• Publisher: NCSOFT
  • Release Date: Aug 28, 2012
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2138 Ratings

  • Summary: Guild Wars 2 draws from the game mechanics that made the original Guild Wars one of the most popular online games and adds a fully persistent world. Like its predecessors, Guild Wars 2 does not have a subscription fee. Guild Wars Eye of the North provide a Hall of Monuments where players' accomplishments are memorialized and eventually inherited by their Guild Wars 2 characters, unlocking exclusive items and bonuses in Guild Wars 2. [NCsoft] Collapse
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 69
  2. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. Sep 28, 2012
    100
    So, is Guild Wars 2 the MMO messiah everyone is waiting for? Maybe not. What it is, though, is the first MMO in years that really does the "massively multiplayer" part justice. This is a gigantic, sprawling world for explorers, with countless wonderful stories and characters, all backed by a gameplay concept that treats all players as equals. And that's just the basis of what Guild Wars 2 is.
  2. Sep 24, 2012
    100
    Guild Wars 2 does what MMOs have been promising for years: it provides players with a dynamic virtual world filled with discovery, adventure and cooperation. The game combines the unpredictability of hardcore sandbox games like EVE and Asheron's Call with the accessibility and fun of World of Warcraft. After years of EverQuest clones the genre finally makes a great leap forward.
  3. Sep 30, 2012
    85
    With several adjustments in crucial MMO features, set in a dynamic, living world, Guild Wars 2 casts the spell with its emergent gameplay to old and new players alike, making it the best the genre has had to offer in years.
  4. Nov 6, 2012
    70
    Is Guild Wars 2 a revolutionary MMORPG? Not quite. It is, however, a good game and some of the best value per dollar spent currently available.

See all 69 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. 10
    Revolutionizing the genre a must play for MMO and Action RPG fans. Miles ahead of similar action MMO's mindless gameplay. After reading most of the negative reviews I realize it comes from a lack of understanding of the game itself as well as a lack of awareness. People who are giving this a low score are coming into the game with a cookie-cutter MMO mindset. Come in with a blank slate and see why this is the best MMO of this year and probably this decade. Expand
  2. Graphics: The game is beautiful. The art design is somewhere between stylized and realistic. The worlds are rich, vibrant and full of colour. Each area seems to feel alive and full of character. If you have the PC to handle it, max out those settings, this is an exceptionally good looking game. 8/10

    Sound: The music is engaging, and really fits the world. It never feels annoying or gets in the way, it just quietly hums along in the background, and adds character to the areas. Spells sound powerful, and swords sound sharp. It works very nicely. 9/10.

    Story: The voice acting is touch and go. Some of the voices are brilliant, making the character feel like it has personality, however most of the time, it is poorly delivered. The personal story is a nice touch, and it does feel like this is my characters story, however I never get a sense of weight on the enemies. Some of the characters make me truly hate them for all the right reasons, others make me hate them because they are bland and annoying, or just poorly fleshed out. I have yet to feel that the world is truly in peril from the dragons, hopefully that will change further in the game, for now though, story is meh. 5/10

    Combat: The combat system is fast and active. It is fun and works well. Each class only has access to 10 skills at any one time, and while this allows for a lot of variety in builds, however as you're only using a few skills at any one time with the remainder being situational, it ends up feeling repetitive, I guess it is meant to fit in with the fast paced nature combat that they were going for, but it falls kind of flat. No skills require you to remain static while casting them, and keeping on the move is important to stay alive. Targeting can be a pain as the game seems to want you to focus on the nearest enemy, even if you have locked on to someone, it will sometimes switch. 7/10.

    Crafting: I love crafting in games, it's one of my favorite things to do. The crafting system in Guild Wars 2 is excellent! You have to gather raw materials such as wood and scraps of cloth, refine them into usable items, like wooden planks and spools of string, then use the refined ingredients to make items. It makes sense, and it's fun. You also get experience from it! I cannot fault the crafting, so 10/10.

    Bugs: During my time with the game, I personally have not experienced any issues, however this is not the case for all. My Girlfriend gets random crashes with no real indication as to why. It appears that the game is not as optimized as it should be, as we both run fairly spec heavy machines, hers being more powerful than mine, which makes even less sense as to why she is having problems and I am not. Nothing that has happened was game breaking though. 8/10.

    Questing: The game really shines here. It feels like you are in control of where you want your adventure to take you, not the game holding your hand. It is fun to just say "Hey, what's over there?" and go. There is always something happening, and something to discover. Exploration is rewarding, and events are placed perfectly. The game guides you through interesting terrain and landmarks, rather than just saying "Go here, do this".

    The events that happen do get repetitive after a while, so it looses marks here, but otherwise it is a brilliant system. 9/10

    Multiplayer: I really hope this is just new game blues but MAN is it hard to group up with your friends. If one of you is in an overflow server, it can be near impossible to join together. That aside, the rest of it is fine. Players come together naturally due to the design of quests. You're rarely playing alone, and it is nice. 7/10 (Only due to the friends issue)

    So, all up, this is a wonderful game. It's beautiful, gives a sense of adventure, and is all around fun. It's really let down by the story and voice acting, though neither of those are necessary for enjoying the game. Overall score: 8/10
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  3. Its a good Casual Game, with great PvP. But it is NOT the best MMORP of the last Years. The story is lame and presents acts thrown together, Events seem to have nothing like quests ( kill XY 90% of the Events) still to often as a Hack & Slay ( more then 3 Players at a Event)
    There are many other examples where you realize that it's just standard, only the PvP is great! But it is Guild Wars, I expected this.
    My Score ist 8.5 /10
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  4. Let me start off saying that I played the original Guild Wars for 7 years, and loved every moment of it. I even bought the two books that were released to fill the lore in between GW1 and GW2 while pre ordering my collectors edition for the day it came out. I thought GW2 would have more of the same as GW1, but sadly it doesn't. First off, Instances are gone Poof.... No longer can you explore an area with you and a couple of ur closest friends. Now there's just a pile of people that you all manage to amalgamate, collectively attacking random things chaotically. There are no strategies anymore, just annoying-ass mindless spamming of 2 or 3 skills. Second off, the skill system and combat system is dead. Gone are the days when you could hunt down specific skills stretched across the world of Tyria to collect. Now, your skills are linked with your weapon. Which you then only have 5 per weapon, and are very limited in their diversity. Honestly, every weapon and skill feel almost identical per class. It's a shame really; I remember spending hours upon hours trying to build the perfect build for PvE. And then when that build didn't cut it anymore for a new quest or mission, I'd sit around and devise a new build for specific situations. Just as Diablo III had to dumb down it's game for the masses, so did GW2.

    Next, the new and innovative event system is a clever way of deceiving players of something new. In actuality, the even system is just another grind-fest to kill X number of enemies or collect Y number of items to complete it. Like I said earlier, it's a very clever system, because thousands of people have been duped to believe they're not playing the usual MMO that requires you to grind out the same exact quests/actions over and over again, the individuals at Arena Net just covered it with a different set of clothes and a wig to make it seem new. It isn't. And it's god damned awful and disgusting that not many people realize this.

    If you're a fan of WOW and MMO's similar to it's play style, then go on ahead an check out this game, it'll probably be the "change" you've been looking for in a game. Meanwhile, if you were a fan of the first installment, stay away from this game, stay far far away.If you're looking for instanced games to play check out Path of Exile or Phantasy Star Online 2, those games you'll surely enjoy.

    -Disheartened Fan
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See all 839 User Reviews

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