Guild Wars Nightfall

"A-Net's Third Release In The GW Trilogy, And It's Not Bad Either"

GW NightFall. A game made hopefully to make up for the lacking GW Factions. And guess what? It did that, and much more!

NightFall is based upon a powerful leader named Varesh Ossa, who has turned a blind eye to good, and thrives to summon the evil god Abaddon. This is where you come in, to thwart Varesh and her plans so bring Nightfall to Elona.

So, you're now thinking: "Hmmm, typical storyline, what's so special?".
The special part is the way the game spans over a HUGE continent, and has you dashing over bog's, deserts, savanna's, even deadly sulfurous wastelands. And that's not all.
You see what makes this game REALLY special, is it makes you feel as though the storyline is actually evolving around you, and that everything is fitting perfectly, however bad it may be.

So moving on from the plotline, here's the ratings:

Graphics: 9/10
Graphics is probably the second (if not the) most important thing an online gamer looks for. And this game delivers that superbly. From casting an eye over miles of desert land, to just standing there looking at how evil and dark a place could be, this game has it all. There is one thing this game lacks in graphics though, and that's the horizon and the distance. I mean, we need mountains, and the atmosphere in the distance to give it that extra "oooh....". But what this game takes away wtih that, it delivers with close up amazement.

Game Engine: 10/10
Another very important feature needed for gaming, the game engine. How much dmg. you can deal and how it calculates. How well you move, it's all there. This game is spectacular for that. The skills used in NF (NightFall) fit perfectly in the combat. A-Net have designed it so not one skill is overpowered, and that's the way it should be. Usually a MMORPG (as well will call NF here) has some sort of health and energy design. Health being... well... health. And energy allowing you to cast spells etc. This game has them both, and they're not bad either.

Customization: 10+/10
Not something everyone would look for, but this has got to be mentioned. There must be 1500+ skills for you too choose from, for you to mix and match, increase their effects, or decrease them. Combine skills so they are for certain purposes, like clearing a mob instantly, or protecting certain members of your party. Then there's the armour. Several sets of armour types are available, and are all then customizable even further by the ability to add components, to boost it. eg. Adding a Rune of Attunement to robes will give you +2 energy, allowing the Elementalist to cast that little bit extra. The same goes for weapons, completely customizable, you can upgade it so you deal more dmg. or have more health, or even more!

Economy: 3/10
This is where, for the first time, I think, the game and its predecessors fail. Economy. Everyone knows that to be a MMORPG, you need two things. Economy and PvE. Now some people may disagree with me here, but my opinion is, the way the economy is is terrible. In fact, perhaps the only ways of making money in the first 33% of the storyline, is quests, missions and merchanting. There is no way of actually gaining materials/items yourself without killing monsters/completing quests. And to be quite frank, that gets boring. Later on in the game, you will adapt to certain skills and be able to kill bosses for their "unique" drops, but even then, you need to plan it out, and be talented in it. What this game lacks is something where the players can go and actually gain there own materials/items without combat, without quests. But that would mean re-doing the whole game, and they're not going to go to them lengths. This is what makes the game a 8/10, and not a 10/10.

Gameplay: 9/10
It's just short of perfect. Quests: These aren't your everyday "fetch me the skin off a bear, bring it to me, here's your reward." These quests involve protecting someone, killing someone, closing rifts and so on. I'd go as far to say that these are interesting quests. And that helps in a MMORPG.

Practicality: 10/10
Only a few words here. It's not everyday you see a successful MMORPG with no monthly fee and at a low cost of about £20.

PRO's:
No Monthly Fee, and they don't plan on adding one.
Excellent Graphics.
Storyline, It's fantastic.
Combat, Can't beat it.
Customization, The possibilities are endless.

CON's:
Economy, that's terrible.
There aren't enough GW games out yet.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/07