Guild Wars 2 PC
  • Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Aug 28, 2012
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2138 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,683 out of 2138
  2. Mixed: 139 out of 2138
  3. Negative: 316 out of 2138

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  1. 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     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
  2. 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'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
  3. 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. 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
  4. 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 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
  5. 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 $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
  6. 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 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
  7. 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 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
  8. 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     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
  9. 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. Al    l 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
  10. 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 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
  11. 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.
  12. 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 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
  13. 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 ? :]
  14. 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
  15. 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 t    he 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
  16. 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.
  17. 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     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
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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. :)
  22. 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 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
  23. 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 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
  24. 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
  25. 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 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
  26. 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, outstanding title I intend on playing for years to come.… Expand
  27. arestotele
    Nov 21, 2012
    10
    edit 70 hours of gameplay one warrior lvl 48 and map completed to 25%; after the first two weeks of intense play I found myself playing GW2 really casual and even if i stop tomorrow, the price of the game is money well spent. Advice do not expect to find a WoW clone because the two games are very different in everything from PvE to PvP.
  28. RedMattis
    Oct 28, 2012
    5
    The lack of clear character roles such as a clear tank, healer, damagers, crowd controllers and so on unfortunately reduces the teamwork in the game to beating up monsters and dodging their attacks... in group! As opposed to beating up monsters and dodging their attack alone!

    Unfortunately everyone basically just runs their own race, and aside of "combo fields" it typically works bette    r that way. Working together alongside strangers is obviously even more devoid of sophisticated teamwork.

    Next problem is the attack numbers, and this is something almost every bad review mentions. There are only 5 attacks per weapon and a few support abilities used more rarely. This in turn means that you'll be using the same tricks again and again and again until you start getting bored.

    The World versus World is very well done though, and some features such as jumping puzzles can be a fun diversion.

    Overall this is not a bad game, but the non-dedicated character classes don't quite work out, and it drags down the entire game.    … Collapse
  29. meatwagon
    Sep 27, 2012
    3
    While the world is pretty and full of detail, unfortunately the beauty was only skin deep, for me. The game is severely repetitive, kill centaurs, water flowers, feed chicken, collect tree branches... over and over and over and over. The WvW pvp was just a zergfest, you either roll or you're getting rolled.Dynamic events, which are supposed to change the world around you as you participate and finish is no different than finishing an event in WOW. You succeed until the event you just finished re spawns... and it starts all over again.… Expand
  30. crishrice
    Sep 28, 2012
    10
    The amount of stories that are available is amazing. The game has so much replay value. I am definitely getting my $60 out of the game. The game is huge and i feel like i will never finish it. I have had the game for 2-3 weeks and i am level 37 and have no intention on quitting now. (having friends with you is a great way to enjoy the game more.)
  31. Anubis_RE
    Sep 29, 2012
    10
    Na, na, na, na, na, na, na na, na, na, na, na, na, na Guil Wars 2, no fees, no the boring trinity world vs world ......... .......

    Again, no fees, pay, play and play when ati, you exit the [.......].

    There is NOTHING in the current market, you do shadow, NOTHING, not ever compare with the failed and rehash MOP WOW, that Bli $ $, not interested in their customers, they are interested     in your wallet, good for all companies as well, but other caregivers better than others.… Expand
  32. Stars_Cream
    Oct 13, 2012
    10
    Loot drops like Diablo
    RvR better than DAoC
    PvP better than WoW
    Public Quests better than WAR
    Crafting and Gathering that means something
    Personal Story like SWToR
    Exploration better than any MMO
    Bosses are awesome
    NO MONTHLY FEE

    Dungeons are OK, not great
    Some map completion bugs STILL
    ArenaNet over-nerfs stuff habitually

    WORTH EVERY PENNY!
  33. commonHouseDirt
    Oct 14, 2012
    3
    If you were to chart an exciting quest, it might start out slow, and then ramp up and up, until the climax at which point you would face some thrilling final challenge, after which you would feel a flood of endorphins for having accomplished something. This is not how GW2 works. Instead, you wander around, and a little message says, "Go kill those things to save the farm or whatever." So you go kill whatever for a while with a hundred other people, and then the things are all killed, and you get a letter that says, "Hey, thanks for killing those things. Here's some gold." It doesn't lead anywhere, no story is built, it's not the start of some greater mission to work towards, and you don't feel more powerful or accomplished. Frankly, Guild Wars 2 is boring. I only feel compelled to play this game because I spent money on it. The story, lore, and dialog are paper thin, which would be forgivable if the gameplay was at all interesting.

    The worst sin of this game, though? They've built a beautiful world, and given you a difficult to control, buggy, awful camera with which to view it. Super narrow FOV with no way to change it, collides with random objects and jerks around wildly (especially indoors), shows you more of the ground than the scenery, and always prefers to stick your character front and center, blocking whatever you actually want to look at. All of this makes exploring the world, which should be a fun diversion, a headache.    … Expand
  34. saidor
    Nov 11, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. GW2 is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Visually it's good, but not fantastic, and the game play animation has a strange feel to it. Some call it floaty, some call it bloaty. The game play itself is also average. Some interesting combat mechancis in that different weapon combinations open up different skills, and the crafting mechanics shared across all your characters, are welcome features i've not seem on the other mmo's, but as will all mmo's its go here kill that go here collect this. Not quite on red snapper levels but it's still there. The game heavily promotes the 'personal story' making out that its all about you creating your own legend. In this Anet has completely failed. Sorry Anet. It's a linear story line with poor voice acting. It doesnt even have real world animation, just odd cut scenes that detach you from the game. Most of the story isnt about what you do, its about you following instructions like a good little peon. The game lacks depth to a newcomer unfamiliar with the GW world and background. Very little draws you in to the world. For a one of price its a reasonable game with some interesting new touches but nothing to really get excited over. However, zones feel empty, servers are already struggling to attract new players, and there are the usual requests to merge servers or transfer to better ones. If this was pay to play it would be worrying.… Expand
  35. KRob4
    Nov 27, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 progresses the MMO genre. There's no grind, there's collaboration galore, a wealth of PvP, and quite possibly the most scenic game I've ever laid eyes on. I'm constantly bewildered by its beauty, and fun. Buy this game. Get in a big guild. Play WvW, play sPvP, get in dungeons, play live events...etc, etc, etc,etc,etcet,cet,
  36. David-b
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    So nice with a game that finally dared to mix things up a little. Or not "a little", but a lot actually. Doing so many bold moves, people aren't familiar with and it works. Also a massive community feedback on every little error or bug there is. Never seen anything like it, and definitely also counts in on the score, when it's this significant.
  37. Folstar
    Feb 14, 2013
    1
    This is a tacky review, sorry.
    THE GOOD: The aesthetics of this game are amazing. If you like looking at pretty pictures and running around a finely crafted world listening to good voice acting telling a better than average story then you are in luck. THE BAD: GW2 plays like a bunch of people who really liked playing pvp as dps classes on WoW got together and made a game. The laundry list     of boons/conditions that all last half a milisecond quickly becomes meaningless spam that does not lend itself well to a game you play for hours on end (pve that is, it is great for pvp). Though overall most things about the gameplay are frantic and after a short time get filtered out. Along the same lines the constant battles when you travel anywhere get tiresome. Sorry, I liked being able to run freely through newb zones in other games without constant harassment. Hey devs, if you wanted people to play together why did you put in 80 levels? Because WoW has 80 levels? Exactly. The leveling down is a cool feature, but is forced on you like so much else in GW2. Speaking of which, not being able to assign your own weapon ability hotkeys! This throwback to when games sucked for technical limitations is inexcusable in 2012/3.
    THE UGLY: Abandoning the mmo trinity makes for a chaotic cluster#### in groups. Dungeons feel like 5 individuals who happen to be doing the same thing instead of a group working together. Along those same lines the zone/group chat on GW2 is the quietest and lamest of any mmo I have played, though maybe that was just my server. Lastly, butter. This vendor will sell me milk, cheese, sour cream, and BUTTERmilk, but if I want butter I have to go kill monsters? The asari can build portals all around the world but haven't figured out butter? Why is a cave dwelling monster man able to make butter (into perfect bars that they carry in cloth bags) but nobody at the huge crafts/artisan market in the sprawling city can? What crap.
    VERDICT: A very pretty package for a game that makes huge advances for MMOs while still managing to be a WoW clone that utterly fails at finding good solutions to MMO problems. Maybe worth a playthrough for the story in a purely solo run, but overall a bad online game.    … Expand
  38. 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. 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
  39. Cell1e
    Sep 8, 2012
    9
    I am enjoying this game a lot. I like the beautful world, the bright and gorgeous graphics, the clothes, armours are so lovely and I like being able to colour them howver I like. I would like a barbershop to change my hairstyle tho and also more costumes to be able to buy. I also think the trading house needs a preview button.
    Oh but this game will amuse me for many more weeks to come. Ho    oray to get a great new game to play! :D

    Oh the main story seems to be fairly standard formula but Im easy pleased. Its easy to follow and I like I dont have millions of minor quests.

    Wish there was a little more character friendships/relationships/romance. So shallow emtional response to this game but still fun. Do try it most of you will like many aspects of this game!    … Expand
  40. Renoxzor
    Sep 23, 2012
    10
    So far this game is amazing, good graphics even though they ask for a lot still they are solid, it's a lot less grindy than wowcrap, plus there are no pandas and on top of of that there's no subscription fee so if I happen to get bored I could play without wasting money on it unlike wow, which I tried last using the 7 days but I only played a couple of times for no more than 1 hr each time, I just can't handle that game anymore.… Expand
  41. Contemptible
    Dec 12, 2012
    9
    I've been playing Guild Wars 2 almost everyday since release, and I love it. I don't think I've enjoyed playing a game this much, especially exploring and completing dungeons with friends. I would have to consider this my favourite game. The reason I'm not giving it 10/10 is because it still has its problems.. It was incomplete on release, several bugs which still exist now, crappy loot, the progression has left everything empty except fractal dungeons and I don't believe the classes are evenly balanced (Warrior). I haven't had much experience with MMO's to compare GW2 with anything else (quitting through the beta of SWTOR is about it). There is definitely a grind aspect to the game, however they do a decent job of covering it up and give players options and experience towards that goal. Despite its issues, Guild wars 2 is beautiful and enjoyable with unique classes and races with a variety of areas to explore. There are a number of dungeons to participate in which can challenge and frustrate players. This game is definitely worth its money for casual and experienced players giving them flexibility of how they want to play.… Expand
  42. 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 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
  43. 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 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
  44. Busterofwar
    Oct 3, 2012
    8
    I'm not the biggest fan of MMO's. My time with WoW and SWTOR was expensive, time consuming and quickly uninteresting. Guild Wars 2 has changed that. I'm not paying every month for this and can play whenever I feel like it, instead of trying to cram in as much as possible to make the monthly payment worthwhile. There's a lot I could say about how this has raised the bar for MMO's, but this has already been said by thousands of people.… Expand
  45. Yummyzombie
    Sep 20, 2012
    9
    Not perfect, but you finally dont need to pay monthly fees to enjoy the full content!!! This makes WoW both worse and better than GW2. GW2 would be great even if you had to pay monthly fees. Which is what makes it worth your money so much. The graphics are amazing and when the world merges to complete one world event, its epic without any need to create a party. And there are jumping puzzles which were missed so much in other MMOs. If I would have to pick some cons it would be that there are no fractions and the tutorial was a bit too short (how do i craft????).… Expand
  46. x_ares_x
    Sep 2, 2012
    9
    Guild Wars 2 is what an MMORPG is supposed to be. The standard questing system of kill # of monster or gather # of resource is not present here, at least, not present in its familiar form. Yes, you still do kill # or gather # of objects, but ArenaNet have cleverly hidden these objectives in the form of a public questing system. They have taken out the ho-hum grind of doing these quests in the form of Heart NPCs. You get Xp for nearly anything you do, from crafting to just exploring. While the game does have a few problems, mostly with the auction house, it is still a very fun, very social game. The game is full of surprises. You can pass an area hundreds of times and still find that there are things you missed. The world is colorful and alive with NPCs talking with one another about different events. Everyone can revive one another and has their own personal heal. I won't say Guild Wars 2 innovates, but I will say they have vastly improved on a genre which has long been stagnate. I almost forgot to mention; the game is NOT free to play, nor is it pay to win, it is however buy to play with the option of paying in the form of a gem shop, which I have experienced first-hand. The boosts which people have fretted over for so long are of such little consequence that it don't matter whether or not you have them. You can perform just as well without them. They're so insignificant in fact, that most of the time, I forget to even use them. If you want a great, social game with interaction everywhere and you want to do in in a world teeming with beauty and life, get this game, it is well worth the money you will pay for it.… Expand
  47. 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.
  48. 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!
  49. 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 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
  50. AlexBugella
    Sep 1, 2012
    10
    So, I've been looking for a good MMO for awhile, and I think I found it. GW2 is no doubt a great MMO. The character creation seems to provide players with enough to make their character unique, in terms of looks and even play style. The combat I find to be really interesting. Each weapon type has its own skill associated with them and the more you use these weapons, the more you use the weapon type, the better skills you unlock for the weapon. Fights are pretty strategic at times, especially when fighting higher level enemies and using your various abilities, including the new dodge mechanic. Crafting is pretty much the same as other MMOs, useless, but in GW2, Crafting gives you tons of XP. The in-game world is pretty huge and with a way point system, discover way points and teleport to them later for a small fee. Now, the really reason to play an MMO is to play with your friends and tons of people, which GW2 doesn't disappoint in their new PvP game type, World v World v World. Its really exactly what it sounds like, 3 servers fight each other on 1 map, for 3 days. each server has their own area to defend from the other 2 servers but theirs also an unclaimed section of the map where the servers fight for constantly and which ever server holds this area, pretty much wins the match. But this game type is some much fun, in a flock easily 20 to 40 people heading to an enemy controlled base, clashing with their group of 20 to 40 people, and its all out war and so satisfying when you are slowly gaining ground. I would tell you to get the game just to play WvWvW, but honestly, every aspect of the game makes this a good buy, and hey, you pay the flat 60 bucks and no subscriptions, if you want to put more money into it you can, to get things like XP boosts or vanity items. I wouldnt be surprised if we start to see WoW fade out because of this game.… Expand
  51. Angelic_Dj
    Sep 24, 2012
    10
    I wish i could comment on some of these negative reviews. If you are hitting the same 2 buttons the entire game your doing it wrong. This is the most immersive game i have ever played. The pvp is slightly lacking in the number of maps and gametypes (more content is being made), BUT it is the most balanced pvp in any mmo. The reason some people don't like that is because they can no longer faceroll noobs. If your looking for a $60 game you can spend hundreds of hours on without ever getting bored or frustrated, this is the game for you.… Expand
  52. 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.
  53. Whookares
    Nov 30, 2012
    1
    Played this game for a couple of months and found that its just too buggy. Many dungeons to not work and the new fractals dungeons crash constantly (usually toward the end). The game is full of cheaters and its just a very bad game would not recommend it to anyone. Give it a year or so for them to work out the bugs and stop the blatant cheating.
  54. lilioups
    Sep 3, 2012
    10
    best mmo in recent years and i dont i have to explain why

    all i can say its im playing mmo's since wow vanilla and gw2 simply crush it with eaze and style..i wont bother to mention other mmos since 90% of them are all wow clones.

    Proudly gw2 isnt and thats what make it the best mmo since wow:LK exp
  55. ChoicestGames
    Jan 18, 2013
    8
    While ArenaNet has definitely succeeded in making Guild Wars 2 different to anything else out there, it has taken away some of the endearing qualities of the original Guild Wars such as a greater variety of skills and placing a greater focus on storyline missions. For newcomers, the game will keep you entertained for awhile but long-term enjoyment boils down to PvP, WvW and popular dungeons.
  56. 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.
  57. 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     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
  58. rubin
    Dec 28, 2012
    3
    My, my, ArenaNet surely did it's homework in researching "things that every MMO fan seems to want". Beautiful graphics, excellent music, huge open world, no subscription fees - all of that you can find in Guild Wars 2. Too bad that in their pursuit for a perfect MMO formula, ArenaNet forgot to add one critical element to this otherwise perfect equation - fun. No argument for PvP balance can overrule the fact that restricting your class to only a handful of skillsets (as opposed to hundreds in GW1) was an absolutely horrible design choice that doomed the entire experience from the start. The new questing system is also vastly overrated. It really doesn't matter if I have to walk to the NPC or have the quest activated on the go, when it's still the same kill & fetch bullsh*t every other MMO has already done to death. Biggest disappointment of the year.… Expand
  59. 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.
  60. Tundra
    Nov 26, 2012
    3
    After playing this game since release, ArenaNet are probably one of the most inefficient developers ever to grace the MMO industry. The game is riddled with bugs only to be riddled with more bugs every update. These bugs rarely even get fixed let alone be noticed. Take note that they have a tendency to ignore genuine player complaints and they fail to keep their promises. The fact that their PvP side of the game doesn't even have a global leaderboard is certainly troubling (yeah, e-sport, right). The PvP is a huge let down (the only mode is conquest) and the PvE side is just subpar. Class balance is totally out of whack. The actual classes have bugs from the beta to this day. The developers are slow and incompetent and It's honestly inexcusable. They'll be the ones to actually kill their own game.

    I originally gave this a 10 but it looked so great at release. Now they've shown their true colors when it comes to how horrible of a slow and inefficient development team they are. I'm pretty much fed up with MMO's after this.    … Expand
  61. 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 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
  62. 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.
  63. superbau
    Oct 26, 2012
    6
    Mmmm game are beautiful, but need to refix and expand more.. i cant play more than 2hours, it come boring anywhere,,, pve: it have a very nice place, but have to do always the same think, annoying a lot... and havent the desert place!!!! ... pvp are Very annoying, well its good to play but... 30 minuts its my best before CLOSE computer... WvW it mu prefer but... need more interaction, more think, mount... need more object usable, more place, some WvW dungeon.. ecc... Game need to expand more and more and insert more and more feature for come to a best game ever, now.. it just a Beautifull Work in progress… Expand
  64. Gwydiian
    Sep 4, 2012
    9
    I've played a good amount of MMORPGs, starting way back with Everquest and Ultima Online, and this is the first MMO since then to make me so excited to take it slow and enjoy the content.

    Graphics/Art style: 10

    Beautiful landscapes and tremendous cities make this game's environment the single greatest in any MMO to date. There is no doubt that a lot of heart and soul went into the d    evelopment of this game and it shows nowhere better than in the art.

    Music: 8

    The music is well composed and doesn't intrude on your play, but it isn't anything especially heart pumping or iconic, like some of the game's competitors.

    Gameplay: 10

    Though the combat can get repetitive, just as in any MMO, this game makes up for it with plenty of other things to do. Exploration is fun and rewarding, with many jumping puzzles and other landscape games. Crafting is rich and exciting, allowing the players to make great leaps in crafting skill with some careful planning and experimentation, rather than grinding out the same recipes until new ones become available. Mini-games are a great break from normal game-play. PvP is fantastic, fast paced at the small scale, and deep and strategic in the large scope.

    Replayability: 10

    With each race and class having a very unique playstyle and personal story, this game will easily give you hundreds of hours of new and fun content, at a bargain of a one time price.


    Ultimately Guild Wars 2 has raised the bar on what it is to be a current generation MMO. While WoW will still retain it's loyal player base with it's tried and true style, Blizzard will have to make some groundbreaking changes to pull players away from this game. A great pickup for any fan of MMOs or RPGs    … Expand
  65. coustoe
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    Best game I've played in 5 years, great gameplay mechanics, decent story line, great art and the best part? no subscription fees, the Auction House system is amazing, its like actually trading stocks. I can't count all the innovative features, including the skill system, everything felt easy, like I was never grinding, quest are easy and the majority are autojoin, no more looking for groups. the fighting mechanics are amazing with lots of action fighting mechanics, much better than tera.

    Guildwars2 thanks for restoring my faith that mmos can be great again.    … Expand
  66. normyp
    May 18, 2013
    5
    3rd review all in all this game was meh and i wish I hadn't wasted my money on it tbh. the first few months of when it came out was good because you had people all over the starting zones etc. they're now dead graveyards with noone in them. all the casual gamers have left the game and u hv a load of people at end game wondering what to do. its lost its edge for me as a casual gamer. i think the thing is mmorpgs get good when u devote a lot of time to them. i hate running around a map getting somewhere for ages, and u hv to do that quite a bit in gw2 but if ur willing to put the time in the game is hella awesome and im sure ull hv a blast. i just find the events hv dried up now, noone does them in the starting zones.… Expand
  67. Althusser
    Sep 2, 2012
    9
    This is the first next generation mmorpg un post wow era. Maybe you dont like the game per se, but in an honest view this game is by far a tecnical superior that all morpg games in actual market (yes, including WoW).
    A really MUST buy.
  68. edjiang
    Oct 9, 2012
    7
    Great artwork, clean combat, and a VERY nice PvP system. However, the game simply couldn't hold my attention for more than a month. Definitely worth trying out though.
  69. 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.
  70. BeoMauz
    Nov 19, 2012
    7
    Why Hello thar, first of all Guild Wars 2 isnt a bad Game at all, the Leveling is quite nice but htere could be more Models for the NPC enemies. The Problem with the Game is the Endgame once u hit Max Level the Game just falls a bit off, due to lack of Content. The PvP is a split Thing the WvW-PvP is quite nice and offers you options on how to play, for example you dont need to zerg around you can push the Logistics and make your team win.

    All in all the Game is solid but the Motivation after you hit Max Level is just fallin off a bit too quickly.    … Expand
  71. 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 f    or 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
  72. 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.
  73. Elfminster
    Aug 30, 2012
    6
    I did not attend any beta events for Guild Wars 2, but after all the hype surrounding this game I took the chance and purchased it. I was really disappointed I did. The animations are horrible, and the controls/combat feel very clunky. As do quest mechanics, and interface. I am not too keen on the character models either. Performance wise, I have an Intel i5 3570k and nVidia GTX 680 but my FPS still dips to 30 FPS regularly. The environments and ambient music are both nice, but that is about all. I paid 75 Euro for this and I expected much more from ArenaNET.… Expand
  74. pasmelman
    Aug 31, 2012
    6
    why some many 10 ?i got screwed buying that game for the wrong review.....i stoped playing wow 2 years ago and wow is still way better than gw2......the pve questing is soo boring ,i tried wvw my server is dominating like 80%.... the only thing i did in wvw is exploring ,isn't supose to be pvp ?
  75. ZDB
    Sep 2, 2012
    10
    Despite a few flaws at launch, this game is the new gold standard for MMORPGs. I've been playing MMORPGs since Ultima Online and no game has provided the amount of entertainment that Guild Wars 2 has in the brief time that I've played it. Some games might have done certain elements better; WoW has better dungeons, SWToR had a better story, but those games were seriously lacking outside of their strengths. Guild Wars 2 has the total package: fun PvE with epic world bosses, PvP that is well balanced and addicting, and a story that draws you in and immerses you in the lore of the world. Oh and did I mention it looks fantastic?… Expand
  76. 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) 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
  77. 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 .
  78. 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     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
  79. 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 giant battleground with 3 whole servers fighting against each other seal the deal.… Expand
  80. 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.
  81. 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.
  82. 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 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
  83. 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.
  84. 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 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
  85. 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, 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
  86. 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- li    ttle 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
  87. 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 t    he 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
  88. 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.
  89. Mysticmonarch
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    Must have!!!! Change my view of MMO's
    Must have!!!! Change my view of MMO's
    Must have!!!! Change my view of MMO's
    Must have!!!! Change my view of MMO's
  90. sa0ldax
    Sep 26, 2012
    1
    GW2 is loose MMO RPG and it is likely that you will get tired of it at some point.

    GW2 fails to deliver a good story - in both content and form

    No flight paths. Just teleporting.what a disappointment.
  91. dthrevan
    Oct 3, 2012
    10
    Fantastic game. If you sick and tired of boring copied wow clones then this game is for you. Excellent graphics, gameplay and best of all its B2P. This game is definitely gonna give **** Mop a run for its money.
  92. DemigodChewtoy
    Oct 2, 2012
    10
    This is as good as any MMO has ever been. If you're still playing WoW and the Mists of Panderia daily grind, it's because you underestimated and/or misjudged GW2. This is the game to be playing, and any fan of WoW, Rift, or DAoC owes it to themselves to call GW2 their home for the foreseeable future. This is not another incremental evolution, this is an MMO revolution.

    The only thing yo    u might miss are instanced raids at end-game. End-game now consists of open-world raids, 3-faction world vs. world PvP, character appearance and gear customization via dyes and dungeon systems, and legendary weapon grinds. In addition, there are still tons of places to explore, quests and events to complete, secret treasure chests to find, jumping puzzles to solve, scenario PvP, and plenty more surprises.

    The game might feel a lot like WoW at first, but that just means you're playing it wrong -- seriously. Don't worry, much like anything new, you will begin to understand it with time and effort invested.

    Ultimately, GW2 is a wholly unique experience that captures some of the magic that your favorite MMO used to have. Guild Wars 2 is as good as the genre has ever been.    … Expand
  93. Adikon
    Oct 2, 2012
    10
    The game is brilliant. Contains action,exploring,pvp and group events. The idea of World Events is just great. The leveling is fun and its not boring and monotonic. There are various types of quests.From gathering through killing escorting and ending on defending certain points. The mechanics of the game are great.Combo mechanism really kicks the fun up. The trading system is awesome because you can trade while questing and doin your stuff. You dont have to run to Auction house or something. You just trade as you go and then pick your money or stuff at Trade Post. Pvp is also big part of the game and is ballanced. Additionally building siege weapons and team playing really makes the pvp hot. This game is not just for solo play. Bigger fun is when you co-operate with other ppl,make events together and work in guilds.
    Awesome game    … Expand
  94. MenaceX
    Oct 3, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is a fun game. The no subscription fee method allows players to play the game at their own pace. That's another plus. Wouldn't be surprised if Guild Wars 2 won the 2012 Best PC Game Award.
  95. monti_84
    Oct 5, 2012
    8
    I´ve been checking the bad reviews of the game, and mainly i read complaints of people who let themselves be fooled by all the hype around it. Just to be clear for the persons that are looking for some guidance about buying the game or not: it is a MMORPG, plain and simple, not that different from many others out there. But its the kind of game that can be released after many other games had done thousands of mistakes the guild wars developers learned from. I´m comming from playing mainly WOW (which i stop playing, i mean pandas?, give me a break!), and I´m enjoying guild wars 2 a lot. I really appreciate not having to talk to npcs for getting/delivering quests, the huge world to explore, the lack of armor grinding, and the feature that has to be a must for any other future MMORPGs: the scaling system. The fact that you dont have to explore the world in a linear way based on your character level is priceless. You get to enjoy the challenge of a 1-10 area even if you are a level 40 or whatever. The same about the fact that if i want to pvp, i don´t have to level my character, then grind countless hours for pvp armor in order to get to endgame pvp. You may now create a character just to pvp, you dont have to level it, just create, get to the pvp zone, and go kill people. If you are looking for a completely different experience from other MMORPGs: DONT LOOK HERE! If you want to play a MMORPG that is thoughtful about your time (no grinding for armor, not waiting for parties, etc) and gets you fast into action, this may be your game. One thing I have to agree with other reviewers in here is that the game is not very social. I see this as a very huge advantage because a hate having to waste my time waiting for a healer or a tank or whatever, or spamming text to find a party to do an elite quest, etc. But one thing they did right is the fact that there is not mob locking, everybody can benefit from a kill if they participated in it (same with gathering), so the sight of other players in that particular elite mob that you cant solo is great, you actually get happy about encountering others instead of seeing them as competition, although you dont even have to talk to them to work together. The players that enjoy feeling important (i´m the best healer, i keep everyone alive!), socializing too much in game or armor grinding are definitely going to be disappointed. Me?, i hate all that stuff, so i am really having a blast playing it. Concerning the critics about the combat being repetitive, with auto attack and cooldowns, well, its true. But i havent found a MMORPG that makes it that much better either, so, not much to comment on that.… Expand
  96. Bulaba0
    Oct 14, 2012
    5
    Pretty fun, but the story is pathetic, the characters all horribly uninteresting, and the endgame nonexistent. It was fun getting to 80, but everything gets boring after a few hours there. WvW is just a Numbers battle, Structured PVP isn't doable without a team, and all that's left from that is farming dungeons for cool looking armor, or farming mats for legendary e-peen weps.

    All the c    lasses blend in with eachother, making every class try to do a bit of everything, and making pvp boring as all hell. There are really no counters to classes. Every class has their heal, their escape, etc. so PVP can last 4-5 minutes 1-on-1, until someone gets bored, misses a cooldown, or someone else comes along.

    To reiterate, the main story is atrocious. You're thrown onto characters who are supposed to be interesting and dynamic, but end up being annoying cardboard cutouts. The worst part is the game acts like you feel deep compassion for them, with horribly played-up dialogue and dramatic cutscenes. There were points where I would rather kill the character myself just to save the time in saving them when something bad inevitably happened to them.

    Overall fun, but not lasting more than a few weeks.    … Expand
  97. ZeftheWicked
    Nov 28, 2012
    10
    10/10 for me. Reason: - this is one of those few games where you don't rush to max level so you can finally have some fun, but are having fun from level one. There's no point to fit it all in one short review, so rather then doing that i'll outline the end result of all they did:

    A game where whole world is a playing field, where even starter maps can pose a challenge to max level playe    r, where there's ton of stuff to do everywhere you go. All that packaged with innovative, skill-not-gear based combat wrapped around if some of the finest sceneries mmorpg has to offer. This world lives, this world breathes, this world kicks ass! And finally a world where you don't dread the appearance of another player on the horizon but are encouraged to team up with him and double the fun in a party, as there are no penalties or losses of any kind for either of you when you hunt same monster and do same quest.

    This game plays like some best singleplayer titles with mmo aspect not being subpar in the least!

    And the cherry on top - no hidden money drainage inside. Unlike certain "game with horns and tail v3", you don't need to pump $ to get the best out of this game. Cash shop is present here but it's very fair and not p2w one. Mostly aesthetics and some usable items that drop also from monsters, or aren't critical for your progression.

    Only people i would not recommend this game are the 1337 damage hoes that want 30x the damage of normal joe after months of grinds in highest level maps. This is not a game for you, gear counts, but skill>gear in here and GW2 is not about being the most elite on the server - it's about plain good uninhibited fun:)

    As it is now it's honest 10/10 from me and i hope arena.net will keep it that way in the future;)    … Expand
  98. chopstick
    Dec 18, 2012
    0
    This game is horrible, the game gets interesting in the start, but it rappidly becomes boring. All of my friends quit playing after reaching about lvl 10 or so. They are hardcore mmorpg players and always get adicted to them. Many GW2 players says that the "end game" is ****
  99. Zackis
    Dec 19, 2012
    8
    Fun theme park style of game...DO not rush to the end. Sadly for the end game there really is NOT all that much to do. Worth the experience to try it though
  100. gabryatfendor
    Dec 24, 2012
    4
    I buy very few games usually. The hype of some friends about this made me buy it. A waste of money, for me. I got bored in the first 20 level. I simply doesn't feel part of a world. The first thing a good rpg, online or offline, should do is to have a great history/ world (Azeroth, for example) in wich you can feel part of something. I found nothing of it here. The event are something funny... for the first 3 or 4 times. Then they are really boring. Also, the fact you can group with people basically whoever they are, is something that really is against the online experience. I want to make friends and allies in an online game. This, again, is not the case. Try the game before buy it!… Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critics

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.
    Read full review
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