First Impressions:

"Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game)."

Guild Wars FAQ

Guild Wars is not an MMORPG--that should be established right off the bat. Veteran MMORPGers might find this absolutely unbearable while newcomers to the genre find it the best reason to play. All the action takes place in areas opened privately to each character. The only way other characters can interrupt this solace is to band together in a party of limited size. On the one hand, this means low-level players won't have to worry about high-level characters popping out of nowhere, stealing their items and killing the monsters they need for leveling. On the other hand, players who get their jollies doing that sort of thing will find themselves severely denied. The only "MM" parts of this "ORPG" are the various towns and outposts that speckle the map--And what a map it is. The game takes place in the land of Tyria, a medieval/tribal landscape where many factions are at odds with each other. Typical RPG storyline, but what is such a game without conflict? Characters start in what is typically referred to as "The Past" or "Pre-Searing" or "The Newbie Zone", where they get a taste of the game's overall features. Even if it's a player's third time creating a character. Fortunately, the hints can be turned off, but there are still some insanely simplistic quests to go on that are not optional.

There are two ways to play this game: Either as a Role-Playing (RPG) character, or a Player-vs-Player (PvP) character. RPG Characters start at level 1 and are expected to work their way up the brief ladder of 20 levels by exploring regions, taking quests and fulfilling story-moving Missions. PvP characters immediately begin at level 20 and have access to armor and equipment that RPG characters have to earn. That is to say, players who have at least one PvP character still need an RPG character to unlock items and skills for that PvP character to use later on. In addition, PvP characters cannot go outside of the arenas and lobbies, but RPG characters can come into the arenas and lobbies for a little PvP on the side. This will seriously annoy people who only want to PvP. Solution: Share an account with a friend who only wants the RPG aspect.

On to choosing a class. There are only six now, but future expansion packs may yield more. In addition, the game makes it possible early on to form a duo combination of the Warrior, Ranger, Elementalist, Mesmer, Necromancer, and/or Monk classes. It isn't completely necessary, and as the game progresses, one class may turn out to be plenty to battle the forces of oppression. But it is nice to have that option.

Note that this game is more than likely intended for the casual gamers: Those who only have an hour or two every now and then to get in some game time. It is completely possible to get from one end of the RPG realm to the next in an intense weekend session, despite the expansive landscape. However, there is a lot of landscape to explore, plenty of quests to complete, and many different combinations for the classes and their underlying attributes. Still, there is that brief level cap, the character limit per account is 4, and there are only so many times a player will want to keep Prince Rurik alive while he foolishly attempts to take on three Charr Axe Wielders at once.

The lack of monthly fee deserves great respect since the game is efficient in all aspects of what it does. Purchasing the software package will yield access to everything currently within it, as well as future updates, which appear to be constant. Since the game's release, numerous content has been added via updates, assuring previewers of the past that this game is not the same as it was during the Beta Event Weekends. The developers continue to improve it overtime and are doing a commendable job of upkeep despite the lack of monthly charges.

Graphics:

The first thing that should jump out at anyone is exactly how crisp and pleasing the game's graphics are. Everything has motion to it, from the tallest tree to the leaves that fall from its branches. The lighting is exquisite, and appropriately transitions from a well-lit field to a dark and cavernous enclosure. One can almost name the brand of cocoa butter each smooth-skinned character uses to keep those well-toned muscles extra eye-catching. Dare it be said, the graphics in this free-to-play-monthly game puts that of some pay-to-play MMORPGs to shame. Almost every mile of wilderness yields a photo opportunity worthy of wallpapering desktops. With the right graphics card, the beauty that is the realm of Tyria can be fully experienced.

Kudos to the developers for the detail to this game. Sparse clouds of dust rise from every footstep, breath is visible while traversing the snowy regions, and light gleams specifically off of certain accents on armor and weapons. Little things like this are important to a game's aspect of realism--or as much realism as can be had from a game with magic spells. And animals that one may wish to interact with are present and mobile to an extent--perhaps in the future these visual enhancers will become more interactive parts of the gameplay.

Also, cinema scenes are taken right from what's going on in the game at the moment they are activated. The good thing about this: Players aren't taken out of the moment by a sudden Full Motion Video of stunning action that just isn't done in-game by characters and their foes. The bad thing about it: Some parts of a cinema scene may end up being choppy due to the game loading people and objects for it as the scene unfolds. But if something in a scene is missed the first time, it is possible to do the mission again and see it run smoothly the second time around.

Sound/Music:

Guild Wars has background music that is just that--background music. At times, it only vaguely heightens the mood of the situation, and the same song is used for multiple areas. Casual players may pay the atmospheric tones little heed, but those who demand soundtrack to their online venture are better off turning down the music and turning up some mp3s. Granted, the music is pleasing and non-distracting, but overall, it does nothing to encourage the intensity of the more intense moments.

The sounds of battle are quite inviting in this game, especially when there are multiple persons involved. Swords make an appropriate clash of metal, hammers sound appropriately heavy as they thunk against armor, and characters grunt like they're trying to stuff one more friend into an already full phonebooth. A song could be made to the beat pounded out by characters as they take turns hitting one-another. Repetitious battle slightly kills the enjoyment of the sound effects, but in an intense combat situation, the sounds are spaced out randomly enough to maintain some freshness.

When peace has been established and the music has been silenced, the sounds of the wilderness can clearly be heard, bringing the landscape to life. This also helps pull players into the world, by simulating the unseen call of creatures that would normally be found in those environments.

Voice acting is limited to the cinema scenes that occur during Missions. Rather than have a character be the silent hero type, Guild Wars gives that hero voice during those cinema scenes where applicable. This is a neat feature, as it does put player-characters in the overhead storyline of the game. However, all male characters appear to be voiced by the same guy (Steven Blum), and female characters sound completely alike, thinning the novelty all too quickly. It is a nice touch, though.

Gameplay:

Those veterans of such games as Diablo and Diablo II should have an easy time adjusting to Guild Wars' point-and-click style gameplay. The game offers three different ways to control one's character--The "WASD" keys, the directional keys, or the mouse. It is possible to play the game with just the mouse, though some shortcut keys are necessary to call up various in-game menus, such as character inventory or the list of skills. During combat, skill choices are limited to the very paltry sum of eight, accessed by the 1-8 number keys. Since characters have the potential to earn up to 150 skills (75 per class), such a limit seems a bit bizarre. But then, certain skills in Guild Wars are made for certain situations--some better for PvP and some better for the RPG. More than likely, characters will have skills that collect dust or are bypassed altogether.

One thing the game establishes right off the bat: Towns are the only place to find someone to play with. Once a player leaves that town, the game manifests a duplicate version of the wilderness that changes depending on what quests are under a character's roster, or which ones still need to be signed up for. This happily prevents the chance of being ripped off by high-level power-gamers who get their jollies killing everything in their path and taking every item they find. It also takes away the joyful experience of running into a complete stranger in the middle of nowhere and forming a spontaneous friendship. But who needs friends? Players can enter a town and form a party of differing sizes (the max is 8 in the higher-level areas), and the game will divide xp, items and gold accordingly. NPCs are even available for hire, for those players with the lone wolf complex. But as the game progresses, it will become painfully obvious that being alone is not a good thing. The monsters get tougher and their groups increase in size.

Guild Wars has an abundance of quests--some that will eventually be skipped once a player has already done them twice on two other characters. However, questing is the simplest way to level in the game. After level 1, monsters don't really give much in the way of experience points, and teaming up divides this xp to practically nothing. Fortunately, levels don't take much to achieve--at level 19, a Warrior/Monk only needs around 13,000 or less xp to level. Quests themselves give xp rewards ranging from 100-4,000 (and possibly more) depending on the difficulty. Some quests still feel as though they are worth more than what's offered, but with constant updating, chances are this issue will be remedied overtime. And yes, in Guild Wars, there is a difference between a mission and a quest: a quest is simply a task given by NPCs found all over the realm. Their rewards vary, and almost all of them are completely optional. Missions are quests that take place in a specific outpost and are always worth 1,000-2,000xp. Missions progress the overall storyline of the game, and completing them will move characters across the map in an orderly fashion.

Player vs Player combat seems just as simple control-wise as running into a group of computer enemies on a map. Players either form their own groups or let the computer decide, then after a brief wait, the game opens up an arena to all the contenders so that they may wail on each other. Point and click, and wait for the end result. Or mix things up by using skills. This is the basic PvP experience in Guild Wars--there are a few variations, like Capture the Flag and Protect the NPC. No individually worthwhile reward comes from PvP, aside from besting other players, but there is a global prize that each of the three servers (America, Europe and Korea) battle for on a daily basis: The Favor of the Gods. Having the favor activates the statues around Tyria that represent the realms' gods and goddesses. These statues reward players with powerups for tribute, or passage to other, more challenging zones.

Enjoyment:

The enjoyment factor of Guild Wars is currently limited for hardcore gamers. Anyone who plays simply to be the best will find themselves reaching the end of the current storyline within 2-4 days. The casual gamer, however, will find it a refreshing dose of gameage every now and then. Pacing, exploring and playing around with class combinations are just three ways to extend the gameplay. And there is a LOT to explore in this game. The world map may very well be the size of Texas--imagine traveling Texas on foot. Thankfully, warp points make it possible to get from one point to another that was previously visited. The overall challenge level of the game falls somewhere between insanely easy and moderately challenging, but there are those eyelid-twitching moments of frustration that some players live for. And PvP isn't half bad--this coming from a person who doesn't enjoy PvP at all.

It's debatable, but here is another enjoyable factor of the game: How easy it is to put down every now and then. Picking off enemies, salvaging materials and wandering lonely landscapes can get boring if done for hours at a time. But the sheer beauty of the game's environments could be enough to keep players logging on just to see what's around the next corner. For people who have better things to do, this is a great every-once-in-a-while game. For people who live their whole lives out in a game for as long as it is interesting, this could be a game played in between the interesting portions of others. The advent of expansion packs will be greatly anticipated.

Multiplayer:

Once again: Players are found in towns or outposts. Outside of these outposts, the game loads a copy of the wilderness exclusive to the current members of a party. The party size begins with a two-person limit. As the game progresses, this limit increases by two until it reaches the maximum party size of eight.

The party configuration is the epitome of fairness. Experience points are divided amongst players regardless if each party member attacks--this enables the healing types to concentrate on healing without worrying about whether they will be rewarded. In order to get a fair share, a character must at least be in close proximity to the activity, and still be conscious. Items drop at random, but each item is "assigned" to a party member by having that character's name written on it, and only that character can retrieve it. Dropping the item, or leaving the party, will put the item up for grabs. Gold, no matter who picks it up, is divided amongst teammates no matter what distance they are from each other.

In addition, Guild Wars incorporates a feature much like football commentators outlining a replay path on a TV screen. Players can draw a temporary line on their mini-map that will show up on the maps of their teammates, or "ping" a certain location on the mini-map that will glow like a radar beacon for a brief moment. This is an excellent feature for giving quick directions and keeping the team in the same frame of mind. And yet, some players have already found a way to abuse the privilege. Rarely, there will be one player on a team who will scribble profanities or obscene graffiti in the mini-map. The line dissipates overtime like a smoke trail, but lasts long enough to produce some rather vulgar--albeit creative--manifestations. There's also the potential that some rude player will constantly ping the map just to get on everyone's nerves. In the future, the developers may want to restrict the drawing feature to the team leader, but the leader would still have to be very reliable.

Overall Impression:

Guild Wars is a solid gaming experience. It is perfect for someone with a full time job, or a full time student who wants a little game to play in between term papers and exams. Its graphics are impressive, the lack of monthly fee is choice, and there is replayability. However, not every online gamer is bound to like Guild Wars, since the amount of things to do aren't as sparse as they are in well-known MMORPGs. There are no mounts, no marriages, and no jumping over small mounds or short fences. Invisible walls will constantly impede the player who uses directional keys to control a character, rather than letting the mouse auto-plot the path. The game is slightly linear with the constant option to bypass most of its storyline in favor of forging one's own. Whether social butterfly or complete loner, though, this game means for players to travel in groups of some kind, and has been designed to make the experience fair and enjoyable.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women: