Today is the official launch of Guild Wars 2, though the head start began 3 days ago. I spent a good amount of time over the weekend staring at my computer screen (although this is something I do normally anyways). I was very much looking forward to the game and so far I must say that I’m quite impressed.
At first, I wasn’t sure what profession (class) that I wanted to play, but then I saw engineer and there could be no other. I mean, come on… firearms, explosives, a flamethrower, and turrets… what’s not to love? I also decided to play a Charr because, let’s face it, they look really cool. And who won’t want to play a big cat… besides dog lovers?
The level of customization when creating your character is rather deep compared to most MMOs which only give you a few different faces and hairstyles to choose. Granted, it’s not as powerful as say Skyrim, but it’s certainly enough to allow players to better differentiate themselves from others.
After creating my character, I’m thrust into what is essentially the tutorial level, though it doesn’t quite go as far as telling you how to breathe like some game tutorials do. One of the first things I notice is ArenaNet’s choice of cutscenes, which is fairly similar to how games like Fire Emblem or Advance Wars did it. That is to say, two characters, each on opposite sides of the screen, facing one another, while the text is beneath them. I’m actually a fan of this minimalist approach. No need to have grossly over-exaggerated cutscenes for a MMO.
As an engineer, the weapon you start out with is a pistol (you get a second one shortly thereafter for dual wielding). You can also equip rifles and shields (and spearguns for underwater fighting). This may not seem like a lot of different weapon choices until you realize what some of the engineer’s utility skills do. Engineers have quite a few utility skills that completely replace your equipped weapon with something else, including grenades and a flamethrower to name a few.
The way attack skills in Guild Wars 2 work is quite different in that the skills are part of the weapons themselves. For example, when using a two-handed weapon, you get 5 weapon skills for that weapon type. One-handed weapons are different in that the main hand gives 3 skills and the offhand gives 2 skills.
I didn’t realize you could do it at first, but once I did, it became natural for me. You can evade attacks in the game by double tapping in any direction. The Secret World also implemented a feature similar to this, but let’s be honest, it felt extremely clunky. Guild Wars 2’s dodging feels much, much smoother.
PvE in the game is fairly straight forward when going at it solo, which is just about all I’ve done so far. Even when doing random world events, you’re mostly just ‘doing it alone’ and there just happens to be other people nearby. Coincidental cooperation is what I would call it. Each player is selfishly participating only because there is something in it for them. Not always, of course, but most of the time.
Speaking of world events; they are actually very similar to what Trion Worlds did with RIFT. “Oi! Something is happening over here! Come do it and get delicious XP and stuff!” And all the players come running. Events are actually a great way to grab up some extra experience points while running about trying to complete the zone, so I recommend stopping to do one anytime you happen to be near one.
Though, I’m both hoping and assuming that events scale in difficulty with the number of players in the area, because some of the events that I’ve been a part of so far have been mega difficult, such as entire groups of players being one-hit by a giant attacking a town.
One of the interesting little diversions in Guild Wars 2 is Vistas. They are points on the map, usually high up, that the player can reach to get some extra exp and well as counting towards map completion. Most of the ones I’ve encountered so far have been child’s play, all except for one. In the Charr zone of Diessa Plateau, there is a Vista (and a skill point) on a place called the Breached Wall. This vista… it made me feel like I was playing Shadows of the Colossus (if only there was climbing in the game). You had to run and jump up so many small ledges and broken columns, all while being pursued (or having to fight) packs of ghosts. At least getting to the vista and skill point was well deserved.
As mentioned before, in addition to the vistas, there are also skill points scattered around the world. Skill points are used to unlock your class skills, so seeking out these points in the world is very much advised. All of the skill point locations I’ve seen so far either involved fighting a single enemy in a duel of sorts or just reaching a location and having to fight a bunch of enemies.
I’ve yet to PvP in the game yet, so I can’t really comment on it, but I’ve heard people saying that there hasn’t been anything as good as the World vs World since Dark Age of Camelot’s Realm vs Realm, so take that as you will. I’m sure I’ll break into it before long.
There is still much more I could say about this game, but this post has grown into a rambling giant, so I’ll just leave you with one word: Awesome. That pretty much describes the game. Awesome with no monthly fee attached. I highly recommend checking the game out if you haven’t yet.
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