"I say, this game isn;t half bad"

With the release of Guild Wars, Factions has a lot to live up to. And it has...almost. I love the new professions, and the new PvE style is quite good.. let me explain it to you in a better way

Visuals: 9/10
The sights are superb. You have to crank the graphics up to full to really appreciate how immensely awesome the game looks, but when you do..it's wicked. The models look fantastic, armour looks very good, but unfortunately during cut scenes the models fail to impress- their jaws do not move, and they normally do commands in game such as /point or /bow, rather than having CGI animated cutscenes which would have been alot better. The areas, whilst not being very divers (you are in a huge, dirty dark city most of the time, not a very pretty sight) look superb, and effects such as water and footprints just add to the looks. A very pretty game

Sounds: 8/10 Music is very well written and suits the game very well. Same with the sounds effects, they are almost lifelike (as if dropping fire from the heavens is lifelike eh?) All in all, sound effects are very cool. But oh my word what the hell was ANet thinking when they hired those voice actors? The voice acting in this game during the cutscenes really spoils the story IMO...assuming there is a story to spoil

Storyline 4/10: Ooooohhhh. This is the worst part of the whole game. Basically, a spirit entity called Shiro causes a disease which makes people and other living things into "Afflicted" monsters. Lo and behold, you have to go and kill him. Your generic storyline, which does have potential if it was fleshed out. But it wasn't. So you get to the end of the story and have a 2 minute cut scene (though you do see the Emperor doing the male warrior dance at the very end, which is cool), which sums up the rest of the story. Not to mention the cutscenes are terrible and the voice acting is HORRENDOUS... I'm glad they added a voice option in the sounds menu. Although if you have it on you might get a few laughs.

Gameplay: 9/10 This is where the game really shines, with a limited number skills which is still big enough to add diversity. You can choose 8 skills to bring with you, which can be changed at every "outpost" which are pretty much lobbies where you get quests and you have health restored and you can sell things etc. Energy is your "MP " if you like, except you have a lower amount - 20 to 80 energy maximum. Unlike most games, you don't get energy as you level up, so you increase your energy by using weapons which give you extra energy, wearing armour which gives you extra energy or putting points into "Energy Storage", an elementalist attribute. It's all really too much to explain in a review, so go out and get it.

Online playability: 9/10. Rarely any lag spikes, and alotta people. Updates are instant to download.

Replayabily: 8/10 You'd always want to get the most expensive are more for your chars, and it is fun to go through the game with the different proffessions. PvP will get you hooked for a long time

Worth the money?: Sort of. It kinda bums out Prophecies owners because you only get 2 extra professions and 2 extra slots. However, Factions adds a new continent and alot of skills. Up to you, but any expansion with extra professions and skills is good to me.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/24/06