"Guild Wars VS <Insert Other MMORPG>?"

Well when I first heard about Guild Wars, I thought "Hey, this is made by the old Battle.net people huh? Then it MUST be good!". Well, I contacted my nearest EB Games and set up an order, I waited and waited then FINALLY I got my pre-order box for the April beta, and I played it and was rather disappointed... the game looked cool and all, but it was missing something... then I played the PVP, and it was outstanding!!!

Graphics: 8/10

Wow, I must say these visuals are pretty darn good, a huge step up from some of the other ORPG/MMORPGs our there, such as World of Warcraft. The sunlight beaming up against your character just increases the richness even further, I'm quite impressed with these excellent visuals. The water too is in very rich detail.

Sound: 9/10

The sound effects in my opinion are mediocre, but the music in this game is pretty superb. The tracks by Jeremy Soule are just awesome, and well composed and they really fit the mood.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is where the game delivers its good name. The regular solo game play is decent, the quests I kind of like better than World of Warcraft's, and the PvE envoirment is better when you get some friends to tag along. Also the big highlight of this game is the PVP, you start a guild, get cool guild capes, and you can duke it out with other guilds in competitions and stuff. Another feature that I loved is that you can have a second profession, and many, many skills. Even though you can only equip eight at a time, this really forces you to use strategy, which the developers are good at (look at games like Starcraft and Warcraft).Out of the six professions you can choose, they're all balanced, so there is no "super powerful" build, all of them can be very good. The max level (as of launch date) is only 20, but the game doesn't focus on that or equipment as much as other games do, it's mostly based on strategies. The game play is a very, very unique experience.

Replayablity: 10/10

It's an online game isn't it? Of course you will come back! The replayability in this game is good, because you will always want to go back and have fun with your guild, or just goof off and kill stuff. I've been playing this game for awhile and haven't got the slightest urge to quit, unlike other online games I've played. There is just something about this game that makes you want to play it over and over, I guess the game is just that darn good.

Overall: 9/10

Guild Wars VS <Insert Other MMORPG>?

Yes, this game is probably going to be the PC Game of the Year 2005 for me, unless something sneaks up and bites me in the foot, but I doubt it. The game is just amazing, good graphics, awesome music, overly good game play, what else could you want? If you are a fan of ORPGs or MMORPGs, get this game now! The best part, NO monthly fee! Yeah they will sell expansion packs, but you are NOT forced to buy them, so if truly wanted to, you could go buy the game, and be done with it, no more fees. So in the end, does this beat other online games? NOPE. Since there IS no fee, you can play this alongside another game, such as World of Warcraft. You only have to pay for one, and you can go back and forth to Guild Wars without having to cancel your subscription or pay for another month. Yup.

GUILD WARS FOR LIFE!!! :D

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/05