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

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2132 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,679 out of 2132
  2. Mixed: 138 out of 2132
  3. Negative: 315 out of 2132

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  1. ReggiWatson
    Mar 31, 2013
    7
    As a great fan of Guild Wars i set myself to purchase this game as soon as it was released. I was not (too much) disappointed, its a great game, and a must have in for any MMO players. Go ahead, buy it, its worth it.

    Why an 7 then? Well, despite being a great game, its not perfect. And its definitely not the experience i was expecting since i played for like almost 7 year of Guild Wars.     Let me do this in topics of Pos and Cons.

    Pos:
    - Gorgeous Graphics. Certainly a very good upgrade.
    - Free group questing, If you are in the are with more random players, everyone contributes for that same quest.
    - 5 distinct and interesting races. (personally i never had any issue of having a full human race on GW)
    - Weapon and skills mechanic. Each weapon gives you a set of skill based on which hand its equipped. 3 skills for main hand, 2 for off hand. All 5 for a 2H weapon.
    - Dedicated skill slots. 1 for healing skill, 3 for support skills, 1 for an elite skill.
    - The removal of the "healer stress". Since everyone must have a healing skill, its up to you to make your own survival.
    - The last stand mechanic. Which allow you to get back into the battle after you have been defeated if you kill 1 enemy before the timer goes down.
    - The still rich lore.

    Cons:
    - Lost its originality, compared to the original GW. Its just your regular MMO now.
    - Old mechanics. Dungeons. Elite Mobs. Auction House. Regular "collect X", "kill Y" and such quests.
    - Instant travel now costs gold, compared to the free travel of the original GW.
    - Skill limitation. I loved to mess around with the enormous quantity of skills of GW, now classes like Engineer are limited to like 3-4 weapon sets.
    - Dual class system was removed.
    - Special class traits where removed. No more get energy with each dead enemy for necromancer, and such.
    - Some classes where removed. Hope they get back on an expansion or so.
    - Loss of tactical action. Since Monk was removed and everyone can heal themselves, you consider each class as a DPS. Just spam attack skills.

    There are some other things that where added that in my opinion bring nothing to the game:
    - Pseudo durability system. Pointless
    - Jumping key. Sorry, i think this was a huge fan service, i think its pointless to have it compared to GW, i liked the fact i could use the space bar to do focused actions and not jump.
    - The complete loss of character customization, where you had a complete different set of faces and hairs for each class (and campaign) in GW, now its just same sets for each race, leaving you probably recycling the same face/hair for many characters.
    - No more skill hunting. You get a weapon, you use it to train the skills, that's done.
    - Amped up level cap. Why? I loved the fact level cap was only 20 in GW, and the real game started from there on, where enemies got stronger and above that level cap. (lvl 31 Dragon Glint anyone?)

    Bottom line, Guild Wars 2 is a great game, but lost the Guild Wars originality and became mainstream. If you like WoW or SW TOR you will like this game, if you loved Guild Wars, you might get a bit disappointed with this new installment. Let's hope new expansion will make things different.    … Expand
  2. siveZ
    Mar 9, 2013
    9
    Guild Wars 2 challenges whole genre of MMORPGs, and succeeds. ArenaNet got rid of silly rudiments, proving that they are not needed to make a fun, interesting and thrilling game. Just a simple example are you sure you need mana itself to make a complete, balanced MMORPG? It is not about graphics it's about artistic direction, it's not about sound quality it's about sound design. This game is not flawless, but it is the best MMORPG by far. It is not a milestone too, but a logical leap. I love this game and strongly recommend it to every gamer.… Expand
  3. MRGamer
    Feb 3, 2013
    7
    I bought the game during the holiday sales and leveled a warrior to level 80. I completed the personal story, and did a bit of everything else- sPvP, Fractals, WvW. There are many casual/ solo friendly features of the game that make it a great "B2P" game to pick up and play through. The production value is high, and the game looks good and runs well. However, as I continued to log in and play with my level 80 character, I started to feel the impact of the design decisions Anet continues to make that are aimed at herding players toward the TP/ Gem Store. In spite of the famous "no grind" manifesto policy, each of the areas of the game presented me with some sort of time/ gold sink, including the infamous "DR" that prompts so much conspiracy discussion. For every inconvenience the game presents, there is a solution that can be purchased in the gem store. It is a delicate balancing act, and GW2 will continue to run the risk of losing players when the obvious F2P greed drives away customers- like myself. I decided I got my money's worth out of my one play through. The fun of playing the game was not worth the time and effort for me, and I personally will not start buying gems/ gold in order to enjoy the game. I would rather pay a sub or full price for expansions than get continually nickel and dimed to ride all the rides. Still a good game, but I am not going to keep throwing money at it.… Expand
  4. Utrex
    Mar 4, 2013
    10
    Guild Wars 2 is... a splendid game. Whilst completing the main quest line and levelling up to level 80, I realized there is yet much to do...~~~For example, I had to level up my skills to level 400, and hunt for materials and ingredients which made my time as great. I found myself in LOVE with the dungeons, and the fact that ArenaNet releases updates in a large sum, not just small miniature maintenances etc... Completing the map was incredibly fun, and finding the vistas, completing the Local Heart quests, the randomly generated events which give me something to do, and the graphics that take me in. Now I never have to run around, bored, and thinking, "What should I do next? Sigh..." Graphical content is the least of what I care about, because games really aren't all about graphics, however their story, content, and available options is really what it's about. By the way, for you ArenaNet fans out there, many of the people who have completely disliked GW2 are brainwashed people coming from Blizzard that will absolutely hate ANY MMORPG game they think might overcome WoW. Also, may I like to say many of the hated reviews here are probably coming from people who just want to compare GW2 to their favorite MMO's. No, seriously, rating Guild Wars 2 requires raw, solid reviewing, not comparing products. -Utrex… Expand
  5. GamePlayTalk
    Nov 3, 2012
    8
    • There is a long standing a gap between the action present in modern RPGs and MMORPGs, Guild Wars 2 is the next step in bridging that gap.
    • The dodge mechanic present in the game helps to add to that "action" feel, requiring the player to keep moving while concentrating on their positioning in the combat at all times.
    • Though the combat system is a great improvement ove    r more traditional MMORPGs, the game still bears many of the trappings that are a given part of any MMORPG.
    • Containing both a traditional arena based PVP and more open area mass battle grounds offers a wide range of PVP options where though not always competing on equal grounds, even new players are given a chance by being boosted to max level.
    • Though grinding is not required, population levels in certain parts of the game may cause certain dynamic events to either not trigger or be impossible for an individual to complete thus throwing off the expected leveling path. Otherwise the quest system is great.    … Expand
  6. MayhemMike83
    Mar 23, 2013
    6
    First of all let me state this: It is one of the best MMOs out there and you can find lots of reviews that will tell you all the reasons why it deserves a high rating, but here are the reasons why I didn't really like it.

    1. There is no traditional leveling: Each weapons uses another skill set but you can unlock all of them really quickly in under 30 mins. What's left to unlock are just     skills that I would consider minor and mostly not worth playing for. Leveling up is one of the biggest motivational points for me in such a game and GW2 doesn't offer enough for me to keep me interested

    2. If there is no real leveling system the game needs something else to keep you involved like the story and here lays the next problem. The emotional arc of your character concludes after the second arc is finished. From that point onward you are, just a tag-along. The story is affecting other people, and you're just along for the ride. A good part of this is due to the segmented nature of the quests 3. Crafting: You need to level up your crafting skills in order to be able to craft valuable gear and that's when crafting becomes an exercise because creating one level 10 recipe does not increase your level to 11 as it would appear. No, you get experience toward level 11, meaning that the problem of leveling up by making useless items is exacerbated.    … Expand
  7. colnaghi
    Feb 15, 2013
    10
    Great graphics, nice character customization (not as good as Tera in this aspect), gigantic worlds and plenty of quests to perform and mobs to fight.
    Swimming and diving are amazing adds to the game possibilities that cannot be seen that often on other mmo's.
    It may take a while until you grasp the inner works of the complex crafting system.
  8. Malificus
    Jan 20, 2013
    10
    Best MMO of our times. Seriously, you start the game and...relax. No repetitive content, no grind. If somebody does something like it - that's just because he likes it, not because he has to do it to get super-uber-gear-sword-pants. Tons of good brand new ideas. No subscription - unlimited fun.
  9. Mei
    Jan 23, 2013
    10
    In terms of value, Guild Wars 2 is the best 55$ I spent in all of 2012. I believe despite it's flaws, GW2 has pushed the genre forward: jumping puzzles, restructured skill bar, shared loot, and dynamic events in one game is a lot. I know we've seen these mechanics in other games, but not in one game. ArenaNet is pulling in ideas from other genres to make GW2 more appealing to a wider audience. I think they done that very well and deserve the praise they get for it.… Expand
  10. krnology
    Feb 14, 2013
    9
    Simply put, I like Guild Wars 2. I think GW2's graphics are impressive, the sound and music top notch, the environments are interesting, monster variety plentiful, crafting is useful, and the combat is fluid. At first I failed to make it past level 15 and quit for a bit (my initial excitement faded fast). I then decided to come back around Christmas and did the themed quest and various PvE content. After a few days I became more interested in playing, but I could feel the old complaints creeping back in (lack of desire to invest time). Then I was invited into a active PvP World vs World based guild and that has made all the difference for me. I'm amazed at how being a member in an active and friendly guild can make normally mundane things fun. We've done class quest, fractals, normal content, and world vs world on a regular basis. Of course, there are flaws and some of the reviews express them well. However, I have come to appreciate GW2 regardless of my initially disinterest (perhaps more for the community rather than for the game itself).… Expand
  11. Setsudo
    Feb 2, 2013
    9
    Im a fan of this title. After 5 years, they ve done an amazing work. The world is wonderfull and artistic. The gameplay is regular but still dynamic. You will take more than a month to do everything around. A great title so don't hesitate on it
  12. grimreaper10294
    Feb 14, 2013
    8
    I have played this game for approximately 3 months, and I first joined when my friends persuaded me to spend the $60 I put aside for CODbo2 for this. I was led here with the idea of a massive world with endless interesting things to do, and never-ending fun without the grinding so commonly found in everyday MMOs. However, to the newcomer who doesn't have much experience with this kind of MMO, there seems to be way too many things to be done everyday. I have not played many MMOs lately, so I was a little daunted by the prospect of doing all the things needed to be done. Once you get used to the tasks, it is quite fun to wander around in a huge land. However, I think if you don't really have any close friends IRL who play it, there isn't too much to be done. It's a lot more fun to play the game with people you know well.… Expand
  13. Jaz
    Feb 23, 2013
    9
    GW2 is a buy only MMO with no subscription .Pros: Graphics and animations-by far the best, sound, interesting classes, pvp- both the tournament and the world vs world, good crafting, discrete store for fluff and not pay to win, attention to small details that make you feel like the world is "real". Minus: since they dont use the classic tank-healer-dps system, group combat becomes confusing, especially with pick up groups. I like the soloability of GW2 classes and their pvp performance but in dungeons, group pve is not fun-for me at least. It doesnt have raids but i m not so fond of them anyway. Some people love to grind for the uber weapon/armor. Not so here and i personally like it. Also it has frequent events, improvements etc. Overal: best MMO today.… Expand
  14. Friendzie
    Mar 21, 2013
    6
    What I want in a MMORPG is incredibly designed bosses requiring great teamwork to kill. By abandoning the staple roles of RPGs in favor of some sort of a weapon-based skill system and self-healing, the game pushes itself way backward in that department. I appreciate Guild War's answer to the dead world instance-play of games like Warcraft, but what we need more is a game with Warcraft's raid bosses and Guild War's leveling and vibrant world. We don't need a game to be 100% different in every way from the competition. I'm not just looking for the next WoW when I play a MMORPG I can deal with games diverging from WoW in a variety of ways but can we please have any other game which features PVE raid bosses as well designed as WoW? Warhammer Online nailed its coffin by specifically ignoring PVE raiding in an attempt to be different. Now Guild Wars 2, a beautiful game with so much to do, manages to do something similar, preventing itself from well-designed content by abolishing the tried-and-true staples of RPG gameplay that have worked so well. I'd maybe recommend this game for people who want PVP over PVE in a MMORPG.… Expand
  15. Capzero007
    Mar 31, 2013
    7
    Guild Wars 2 manages to bring some new elements to a genre which is quickly becoming boring and repetitive (meaning the fantasy MMO). The elimination of the need to find quest givers and the need to hand them back in really streamlines play. The excellent rewards for completely exploring a map and finishing all the content really promotes exploration. The final great addition is the support for random cooperation between players. No issues over loot rights, kill rights, or even crafting material nodes. Everyone gets credit.

    These items alone forced me to give GW2 a 7. The rest of the MMO problems remain. Repetitive content, tiresome combat, loot grinds, and forced grouping at the end game. I recommend GW2. Enjoy the trip to the level cap but logout once you get there     … Expand
  16. BOSIG
    Mar 19, 2013
    9
    Really well made game! The graphics, the story, the small details, the combat system. Everything is really well done! Leveling is really fun thanks to the new "questing" system, that really eliminates the boring things of questing. Things feel more genuine, varied and not at all grindy. Exploring is really fun and rewarding, both thanks to the graphics and the excellent "level design" with jumping puzzles and just the overall epicness of all terrain.

    And contrary to what some people claim, the game has a good chunk of endgame, both in the more "casual" way and the old grindy (wow-like) endgame. This will surely expand, Guild Wars 2 hasn't been out a year yet!

    There are some bad things too obviously, most of them compensated by the rest of the game.
    To mention the biggest weaknesses the game lacks some features you would expect from an MMO, such as being able to inspect other peoples gear, to direct trade with someone (without using the auction house). Also when fighting physically smaller bosses in a group the spell and particle effects becomes too overwhelming and you are sometimes unable to even see what you are fighting. You are also unable to simply duel against a friend in the game.
    This are the things that prevent the last point out of 10.

    And too all folks that have been playing and loving WoW, I just wanna give you the advice to not give up to early as I almost did. It takes a while to get into because its in some ways so different from WoW.

    Lastly i want to say that I'm an PvE player and haven't tried much PvP at all so this review is from a PvE point of view.    … Expand
  17. AndyC_
    Mar 31, 2013
    9
    Being new to the Guild Wars franchise I find myself playing it almost every spare minute I have. Guild Wars 2 is certainly an attracting game from its good graphics to its fun and intense massive multiplayer boss battles. I have enjoyed every hour of this game and the reason I enjoyed it so much is because it brings something new to the table in the genre of MMO's. Combat is the best iv'e seen in an MMO ever, graphics aren't the best I have ever seen but are certainly up there among of titles in different genres. What put the cherry on the cake for me was the epic world versus world action it is a new battle every time but one complaint i have about the world versus world is the queue times can be up to 3 hours long which is too long. The soundtrack of this game is jaw-dropping. I never normally compliment a game on its soundtrack but by God was this a good one. The music mixed with the landscape and actual gameplay works so well together. I loved it.… Expand
  18. El_Gamer
    Apr 10, 2013
    10
    El clásico se reinventa

    Después de siete años de espera Guild Wars 2 vio la luz el pasado mes de agosto. ArenaNet ha realizado un gran esfuerzo para cumplir con las expectativas generadas con la primera entrega de la saga. En esta ocasión presenta un MMO en toda regla, con un mundo persistente repleto de eventos, que huye de muchos de los clichés del género, enfocado al PVP y sin cuotas    cuotas mensuales.

    La historia del juego se desarrolla en el mundo de Tyria. Los jugadores tendrán cinco zonas completamente diferenciadas para poner a prueba su pericia como aventureros, desarrollar su historia personal, que variará según las decisiones que tome cada jugador, y enfrentarse a los dragones que amenazan el mundo.

    http://www.elgamer.es/analisis-guild-wars-2/    … Expand
  19. Stormcrow666
    Mar 30, 2013
    7
    As a player who played GW1 for about 7 years I can tell you this game is not even close to being as engaging. The story is one of the worst I have ever seen in any game, let alone an MMO. The Graphics are quite good and clean when you use sweet fx. GW2 comes with FXAA which makes the game really blurry. The music though is top notch. I love all of the new music and like the old stuff tossed in there as well. There are some glaring issues with the game technically though. WvW is mostly unplayable unless you have a super high end rig. And by rig I mean CPU. The game is overly CPU bound and even i7 3930k's oc to 4.5 have issues with some of the bigger battles. All this after the game has been released for 7 months! If your interested in WvW, you should either wait till there is maybe a patch at some point(the newest culling patch didnt help alot) or invest in a high high end rig. PVP is non existent really since there are few maps and game styles. The combat overall I will say is fairly good but with the limited skills it does get boring after some time.
    Dynamic events and world events get stale once through and most people have a hard time going again with another character. The crafting is terrible. Plain and simple. One if the worst I have seen.
    Dungeons are fun tho and some can be challenging. Be prepared to grind. The devs said that there is little to no grinding in gw2 but that is bold faced lie. Be prepared for RNG and gambling.
    You do have a choice to grind or use your creditcard/paypal but I find that defeating the purpose of any MMO. You should never ever be able to buy ingame items with real world money. Overall it is a fun game but not ANYWHERE near the hype that most people believed after the success that was GW1. Too bad, it had a lot of potential.    … Expand
  20. Flash_Over
    Feb 20, 2013
    6
    Guild Wars 2... I have such mixed feelings about his game. I will start with the PROs I will say it is a good game. It is high quality and it very detailed and adventurous. I love the world, the artwork and most of all the character creator. The character creator is possibly one of the best I have used and I had a lot of fun (In the beginning) playing this game. I waited a good long few months so i soak up what this game is all about from the gameplay and 'is it fun?' perspective. But, after the things I have encountered... though high quality, the game seems to be unfinished. I will explain. CONs First thing that annoyed me unlike other MMOs, is there are certain things that must come as standard in every MMO. By these I mean, trading with other players, mounts and a well designed and easy to use Auction House. This game lacks all of those. No trading option still puzzles me, but the auction house feels unpolished since it was first created, the text is choppy and the filters are terrible, ontop of that, the way the auction house is set up makes is EASY for other players and gold farmers/seller to exploit and drive up the currency market. Mounts, I understand Arenanets solution to no mount is to create instant teleport points. Yea, that is convenient, but personally I like buying/earning mounts in a game. I also love galloping through the environments. But, (I may be speculating) That taking the mounts out of the game frees up time and money creating the animations, skins, programming ect, making this a cooperate decision and not a game one. Next is the combat system and skill system. No trainers, no weapon learning, no nothing. Around level 30 you will unlock all you skill slots and spell you will use for the rest of the game exspereince. You will only have 5 weapon spells (5 more for underwater) and 6 buffs/cooldowns. That is it. i personally could not bare with using the same 5 or so spells over and over till lvl 80. The combat is just not fun. The weapon skills and spells are so limited. I feel brain dead though right now. This maybe the worst review I have written, but I feel I touched on the things that greatly disappointed me about this game. So to sum things up. PROS: No monthly fee, Excellent Character creator, Amazing world and environments, refreshing questing and story concept, good graphics and animations, and finally fun exploration and puzzle mechanics. CONS: NO mounts, NO player to player trading, Poor (But tolerable) Auction House and currency system, Limited spells and abilities, no tank/dps/healer concept (Which makes boss fights nothing but freelancing spell spamming chaos with no team work.), and a boring and repetitive combat system.… Expand
  21. MikeJezZ
    Apr 18, 2013
    2
    This game is average at its best. But when you ding level 80, the game start to be boring real quick with lack of content. There's no progression or any reason to do PvE or PvP.

    I had so high hopes.
  22. Xen-Masta
    Jan 15, 2013
    8
    GW2 is great for casual players. It does feel like WoW at times... a lot of the time imo. Nothing new here, and really low difficulty. I would never pay a subscription for this game, but fortunately there isn't one. This is the key imo. Since it's a one time purchase, this game is well worth it. It's a huge rpg. That's the way i think of it. leveling is a solo-fest, and the community is so-so. But for a one time purchase fee, you will get far more content than any single player rpg out there, so you can't really complain. It seems real tactical teamwork, and cohesive communities (FFXI and EQ for example) are a thing of the past in the MMO world, which begs the question, why are we playing these games online. Sometimes i think games like this (GW2, WoW, SWTOR etc) could be easily be single player games with instanced co-op, like Demon's/Dark Souls. Like i said, at least this one is free. I give it an 8/10… Expand
  23. Amargosa
    Apr 7, 2013
    6
    While the visuals are beautiful and the world is big the forcibly attempt of trying to revolutionize the RPG genre is not fun. Taking away the holy trinity is a good idea but brings other problems. The most important issue however is the enforced auto-scaling of your level depending on the area you are. The game takes away any sense of power in the bigger style and the dungeons feel ill balanced until you are maximum level. before that they are a stressful annoying chore.… Expand
  24. Indrigis
    Feb 23, 2013
    6
    The game tries hard and gets a lot right. And it gets a lot wrong. On the bright side there's the distinct lack of quest NPCs, but rather quest areas marked on the map that you just need to reach in order to be on the quest. Then again all these are the same. Kill waves of attackers, gather stuff off the ground, maybe even... do something else (no, not even remotely often enough). There's no reason to really care about that. Wander around the map hoping for events to pop up until you have gained enough experience to progress to the next map. Sure, there are VISTAS! Which serve no purpose, as they did in Assassin's Creed. Geez, there's a whole world around this point! Nope, no reason to care. There are a lot of fun things too, like the whole cattle launcher affair, but they're fun once only. Otherwise it's a grind and then some more grind. And tedious exploration for the sake of map completion achievements. As for the Multiplayer and Role-Playing parts... This is pretty much an anti-social MMORPG. You can resurrect others and you can work for a common goal if you are at the same event, but you don't even remotely care about others' classes or builds or whatever. This is especially bad in dungeons. You literally have no reason to bother with tactics just mash everything you have and maybe some combos will happen maybe, or maybe not, or whatever and you know, being a tank is not a good thing it's actually not a thing at all and rogues make the best tanks due to jumping around and I'm not even motivated to find flaws in this because it's BORING AND STUPID. Also you have 30-40 skills to unlock, out of which a whopping 5 (yes, FIVE) are available for use at any time and you pretty much don't even need anything beyond the five you actually like because if you want situational skill A you can't just use it anytime unless you unequip the always useful skill B beforehand. The personal story is good, somewhat personal and influenced by your character creation choices, but... After you're done with the first arc of it you are forcefully sent on an amazingly stupid and overwhelmingly boring and hugely pointless task of getting to know more of one of the lesser races of the world. WHY? WHY ON EARTH WOULD THE DESIGNERS THINK YOU WOULD EVER WANT TO DO THAT?! Oh, and as for the 8.0 user score can't help but notice the amazing amount of 10 points reviews published on 28/8/12 (the day after launch, no less).… Expand
  25. normyp
    May 18, 2013
    5
    3rd review all in all this game was meh and i wish I hadn't wasted my money on it tbh. the first few months of when it came out was good because you had people all over the starting zones etc. they're now dead graveyards with noone in them. all the casual gamers have left the game and u hv a load of people at end game wondering what to do. its lost its edge for me as a casual gamer. i think the thing is mmorpgs get good when u devote a lot of time to them. i hate running around a map getting somewhere for ages, and u hv to do that quite a bit in gw2 but if ur willing to put the time in the game is hella awesome and im sure ull hv a blast. i just find the events hv dried up now, noone does them in the starting zones.… Expand
  26. iozay
    Feb 2, 2013
    7
    Guildwars 2 is a decent game, is supported well but the game is pretty overhyped. The game is also arguable "pay2win"(Even though people might disagree with it).
  27. Garian
    Feb 12, 2013
    7
    Sure, GW2 was a fun game for a while, I enjoyed it, but after playing World of Warcraft for years before this, despite wanting to, I couldn't quite get into it and I stopped playing after reaching only level 16.
  28. Kracket
    Apr 14, 2013
    8
    A few weeks into Guild Wars 2's launch, I wrote a review and gave the game 9 stars for it's leveling experience. A few months later and I haven't touched the game in weeks. Once you hit max level, complete the entire world, run every instance, jump every puzzle, score big trading deals and attempt to make a legendary, you will have no urge to play the game. Zero. Yet, I have put 400 hours into the game and loved every second of it. Enjoy the time you have with it, it doesn't last forever.… Expand
  29. magee
    Apr 7, 2013
    0
    click the button which is not on cooldown combat is dumbed down its just stupid, the different skills are so bad designed at the beginning you will may enjoy the game but after 2-3 hours you will see how boring this game actually is i am not a fanboy of any mmo but this game was a big let down for me
  30. Runeforged
    Apr 12, 2013
    9
    Best MMORPG since WoW and most diverse MMORPG since EVE. Guild Wars 2 has A-LOT of good things going for it. I want to save potential Buyers of this game some time and just give you a summary of the good and bad that it has to offer! SO first, the good: - Best looking virtual world in terms of art and creativity. - Consistently fluid animation on nearly everything that moves. - Excellent musical score.
    - Solid amount of options available when creating your character.
    - Fast paced, involving combat. Skill based to a degree.
    - Fun to play solo.
    - Fun and easy to play with a group.
    - Great PvE upto 80.
    - PvP and WvW are a blast. Easily the best PvP combat and options of any MMO.
    - Has a sense of Humor
    - No Trinity system to bog things down.
    - Every class is unique, self sufficient and fun to play.
    - No subscription fee.
    - No pay to win
    - Much better Community than you will find in WoW, SWTOR and Rift.

    The bad:

    - Story aspect is not very interesting.
    - Voice acting can feel stoic and lame. Too much cheese at times.
    - While PvP has plenty to offer as endgame content, PvE has much less in contrast. (Maybe add grindable Gear?)
    - Cultural Armors are inconsistent in their looks and appeal.
    - Tends to make you ignore important things in life. Like eating.

    So there you have my little list of things I like and dislike about Guild Wars 2. If any of the good I mentioned interests you then do yourself a favor and pick up this game! After all, it is only a one time purchase     … Expand
  31. TehOwn
    Apr 22, 2013
    10
    One of the best value for money games I've ever played. No monthly subscription means it's an MMO which you can choose when to play and you're not forced to log-in every single day. Live team were clever enough to spend the first few months fixing bugs and polishing existing content, along with adding a few new pieces. The only real downside I can say is that I need MORE of it. Expansions please! 10/10… Expand
  32. Landon144
    May 9, 2013
    9
    I started playing GW2 end september and I'm still playing it. I have over 1000 hours of gameplay already and I keep coming back. GW2 enjoyed me every moment: When I was leveling, I loved exploring the maps, on my way to a Point of Interest A thing you need to 'complete' you map I encountered countless Dynamic Events. Some of them were boring, others were fun and interesting, sometimes even a small story that is told with Dynamic events. This form of PvE is only one of the few amazing things in GW2. Honestly, I love every aspect of the game.
    When I hitted Lvl 80 (Max level), I started playing WvW more often, first it seemed a bit confusing, but I learnt fast, there are awesome, large scale battles. Many people think that WvW is just running around mindless on the map... It really is not, you need a sense for tactics. You need to place siege on the best locations possible and you need to learn to use your supplies when the time is right. The two other forms of PvP are sPvP and tPvP. Both focus on smaller scale battles, on smaller maps. Not many tactics are involved, just kill and take areas for points that will contribute to your victory. There also are alternate objectives that differ for any map, these give extra points or bonus stats that makes you more powerful. Both sPvP and tPvP are part of a different leveling system called glory, though this rank really doesn't matter, unless you want good looking armor and weaponskins.
    Back to PvE now, apart from Open World PvE and Dynamic Events, there also are dungeons. Dungeons for me are not that exciting. Dungeon mobs are very strong, and regular mobs can kill you in a few hits. Because of those reasons, I don't run Dungeons that much.
    Then you also have your "Personal Story", not that amazing, unlike you are like me and be a lover of the GW lore and story and you just want to know what happens.

    Come with that ANet rolls out a major content update every month, useally with both permament and temporary content. All this awesomeness packed in a game that you only have to pay once, because there is no monthly fee. It was absolutly worth my 55 bucks.
    Why not a 10? There are still annoying bugs ingame that need a fix.    … Expand
  33. WhiteTalpa
    Jan 10, 2013
    6
    Guild Wars 2 does a lot of things right and is an enjoyable game However, there are already other big games like RuneScape which has got it 99% right, so in conclusion forget Guild Wars 2 and play RuneScape.
  34. Criptonix100
    Apr 18, 2013
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This games is a modern MMO,it's fun to play there's 3 open world pvp servers(you fight Server vs Server vs Server)many structured PVP lobbies, the map is huge,the graphics are great.
    Guild Wars 2 has been since August 28(who pre order it)and i still love it.
    Your goal is to be strong to deafeat the Elder Dragon named "Zhitan" but there will be some events that you have to kill a dragon like in the human starting area you have a event to kill Shadow of Behemoth,when you kill the dragona you get treasure(i got Final Rest wich is a exotic staff weapon).The Monsters AI is good and the best part of this game is you dont have to do back tracking i.e you talked to a NPC wich wants you to kill monsters and then come back to him,theese things are boring stuff like Angryjoe said on his review,i will hightly recomend this game if you dislike Old School MMOS like WoW,EverQuest i dont recomend if you like Old School MMOS but give it a try when there will be a trial    … Expand
  35. cc742
    Jan 21, 2013
    7
    I find it hard to review GW2 since the only other mmo's i've played are aq worlds(aka the worst mmo there is) and runescape which has graphic worse than an n64. That being said, i coudnt find a ton of enjoyment in guild wars 2. The classes were interesting and alot of the game is simply beautiful, but rip it down to its core its still an MMo. I found the system of just telling you everything u need to do at the beggining of the area nice, but still i've never like fetch quests as doing the same thing 200000 times has never interested me. I cant recomend the PVP though. Dear god i played it for 10 mins where we wated and decided to breach a walll. we finaly do and what happens? ANOTHER WALL. Ugh it got so boring i just decided to stay on the PVE and work with that. After a week i was about to log on and i ask myself am i have fun? the answer was no. No, this is not fun and there are better games to play, even if there off line. In conclusion if u like mmo's you will enjoy this, but if not it most likly wont be the big converter or "wow killer" people thought it could be… Expand
  36. amyvelder
    Feb 16, 2013
    10
    I really liked the quest system of this game. It's something totally new and I haven't seen anything like that before. I don't feel tired even playing GW2 for hours.
  37. Rajal
    Feb 17, 2013
    7
    Overall, its not a bad game... However it does feel like it was rushed. The biggest issue may be that people feel a little confused with where to go. In a way I like the heart system, but then you don't have to talk to anyone and that alone can make the world feel kind of hollow. This can be solved by just going up to the Heart giver and asking him whats up, but you don't have to to activate the tasks and what not. Some people really hate the new weapon skill system, but I'm fine with it. I understand that balancing all those skills in GW1 must of been a nightmare but one part of me still misses all those build possibilities... ESPECIALLY with Mesmers. I feel the game kind of favors soloing a bit too much, but its not entirely a bad thing either.

    My main concern is with NCSoft however. I feel like its been rushed out by them, and apparently they have been involved in nearly eradicating all Asian related things (Tengus not included... kinda). Rumors about how they wanted Anet to remove the Canthan District and a possibility of never having a return trip to Cantha is... odd. I really hope NCSoft does not block Anet from doing this as a possible expansion set, and that Anet can start pumping more life into this game. It's not bad really, but it feels... Well, incomplete. My hope is that this goes the way of the old GW and that an expansion will breathe more life into it.    … Expand
  38. numaiios
    Feb 24, 2013
    6
    Jugué unos meses al uno y no me enganchó. Decidí darle una más seria oportunidad al 2 a ver qué tal. Me cree un elementalista y empecé a levelear. Hacer quests, subir nivel y poco más. No llegué a terminar el personaje, la verdad que me aburrí rápido, siempre era lo mismo. El PVP, que todo el mundo alaba y no sé muy bien por qué, no llegó a convencerme. A la hora de la verdad era spamrdad era spameo de botones.
    Los creadores alardeaban que la trinidad tanque, healer, DPS iba a deseparecer en esta entrega, dando lugar a algo nuevo y flexible.
    En realidad hacer una dungeon básica era un infierno.
    Los enemigos atacaban random, no existía el taunt, nadie sabía quién tenía que pullear aunque por lo expuesto al final daba lo mismo. Los heals eran inútiles, los DPS hacía daño absurdo y los tanques estaban de adorno.
    Vamos, uninstall rapidito.
    He hablado con amigos y me han comentado que lo han mejorado bastante y que los desarrolladores están muy atentos a la corrección y optimización del sistema de juego, pero la verdad no me interesa nada.
    Mi valoración es respecto a lo que ví en su momento, no a su estado actual.
    http://www.facebook.com/truegamerreviews?fref=ts    … Expand
  39. Nathonas
    Feb 19, 2013
    6
    As a long time disillusioned WoW player I was looking forward to Guild Wars 2 as a new MMO to play. I prepurchased the game and began playing immediately in August. I enjoyed the game at first and liked that it tried to do a lot of things differently, although my friends didn't share my opinion. However I quickly became bored and within a month I was no longer logging on at all. The game is not terrible by any means, but I can now safely say it is a rather lackluster MMO:



    Successful Mechanics:

    - Everything is rewarded with experience really simple and great idea to reduce the grind and give people motivation to try everything

    - Very nice sense of exploration with beautiful Zones and vistas

    - A social approach to quests dynamic events leveling in GW2 is not nearly as boring as standard MMOs and it can be fun to group up with other people constantly Skills being tied to weapons is an interesting and innovative idea

    - Gorgeous Graphics Poor Mechanics:

    - PvP is a horribly-designed, horribly balanced zerg fast. This is by far my biggest gripe with the game, as I was a hardcore PvP/arena player in WoW. WvW is just a huge zerg fest with little to no strategy, and the "battlegrounds" are boring and stale.

    - The combat and controls in the game just don't feel smooth. WoW players will know what I mean.

    - The "downed" mechanic is silly in PvP and adds a tedious element to killing enemies.

    - Every class has basically the same set of skills with slight differences (for example, damage, heal, escape, CC, etc). At first the classes look different but really the differences are quite small as everyone can do a little bit of everything and you can see how similar a 99% of the skills are. The story side of the game is very cheesy and boring    … Expand
  40. kabilaking
    Apr 30, 2013
    6
    I will keep this short and snappy for you guys. This game is good fast paced, beautiful environment, characters look amazing and so do weapons and armor, Dungeons amazing, PVP & PVE are my fav in a game absolutely amazing. However there is a couple of things for me which are important in a game which for me guild wars 2 ruined for me. First and most important the skills system is awful basically when you get a weapon you level it up and only 5 skills are available thats it thats your skill system right there basically kill 4 monsters and you hit max level for your weapon which for me sucks what happend to choosing skills. This is extremely important in this type of game and if it aint right it ruins gameplay. Also lastly the crafting system is not very good in my opinion but thats just me others do enjoy the crafting and others do enjoy the gameplay however the end game content sucks at the moment which I know everybody gets pissed off about so because of the skill system and crafting and end game only a 6 for me as they are really important in a MMO… Expand
  41. squwash
    Mar 19, 2013
    10
    this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the v v this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the v v this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the this game is the v v this game is the… Expand
  42. Scimajor
    Mar 30, 2013
    10
    I won't repeat information about game play which is easily available by using Google. I will, however, explain my rating. I am giving Guild Wars 2 a 10 out of 10. I don't mean to say that it is a perfect game. It's not perfect. I mean to say that GW2 is better than any other game in it's class (MMORPG) by a long long way. It fixes many of the issues that plague other MMORPG's. It eliminates "Pay to win". It eliminates "Gear to win". It eliminates "Static worlds". It eliminates "Monthly fees". For those reasons alone I would give GW2 a 10 out of 10.… Expand
  43. MisterNoodles
    Mar 31, 2013
    10
    This game is like WoW just done right. There is no way to really summarize this game into 5,000 characters so I am simply going to say this. This is like all MMOs it is just 5,000 times better and more entertaining. And you don't have to pay a monthly fee!
  44. davidkimyy
    May 2, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Im not a mmorpg fan but this one is must try for anyone who is not even in to mmorpg like my self.....played tera free version and blade and soul (korean version) and raidrerz but gw2 does such good job of keeping players fun while doing quests, especially with yhe dynamic event quest. These event quest develop in to another quest. For example, the quest will ask u to escort this caravan to a certain location and on the way you will fight some enemies and when u reach the destination, you and the gruop who helped the event quest will get the exp for escorting the caravan but as soon as the quest is completed a giant worm will come out of the ground and you wil have to defeat him. This mmorpg is probably the only rpg that I played for the stories too. The story quest is actually engaging and has interesting storyline with full voice acting. Also there are lots choices in every quest for you to chose changing the storyline little by little compare to other peoples play thorugh. There are 5 differemt races to choose from: charr (lion beast looking race), human, norn (bigger version of human), asura (tiny midget race) and some plant looking race that I dont remember the name of. Each of the race has different story line and this goves so much replay values which I cannot find in other mmos. It mmo yet feels like a good singleplayer rpg games like skyrim. I will not go deep in to world vs world and pvps but those are hell lot of fun to its great pve gameplay....must have game for anyone calls themself gamers… Expand
  45. ShadowDDD
    Apr 11, 2013
    10
    Being a gamer, I have to admit that I have not play a mmo game before this game. But when Angry Joe gave it a 10/10 I decided to give it a try. I took a gamble and bought three copies for my friends and I, $180, to try. This Game was amazing. The Story and the game play was good. Then only problem I had was the PvP aspect of this game. The pvp suck. At least the world vs world vs world (WvWvW) is fun. I love spamming my toon into the "zerg", killing some "ppl", player, and running safely away.

    What sold me about this game was the pay model. Buy it once and play it with no monthly fee. Hours of fun.    … Expand
  46. TinkerBell
    Apr 18, 2013
    10
    I like Guild Wars 2! It's the best game I ever seen. With no subscription fee I think a lot of gamers will buy this game Thank you Arenanet and NC soft for this beautiful rp game.
  47. rawbamatic
    Apr 29, 2013
    9
    One of the most fun games I have ever played. I greatly disliked WoW and am very happy with how this game has turned out. The storyline is amazing and you definitely feel for the NPCs involved. The writing is fantastic and the replayability is great.
  48. anielsen31
    Apr 22, 2013
    10
    This is one of the best MMORPG's of the decade. It has a lot of rich content, with random events popping up all the time, taking out most of the grind in the game. Its extremely balanced and there is no monthly fees. The quests feel natural and fun to do without getting tedious. This game is amazing and I recommend it to anyone who wants an amazing game!
  49. TB_Justin
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    Guild Wars 2 is by far the best MMO on the market, it is a revolution in the payment methods done for MMO's. With solid and realistic gameplay, awesome concept art on loading screens, a massive amount of customization and new events that Arena net make showing the fans that they actually care what we think! As much as I don't think the endgame is done very well it would be unfair to say as I always find myself coming back to this game.… Expand
  50. Kavortino
    May 5, 2013
    10
    Now I want to start of saying 10/10 does not mean a perfect game. It simply means it is worth every penny you spend on it. Now on the the review

    GW2 (short to save characters) is an amazing MMO. While other MMOs have your teams compete for loot and the reward for killing something, GW2 rewards everyone, and better yet, you get even more rewarded for helping each other. So MMO camping is     eliminated. The combat and skills are amazing, since all professions and weapons are balanced, and there is no "best weapon". Truth is, it's based on your skill and your preference. This also applies to professions.

    The bosses are also spectacular. They are usually massive battles, spawning amazing loot everyone can get. This accompanied by the beautiful environments and music create the perfect atmosphere for this game. You can do small things as well, like cook food or break up fights in a bar, which I love to do in this game whenever I do not feel like exploring, which is also recommended. Exploring gives exp, and if you explore a whole area, you get a huge exp boost plus some items as a reward.

    Social interaction is recommended, as they keep you playing the game. This is why when you first play, I recommend you quickly ask the map for an open guild. PVP is also fun and requires strategy to it, so definitely check that out.

    A game is not a game without flaws, and there are plentiful.
    First dungeons feel a bit overpowering, especially for new players. Also some low level equipment do not look to special, and skins can only be used once. However these are just some nit picky problems, and are not to bothersome.

    Again, BUY THIS GAME!    … 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.
    Read full review
  3. RPG Fan
    Nov 28, 2012
    80
    After spending fifty hours with GW2, I have a lot of praise for ArenaNet's work and the way it changes up some of the typical trappings of the MMO. And yet, I find myself thinking less and less about it each day. It's not a declaration against the product, mind you, but simply a fact that this game still is very much an MMO, and your enjoyment will directly relate to how much you enjoy the genre. For many who were hoping for a clean break from MMO design philosophy, Guild Wars 2 will probably come across as a slight disappointment. It pushes the genre slightly forward, however, and could lead to even further development in the future.
    Read full review
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