First Look: Guild Wars 2

After five years of development, Guild Wars 2 claims to have redefined the MMORPG, largely through a wide array of new features: dynamic events, dynamic combat, unique personal storylines, engaging PvP on a massive scale, and anti-griefing mechanics. The real question on everyone’s mind: did they pull it off?

For a game not even released yet, the attention to detail in both the characters and the world is amazing. The whole world looks hand-painted. I frequently catch what look like brushed effects on the ground and the mountains, and the spell and skill effects are distinct enough per profession that you can usually tell at a glance what was cast. World-renowned composer Jeremy Soule (Morrowind, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights) delivers a score on par with a Hollywood blockbuster, and the voice acting excels too. The production quality has me in awe.

Combat has a steep learning curve at first, but the starter areas are forgiving and now include pop-up tutorials. The key idea is dodging damage rather than absorbing it, a more dynamic system that rewards positioning and avoidance instead of the usual trade-hits-until-gear-wins grind. Once it clicks, it’s a genuinely enjoyable way to fight. Controls are responsive and re-mappable, and the UI is intuitive (if not yet editable). The character generator is well done, though lighter on options than some recent MMOs; after the visual choices, a demographic questionnaire about your character’s history shapes your personal story and future cut scenes.

That personal story runs from level 1 to 80 as the one quest tracked on your sheet; everything else happens out in the world, spontaneously. Wander the countryside and you’ll trip over dynamic events marked by orange icons, help a farmer, win a reward, and swing the direction of what happens next in the region. Most of the ones I saw were exciting and well made. PvP is a treat: the competitive 5v5 maps equalise gear so it’s about skill, and the open World-vs-World-vs-World sieges, pouring hot oil over a raiding party never gets old, are shaping up beautifully.

The open question is replay value. The team says it’ll keep adding fresh dynamic quests across all maps and dial down the frequency of played-out ones; do that often enough and the world will feel genuinely dynamic. Fall short and players may balk at repeating the same events on alts. Either way, Guild Wars 2 is one of the most promising MMOs in years, and the buy-to-play model is about to get a real test on a Triple-A title.