"You sure this isn't an expansion?"

Guild Wars: Factions, the second Guild Wars game from ANet. This game features many characters found in this first Guild Wars, namely the Heros of Ascalon (or whatever they were called), like Mhenlo, Cyn, Devona, ect. A new continent means new monsters, profession, skills, and a new story.

The story is that 200 years ago, the Emperors best bodyboard, Shiro Tagachi, slew him during the Harvest Festival inside the Harvest Temple, along with about 10 female ritualists. One ritualist managed to escape to ring a bell,; a bell that appears to be only rung when the Emperor is in trouble. The "lucky" ritualist was cut down seconds later. The bell's rang was heard, and dozens of armed men poured into the temple. Shiro killed them all; his swordsmanship was unmatched. A female assassin named Vizu injured Shiro and disarmed him of his swords. Then, two great swordsman, one Luxon and one Kurzick, entered the Temple, and both picked up one of Shiro's blades. They slew him, and with Shiro's final breath, he screamed; a wail so evil, with so much malice in it, it unleashed an wave of energy. The wave of power swept through the land, and everything was frozen. Not into ice as one might think, but Jade. The sea was turned to Jade, the forest was frozen, and all the people, animals, and plants were all turned to jade. Birds froze in midair, and came plummeting to the ground. Everything for hundreds of miles was gone.

Eventually, life came back to the area. Monsters, animals, and even humans were returning to place that was now made of jade. They made use of the Jade, and carved jade into sculpures to be sold. Life continued, and Shiro Tagachi was soon forgotten into nothing more but a fairy tale.

However, 200 years later, the mark of the Clan of Shiro has returned. People have been growing sick; but not with any normal sickness. People who have the "disease" are called the "Afflicted". Their soul and thier body have been corrupted. Thier bodies mutate, become stronger, and they attack anything and everything, expect other Afflicted. Can you overcome these monsters, along with dragons, drudge, wardens, and even Shiro Tagachi, to restore peace to the land?

Graphics: Great. 9/10. Stunning, sometimes. My only complaint is that during cutscenes, when people talk, their mouths don't move...

Sound: 8/10. Sounds is good. Nice music, good sound affects. Nothing mind blowing ,but its enough.

Controls: 9/10 I never have any control problems. All seems so smooth. You can use the "WASD" movement keys to move; the 1-8 #s correspond with skills on your skill bar, so thats nice. Nothing worse complaning about.

Overall: 8/10. This game has alot of potential, but its way to short. Their is about 13 missions overall, (with not everyone of those haveing to do with the story), compared to the 20-something in the first Guild Wars. Remember how it took forever to ascend and get to level 20? You get to level 20 before you know it, here. Soon, you will see almost al the quests giving you 3000 exp pointd. Heres an Example of one: "Go talk to that guy 2 feet from my spot. Good, heres 3000 exp points". Way to easy, we shouldhave to work to get to max level. Also, right now there is a frickton of people trying out the new Assassin and Ritualist classses, and too little parties willing to have more than 3 assassins.

If you enjoyed the first GW, buy this one. Many good things, but this game is so short, that i can't see how they classify this as a stand-alone game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/06