"Factions - the last breath of honour in a dying era."

Guild Wars Factions was the second chapter in Arenanet's Guild Wars franchise. Taking a huge risk releasing, in essence, a sequel to their first game proved to be a huge success. Although it's been nearly a year since it was released (at the time of this writing) I am still playing it and eager to review it. I think this is a testament to the enjoyability of this game.

Gameplay: 9.0
The game still has some minor lag spikes, and targeting is much the same as before, but this is still a game that is intuitive and designed for both the hardcore PvPers and the casual PvE players.

Graphics: 9.0
The environments are first rate, but the ‘John Wayne' run swagger has to go. The environments, though, and the mobs are very well done and there are certainly times when the game's environs will cause you to pause and just stare.

Sound: 8.8
The musical score is still very good. The rest is somewhat old hat for the title, but still, just putting on the main title screen as a screen saver, with that melodic tune floating out is very nice.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Tactical battles, with quick arena-based combat and now competitive missions up the ante, but still manage to cater to players of differing MMO backgrounds.

Concept: 9.1
Some of the small problems that were part of GW are still here, but they are minor. Factions offers much more to the whole game package and thus is truly what GW needed when it came to expansions.

Multiplayer: 9.0
The core is cooperative PvP/alliance battles and missions. Yes, you can still hire subordinate NPCs, but screaming at them when they don't play really smart will do no good. They are NPCs; they don't hear a thing. The GW community still feels really solid, with a lot of good people playing and willing to help.

Overall: 9.0
There is a lot that is carried over from the original title, but Factions, in its own right, is a terrific stand-alone game that adds so much more to the Guild Wars experience. Allowing players to move Prophecy characters to Factions landscapes and quest streams is a definite plus.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/07