "Spruce Willis" for a Sylvari would get me a 72 hour ban or not. I also had a few nice things to say but had to remove them due to 5000 char limit, but they cannot make up for the bad things.… Expand
  10. Justice_Friend
    Sep 6, 2012
    10
    This is exactly what I've been waiting for. After 7 years, I can finally say goodbye to Azeroth. If you're on the fence about this one, all I can say is go buy it now!
  11. zaurus
    Sep 6, 2012
    10
    This game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO'sThis game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO's like WoW and aren't capable of adapting to anything different.

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

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

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

    I see a problem with people complaining about security too, and for the most part they are right. It would have been nice if ArenaNet had implemented some type of authentication system BEFORE release. However, myself and many others have been playing without these issues. Just don't be an idiot and use the same password for every game/website you go to.    … Expand
  12. Hiei987
    Sep 6, 2012
    10
    This is first MMO since Wow that has all the potential to be a hit for many years to come. ArenaNet have taken a lot of risks with going away from the traditional MMO style, but most of them have been received quite well. The game attracts all of types of players and provides a great amount of content fit for any player, whether casual or hardcore.
  13. Hazax
    Sep 6, 2012
    8
    Guild Wars 2 does it different but in the same skin as its competitors. In terms of setting it evolves upon GW-1, still having a storyline focused upon you the player as several political factions try to oppose the dragons and other powers that threaten the civilized races that form the loose alliance set around Lions Arch. The combat at first glance seems the same as WoW (hit button 1 toGuild Wars 2 does it different but in the same skin as its competitors. In terms of setting it evolves upon GW-1, still having a storyline focused upon you the player as several political factions try to oppose the dragons and other powers that threaten the civilized races that form the loose alliance set around Lions Arch. The combat at first glance seems the same as WoW (hit button 1 to use skill 1) but once you delve into it, it is nowhere close. Each class has skills tied to weapons (skills 1-5) and then 5 that are unlocked as you earn skillpoints to unlock them, beyond this each class has unique mechanics which further sets it apart… Expand
  14. Machineman87
    Sep 6, 2012
    1
    Security is absolutely the most glaring issue with the game.

    After years of learning security best practices from other game
  15. ilpanda
    Sep 6, 2012
    1
    The so-called dynamic events just repeats over and over, with no real difference in winning or failing the event, usually you are surrounded by lot of other players so you can simply press auto-attack key and go afk. Perhaps the game is good in pvp, but for the pve part it's nothing a real pve fan will play.
  16. GottFaust
    Sep 6, 2012
    9
    I picked this game up over the Labor Day weekend, and then my 3-day weekend ceased to exist. I haven't had a single evening since then either. It's been a long time since a game has made me utterly lose track of time. I've been having to set an alarm for myself otherwise I'd be up until 5:00 am every night. This game is what every MMO released in the last 8 years simply were not: Pure,I picked this game up over the Labor Day weekend, and then my 3-day weekend ceased to exist. I haven't had a single evening since then either. It's been a long time since a game has made me utterly lose track of time. I've been having to set an alarm for myself otherwise I'd be up until 5:00 am every night. This game is what every MMO released in the last 8 years simply were not: Pure, unadulterated fun. To top it off ArenaNet doesn't take crap from all the exploiters, botters, and hackers that plague most other MMOs. They're perma-banned quickly and efficiently, and if this continues it might be the only recent MMO whose economy is not completely ruined within a month of its launch. The only reason I haven't given this game a perfect 10 is because of the rocky launch though, admittedly, even that has been better than most other recent MMOs.… Expand
  17. NastyN8
    Sep 6, 2012
    9
    My experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discouragesMy experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discourages social player interaction because in many cases, nothing needs to be said to accomplish a goal. 3. Many of the utility skills seem useless to me for PVP or PVE. However, this could just be due to my lack of experience with my profession or the game in general. 4. Lack of tutorial. This is actually a plus for me because I like figuring things out, but I can see how this would frustrate some people.

    The good points in Guild Wars 2 result in a much longer list for me, so I will just stick to the major points: 1. Doing arbitrary redundant tasks (such as traveling back to a city to free up inventory space) are nearly eliminated. 2. With the character creation options, armor dyes, utility skills, trait points, transmutation, and weapon selection - character customization is on par, if not better, than any MMO out there. I have yet to see another Charr Necromancer that looks like me, so finding one that does look like me and has the same weapons/traits/skills seems highly unlikely. 3. Questing/exploration structure is very well thought out and dynamic events prevent the boredom from setting in. 4. Compared to other MMOs and similar games, the launch of GW2 went VERY smooth. There are minimal bugs and plenty of content at launch 5. Doing lower level content is still challenging and rewarding. To my knowledge, this is the first MMO to accomplish this and it opens up a staggering amount of additional content to play through. 6. Any race/profession combo is allowed 7. Players are encouraged to work together. You get good rewards for participating in an event, you get exp for reviving another player, exp and rewards are given to all players that participate, and resource nodes cannot be "stolen" by another player. 8. Graphics are really good. I have a very nice gaming computer and I still can get 95-100% use out of both my GPUs on high settings. Not many games on PC do that for me. 9. PVP is well balanced at launch! Making everybody level 80 for PvP is a brilliant idea too.    … Expand
  18. Drensis
    Sep 6, 2012
    1
    This is a game for kids. Quests are so stupid, and your character seems like a body with a doolish head. No interaction needed with other players... everybody rush on "dynamics" events, you don't see anything and you do not need any skills to win the event... absolutly deplorable. World vs World is unplayable, and battlegrounds are boring. This is ver yfar from the revolution they annoncedThis is a game for kids. Quests are so stupid, and your character seems like a body with a doolish head. No interaction needed with other players... everybody rush on "dynamics" events, you don't see anything and you do not need any skills to win the event... absolutly deplorable. World vs World is unplayable, and battlegrounds are boring. This is ver yfar from the revolution they annonced ! Maybe F2P players like it.. I really don't understand this score...… Expand
  19. Sayanshaka
    Sep 6, 2012
    1
    And by the way, there is an end to the storyline in guild wars2, a mmorpg. It's like Arthas is the last boss in UBRS or something, thanks for playing now go pvp xD. seriously ?

    welcome to the MMOPG genre, role it out yourself kid.
  20. Antisceptic
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Looks great, feels great, sounds great, plays great, runs great. PvP is perfectly balanced, PvE is dynamic and interesting, World vs World is always changing and has such an epic scale. The Music is by Jeremy Soule. The achievements system rewards you for every aspect of the game, which is good, because this is the best MMORPG ever created.
  21. Andore
    Sep 5, 2012
    9
    This game restored my faith in MMOs. It's the best thing since Ultima Online.
    Not only the best theme park ever made, but one of the greatest games ever.
  22. g10stpd
    Sep 5, 2012
    9
    First off, I haven't played every MMO out there, but I have been playing MMOs since 1999 starting with UO. The next game I spent a ton of time on was WoW since launch. I have tried many other 'next big things' that turned out to be failures within the first couple months. They either faltered due to poor launch, inexperience, or just lack of content. With Guild Wars 2, those are notFirst off, I haven't played every MMO out there, but I have been playing MMOs since 1999 starting with UO. The next game I spent a ton of time on was WoW since launch. I have tried many other 'next big things' that turned out to be failures within the first couple months. They either faltered due to poor launch, inexperience, or just lack of content. With Guild Wars 2, those are not concerns. ArenaNet is experienced and has plenty of content here at launch. I firmly believe this is 'the next big thing' since the juggernaut known as WoW has been around, I shall explain why. This list is in no particular order...

    1- This game is polished for release. There may be minor bugs here and there, but the game as a whole just works. I'm sure there will be more polish put on this with time. It can't compare to WoW here, but then again WoW has like an 8 year head start. Give it time. 2 - Depth of character: Open race and profession combinations. Anybody can be anything. The depth of how you can pick your utility skills and traits and have a real good chance of not running into anyone else with a cookie cutter build is very nice, especially since Blizzard killed off hybrids with Cataclysm and more so with Pandaria. 3 - Combat! Skills are determined by what you have in your hand more so than your profession. All buffs (boons) and debuffs (conditions) are of simple design. There is no dedicated Tank-Healer-DPS although there are some classes that excel at certain things more than others. Combat animations are done well and it seems to flow very smoothly. I am very critical on this as this is the exact thing that put me off of wanting in on The Secret World. There haven't been many MMOs to give you such an active mode of combat. Age of Conan tried and was very unbalanced between ranged and melee. Guild Wars 2 gets it right. You are able to fully Line of Sight some ones attacks or even actively dodge them!

    4- PvP at launch! This is a direct stab at Blizzard. They still haven't added it to Diablo 3 (still wouldn't make me want to play it again, heh) and WoW was going for months before it got it's first battleground. I give major props for Dynamic Level Adjustments up to level 80. There are no such things as lowbie twinks or leveling zone camping and gankfests. Racial abilities can't be used in Structured PvP also (no Human double trinket domination!)

    5- Robust crafting. This game has one of the most interesting crafting setups I've ever seen. It could use a bit more polish such as maybe showing you what you could make based upon components that you could make based upon your materials. I think there should be an option to consider your bank materials as well. I have only scratched the tip of this and am anxious to get more materials to craft more. Also, experience is gained for crafting and gathering!

    6- Dynamic questing system. You do have a main story line that gives you a clear direction on how to progress through the game, but a big chunk of your leveling will be done through dynamic quests kind of similar to Rift's rift system and Instant Adventures, but more dynamic. No forced grouping during leveling as the content adjusts to how many players are active and you automatically get heals or assists off whoever is killing the same target as you. The Dynamic Level Adjustment works opposite in PvE than PvP, if you go into a lower level zone, you get reduced to an appropriate level and rewarded as if you were higher level. It is impossible to out level the content and you also can't get a high level guy to just run you through something! Also, no looking for yellow ?s or !s on the map!!!

    7- The graphics are 2nd to none in MMOs. This is not a factor for many, but after spending thousands on PC hardware over the years, I appreciate being able to fully use it. This is the first game in years to have me taking screenshots because I am in awe of the design. A lot of MMOs don't put as much thought into design of the whole game as ArenaNet has done with just a single zone.

    8- I don't know what else to keep on about... You can join multiple guilds. You get nice rewards for 100% exploration of zones. You can 'fight for your life' instead of dying when you get downed. You can transmute gear for different looks. You can freely dye armor different colors. .... and quite a bit more than I have space or time to describe.

    Bottom line: Go get the game if you haven't already!!    … Expand
  23. sektor
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Revolutionizing the genre a must play for MMO and Action RPG fans. Miles ahead of similar action MMO's mindless gameplay. After reading most of the negative reviews I realize it comes from a lack of understanding of the game itself as well as a lack of awareness. People who are giving this a low score are coming into the game with a cookie-cutter MMO mindset. Come in with a blank slate andRevolutionizing the genre a must play for MMO and Action RPG fans. Miles ahead of similar action MMO's mindless gameplay. After reading most of the negative reviews I realize it comes from a lack of understanding of the game itself as well as a lack of awareness. People who are giving this a low score are coming into the game with a cookie-cutter MMO mindset. Come in with a blank slate and see why this is the best MMO of this year and probably this decade.… Expand
  24. Ocelot113
    Sep 5, 2012
    2
    This quote from the Manifesto video doomed this game IMO:

    "... in Guild Wars 2, it's your world. It's your story. You affect things around you in a very permanent way." "You are rescuing a village, that will stay rescued." I'll come right out and say it... Naaah. Not a chance, it's the same old, same old, never ending loop of quests. They have not come up with any solution for    This quote from the Manifesto video doomed this game IMO:

    "... in Guild Wars 2, it's your world. It's your story. You affect things around you in a very permanent way." "You are rescuing a village, that will stay rescued." I'll come right out and say it... Naaah. Not a chance, it's the same old, same old, never ending loop of quests. They have not come up with any solution for personalizing an entire MMO world to the player. Their main claim to revolutionary game design was a complete fabrication. That alone heavily drops the score for me. Secondly, the event system is very, very repetitive. Just as repetitive as any other MMO to date. They change who you are fighting, what you are fetching, what you are wiping off walls, and where you are, but you are still defending, fetching, and wiping just to move on and do it all over. Lastly, the personal story is level based so you must, MUST grind out on things that have no story, or a very weak on if any, in order to get to the meat of the story in the game. Bad design, personal story must level with the character so they can always progress. That right there made me stop playing because I was not going to WOW grind to get to play and enjoyable single player experience. Oh and don't try grouping with too many people because the overload servers can't keep parties on the same servers. Overall, Guild Wars 2 Is like a bargain bin CD of a bunch of niche MMO's. 50 classic games for $60, but really nothing in it to separate it from the competition and the lack of a goal makes it hard to press on.    … Expand
  25. Warfist
    Sep 5, 2012
    8
    Not the revolutionary genre changing game many of GW2's more zealous fans tried to tout pre-release, but a very solid, very good MMO with plenty to do and best of all no subscription fee.
  26. Mcwalco
    Sep 5, 2012
    4
    Disney on steroids or PCP great graphics ,crafting looks well done but some what tedious.Characters are great stories weak least thief was .I found it little better than WOW or most the other fantasy MMOs out there. I have been playing MMos since before Ultima Online .Its good but not up to the hype .
  27. gas
    Sep 5, 2012
    8
    After playin wow more or less 7 years i think tht GW2 is very very promising, i tried some others mmos in those years but didnt like any, except EVE online which is very good but another setting and kind of mmo.
    GW2 in my opinion is mostly based on PVP, the world vs world is very fun and the structured pvp is imo a lot better then wow, especially the fact its not gear based, its a lot    After playin wow more or less 7 years i think tht GW2 is very very promising, i tried some others mmos in those years but didnt like any, except EVE online which is very good but another setting and kind of mmo.
    GW2 in my opinion is mostly based on PVP, the world vs world is very fun and the structured pvp is imo a lot better then wow, especially the fact its not gear based, its a lot more skill based.
    The PVE is a lot less structured then wow, there are no raids, and instances are more about kiting / controlling.
    Its needed to understand how to play it, positioning, pulling, and the weapons used are key factor to beat the instance in the right manner in exploration mode.
    There is no more tank/healer/dps trinity which is imo really a great idea, ofc it leads to a PVE totally different from wow based games.
    If you like to pass the time stayin back of a boss pulling out max dps this is not the mmo for you, you will die every 2 seconds doing that, ive seen in those starting days a lot of ppl used to other mmos not understanding that the game here is different, its needed to be on the move, use the right weapons, hide when needed, use los and help the team with traits/utility skills.
    The quest system is great, very fun and well made, compared to wow its a blast.
    In many occasions its possible to complete events with follow ups that carry you around a lot before finishing.
    Every zone have a world boss event and at least a hidden puzzle zone to be discovered.
    Most of the new ideas are lightyears further compared to wow, the AH is the best one ive seen in any mmo, and overall i think this game will be a winning one.
    Anyway its not the mmo for anyone, ppl who are interested in raiding or really like tanking/healing system will not find those activities and mechanics in GW2.    … Expand
  28. Rok
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Others have already said it, even officially on reviewing websites, and I was one of the first to say it: yes, the long-awaited "WoW killer" is here! This doesn't mean that Blizzard will pack up and leave, but it means that WoW's near-monopoly, after 8 long years, is long gone now, thanks to Guild Wars 2.

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

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

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

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

    Hey, see you in Tyria!    … Expand
  29. Eleutherius
    Sep 5, 2012
    6
    Hi all. I'm writing this review because i feel like there are too many "personal" reviews (you know, the 10 or 0 score ones...) and i'd like to write the most objectively i can. I also know that one should play for some months before talking about a game, but i feel like this review can help those wondering whether to buy the game or not. There have been a lot of hype (not from me) aroundHi all. I'm writing this review because i feel like there are too many "personal" reviews (you know, the 10 or 0 score ones...) and i'd like to write the most objectively i can. I also know that one should play for some months before talking about a game, but i feel like this review can help those wondering whether to buy the game or not. There have been a lot of hype (not from me) around this game, mainly because of its "revolutionary" features. I honestly admit that there are some innovations, but the question is: are those innovations good? Let's talk about the combat system. You have 5 attack skills based on your equipped weapon/s, 1 healing skill chosen from a pool of 3, 3 so called "utility" skills and an elite one. You just can't customize your weapon skills: this means that every ranger wielding a greatsword will have the same 5 skills. Quite a constrain, in my opinion. The fact that almost no skill uses a resource (i.e. mana) makes the fights usually boring, since you will spam your skills when off from cooldown. The roll lets you evade an attack, but it is rare that a couple of rolls actually make the difference between a won and a lost fight; moreover, rolling is pretty much useless against both weaker enemies (you can take all of their hits) and champion-like foes (evade a couple of attacks, but when out endurance bar you're doomed). The "dynamic events" are just server-open quests, spawning every now and then and always requesting you to collect stuff - kill things. When a lot of fighting is involved it is common to have swarms of players overwhelming enemies just by numbers, not by skill. Even boss fights may become pretty boring, and you may feel useless since your efforts can be like a drop of water in an ocean. It should be mentioned that you will likely be unable to challenge yourself by trying and completing an event with only your 4 or 5 friends because everyone in the area will come and fight. Environments are well made and fascinating, with highly different locations and architectures. The graphics are acceptable although character customization is not so high (i.e. male human faces look pretty much the same). I was expecting a highly addictive and well made pve, but i'm sorry to say that my expectations were a little too high. If you don't play your personal story, the pve gets boring really fast. I'm sure that the devs expected this to happen, in fact they have added the gathering system, the point of interest / vistas "completion run", the daily / monthly achievements, etc. to break from the fight-move on-fight-move on-event-move on scheme. I'm not talking about pvp since i think it is too early on and still there are people not actually knowing what to do to play at a good level. All in all, pve wise (and please note that this is not like gw1, where pvp was predominant), Guild Wars 2 should be given a 7 or 7.5 but i'm lowering my score to 6 - 6.5 because i feel that all the innovations we should have seen in the game were either fake or simply unnecessary. Too much hype for a game that is actually good, but absolutely not a revolutionary one nor a mmorpg champion like WoW is.… Expand
  30. Jacksonbauer
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Simply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, thisSimply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, this game deserves a 10. The story is really well thought out, though the dialog can be a bit strange, and the combat system is fresh into the MMO scene, considering GW1 technically wasn't an MMO. That being said, this game feels like an RPG, and still sucks you in like the best of the best MMOs. So do yourself a favor by getting this game. Without a subscription fee, its impossible to pass the temptation.… Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critic Reviews

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