A review of Guild Wars, as if you needed it...

At first glance, I admit, Guild Wars looks like nothing special. Just another fantasy RPG, copying the style of Tolkin and Dungeons and Dragons.
Normally such games are two a penny, and I wouldn't give such a game a second look. Instead I'd leave them to the gamers that buy them; a group of people whose purchasing power forms large enough of a niche to make a profit out of if you release a mediocre western RPG.

But in truth, Guild Wars is not like that. It has an attitude that says "we are going to ignore deadlines and profit, sit down and make this game fun". It shows a level of devotion rarely seen outside a Nintendo game. While it is of the same genre, Guild Wars is a western game without the shite. Right from the start, Guild Wars showed that it was going to do things differently.

The start, in my case, was a year before the game was even released, in E3 2004. During E3, NCSoft took the unusual step of letting anyone download the latest build of their game, and play the alpha version. A brave move, I doubt anyone else would want their alpha code shown in public. But for an alpha, it was pretty stable, on a par with some released games. The real reasons for the preview seemed to be to give people a taste of what Guild Wars was about, to get a fan base, and to get some feedback. Possibly another reason was that because Guild Wars was trying something different, rather than just clone Everquest, it needed to show people what it was about.

If you had to try and describe it in terms of other games, then I would say that Guild Wars borrows elements from both Phantasy Star Online, and normal western MMORPGs. Not that they are deliberately copying these games, I'll wager that many of the similarities have come about because NCSoft listened to feature requests from its user-base of beta testers.
There were many more beta tests before the game was release, and through periods of time the game mechanics changed drastically. Every new beta test saw new features, tweaked or changed gameplay, and more attention.

Controls are typical of of a normal MMORPG. It plays like a real time strategy game with only one unit; you use the mouse to point where to go, and click on items/people/enemies to pick them up/talk to them/attack them. However you can also play using the WASD keys on the keyboard, and if you download a keyboard mapper, you can also play the game on a joypad. I play using a ps2 controller, hooked up to my PC through an adapter, and using a controller script so I can do everything I need to on the pad.

There are classes just like a normal MMORPG (warrior, ranger, mage, healer, status effect-user, undead monster raiser), however you get to choose 2 for your character - a primary class, and a secondary class that you can choose later - and we have been told that it will be possible to change your secondary profession later in the release version.

Unlike normal MMORPGs, and more like PSO, servers are invisible to you - there are no worries about making your game on one server, and then being alienated from everyone else. Each area has a list of districts (aka blocks), which appear and disappear depending on how many people are currently playing.

There are areas where you can just explore, or you can take on missions (each mission having it's own level especially for it, however there are sub-quests in both the explorable areas and the mission areas).
When going to these areas, you have your own personal copy of them, just like in PSO. However you can make a team of party members (usually your friends, but these can be NPCs as well) who come with you.

Then there's the PVP (I have tried that briefly). There are Halo 2-style arenas, where you come along, join in, then automatically get put in a team, then there are arenas where you choose your own team.
Rules vary from just plain number of kills, killing all of the opposition, destroying the oppositions base, and capturing a certain area. You play in teams, however the size of the team varies, as does the number of teams fighting.

The maximum level in Guild Wars is level 20, and it's not hard to hit that - any further character advancement comes from finding skills and equipment.
In that respect, the playing field is very balanced and fights involve tactics more than being a higher level than your opponent. In fact, it's even possible to create a PVP-only character who starts at level 20.

When you die (assuming that you are revived of course) you lose moral. Losing or gain moral lowers or raises your maximum HP and MP.
You can also gain moral by doing well in a mission, (for example if your group is tasked with defending people from an attack, and they manage to save someone, everyone gets a moral boost).
You can also lose moral in other ways, such as if your pet/creature is killed.
Oh, and low moral slowly wears off, so after a little while the penalties for dying will be gone. Unless you die repeatedly, of course.

The sweetest part of the deal though, is that there will be no monthly fees. That's right, a MMORPG without a regular charge. Once you've paid £25 for the game, that's it.
How does this work? NCSoft are planning to release expansion packs every so often, possibly once a year, and make money that way.

So, why haven't I given it full marks? Well, unless you're into PVP, the single player does get boring. And the low level cap removes a lot of the drive to play on; after a certain point, you just can't get any more powerful. Don't let this deter you though.