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

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2137 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,683 out of 2137
  2. Mixed: 138 out of 2137
  3. Negative: 316 out of 2137

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  1. Zonzai
    Dec 30, 2012
    0
    Story: 4 ---------------- The great overarching plot from GW1 is replaced by hundreds of meaningless (but fun) mini-events and some often contrived personal quests.

    Visuals: 10 ----------- It doesn't get a whole lot better for an MMO and the ANet art team is great at creating visual interest.

    Sound: 9 --------------- Jeremy Soul is a genius. The only reason this isn't a 10 is because     of the headache-inducing noise of necromancer spells and deafeningly cacophonous boss fights.

    Combat: 7 ------------- It's good for an MMO but if you've ever played any action RPG you know exactly what you're missing. It's not as good as TERA's combat but it's good.

    Game Design: 8 ----- In all aspects the game is well-designed but it seems that ArenaNet is not immune to problems with class balance. Certain classes suffer from crippling class-specific design issues and poor skill synergy so much that the player must master every available skill and use them in every fight (engineer, elementalist). Others need do only know how to use a few skills to win most NPC encounters (guardian, thief, warrior). Basically, it's the same situation as with every other MMORPG.

    Fun Factor: 10 ------- Yeah, it's fun. It still gets repetitive, there isn't enough end game content yet and choosing one of the inferior classes can really be a downer but compared to any other MMORPG, it's the best there is. That means it deserves a 10 even if it isn't quite perfect.

    Overall: 8 -------------- A very good game with the potential for greatness. Here's hoping ArenaNet can tap that potential in future updates and class balance patches.    … Expand
  2. morroblivion
    Jan 3, 2013
    6
    In all honesty, I regret buying the game. It was now for me, and quite possibly not for some people who gave negative reviews. I saw that the good things were "Dynamic events" "Revolutionary" and I really thought that these things would make me love the game, but instead it felt very repetitive and I was unable to cling to it. I must admit though that I enjoyed it at the start, but I slowly lost it. The only quest rewards are only coins, ranging from a few copper(4 copper) to some silver(3 silver and some copper). They didn't offer anything new to the kill x collect y thing, it's essentially the same except they put a progress bar instead of say 0/10 kills. The dynamic events were good at the start but I felt that they were just self activated quests with a timer. Also the events lack in variety, its all the same. It's usually killing a champion/veteran monster, kill hordes/waves of monsters while capturing this area, collecting a certain number of plants, escorting a dolyak/person and killing of some monsters. It's all the same. The armors too lack in variety and have to be either crafter, bought(karma,AH) or looted(looted ones are generally poorer in qyuiality compared to crafted or bought. The story is nice but could've been presented MUCH better. One good this about the game is Tyria. The world looks amazing and Tyria is beautifully crafted. The sound is also amazing. WvW is fun and PvP is statistically balanced. It's not a good game in my eyes, it's not a bad one either. It's just another game in the MMO cycle. Either to be remembered or forgotten.… Expand
  3. Unnamed_Newbie
    Feb 5, 2013
    10
    I've been waiting for this game for 3 years. Guild Wars occupied me extensively in PvE and PvP. Upon release, I maxed out within 4 days, certainly over playing. Recently going back to Guild Wars 2, I realize why I anticipated it for so long. When I was younger, I played Runescape, Shaiya, then Guild Wars. The difference between the 'classic MMORPG' and Guild Wars 2 is tantalizing. One could argue, "Oh, too bad the story line only took me days". However, MMORPG's are never finished. In Guild Wars 2, you're introduced to Dynamic Events which spice up the simplest exploration. The journey from "A to "B changed to "A to C to F to G to Y and finally to B". Without knowing, you are sucked into these events, immersed by the worldly effects the cause. Unlike classic MMORPG's, you would rather party up then have someone 50 levels higher than you storm into your boss battle, hit him once, and wait the 20 minutes for the respawn. In Guild Wars 2, levels are decreased or increased, depending where you are, so that no matter who you are playing with, you both have an equal opportunity to get the same great loot and XP. Like Guild Wars there are holiday events. However, ArenaNet has expanded upon this idea, constantly adding new content every month. From killing Karkas to following an Airship, to recovering lost memories. There is also the dungeons to keep you occupied once you've peaked at 80. There are constantly new challenges after you complete your story line. Overall, Guild Wars 2 has all the aspects of one hell of a great game.… Expand
  4. max1c
    Apr 13, 2013
    9
    A fantastic game worth every penny. A game everyone should try playing. Fabulous graphics along with great original new ideas in game play make this game great. Story of Guild Wars 2 is decent, but having tons of variations in a story depending on ones selections is very cool and adds a whole another layer to this great game. I have to admit that not everything is perfect about this game, thats why I gave it a 9. Unfortunately the end game of the game is underwhelming. Your character doesn't feel that strong and generally game becomes boring by the end. Hopefully Arenanet will be able to improve on their shortcomings in the addon for Guild Wars 2.… Expand
  5. Kassdhal
    Sep 22, 2012
    5
    Very mixed in multiple respects... the first view of the game is that it is fantastic. At least a refreshing view on the MMO world, really well done and finished, with innovative quest system and fantastic innovative levelling mechanism.

    And after a while you're logging in and you don;t really know why you're accepting silly limitations like the stupidly think inventory system, the lack    lustre crafting mechanism, the stupid "personnal story" system that for some quests is just so close to impossible that it is frustrating beyond relief (with no hope of overpowering the quest... my engineer has been stuck on a lvl 28 quest since the beginning...)

    It could have been fantastic but it is barely passable due to these limitations. It is not a hazard if blizzard has simplified the silly things in wow... guild wars should have thought about it too...

    WvW is very well thought but individual contributions are pretty much close to zero so the strategy is either zerg grouping or smaller "pro" groups which is boring after a while

    I see this game performing very well over time but will require a LOT of refining to keep players in. NC Soft does not care because there are no subscription.

    In some respect this game gave me the same feeling as TOR: an initial "Waouw" and then "but..... why did they... why didn't they....?"


    Sad...    … Expand
  6. WNxWind
    Sep 4, 2012
    10
    I said prior that other titles had been the evolution of the MMORPG Genre' I am now sure that Guild Wars 2 is the start of the "Next Generation MMORPG" - Luckily it does not try to be too nudered down, something MMORPG's suffered from ever since the release of the Genre shifting (for the worse) release of World of Warcraft putting titles like Everquest, Ultima Online and Asherons Call as relics of fond memory; any game attempting to be like them would fail - and any game attempting to be too much like WoW would fail.
    I Played the original Guild Wars at release like just about every other MMORPG looking for the next thing; and I "liked" it; but hated the use of instancing outside of city hubs; felt it to be over-all poor and figured the F2P design and lack of development funding in comparison to other companies may have been the cause and never touched it again - Thus I was not expecting much from Guild Wars 2.

    What I received was an MMORPG that had Story Quests in the Vein of SWTOR but barely consume the game and feel like a "distraction" from everything else you do; The games questing system is basically endless Warhammer Online "Public Event" style quests; endless people are aiding in them and great XP is awarded - You do not have to be grouped to split XP - another feature that is so welcoming is say ORE Vein or a Tree to cut down; if 6 people rush at the same tree; the first person doesn't steal it from you - you each get your own harvest from it :) This is very convienent.

    The combat system is near flawless in an MMORPG and the Graphics are Beautiful running on an SLI Geforce 680 GTX system with 16 gigs of ram and an 8 core AMD FX unlocked CPU - Everyone helps eachother out! you don't have to ask; you'll be revived; buffed; enemies killed with you as people run by (same XP) you gain XP for basically anything you do in the game which is also very very conveinent and refreshing.

    The most NOSTALGIC and "Leap of Danger" that Guild Wars took with the game is the main PVP system; It's World versus World (3 worlds battling over 4 HUGE terriotories which feature many camps; towers; keeps and a main castle to capture, defend, retake etc along with Orbs of Power - This instantly reminded me of DARK AGE OF CAMELOT but on a LARGER SCALE!!! It's mind blowingly well done. The fighting struggle for territory never ends; and everyone scales up to level 80 still gaining XP from NPC enemies around the huge battleground; and from player kills (who also drop great loot!)

    The other PVP option we also have around is "Mists" which are 5 different Server Based 16 player max, two team PVP Warzone/Battleground's in a "first to 500 point" style Capture objecctive warzone. No Level Up XP is gained through this mode and everyone has a preset level 80 template with all abilities unlocked (unlike regular world versus world which is level 80 with your gear scaling up along with the abilities you have unlocked thus far; but are able to continue to level up as it shows both your regular level then the scaled 80) --- In these warzones you get the PVP XP and level that up every level getting a treasure chest with PVP specific gear and it is a nice competetive breather; but takes the strategic world versus world PVP away.

    Nothing like building siege weapons- or aiding in building them and controlling them to help smash down the gates of a castle and slaughter all the players coming out; with a frontal assault then a flank after they retaliate!

    GW2 is the MMORPG TO GET!    … Expand
  7. Mrdalejrnr3
    Oct 2, 2012
    9
    This game is something new. I love that the questing system is not really there, and you have so much freedom to do whatever you want! The Event System is also genious. Despite all the bugs that has been since the early launch, I find this game to be very addicting, and is the best MMO I've played since WoW
  8. hfffoman
    Nov 25, 2012
    7
    I am downgrading my score from when it first came out because of some annoying bugs. On two occasions I suffered a rollback which meant I went back to an earlier version of my character, losing all progress. Each time it cost me a day's play. I believe they are aware of the problem but chose to do nothing about it. The rest of my review still stands - the game is fantastic fun to play though I found the story a bit weak.… Expand
  9. jacksepticeye
    Oct 17, 2012
    9
    I normally hate MMOs and their formulas but a friend suggested GW2 and I can't stop playing it. Truly a game changer in the MMO market. A very smart take on the questing systems of old that keep you busy and never feels like a chore or a grind to play.Not only that but it looks incredible too. Fantastic game.
  10. GolovA
    Oct 20, 2012
    7
    I failed to see what all the hype was about. This game is by no means special.
    HOWEVER: having said that, it is a very good Online RPG. Many characters to play, tons of items, skills, spells, etc. But for me - what's important in an online RPG is to play with someone i know. Otherwise - it's just no fun - even less fun if there was a single player campaign.
  11. jubjub1277
    Oct 29, 2012
    10
    This game is really amazing considering that it features a 60$ price tag and no monthly subs. The world is huge and is clearly designed for casual player. Hard-Core players may find the game disappointing because its pretty easy to level up and the lack of the end game content. The soundtrack is also amazing and is composed by Jeremy Soule who made the skyrim soundtrack. Overall the game is amazing and different from other games such as WoW and the WoW clones.… Expand
  12. Jesperbro
    Oct 20, 2012
    7
    Haven't played the game in a little while, but will write a few thoughts about it anyways.

    First of all it has a gigantic, beautiful world to explore, something I appreciate a lot. Exploring the world in full is rewarded in forms of xp and gear. The quest system is great, as well as the occasional event system. The trading system is very good, although getting materials for making somet    hing can take some grinding. The combat system is good, and I like how they implement a few action elements to it, so you don't feel like you're just clicking on something, and engaging you more into the fight. That if you participate in killing something, all the loot and experience is shared, so there isn't some manical battle for the item drops like in for example Runescape. The only PvP mode I played reminded me a bit of League of Legends, something that I find good. Overall - the game is very good. I liked it a lot the first three weeks I played it. Then...

    I realized how redundant and repetitive the game became. While you get different areas to explore, you're just doing the same quests over and over and over again. Either it's kill this, or fetch a lot of this, and this goes on for EVERY area in the game. I've never really been a gigantic fan of MMORPG's, and this shows why. After a while you'll just get so bored with the game that you won't play it again for a long time. Maybe after a while I'll go back to playing it, but after a while I'll grow bored of doing the same things over and over. This pulls down my score of the game a lot, something that could've been a perfect ten. When I play games I need a bit of variety, and Guild Wars 2 sadly doesn't provide that.    … Expand
  13. ABNMP
    Oct 7, 2012
    6
    This game is basically an evolution to a higher standard of what has been done before. If you have played an MMO in the last 12 years you will see the similarities. The major areas of failure include open world player versus player and endgame progression. I guess I can summarize the game saying it is like RIFT without the raid element, and with massive unbalanced world PvP. DAOC and Warhammer Online had a better PvP system. If you enjoy a VERY casual game then this is your pick. I was hoping for a REVOLUTION in MMO gaming, but sadly this is more of a "been there done that" experience.… Expand
  14. nguthomas
    Nov 14, 2012
    10
    Why the hate, haters? I haven't played Guild Wars 1 before, but I've played Guild Wars 2! Gameplay is amazing and there is NO monthly fee! Money well spent!
  15. Triggerhappy
    Oct 28, 2012
    10
    This is a shockingly good game, fully enjoyable either as a massive RPG campaign across a sprawling world, or as a highly challenging MMO with enough content and almost unachievable endgame goals (getting legendary gear or 100% dungeon completion is a worthy challenge). PvP offers an absolutely unforgiving environment to E-sport geeks, while World v World offers environment to fight enemy players that is easily accessible to everyone including newcomers. The world is rich, graphics amazing, engine flawless, character development has a distinctly fresh touch to it. If you have ever at all enjoyed the MMORPG genre, you absolutely owe it to yourself to try this one. There are people everywhere, whether to group up for PvE, or to compete with in PvP. No lag, no waiting time. Oh, and, you know... no subscription. Amazing. After a 100 hours, this game remains a source of ever-fresh enjoyment, and a lasting credit to its creators.… Expand
  16. Dusty_Hayes
    Sep 14, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is one of the best MMO's to be released in many years, its skill based mechanics is superb creating a really fun and addictive PvE PvP and WvWvW content and environment. ArenaNet has crafted their game very well, the aesthetics have been carefully crafted and fitted together, coupled with Jeremy Soule score it makes Guild Wars 2 look, sound and feel amazing while still setting its grim yet beautiful tone within the Guild Wars lore. Guild Wars 2 innovates the genre with very simple and yet very effective innovations and sets new high standards and mile stones for future MMO and all this with no subscription fees, ArenaNet as just not only put everything else in the genre to shame, but most of the MMO developers and their publishers too deep shame.… Expand
  17. ohtwo
    Oct 2, 2012
    8
    Good game, good graphics, but nothing too amazing. After about 15 levels of leveling it starts to feel very much like WaR. Very boring after level 15 or so.. I'm still playing to try to keep a feel for the game and hopefully something will peak my interest.

    Experience: I've been playing MMOs ever since Meridian 59.
  18. Barua124
    Nov 10, 2012
    8
    I personally like the game, however I can see why some people don't. The game can get a little repetitive, especially with spells and abilities. There's a cash shop but it's not necessary as you already have full access to everything ingame. I never felt pressured to buy anything from the cash shop. The price for the game is a little steep as all new games are. It's not a $60 game. Not worth that price. Maybe for $40.… Expand
  19. Jadagar
    Sep 21, 2012
    8
    After some time with Guild Wars 2, I can safely say that we're not looking at anything new here. Although, there -is- an absence of annoying quest-givers, questing is still essentially a hub-to-hub grindfest of tedious errands made occasionally interesting with zerg-dependent events and world raid bosses. PvP has about the same level of depth, lots of zerging involved with WvWvW with a handful of amusing tournament-based ordeals involving fewer players. I won't lie that I keep hoping for something revolutionary and GW2 doesn't necessarily exceed (or even meet) those lofty expectations. HOWEVER, for all its shortcomings, Guild Wars 2 does set the bar a little higher in a few ways, the foremost being is that it is executed very well. Shaky start notwithstanding, great depth is incorporated into the interface mechanics. In fact, I would argue that GW2 has taken from mainstream MMO's that which we love and trimmed the fat in an effort to minimize tedium. The result is quick and easy auctioneering, fun and rewarding crafting, and great variety in terms of sorting and customization. It is very clean, easy to manage, and altogether fulfilling. Sadly, while all the streamlining may appeal to the majority, the handful of dungeons and short list of pvp options will not be adequate fodder for the hardcore audience. Flaws aside, the sheer vastness and relative splendor of Guild Wars 2 is well worth $60, and that's really all you have to pay to keep playing; the game is easily playable without having to spend a dime on the micro-transactions, which are essentially non-vital extravagances you can purchase with in-game money given a little time and effort. All things considered, this is a good start, and the fact that Arena.net has promised more and more free features as time goes by makes the one-time payment for GW2 all the more worthwhile. 8/10.… Expand
  20. mininova
    Nov 5, 2012
    8
    Good game. There is only 1 BIG BUT. Why there is now PvP over the land. I have played Lineage 2 where you could fight anyone anywhere. Guild Wars 2 is missing that point which makes it a little boring with time. Exploring new lands, tasks and all that is a great idea. Why not add free PvP, or at least duels where you can fight other players for extra points/experience or soever. Arena.net should think about that, otherwise they will start loosing players.… Expand
  21. Shperax
    Nov 30, 2012
    7
    I'm going to try and make it as short as possible. I've had the game since beta but didn't get around to playing it until the start of November. PROS - dynamic events and quests. accepting and finishing these things happen automatically and its a beautiful thing. -Combat is solid. a good mix of auto attacking and action combat here. I wouldn't say the best of both but they did quite possibly the best job at bringing them together. - Graphics/Level design. you can tell they didn't intend the look of realism. Its more artsy. And they nailed it. Attention to detail is superb and the environments are captivating. CONS - There are very very few armor sets through 90% of your leveling up. You will literally wear the same thing for most if not all of those levels(appearance wise i mean of course). - The world feels like just 1 big single area because you can teleport to within 100 feet of anywhere. Because of this there is no mounts and that's why its a con. - Dungeons. There's about 8 in total. Sure you can repeat them in exploration mode for a bit more challenge. However you get caped down to the level of the dungeon and you need more then 3 people to even consider them making this part of the game useless if your a solo body or just wanna play with your game buddy. The scaling the designers talked about should have been put into dungeons. -Trinity system.. For the love of god this doesn't work at all. Certain jobs take naturally way less damage then other and other jobs deal brokenly high damage compared to others. it really needs an enmity system because of this. Most people enjoy certain job roles in a game -End game is really only World vs World and PvP. Too many games do this for all their end game now. The world vs world is great but the PvP is done better in other games. MMO's started out as PVE content rich games with very little in the way of PvP. You need a good mix of both don't just focus on one.- oh and mesmer is hyperly weak in PvE but way OP in PvP. A single Mesmer with just decent skill will wreck a entire group of 8-10 people of any other class. Doing that yourself is fun but its very unbalanced - LFG it needs a LFG system. You can go a few days (real life days) before you get a group to do a Story dungeon. Problem is mostly solved joining a large guild However you must remember that this game was advertised to cater to solo players alike.
    Conclusion - This really is a must play game. A single player or duo will get bored of this nearing level 80 probably in a few weeks for the average player. The real fun is had in a large group working together at everything and you can get months and months. Overall you getting a ton of quality game play here however you look at it only for 59.99    … Expand
  22. RetRap
    Oct 14, 2012
    8
    This game is well worth the box price, I've put about 60 hours into GW2 and while they have been enjoyable; I will not likely be going back to it any time soon. Although it is a fantastically crafted world with wonderful new perks to the tried any trusted MMO formula; this game still has the basic hot-key combat and repetitive actions. While giving lots of different tasks to try such as exploring for Vistas, taking part in dynamic events and more formulaic 'heart' quests; after the 50th time of doing a slight variation it does, unfortunately; get boring (at least for me). As a great piece of escapism and for those happy with the existing MMO foundations; buy it without hesitation. If you've grown bored of the likes of WoW, ToR, Rift, Tera et al. this will provide a welcome refresh but will eventually get stale.… Expand
  23. ginnk
    Dec 1, 2012
    9
    I love this game a lot, i don't find it boring at all as many people said. Graphically it looks like more Rift than other modern MMO. I could say GW2 and Rift are playing in same sandbox! There are thousand things to do: fight, climb, discover, craft, explore,... i don't have a HL character - my main is 32, that small but i never find time so short since i play GW2. I like to play alone, without guild or anything else and this MMO is so good for this. Public fights are great, copied on those exising in Rif… Expand
  24. unlimitednk
    Oct 13, 2012
    7
    With the Combat Mode you can turn Guild Wars 2 into a true action experience. It displays a centered crosshair and moving the mouse now turns your character and camera. When ever you cast a spell or action it will temporarily lock on and perform on whatever is underneath the crosshair. Left Click auto attacks, Right Click dodges & Mouse Scroll can be assigned to whatever you want. all can be changed Your movement and targeting will be as intuitive, fluid and accurate as an FPS Bringing up panels such as Inventory, Map, Hero, etc will toggle you out of combat mode and give you your cursor back.… Expand
  25. bonsai
    Dec 12, 2012
    10
    I give a 10 to Guild Wars 2, not because this game is perfect, but because it's the best MMORPG in the world right now. In the years i tried a lot of MMORPG, and Guild Wars 2 is the only one that give me that feeling of "this is so fun to play!", not just that "OMG i need to grind 120345 more times to buy that sword, ARRRRRRR"
  26. OGRichie
    Dec 5, 2012
    9
    I am a huge MMOrpg player and played Guild Wars, when the beta was announced I went to get in on that, Played the beta and am currently playing the game. There have been a lot of claims, hype, rumors, and promises from this game. My favorite promise they made was it will not be a grind... Sorry but the game is just that one huge grind, Wait let me finish, while the game is based on grinding you level so fast and things happen at a quick pace that most will not notice it. Speaking of leveling, it is so fast and easy that it might make your head spin. On average you can level once per hour with no problem all the way to 80, The problem is you want to stop and look at stuff, because the game is quite amazing to look at. The graphics are extremely tight and amazing, even on medium settings, on the lowest graphic settings thats when you kinda say ehh there ok but its very hard to tell the difference between medium and High.

    They didn't quite live up to everything they said they would but they came very close, One word of caution here there are many bugs, and they are still tweeking the game. Which are causing many of the problems players are complaining about, I bring this up since at this time the game is just about 3 to 4 months old things should level out around 5-6 months since this is the find and remove stage of when a game comes out every Big MMo that comes out has this even WoW did. So if your looking for a great MMO this is it though you may want to wait till the bugs are gone.    … Expand
  27. Heatsink
    Oct 1, 2012
    7
    Arenanet made a number of improvements to MMO design with Guild Wars 2, but also made a significant number of questionable design decisions, effectively repeating the mistakes of the products they should have learned from. Positives: mob tapping is gone, grouping works automatically in the open world, the trinity is gone, graphics are very good, events help the world seem not-so-static.


    There are some heavy negatives to consider though. The boosting system in WvW doesn't do much as level 80 characters can drop lower level players in literally 1 second flat. Crafting is yet again something of an afterthought, but does bring significant XP gains, without many sellable products. Some drops required to craft seem broken, as the rarity makes them non-viable for production. Not much of an endgame is available. The game still has significant bugs as of 10/1/2012, such as trait point NPCs disappearing. Character classes are wildly unbalanced, with some being orders of magnitude more powerful than others. Personal story quest difficulty is largely broken, with mobs wiping out players pretty quickly, leading to repair bills.

    One last item to consider is the combat design. It is a bit..odd. Players have an active dodge, which can be used twice and then wait for recharge. Mobs tend to hit extremely hard, even on their plain vanilla attacks, and even from trash mobs. Mobs also are spawned on top of players already in combat quite frequently. Overall, the combat seems somewhat clunky. Defensive abilities tend to be weak, healing abilities almost not worth using, and both are usually on very long cooldowns. There are a number of other abilities than don't seem to have much to offer, and yet again, on long cooldowns. Range attacks are usually more advantageous then melee, mostly due to the damage mobs toss out to melee characters.    … Expand
  28. Nataraja
    Sep 17, 2012
    7
    I will preface this with a caveat - I tried very hard to like the original GW and just never got into it. I am also very picky about my games right now and fantasy games are a bit stale to say least.

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

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

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

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

    So its a decent game - but is it revolutionary? Not really. Its a very VERY safe game compared to other recent games and in the end will be a nice diversion from things that are truly revolutionary that I consume like a rabid animal.    … Expand
  29. Bahska28
    Sep 7, 2012
    4
    PVP is the only part i care abut and it was ok but needs some work, specifically WvW play. Over half the time is spent running back to the fight that got boring fast. The other half was spent getting one shot by ranged and arrows from siege weapons.

    The game may be good in a few month to a year when they iron out some of its flaws but for now as a pvp it just didn't hold up to my expectations.
  30. JeremyJo
    Jan 31, 2013
    0
    Absoluty,insanely bad, boring, repetitive, pointless game. Glad I could sell my account to another poor soul. Bleh. Arenanet is a horrible company and the whole game concept is full of fail. The cutscenes are as ugly and boring as the game.
  31. ilovemmos
    Sep 2, 2012
    6
    Dynamic events
    Dynamic events are an in game realization of In Media Res (see Wikipedia). They are events (tied to a local) whose initiation and progression triggers automatically. The player can shape the outcome, but the event will progress whether players participate or not. This helps establishes the context of what you are doing through action rather than cut scenes or quest text.     I say helps because you still get quest text telling you what the objectives are and there is still a progress bar that advances as you complete quest objectives.
    This has some plusses and minuses. On the plus side the world feels more alive and active, there are several possible outcomes for each stage of an event, and at least until the event recycles (anywhere from 10 min to perhaps a couple of weeks for rare triggers), it gives a sense of having impacted the world (although this feeling is pretty dang ephemeral for the events with short re-trigger timers (which understandably is most of them). On the negative, until you acclimate to the system, players used to quest hub mechanics are going to feel a bit lost. You also lose a sense of connection to the characters in the world. Yes they send you a happy e-mail and you can buy karma gear from them, but the mechanic honestly doesn    … Expand
  32. xMountainDrewXx
    Sep 7, 2012
    2
    Guild Wars 2 looked to be a very hopeful game for me, a game I thought I would be playing for a decent 6 months or more, around the same timeframe I played WoW a few years back. The way the game was advertised was very well done, they made the game looks so clean and crisp, the graphics looked amazing. What they did was professionally iced a crummy cake. The game is very deceiving at first. The diverse character creation draws you in, and you choose what your characters going to be like, before you even experience them playing the game. I played human mostly, and made a guardian and engineer. After killing a few centaurs from some random town attack, I'm called in to help fight some massive rock hand that emerged from the ground. After joining the 10 other players that are smacking the rock with their daggers and bullets, the boss dies with like 5 minutes, and then my character passed out. I'm then told to help the town out with their daily chores, watering corn, feeding cows and destroying wasp nests. Wtf? What happend to all the centaurs, why did they even attack. To be honest, I think the storyline and moral behind all this is very generic and didn't really interest me at all. The skills are very limited, and get very tedious after a while. The skill/trait system is very dry, and didn't inspire me to go further at all. The instanced city ruined the whole 'epicness' and the teleportation system isn't a very creative way of travelling. WvW consisted of attacking a gate for 15mins before it was destroyed, and showed little potential for melee clases, as they got destroyed if they ran into a 20 man pack of players, all AoEing the ground and using their root abilities to pretty much ruin melee potential. The last stand skill ruined pvp, as it always felt I had to kill the player twice, instead of a nice clean one shot. It was way too balanced as well, giving every class ability ranged and heal abilitys, there is no special "individuality" among the classes as they could all do similar things. The biggest reason I didn't continue though was the lack of potential. What was the point of hitting level 80, when you get the same benefits at any point of the game. They wanted to make the game balanced and fair, and they did. I got my money back on the game after playing the 3-day head start and a few days after that. If you've played WoW and loved it, don't play this game. This is all my opinion guys, many of you probably like the style of the game, but I guarantee you, after 6 months, this game will barely be heard of.… Expand
  33. Rockmen
    Sep 7, 2012
    0
    the game is decent but... their security and user support are HORRIBLE. my friend got hacked... they have a serious flawed system where a hacker could just simply go to your account and with your password just change the email where every notification arrives without you need to accept or confirm a notification to your email, then if u try to recovery your account u cant because everything will go to the HACKERS EMAIL, how retarded they were to make that system, also the automatic recovery system is disabled so everyone including users who forgot their password have to summit tickets to account support... I'm really disapointed, they only hacked his GW2 account he has lots of games and other valuable accounts.… Expand
  34. howdydoody
    Sep 7, 2012
    10
    This is a very enjoyable game. I have been playing MMO's for several years and i would say this is my favourite. Nice look, sound and gameplay is very active. Some hiccups to the launch but everything seems to be settling down and from my Arenanet experience gamer support is awesome. Security was a concern but new email verification has kept me from getting hacked. Come join the fun don't miss out on a new style MMO.… Expand
  35. Macero
    Jan 26, 2013
    0
    If you want in-game money you have to convert the store gems into gold. They put diminishing returns on loot so you get literally nothing. This is not a game for casuals, this is a game for children just like diablo 3.
    All the class abilities are the same except with different animations. War's that can oneshot people "Bob deserves a promotion for that" Game is a joke, a very well executed scam.
  36. Baroic
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    I have to say when i first downloaded this game i had such high hopes because i was a big fan of guild wars 1 but after a week of playing its let me down bad .. first i have to say i dislike the weapon skill bar it gets soooo boring fast and i feel like rerolling another class just to change the skills, you can change weapons around for different skills but god 80 levels of the same few weapons is just not fun.
    The pve is fun at the start but is more or less the same till end game gets a little harder but you can go from level 1 - 80 without talking to another person...
    The lac of skills is just silly you find yourself running around waiting for cd's on 5 skills while spamming the same 5 weapon skills. sorry but give me 30 keybinds any day.
    Pvp is fun and i do like the battle ground system as you can just jump on in at any level ,also the WvWvW is fun but needs work all in all pvp is whats best about GW2.    … Expand
  37. MistahYebba
    Sep 10, 2012
    7
    There are too many characters in my review to post it here, so please check out my review at CURSE forums. http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/63286-guild-wars-1-vs-guild-wars-2/

    Thank you!
  38. astralphoenix77
    Sep 11, 2012
    5
    Guild Wars 2 was hyped as a revolutionary breath of fresh air in the MMO genre, so what did we get? Let's take a look.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Verdict: ArenaNet took everything that was great about Guild Wars...and threw it into a fire. Instead, they made a WoW clone and stole WAR's public quest/event system as its driver. In fairness, the aspects that have been borrowed are well implemented. But there is nothing innovative about Guild Wars 2. Shallow combat and lack of high-end content mean you will probably drop this game after a couple of months. If ANet can get balance updates and new content in my opinion may improve, but right now this game is a rough diamond at best.    … Expand
  39. iiro
    Sep 12, 2012
    5
    My character r was engineer, and it was ridiciusly underpowered!
    I leveled till 35 and entered first dungeon, and my skills SUCKED in there.
    All i could do is practically auto attack from further away on bosses, becouse i dont have any other ranged skill, Seriosly? Im **** engineer, i got a rifle and bullets, Why does it sucks and doesnt have any skills?

    Was disappointed in that. Othe    rwise its good solid game, Just skills on engineer sucks, thats why im not playing it.… Expand
  40. sangct
    Sep 14, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is awesome, it was more than I could expect. The game is fantastic and I really love all the beautiful details... the quality is way above any other MMO I've played. The personal story is intriguing and you can't stop playing.
  41. Bovinus
    Sep 21, 2012
    6
    Guild wars 2 is the most bizarre MMO of all times, it is a MMO made for people who doesn't like MMOs, it's pve is horrible, monsters doesn't give xp so you can't grind, you're forced to keep running around the world searching for boring events that, at first sight, looks awesome, unltil you note that there is no difference between the other players and a bunch of bots, there are no interactions between players, the event starts, they come, the event ends, they disappear, there is no talking, no grouping, you really think that you're just playing a single player RPG with a ridiculous story line and a bunch of NPCs.

    The SPvP is good, thanks to the simplified gameplay, the problem is the lack of many support systems like "Look for group", more statistics and a better glory distribution, today playing on pubs is really annoying because most players just want to duel and farm glory, playing on tournaments solve this problem but is too hard to find a group.

    So i do not recommend this game, the PVE is not a MMO and paying 60 dollars for a PVP is not worth, there are better options.    … Expand
  42. Ezekeel
    Sep 24, 2012
    0
    I only bought this game for the PvP which was advertised as the most balanced without forcing classes into certain play styles. However as it turns out the balancing is actually worse than in any other MMO I played before. Also the PvP content with 2 decent, 1 meh and 1 terrible map which all are of the same 'conquer and hold points' type gets boring very fast. There is not even a function which allows player to duel.

    The game was released in a premature state and suggestions as well as critic are answered by the devs with silence mostly and if one of them actually decides to answer it is some snooty l2p comment.

    Most disappointing game of the year with false adverisement that border on customer fraud.    … Expand
  43. 91metalhead
    Sep 24, 2012
    5
    i bought this game because of the great review it had gotten, but i found the gameplay to be so slow and sluggish. I didn't feel compelled at all to play it, so now it is just collecting dust on my harddrive (so to speak). I regret buying it, since i feel Star Wars TOR is a better overall experience.
  44. visioak
    Sep 27, 2012
    3
    I had been waiting a longtime for GW 2, and I have been pleased with the game until this week when the developers introduced code limiting the amount of time you can spend farming for materials, loot - whatever. They claim this diminishing return code that they have injected into the game is to help stem off botters, however it negatively affects the regular player.

    On my server events     are now dead, bots still run rampant and overall quality of the game has already degraded. The entire economy is an out of whack mess.

    Visually the game is beautiful, combat is okay and I do enjoy the puzzle aspects of the game...but those things alone are not enough to keep me interested.

    Anets communication is poor at best. Threads and topics on their official forums are moderated heavily to diminish the negativity that is floating around, or threads are disappearing alltogether without reason or explanation.    … Expand
  45. jmh05n
    Sep 27, 2012
    4
    Not a bad launch for an MMO but it had several issues like the trading post. They trying something innovative with classes being a jack of all trades. No specific tank, control, healer, dps classes. Each class is a little of each all rolled into one, its just they each do it a little different. This makes teamwork more difficult later on when people team up for dungeons causing several frustrating wipes. There are alot of pluses here but the class system is innovative but your either a like or hate it. I'm just too ingrained from other MMO's I have played like FF XI, DCUO, and SWTOR. If your willing to take a walk out of the MMO comfort zone, I suggest trying it. You may like it. I unfortunately did not.… Expand
  46. brianlimmy
    Oct 5, 2012
    9
    Guild Wars 2 is a wonderful game as it incorporates an innovative and completely new style to MMORPGs. The game has beautifully crafted environments and characters, an easy to pick up insanely hard to master combat style, fascinating lore with an intriguing storyline and an immersive, constantly changing world, there is never a time when you have nothing to do in Tyria. The community also feels generally friendly, there aren't as many trolls and flamers compared to many other MMORPGs, although the massive number of gold sellers spamming chat is quite irritating. That being said Arenanet has taken a rather anti-gold-seller approach to Guild Wars 2 by making it so that in-game currency can be traded for paid currency. In Guild Wars 2 finding groups for dungeons is fairly quick even without a feature similar to WoW's dungeon finder because there is no 'holy trinity' in the game, most combinations of any 5 professions will work, I've even once run a hard mode dungeon as 5 necromancers. There have been a lot of worries about the lack of an endgame in Guild Wars 2 but many of these worries are unfounded, there is PLENTY of endgame content and it's pretty fun as well. In every boss fight it's never the lack of gear that kills you, it's the incredibly difficult mechanics or lack of a player's skill that kills you. Guild Wars 2 PvE endgame consists mostly of explorable mode or hard mode dungeons. The bosses in the dungeons themselves tend to drop pretty crappy gear, but when a player finishes a dungeon they are rewarded with tokens which are specific to that dungeon, these tokens are used to buy better gear that has looks that are based on the dungeon which the tokens were acquired from. Most explorable mode dungeons have 1 very challenging boss and the rest aren't too bad, but the challenging boss has the tendency to be REALLY DAMN CHALLENGING. That being said, all of these bosses can be overcome without too much difficulty as long as everyone in the team contributes and covers each others mistakes. It's not about being perfect so much as it is about minimizing the number of mistakes you make and helping teammates out when they screw up. Getting enough tokens to complete a full set of gear is quite a grind as each piece of gear requires quite a lot of tokens, some may argue that it's a bit too much of a grind, I'm inclined to agree especially since it can take up to 2 hours to complete an explorable mode dungeon on a PUG and you don't get an awful lot of tokens per run. Overall Guild Wars 2 may not be a perfect game but it is certainly an amazing game and it is the next step in the evolution of MMORPGs.… Expand
  47. Ro5hamBo
    Oct 5, 2012
    9
    Apart from a few niggly details mentioned by many others before me and none of which are showstoppers, the game is almost perfect. The combat system is actually quite a bit deeper than the amount of abilities, and some of the game's detractors suggest due to the dynamic weapon set swapping. As a thief sporting a sword/pistol and pistol/pistol I can shadowstep to my target, apply a venom and a high damage pistol whip attack, shadowstep back to my starting location, swap to dual pistols and strafe around the target to finish it off at range. The possible variations coupled with actively dodging incoming attacks are more than enough to keep things interesting.

    The dynamic events system is fun too although the numbers of people joining in can make things seem a bit 'zergy'. The 'heart' quests aren't that much different from MMO quests you've seen before with the main difference being that you usually get a selection of activities to do in order to complete the quest of which you can do any combination you like. I haven't yet made it in to my first instanced dungeon yet but I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out with no dedicated tank or healer classes.

    PVP and WvWvW is a hoot! Especially if you are running with a group of friends in WvWvW. No gear grinding in order to be competitive in the Battlegrounds either, everyone is given the same quality gear so it's down to individual skill and even more so team play and tactics.

    Visually and aesthetically the game is unmatched in this genre. It just looks fantastic and the soundtrack is suitably epic, written by Jeremy Soule of Elder Scrolls fame.

    There is so much more I could discuss about other aspects of the game such as crafting, personal story line quests, character customisation options etc. etc. but in all honesty I don't want to spend any more time writing about the game when I could be playing it.

    Cya ;)    … Expand
  48. VirginKiller
    Oct 9, 2012
    10
    Repetitive is something u should have expected. I'd play so many games, all looks repetitive, if u blame u need to push the same button in a game, please rethink noobs. I'd play COD and most of the time i clicked Left Mouse button for hours dude, opss kids. I'd played Starcraft 2, RE series, all using Left Mouse button mostly so stop blame repetitive on button. LoL
  49. Ghostte
    Oct 12, 2012
    7
    I liked GW2 but i was disappointed that I did not LOVE GW2. While not a huge fan of MMO's i thought this would be the game that brought me into this genre. However, i was bored by the time i reached level 60 with my necromancer and i couldn't take how slow my character moved and how the camera had a little sway to it.. I alo hated how immersion breaking the story was. As a necromancer I would have not made the decisions my character was making. I wish there were more voice choices and speech options. Overall well polished game with fun PVP.....but just not for me.… Expand
  50. GrouchoMarx
    Nov 3, 2012
    7
    This game is worth the money, if only to go through the content once. I was a hard core WoW player for 4 years before giving it up. Guild Wars 2 makes it clear it is going head-to-head with WoW as evidenced by this "encrypted" saying that was on one of the tombstones outside of Divinity's Reach: "I played WoW and look at me now. If only I had been like you and stuck to playing GW2". It has since been removed, but it makes it clear what audience ArenaNet is going after. + Better than WoW
    = Equal to WoW
    - Worse than WoW

    + Dynamic quests keeps things fresh and exciting and making grouping up with people in the same area painless
    + Every class gets a self heal
    + Every class can rez another player
    + Access to trading post from anywhere in the world
    + Shared resource nodes (unlike WoW's every man for himself model)
    + No monthly subscription fee = Graphics: Pretty equal to WoW, although the text in GW2 is a bit weird/dated.
    = Environment: World is alive and detailed with leaves flying around and visually stunning landscapes
    = Sound/Music: Music is good; the sounds come from real life recordings for realism
    = Holiday events and rewards on par with WoW's

    - Different areas are instanced leading to "breaks" between traveling between them
    - No LFG tool. Every modern MMO has this. This game needs a serious LFG tool like WoW
    - No addon support
    - Lack of content. I found myself trying to hunt all over for quests to level up with. WoW doesn't have this problem
    - Dungeons can be frustrating
    - Lack of a decent tutorial or guide system for crafting, travel and gameplay (Blizzard now gives you a PDF manual with everything you ever wanted to know and more about WoW)
    - Lack of mounts

    Overall, this game seems like WoW in a simpler time, like 2004/2005. Sit in a map or a city and spam the chat channels LFG. That's what I did years ago and don't feel like doing that anymore.    … Expand
  51. InternetWarrior
    Nov 19, 2012
    7
    Guild Wars 2 was said by many to be the game to usher in the next generation of MMOs. In my view, it hasn't lived up to that distinction. Nevertheless, I would still commend ArenaNet on attempting to innovate rather than re-hashing same old tired generic MMO concepts.

    The PvE (Player versus Environment, i.e. player versus computer) is probably the best part of GW2. The combat system, sc    aling and dynamic events breathe new life in to open world PvE. As someone who has done questing to death in other MMOs, I actually found I was perfectly happy to run around and do a few zones without getting bored. The two big criticisms I had of open world PvE was unoriginal/boring story-lines and hearts (very close to traditional quests).

    Regarding the hearts. This was a feature announced basically at the 11th hour. Most zones were given X amount of heart quests to complete, each appearing on the world map. This encouraged people to run around doing them and move on to the next zone, hence, detracting from dynamic events (which were the real innovation with GW2). Furthermore, the hearts caused many people to wander in to the next zone under-leveled because they did not grant sufficient experience.

    To elaborate on the "unoriginal/boring story-lines", I felt the stories had pretty generic MMO/DnD fantasy type plots. I can't remember any use of writing devices such as red herrings and plot twists to mix things up a bit and make them interesting. Additionally, I wasn't impressed with the setting outside of dynamic events/hearts either. Although the races are not standard fantasy Human, Elf and Dwarf (etc.) they do use the same old stereotypes we have seem time and time again. Lastly, I found the voice acting to range from acceptable, to downright bad to completely immersion breaking. Having multiple races (sometimes in the same zone) with "funny" Jar Jar Binks-like voices really irritated me.

    The two major parts of PvE I have not mentioned are dungeons and the personal story. I would say much the same thing about personal story that I did in the last paragraph. Dungeons on the other hand were well done. However, I would liked there to have been more of them.

    WvW (World v World v World) offers good large group siege warfare style PvP (Player versus Player) if you like that sort of thing. Nevertheless, be prepared to deal with technical problems (i.e. lag). I have a monster PC and average internet connection and I was still experiencing lag (most likely some kind of server-side bug). Furthermore, you should also be prepared to deal with a system where whoever has the greatest numbers generally wins and a rather arbitrary scoring mechanism. In other words, winning is not really about playing well, winning is about getting as many people as possible to play at silly 'o' clock in the morning.

    WvW also fails to cater very well to the solo player, small group and guild. Solo players and small groups are very likely to encounter larger groups of people in their travels due to the relatively small size of the map (considering the amount of people in it). When solo players and small groups do manage to take appropriately sized objectives they will often find it is steamrolled by a larger group and taken back 5 minutes later. WvW could have potentially been a great environment for guilds, however, that was defeated by small population limits on maps and long queues; it takes a long time to get the whole guild in.

    Structured PvP is the last big part of GW2 I haven't mentioned. Teams of 1-8 compete to take and hold 3 objectives within a small map. It is intended as the more competitive PvP option. As great as the combat system is for PvE, it doesn't really seem to compliment PvP at all. The dodge system, removal of energy and abilities in general seem to make for a very frustrating style of play. Remember those extremely irritating gimmicky builds from other MMOs (e.g. early WoTLK Retri Pala, early RIFT Saboteur and SW:TOR tracer spammer)? Well, it's not the occasional person running this type of build in GW2, it's everyone.

    The dodge system is frustrating because it can add a huge element of luck in to winning and justifies the inclusion of insanely powerful dodge or die abilities. These dodge or die abilities have a disproportionately powerful considering how hard it is to dodge them. In addition, be prepare for limited field of view, excessive spell effects, lack of cast bars and an excessive amount of characters (e.g. pets/clones) on screen to make dodging these abilities even harder. The number of dodges does not scale with the number of attackers, so you can potentially get nuked down in a second, if focused by a large group.

    If you enjoy doing solo and small group PvE I would recommend GW2 wholeheartedly. The fresh take on things is well worth experiencing. However, there is a limited amount of PvE content available so don't expect it to last months and months if you play a lot.    … Expand
  52. Peaveywolf
    Nov 24, 2012
    10
    I am a casual gamer, and I love this game. I can play at whatever speed I choose with no sub. There a certain amount of gamers trying to sabotage this games ratings by saying that they have introduced grind with the new armour. While this is true, the armour is not essential to progressing in the game. It is a choice. So take no heed from the people who are rating it below 5. Unless they have a truly valid point for not liking it.… Expand
  53. noname206
    Nov 26, 2012
    9
    this is a great game the world events are great , the world vs world pvp is amazing and the crafting is probably the best in any mmo right now. But the questing is essentially the same thing as any other mmo whether its collecting things or killing things to complete a quest.
  54. Jangle
    Dec 1, 2012
    7
    I played this game for around 3 weeks from release and sold the account for $140 with a lvl 80 warrior alone. The game is fun and interesting with new mechanics for the first few weeks. The story is somewhat decent. The action is pretty linear and easy for anyone to use, so it appeals to more new players in the GW series. For the more experienced players, there is little customization of skills and weapons, so basically, everyone does the same thing. Compared to GW1, there is only single class so no adding a second, there are a small limited pool of skills for every class, there's a lot less strategy and skill involved since you can attack and use skills while moving and you can see your enemies' AOE landings before they hit the spot, and there are numerous game-breaking bugs. The PVP is very repetitive and doesn't give me any incentive to play it. Aside from these downs, the achievements systems is probably one of the best I've seen in any MMO. The graphics are pretty good even though they aren't optimized well for higher end systems yet. The quests are pretty average and mundane so yes you will do a lot of gathering wood for farmers and such. So for those of you considering the game, if you are new to MMOs and haven't played GW1, you will like this game. From the more experienced players, you will notice a lot of what made GW1 so great, has been removed and made it more geared towards new players. Interesting strategy considering it's much easier to keep your loyal customer base than trying to get new ones. They should have kept their strengths and simply tweaked and updated them. All around, some decent mechanics, but essentially, not much different from any other MMO out there.… Expand
  55. salediabloyan
    Dec 4, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 was my last MMORPG. The meaning of a MMORPG is progession, progression gets you too keep playing. soure: http://www.gamegoldfast.com/gw2/buy-guildwars2-gold.php
  56. pyxxel
    Dec 11, 2012
    9
    I've been playing this MMO with my GF now for well over 3 months. We've been taking things quite slowly, and only yesterday hit 80 on our main characters! And while it's not without some minor flaws, it scores a solid 9/10 from me.

    First off, I love eye candy in a game, and this is where GW2 shines. Its views, landscapes, details, are astounding. And even though we reached lvl 80 with o    ur mains, and up to 35 with our alts, we still haven't seen vast swathes of content. It's truly MASSIVE. Gameplay is certainly entertaining, and while you don't need to be a 25-fingered alien to use all your skills, your weapon-switching and moving about certainly matter a lot. It's by no means easy!

    Add to that the detailed crafting system, the multitude of dungeons, the structured PvP gameplay, the WvW madness, the dialog humour, and so much more, and you have a very slick, stylish, polished and well-rounded gaming experience. Obviously being an MMO it gets much better when playing with a guild or friends, and there I can think of one or two improvements, but on the whole, I know I will play this for a long time. there's just so much more content I am really curious about!

    I understand some people don't like certain details, and that's fine, some of my friends have stopped playing for various reasons. I agree this game isn't perfect for everyone, that's OK, there are plenty of games that don't suit me either even though I agree they are very cool. But to be fair, I do think this game has lasting appeal, especially with all the special events being added all the time. Well done ArenaNet!    … Expand
  57. OmriPC
    Dec 15, 2012
    10
    This game worth to be in the collection of the best games ever made ( if there is one). High quality graphics and sound help the game to be wonderfull. The gameplay is solid and the action of the game id very good. RPG elements work great and the players are nice and kind. ArenaNet helps you get better by aid you with the quests and writing GW2 Wiki Guide. The game is not so hard like LOTRO ( not Pay2Win) and the character creation is fine. This should be the GOTY of 2012.… Expand
  58. Minsc
    Dec 18, 2012
    9
    GW2 is awesome ! It has a great new skill system that works really well and is enjoyable. The map is huge with tons of places to visit. And the events they have. So much fun in so many different ways. I will be playing GW2 for years to come.
    The only downside in my mind is I preferred the skill system in GW1 a little more, as the system in GW2 doesn't leave much room for expansion / diff    erences at the higher levels.… Expand
  59. Mortar2142
    Dec 19, 2012
    10
    So far the best MMO I have played, GREAT graphics, nice mechanics, fluid gameplay, smooth performance, updated constantly and full of pvp between servers(called world versus world)
  60. Landiien
    Dec 27, 2012
    6
    I really wanted to like GW2, and I tried. Different classes, different races. I kept asking myself, "So many people like this game, and the reviews are great; what am I not getting, here?" The story is weak, and the voice acting is often laughably bad. The questing system is a hot mess, and it just seems as though the world is constantly throwing these objectives at you without any back-story or sense of purpose (unless you go looking for the NPC with the heart over their head, but even then, the story is usually not worth reading). The combat is extremely dull and simple. I could engage in combat, walk away from my computer for a minute or two, and return to find I'd won.

    Even when playing with friends, I could never stomach more than an hour before things got boring. In other MMOs, when I needed to break-up the monotony, I'd jump into PvP. But this is the same effect-spamming, insta-cast, running in circles and jumping all over the place crap that has become the MMO norm.

    Nothing about it felt revolutionary. In fact, some much was streamlined in the U/I and party systems that the experience felt cheapened. Coupled with the mediocre production values and lackluster visuals, I was extremely aware at all times that I was playing a free game. In the end, I decided that I'm not actually "missing" anything. GW2 is insanely overhyped and completely overrated because it's free-to-play. Would the reviews be so high if you had to pay monthly to play?    … Expand
  61. bluefunk
    Jan 1, 2013
    3
    This game is ok, totally over hyped, the game world is huge but it is unfortunate that it is mainly just a cut and paste world. It's saving grace is that it is Buy to Play meaning you can dive in and out as you please.
  62. JaxsonP
    Jan 2, 2013
    0
    From a PvP perspective this game is 100% fail. No comment on PvE as it's limited (no raiding) and dungeons are bugged and extremely limited w/out holy trinity. GW1 was an amazing game and we all had high hopes for the PvP in the sequel. There are only a few PvP maps and they are all capture the point. Balancing is unbelievably bad and the developers make idiotic, boneheaded class balance tweaks every month or so that satisfy nobody. No public test servers! Only TWO (yes two) developers working on class balance for the entire game, and they seem to be completely clueless about the game. This game may be more suited for casual players, but for people serious about PvP, it is a major, massive step back from GW1 and a very big disappointment.… Expand
  63. luckyhit
    Jan 2, 2013
    0
    this game is totally wrecked. i have not even got the chance to play it yet because of the insane registering. i missed out on the $30 dollar amazon deal, still got it for a ok price, but not worth it either way. i highly encourage you to discourage your friends and family from getting this game.. unless your on the brink of suicide, or you just like being sad and depressed. i'd rather play hexen without a monitor.… Expand
  64. czarwill
    Jan 10, 2013
    4
    Nothing about this game matches the quality of the rating it has accrued. These are just SOME of my main gripes and there's a lot of them. But mostly, this game is just so !@#$ing boring.
    Questing: There's a lot of detail but the lack of quantitative reward for exploring this detail or even enjoyment you get from it is minimal. Just because you don't "pick-up" a quest doesn't make it a gr    ound breaking system. It is, in essence, the same as every other RPG on the market. This just makes you hate exploring the lore of the game even more because you're skipping it 90% of the time.
    Lack of incentive: There is almost no incentive for doing anything in this game. Everything is spoon-fed. There's no real need to prioritize doing anything. You could assign your skills at random and still make it 80 easily. And for that matter...
    Leveling:
    Why even have a leveling cap if you're just going to adjust everything to begin with. There's not real satisfaction in gaining a level. You don't measurably "improve". In fact, you get progressively worse, suffering from diminishing returns on stats until you buy a new set of gear The fact that your levels are adjusted to your zone and all PvP is at 80 level makes a leveling system almost completely redundant. Sure, you gain more skills but it doesn't really make you more "powerful". I felt just as useless at level 80 as I did at 30 because you're limited to the number of skills that fit in your tiny action bar. Advancing to higher level zones is almost redundant because you can literally reach level 80 by grinding in the first zone you hit and completing random events. The fact that diminishing returns DOESN'T apply to higher level characters reduces the number of people in the mid-level zones making it incredibly hard to complete those group events you need randoms to walk by for.
    Combat:
    is extremely limited. You're given a set number of action bar slots for each class and are restricted to it. This pigeon holes you into the same skills, the same rotations and the same strategies for combat. Even swapping weapons seems pointless because your other set of weapons probably doesn't match the playing style you chose. Social Combat: The social nature of PvE questing in Guild Wars 2 actually detracts from its purpose. Nobody wants to join your party against a common foe, just pick up whoever walks along, kill it and they'll be on their merry way. I didn't get to talk to them, I don't even know who they are because the interface is clumsy and I'll never be able to contact them again. You just can't make friends in the world because it makes people care less about what you're doing.
    BORING:
    This game is just incredibly boring. It is a chore to play and offers almost no stimulation beyond visual. The interface is a horror, gameplay isn't fluid and you can't lose yourself in the game.    … Expand
  65. DivinityItself
    Jan 23, 2013
    5
    ArenaNet's Core Dev team thought up a wonderful change for the MMO genre. But the game was so big to develop, that they had to bring in more employees. And as with any big company, leadership needs to be strong en directive. This is not a cosy and warm enthusiast project. This is a real gargantuan challenge. And sorry to say: it fails for me. It is judged by the criterium that all games are judged by: engagement. Remember the 8-bit games? Visually prehistoric, but by times excellent to keep you interested due to the mechanics of the game-design. Fast-forward to GW2. It does not commit you to your character development, role or affairs in the GW2 world. The player does not matter to the world, and the game mechanics autonomously does its thing. This is not a MMORPG, it's a MMO. I know that over time it will enhance on its features and get more polished. But will not change in its core design that sins on the first rule of successful gaming: engagement.… Expand
  66. Zeriel
    Feb 2, 2013
    2
    This game keeps being praised as the best thing since sliced bread and is not even up to par with current MMORPGs; you could say is only an online game and not an RPG. Over a decade ago, games like Ever Quest were able to create a sense of immersion and atmosphere, you could role play your character and every role had it's own play style and strategy. You where invaluable to your team and it felt rewarding. Now, almost 15 years later, this game is just a common button smasher, every character is the same but with a different paint coat. No "trinity" means that there is no strategy and everyone is a DPS class. Everyone looks the same, feels the same and you can reach the maximum level in 2-4 weeks. After that, all the exotic gear is the same thing for everyone. If you like exploration and discovering the maps then this game will have some temporary appeal to you, but the combat is horrible, dungeons are unrewarding and brutal, PVP is a Zerg fest and crafting is the worst I've seen. I am disappointed that this game can't compare to games 15 years old and is just some pretty graphics with no substance.… Expand
  67. Warfighter
    Oct 7, 2012
    10
    This MMORPG has it all.
    Good combat system, good loot system, good crafting system with a bank implemented so you don't have to run around grabbing everything and the coming to the conclusion you took the wrong items.
    It's colorful warm graphics and cutscenes are just so well done. And the good part is: No monthly subs. You pay one time and bang you can play it without paying 12 euros ev    ery month.
    By the way... Why are you still reading this? Go buy the game it is better then your average grab a quest or go to bank, craft and fail etc MMORPG.
    Do it now!    … Expand
  68. wordy_actions
    Dec 5, 2012
    8
    A fantastic and fresh take on MMO's, most notably due to the unique combat system and PVP activities. The game, however, lacks engaging end-game content. Musically and graphically the game is fantastic. The story is generic though, and not very memorable. I had a blast playing this game for about a month, well worth the price, and hey, ITS FREE TO PLAY!
  69. Reaper70
    Oct 5, 2012
    9
    Like many of you I have been disappointed by so many games over the years but I decided to get Guildwars 2 yesterday and it is awesome!
    I am a MMO fan and have enjoyed playing such games as WOW, SW:TOR, Everquest 2, Rift and Tera but I have to say Guildwars 2 blows them away. There is so much to do and see. Believe the hype!
  70. neck
    Nov 6, 2012
    8
    Certainly the best MMO launch of 2012. While I had a blast playing TERA and The Secret World, they can't compete with the fun I'm having with Guild Wars 2. While I must admit that the so-called PvE in the game is more or less just an "alibi" feature of the game it is still fun. It's really stimulating to finish the small tasks ("Hearts") for different people and stumble from event to event. There are many things to collect that add up to daily and monthly tasks which, in the end, reward you with even more XP, Karma and other things.
    The only thing I'm missing is more PvE content (yes, I know, GW is supposed to be about PvP ;) )...but it's okay so far.
    Up until this, I would've given 10/10 nonetheless, but...here comes the stuff that I actually really don't like about GW2: The PvP. So far (11/06/12) the PvP is pretty much broken. Balancing is basically non-existent (Thieves and Mesmer kill everything using just two to three skills. One-hit-kills happen as well.) and there are certain class builds that are so ridiculously powerful that you barely see anything different. Plus, certain character combinations are more or less "indestructible" so if you're not playing one of the two "awesome" classes, you're gonna have a bad time.
    I hope they'll fix this soon. 8/10    … Expand
  71. ohcomeon
    Nov 27, 2012
    10
    Great game. So much to do for $60, and no need to ever spend any more than that. The PvE will occupy you for a long time, but when that wears off, the PvP is endlessly entertaining.
  72. Ixnatifual
    Sep 27, 2012
    0
    Yet another overhyped MMO that turned out mediocre. Basic gameplay feels really clunky here, perhaps even worse than Warhammer Online. It's missing that MMO feel of games like World of WarCraft and EvE and feels more like a kindergarden. Somewhere in the construction of this game ArenaNet missed many of the important things of the genre. Building your character, the feel of being in a world, and perhaps most importantly, HAVING FUN.… Expand
  73. CravenKnight
    Dec 22, 2012
    0
    Has potential, but one major let down. I bought this game planning to finish it over the course of a week at my grandmother's house, however it turns out that this is a multi-player only game. Whose stupid idea was it to not only make it a multi-player game, but to completely omit any single-player modes?
  74. Pecheckler
    Oct 7, 2012
    10
    I followed Guild Wars 2 religiously for years. I played every single available minute during the beta tests and stress tests. The PvE is better than any MMORPG overall, especially because it is fun, never frustrating or tedious. Exploration is especially enjoyable. My only dislikes are the lack of public group options, and World versus World PvP. WvW PvP is an unbalanced frustrating mess. I spent over 100 hours over few weeks in WvW, and have since written it off. I have no plans of touching it until it is severely overhauled. However sPvP and PvE is very fun still. There is also a serious problem with hackers... something I've not seen hurt an MMO in nearly 8 years.… Expand
  75. Ordish
    Nov 7, 2012
    10
    This is a title that has something for everyone...well everyone except grief players. For the grief player, you are not invited. The game is more like an artists canvas that you manipulate. The graphics are simply beautiful, the races are very well done complete with histories, and the classes are perfect. When I say perfect, I truly mean that. You can play whatever you choose and not have to worry about waiting forever to find a pick up group that will let you in. If you want to group you can, or you can just adventure and help out where ever your ADD takes you. No monthly subscription nonsense, no grief players, and you have the freedom to play whomever you want and can still bring value to any group you happen to meet. There are so many more positives about the game it would be impossible to name them all. Suffice to say, If I could score this game higher than a 10, I would.… Expand
  76. Grenzor
    Sep 8, 2012
    5
    Gameplay: 4/10 Why so? Because It's always fun to do some stuff with people around. But harvesting eggs and washing cows is no fun after 80+ hours of playing is no fun at all. Maybe some people enjoy it. Not me. And I also take X and bring it to Y kind of stuff is annoying (90% of quests I've done). There are many games around which makes you to do so.

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

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

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

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

    Also ingame shop? Really? After paying 60    … Expand
  77. DaChunK
    Jan 11, 2013
    6
    I cant get into it. I really have tried and like the first Guild wars I've only got a character to around lvl 25 and have completely lost interest. I find it a very unsocial game, still to much of a rush to get to the end game or lvl 80. Which is my first big gripe - it takes to damn long to finish the game or reach maximum level. True it's not about the end game, it's the journey. yet I should not have to spend 100 hours or so to bloody well get there, it's ridiculous! Around 30 or so hours is more than enough time to dedicate to one character and a player should be rewarded more appropriately for their time invested.

    As for being in a guild - it's a sense of belonging to something, yet it aside from that, the game does indeed feel like a single player game with other people jumping in and out of it at times. As an older gamer (37) I play for perhaps different reasons than others. One of my main reason for playing while I'm distanced from more interesting things to do (my girlfriend for one), is the social aspect of a multiplayer game. And for me this game has very little meaningful interaction. People jump in, kill, jump out of your area. For all it was promised to be, guild wars is STILL and end level game. That for me makes it rather disappointing as I'll most likely never get there.

    Another BIG mistake they did was make the level's to high - to big of a spread. 40 levels would have been more than sufficient and make it take longer to achieve them. That way more people could have played together, with there being more characters of a similar level. Instead you have a situation where you are pretty well ALWAYS playing without your fellow guild members and by yourself to level. Hence little reason to be a part of a guild until you reach end game... my opinion. :-)

    It was fresh in many ways and combat is fun. Looks pretty and great with no monthly subscription, yet it's far from enough to get me to give in any more of my time until MAJOR changes take place... which they shall not.    … Expand
  78. elcritico
    Sep 12, 2012
    6
    After about level 15 you will have every weapon skill learned, and after a few levels the rest of the 4 offensive skills you can use, at which point is when the weapon/skill system starts showing its limiting and suffocating side - play like the game tells you or GTFO. The game is great for the first week, and after that you start noticing that it really has nothing to keep you playing. Structured PvP part of the game is disconnected from the rest, and really feels and plays like a separate game with the same engine - it sports its separate level treadmill, items and crafting. The only redeeming quality this game brings to the table is - no subscription.… Expand
  79. mephage
    Oct 27, 2012
    9
    To sum up - GW2 is a fantastic and fun game that I have truly enjoyed in an exploratory and exciting way, something I haven't done in ~7 years.

    I spent a good part of 6 years playing WoW after first playing Guild Wars original for a year or so, then on and off after that point. I've played several other MMOs but none of them ever really came close to WoW or original Guild Wars as far as     I'm concerned.

    GW2 has fresh and exciting ways of exploring and traversing the deep and detailed world. For once, an MMO has left the decision "How should I play the game" to the player, rather than boxing them in to stale and linear PvE experiences. As I'm still leveling, I don't know what end game will be like but GW2 definitely deserves a 9 even if end game is crap, considering just how awesome the leveling experience is.    … Expand
  80. MysticSham
    Sep 10, 2012
    5
    Game play is enjoyable, security isn't up to par though which can ruin any good game... numerous people getting hacked and account name can be changed is easier than password changes makes one question why release a game with such a huge flaw...
  81. evilclown311
    Dec 29, 2012
    10
    First off I would like to say i have tried other mmos. played the wow starter edition thought it was very childish and combat was very boring. so then i bought the secret world when it became subsription less becasue i am very into all the illumanati templar stuff. was ok but the interface was kind of confusing and combat was meh but the story was pretty cool. i was at gamestop one day and a friend of a friend told me to try out guild wars 2. i bought it and have loved every minute of it. i dont rate games by anything other than fun factor becasue really thats all that matters and gw2 gets a ten. charachter creation is really neat and the world is beautiful. just the art direction and creativity is astounding. the combat is also very very fun. the cool thing is u can just be exploring and all f a sudden a random big event happens and you and a whole bunch of people just go do it gain gold and exp. overall very fun if you are thinking about getting this game you really should i cant see you not having a good time.

    prepper out    … Expand
  82. Xanoth
    Oct 5, 2012
    10
    A great well rounded and well polished new MMO. 8 distinctive classes that all have their own feel and play style. Some great improvements to the MMORPG genre without trying to change what isn't broken.
    Just like GW1, there is no subscription. Unlike many other MMOs out there where you're paying a monthly fee and getting very little for that fee, GW2 gives excellent value for the box pric    e. I really don't think I could go back to standard MMO static combat that other titles in the genre seem content to offer. Combat in GW2 is a lot more fluid and active. Broker/AH/Trade Post is also the best I've seen in an MMO to date, not without flaws, but it's game wide, not limited by listing durations and you can set buy prices for items you're looking for.
    Only thing I personally miss is raiding, some challenge PVE wise to bring players together to overcome. WvW just doesn't do it for me, fun sure, but not in the same routine way that raiding was in the older generation MMOs.    … Expand
  83. Aeryx
    Oct 15, 2012
    9
    A revolution in MMORPG design. Guild Wars 2 presents an amazing amount of positive disruptive changes to the status quo that it corrects so many of the problems the MMO industry has with existing game templates. Artfully designed and wisely thought game mechanics make this game a must-have for MMORPG fans the world over.
  84. Tyron_87
    Feb 1, 2013
    4
    This game requires skill, the story is fairly flat (little people who make the engineers but that something new in short, you want to spend your money do not take well GW2.
  85. nightshark
    Oct 31, 2012
    10
    I've been playing since release and everything I have to say about this game is good - I recommend it to my friends and get lost and immersed in Tyria for hours at a time. In GW2 you are dropped into the world without much of a hint as to what you are supposed to be doing. That's because the point in the game is just to go explore and have fun. There is a massive and immersive world out there to enjoy and it's all breathtakingly beautiful. There are points of interest to visit, which when explored can often lead to secret jumping puzzles or hidden chests. There are breathtaking vistas to view and skill challenges to earn. All of these things can be challenging and puzzling at times. Levelling and gearing in this game almost seems secondary and you'll barely notice your levels flying up. There are two PvP modes, WvW and structured PvP (5v5 - 8v8 games). Both are very different things and I have found a lot of enjoyment in both. I recommend giving GW2 a chance because you just might LOVE it.… Expand
  86. Tlmader
    Dec 6, 2012
    10
    This game just suits me perfectly, being an MMO with a beautiful, hand-crafted world containing enjoyable PvE for smaller groups and the lack of a gear treadmill. SPvP is easy to jump into having all the necessary equipment at one's disposal, and WvWvW always interests me.
  87. Mordread
    Oct 10, 2012
    10
    This game is awesome, got it as a gift (was going to buy it anyway but my birthday came first :P) I did not play GW1 but have played many other MMOs. Its true that it takes quite a bit from games like Warhammer online, but it takes the good and improves on it. It also introduces new ideas and concepts I haven't seen in other mmos. The game handles lag very well (I play from South Africa) compared to games like WOW or Diablo 3. My only real complaint is the lack of proper learning content, its either not there or too boring to do. Its way more fun to just jump in and play like an idiot while you figure things out. I must say that this game is growing on me. The more I play the more fun it seems to get! Graphics are good, quests are fun, events are amazing, sounds are cool and personal quests add a fun single player element to the game(can be done multi, I like to single it). For those skeptical about the RM gem system, it is a little annoying but can be worked around, gems can be bought off ah with gold. 1 suggestion to A-net is please add more attacking animations haha… Expand
  88. Chewacone
    Sep 23, 2012
    3
    Another overhyped MMORPG that doesn't have nothing especial. Not better than TOR, The Secret World, and TERA, all things considered. The same "kill X and Y" with another face. Lack of progression. No endgame.
  89. yesterdayatnoon
    Oct 6, 2012
    9
    It's pretty exciting to have an MMORPG that doesn't kick you out of immersion in the fantasy on a regular basis. The story is nice, it isn't over the top epic quite yet, and while your personal stake in the story takes place in instanced zone, it still happens in the game world not some other place. A large portion of the story occurs in the open world as well, allowing for free participation and rewarding all who do participate.

    When you find a new area, rather than looking for a quest hub, you just explore and things will pop up on the side of the screen letting you know what's happening and how you can help. There are still quests out there that aren't like this, but for the most part you are adventuring to adventure.

    Loot is useful in some way, either by salvaging or actually using for long spreads of game play making any reward at least partially valuable.

    Even if you don't like the game play, or if you are a dedicated adherent to some other MMO, I recommend looking at GW2 and checking out the various tools for making playing with alts and crafting much less cumbersome. Crafting materials all go in to a shared character inventory with a limit I have yet to reach on how many of what can be stored. Banking is also shared. This allows a player to back up their main with crafting alts, allowing them to never leave the field, putting materials into their crafting inventory and then accessing their crafted goods from the bank later. This also gives your alts a way to levelup from crafting xp to help them along their way.

    Equipment looks amazing also. While some items do suffer from the floating pauldrons effect seen in other titles, you can turn these items off visually. The armor slots are also far more interesting than the skin tight armor textured pajamas from DDO, WoW and others. A coat looks like a coat, skirts can go anywhere from just covering your bum to knee length or the floor. Using the whole body to add multiple shapes makes the world look a lot more reasonable than most other item designs we see in MMOs.
    Without getting to endgame, I'm already very satisfied with this purchase. The only major short comings are the pay walls around keys to randomly dropped chests, you get way more chests than keys. and the pay wall around the amount of alts you can have (5 for free) and inventory space.    … Expand
  90. drobik
    Oct 5, 2012
    10
    In my life i've played a lot og MMO's, and i thought than Guild Wars 2 would be an average MMO. But when I saw some trailers and read a bit more about this game, i found it very interesting and i was right. After playing on the closed beta test i understood that it was the most amazing game I've ever played. There is a lot of features and describing all of them can take a lot of time. Usually, as it often happens with games which are having too many "cool things", these games looks like cut piece of cake and when you begin playing for the first time you will say:"Yes, it's amazing, but after some hours you will understand that this game can't provide you everything it was told about in the beginning. But not in Guild Wars 2, each elements of the game looks like the hole piece of one cake.
    In my opinion it is the best MMO game of last five years    … Expand
  91. Cluefulgamer
    Oct 6, 2012
    10
    Best MMO. I can't wait until another MMO improves on the direction this game has. From pvp to wvwvw to the story mode or just running out in to the wilds and bumping in to an engaging event. There is no right way to play this game. It is at your own pace and however you want to. I'm giving it a 10 for being the best there is right now. It is probably what vanilla WoW would have wanted to be before Blizz got high on cash cow subs and stopped caring about a good product. There isn't a thing I hate about GW2.… Expand
  92. AidanVsg
    Nov 16, 2012
    10
    First of all, I am not a fanboy of World of Warcraft or Guild Wars, this review is based only on my overall opinion on Guild Wars 2.
    ---
    Overall: excellent game, ArenaNet really showed everyone else how a true MMO must be made. If you have money for it and you like MMO's (and even if you don't, but you want to try something new), buy it! 10/10. Brilliant.
    ---
    This game is hilarious, wh    ether you play alone or with your friends. High fantasy setting can be felt actually, with so many things happening around you. Roleplaying part of the game is also great, as you can even write personal story to your character! Yes, yes, your own personal story! If you wish, you can complete plot missions to advance your character in the world, he is the part of it. Not a player's puppet, but a character with his own characteristics which can be set by you! Combat is great, also. Making combinations with players is also a nice way to make the game more social-specialized. However, there are few things that I don't like in the game: for example lack of trading option. There's much more to tell about this game, like no unholy-trinity system in dungeons and interesting crafting system, but it's way too hard to describe everything about Guild Wars 2, as it's too massive and great!… Expand
  93. unoMaestro
    Nov 2, 2012
    8
    Just pros and cons.
    < > Pros: < 1 > Stunningly effective design (visual, graphics and music) < 2 > Innovative and convinient gameplay (anyone should try it) < 3 > Playstyles of different classes are really different < 4 > Wide character customization < 5 > Live world with continuous events
    < > Cons: < 1 > Inexpressive storyline (especially the ending) < 2 > Annoying     last locations (both design and mobs' behaviour) < 3 > Turmoil in dungeons due to "no tank, random aggro" mechanics < 4 > Lack of end-game motivation (after some level of familiarization the game becomes boring even without full progress achieved)… Expand
  94. Jalfred
    Nov 2, 2012
    7
    I'm an avid fan of MMORPG and this game fall short of my expectations and many others by the looks of it. Yet I still recommend fans of this genre pick up this game as unlike most, it's none subscription based and will be a game I will come back to every now and again for years to come.
    The games PvP, from what I've seen is pretty unbalanced but it's not a game breaker. The PvE is very di    fferent to any other MMORPG I've played. Each instance has a limit of 5 players which I found slightly disappointing yet they are very challenging and requires a lot more cooperation than any other multi player PvE experience, like World Of Warcraft for instance. What I found very interesting is the fact ArenaNet based the game on giving the player a choice of how to level. For example, one could level to 80 with just World PvP (A new feature which involves a server VS server VS server system. Which takes place in a huge battleground). Or Structured PvP (A smaller PVP environment). Or even just questing. The game hasn't got a compelling storyline but this can easily be avoided.
    The game play varies greatly from profession to profession, depending on what type of profession you're playing. The thief and most melee classes consist of more button mashing then skillful play with ranged classes mostly bound to a powerful rotation.
    Personally I recommend picking this up even if you don't plan on playing for a considerable amount of time. The soul fact that this game isn't a subscription is a must buy for me.    … Expand
  95. MaidenEXP
    Nov 19, 2012
    9
    This game has EVERYTHING for be, in 1 year, in the MMORPG most played in the world. More played than World of Warcraft also. You only have to pay the two discs, and then you can forget the money and enjoy this huge world of Tyria. A world bigger than Azeroth, I think. So much hours of playing, but not as "drug" as is World of Warcraft I think. I don´t play this game a lot, because of the class, because of the new PS3 games... But when I get bored, I know I have an amazing game in my computer which enjoys me for hours!
    The best in this game, in my opinion, are the graphics ( Best visual desings in the MMORPG history), an amazing Soundtrack, the huge PvP *World vs World, thousands of players against thousands of players), and the different localitations of Tyria, like beaches, forrests or freezing mountains.
    The worst for me is the small characters you can have, only 5. Sometimes, the dungeons gets too long and too difficult. The level decreasing in some areas is absurd.    … Expand
  96. dexcaliber
    Dec 2, 2012
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is by far the best game to date when it comes to fantasy MMO's. I've been playing since launch and I am just as addicted to GW2 as I was to regular GW. Taking away the quest grind is a real + for me. All other MMO's focused way too much on questing. In GW2 I like the way you can just go out into the world and stumble upon an event. Exploration is quite fun, you never know what you might stumble upon. I have tried my hand at PvP and I still need some work. As for WvW I have not been there yet, but from what I hear from other players it can be quite an experience. The only thing in GW2 that I find needs work is the gathering aspect of it, If your getting into crafting, starting out seems to be quite slow. Harvest nodes can take an hour to respawn while farm nodes can take up to 23 hours to respawn, this seems to be a little too restrictive, but really that is the only gripe in the game that I have. I just totally love this game, Arenanet has delivered on it's promises for sure. I am looking forward to what the future has in store for this game. Will we be able to walk the streets of Kamadan or Kaineng City again? Is the Jade Sea still going to crystallized? What new lands will we be able to explore? I'm stoked about this game, and I will be playing it as much as I possible can.… Expand
  97. vonDogg
    Dec 15, 2012
    9
    ArenaNet gave us the game I had been waiting a long time, without a healers, tanks and stereotype invented centuries ago. Game worth playing, some will love it others postpone the ledge.
  98. Etheldir
    Dec 15, 2012
    10
    This game is absolute gold! The storyline is very well done and it allows you to make countless decisions as you play which will change your storyline and whilst at the end of it all you will get the same ending if you decide to play through the story with a different character you will experience huge variety from your first playthrough as the decisions you make enable you to play completely different missions. The eight classes offer up countless different strategies and dungeoneering is even more fun as you can jump in with any other people instead of having to wait for the other members of the holy trinity. The PvP is great fun but with only one game mode as of yet but with many different maps. There are whole new events out each month such as halloween christmas etc. each updte being about 1/2gb to 1gb each as so much is added… Expand
  99. Fuub
    Jan 21, 2013
    5
    Guild wars 2, good graphics, nice maps, fun dynamic events, and... that's about it!

    Classes feel weird, too few skills to choose from and don't feel solid whatsoever, Spammable PvP is not really fun, WvWvW its just repetitive pug battles, and the worst of all, it has reduced camera Field Of View that reminds me all the bad quality games out there, which completely breaks the game experience.
  100. Xelion
    Jan 15, 2013
    9
    Perfect game for casual players. That doesn't mean hardcore players can't play it. But it's fun, it's not hard to lv up (everything u do, EVERYTHING gives you exp), many people complain it's hard to lv up yet they haven't played the game for more than a couple of days. You'll reach 80 even before you know it, and you'll feel like there's still so much left to do.
    Yes, some people may not     agree or like the game, but people that give this game a 0 are just haters... Only thing that I feel it's missing is a normal pvp or duel mode on the pve environment, or even a pk mode, as the pve world is just too nice and peaceful, sometimes you feel like you need some "bad guys" that are not just npcs. But even then, the WvWvW is really fun, you don't even need to join the zergs... sometimes you can just wander around the maps and you may even find a chance to 1 on 1 or at least fight with smaller groups of people.… 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.
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