Guild Wars

It's a solid game that won't dethrone World of Warcraft--simply because it's not the standard MMORPG.

When a new MMORPG enters the market, gamers now raise the question, "is it better than World of Warcraft?" NCsoft evades the competition altogether, instead delivering an arena-based experience in Guild Wars that separates the PvPers from the role-players.

One Mode to Rule Them All
Guild Wars is split into two modes: Roleplaying Character and PvP Only Character. The categorical divisions are misleading, however, as you need to play through the role-playing (basically PvE) portion to access all the rare and powerful skills for PvPing-- you'll find yourself thrashed and doomed to an ignoble death if you immediately jump into arena combat.

The roleplaying mode allows for players to gradually familiarize themselves with the meaty combat system and interface, which although offers a vast and pleasing amount of customizability, is cumbersome to get used to. Buff durations, spell range, and spell casting times aren't spelled out for you, so you'll need to log in a lot of hours to know what's going on--especially in group skirmishes. A clean interface comes at the cost of information, and it's a shame that there are no options to let you in on what all those flying red and yellow numbers mean.

Unfortunately, the PvE mode serves as a preparation for PvP, nothing more. Dull primary missions fail to attach you to the world, and seeing "America favored by the gods" in the middle of questing rips you out of the immersion of being in a fantasy world. Those who want a true role-playing game ought to look elsewhere.

Guild Wars does deliver where it counts most: combat. Battles are a blast due to the endless possibilities in hybrid classes and abilities. With an option to choose a secondary class, no two characters are the same. Emphasizing strategy over twitch, success in battles hinge on whether you're making the best of those eight ability slots.

Massively Multiplayer Supermodels
One area where Guild Wars sets itself apart from other MMOs are the environments; they are flat-out the most impressive, especially when seeing that even lower-end rigs can run the game at a respectable frame rate. On the down side, character models all look generically super model-like--and since there's no other race to choose from than humans, you're stuck in a world where everybody has the same, sculpted build.

Guild Wars isn't perfect, but with no subscription fees and occasional free updates (in addition to paid-expansions), it's a bargain.

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