Once your character’s level is maxed out and you’re ready to give PvP a try,
you’ve got a few options. You can join in on a guild-on-guild quest which is
basically competitive team-based questing or you can participate in the
tournaments and ladder battles. The common link between them is that PvP in
Guild Wars is team-based. The action is pretty fast-paced and will remind you
more of a first person shooter than an RPG duel. With things moving so quickly
and there being so many combinations of skills available, there will be times
when you will have your you-know-what handed to you on a silver platter and
you’ll have no idea why you lost so badly. This is an unfortunate consequence of
the game’s primary dynamic – the top spots in the PvP battles will go to the
truly hardcore players. If you don’t have the time to invest in learning the
skills inside out and working with a group of players to form a finely honed
team, then you don’t have much hope of competing at the game’s upper levels. Not
that you won’t have fun playing against similarly matched teams, but your dreams
of sitting at the top of the heap will go unrealized.
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| The game features a variety of environments. |
If you want to get a taste of the PvP combat but don’t want to invest the time
to build a level 20 character, Guild Wars allows you to create a new level 20
character especially for PvP play. This character will not have access to all of
the skills that can be obtained by playing through the game on your own, but it
will be enough to at least get you into this aspect of the game and get a feel
for it. It may be a good idea to give it a try regardless, as it will give you
an idea as to how to shape and grow a character through the RPG side of the
game. Even if you don’t try this the game is forgiving of character mistakes and
will allow you to redistribute your character’s skill points at any time.
The RPG aspect of the game is enjoyable, but it will probably feel on the light
side for true RPG fans. The story is not as deep as is found in a lot of RPGs
and NPC interaction is accomplished through short text blurbs that aren’t really
that engrossing. However, there’s a huge world to explore and plenty of great
PvP action to look forward to, and without monthly fees you certainly get your
money’s worth out of Guild Wars.
Lastly it deserves special mention that Guild Wars is probably the best looking
MMORPG to date. The character and monster models are all very detailed and
nicely animated, making them look that much more real. The landscapes are simply
gorgeous, with a variety of ecologies and varied topography. The environments
are packed with details, from cascading waterfalls neat sunlit meadows to
flickering candles within a dark catacomb. This makes exploring the game’s world
more compelling as you feel as much an explorer looking for new sights to behold
as you do a player looking to check a quest off of a list.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 92%.
Guild Wars masterfully blends the best of MMORPGs and collectible card games
into a unique and enjoyable online gaming experience.
System Requirements: Pentium III 800; 256 MB RAM; 32 MB Video RAM; 8x
CD-ROM; 2 GB Hard Drive Space; Mouse.
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