Guild Wars: A Story Of Everything But Guilds

Guild Wars is a MMO RPG released by NCSOFT and created by Arenanet at 2005. With its unique take on monetization, instanced gameplay and campaign based stories, it won numerous awards and was one of the few MMO's that survived World of Warcraft.

With unique visuals, extensive animations and armor options for each class, a vast array of classes which is rare in an MMO even to this day, the game manages, despite the limited options for character looks at creation, to have very unique player characters, making two of the same kind to be surprisingly rare.

It features three campaigns (which act as separate but connected) games and an expansion and it's sequel, Guild Wars 2 was released at 2012 and is still going on today.

But why is Guild Wars worth mentioning?

Unlike other similar games, guild wars has a few unique and very interesting mechanics about it, which will be explained bellow, but manage to give it an edge and make it not only be playable today, but is the reason why it still has a strong player and fan base to this day.

From Altitude physics influencing ranged combat, body blocking for tanking, a vast array of classes to begin with combined with dual classing means there is, if not infinite, a VERY broad spectrum of customization to name a few.
Lastly the best thing this game does is the instanced play. Unlike other traditional online experiences, the game, technically, is fully online only in outposts and cities, as every other area you enter is an instanced version of it, that only you and your party can view, move around and interact with. This gives it an advantage on 2 fronts
Griefing: You do not have players show up and ruin your progression and off course
Loading: You only load the areas you have not visited prior, when you visit them, which means you can start playing the game in less than an hour.

Visually Guild Wars is not much to take home. Even for its day, with competitors like Lineage II, World of Warcraft etc, when it comes to pure graphics, it was not top notch, and yet its visuals are highly praised.
In my opinion, what guild wars manages to do perfectly is to tie everything together creating a unique and pleasing style. From animations to the backrounds (which seem made by hand) to the unique feel of every area, the game is superbly easy to the eyes.

With so many video games (especially recent ones) using almost a standard array of colors making each area so similar it is borderline cliche, when you boot up a game like Guild Wars, and every area feels unique, with its own kinks and quirks, even if they are supposed to be in the same region. Well what can I say, for a "explorer" like me, it is just amazing.

What still fascinates me with Guild Wars is how they manage to add color into everything. I know it sounds weird, but in a marketplace where every class and every level is more or less the same, having animations, armor sets and even color patterns used during skill activation that are unique and tied into those classes is the best.

Despite its animations not being something amazing, the care and effort they have put into making every class have its own unique sets of bodies, body movements, combat animations, emote animations etc adds to both the level of immersion. Furthermore, having every class look and move differently from each other, adds to that "real life" or "dnd like" adventure feel the game is perfect at drawing you in.

Finally, more of a personal love than an objective one, I love how each class has its own "color". For example, Monk (the healer) class skills are mostly blue, Mesmer is purple, warrior is yellow/orange, Ranger is Green etc etc.

Though it does not really impact anything, I love how the skill bar looks and feels when you play the game, the colors seem to fit their role perfectly. Maybe its a psychological thing, or maybe its the game subtly pushed it in my head, but those colors draw me into the mindset of each class just by looking at them. When I view for example the full green skill bar of my ranger, I feel like I am about to run through the woods. My head defaults into thinking as if everything is one great big forest hunt, so I start preparing ambushes and go for the higher ground.

Hands down the strongest suit of the game. Many will complain that it is a game without any jumping and that makes it a lesser game. Fools I say!

Though it is true, that jumping would be a welcome addition, let us be honest here, it is but a small issue, and quite frankly I am sick of games that you are supposed to be locked in epic duels with monsters and you have to jump around like a Squirrel high on cocaine. NO! Real fighting was done with your feet planted down, inch by inch.

Guild Wars manages to do what I thought was impossible in an MMO. It makes you think and use tactics when facing even the normal enemies. Why? Because the A.I though not perfect and still vastly predictable, is out for your blood, and as such picking your fights becomes a necessity if you want to ever hope of finishing even a single campaign. Lets break it down

Altitude matters!

If you are playing as a ranged character, especially a ranger who is the only one exclusively based on physical ranged attacks, you will soon realize that what bow you have equipped and how high you are, are VERY important.
After calculated, height will give you advantages or disadvantages. If you are higher, then your ranged attacks go further and with less of an arc, which means that you will be able to land your hits from further away as well as with less of an arc making them harder to dodge. In addition, if you are higher you deal more damage than you normally would to enemies lower than you, while they deal less damage to you. This even translates in melee, if a bit more subtle and not as noticeable.
As a lover of archery and a big fan of -some- semblance of realism even in fantasy games, this is in fact a selling point for me. As a ranger, you will be constantly looking for the advantageous position. Not to mention that when you are on top of a cliff, the access points to you are limited, which makes it easier for your bruisers to hold the line while you rain down death.

Body Blocking: Lets Get Physical 101!

Ever played an MMO charging at that pesky assassin, only to have him walk right through you and start stabbing your cleric, resulting in you running around chasing him, all the while you both jump around like idiots? Yeah, this never happens in Guild Wars. Every unit is a physical obstacle, which can make or break your party. Picking a proper location for your fight, can mean that you go on playing while your heavy damage dealers are never even touched by the enemies, but at the same time, one false movement that gets you ambushed with one side, or your backs on a cliff can make your team of 8 heroes into a team of 8 corpses.

As a "tank" character this is probably one of the best things ever, because you can literally just stand side by side with your other tanking buddies and just shake your head at people saying "nope, cant pass, pay entry plz" while bashing them with your weapon of choice, this, in combination with the last part of this list, makes fighting in this game stand out from most games, TO. THIS. DAY. Release your inner Conan. It is possible

A.I: Realistic and out for blood, even if predictable!

In most RPG's even single player ones, the enemy AI goes along the lines of "We will target the first guy through that door and hit him unless you deal INCREDIBLE damage in our face in a short span of time" or "This guy has the heaviest armor, lets kill him first" (Dragon Age Origins I am staring at you). Well, not here. The AI follows a few pretty reasonable rules. They prioritize:
a) Lowest Health.
b) Lowest Armor.
c) Most Damage
d) Accessibility

What this means is that the enemies will -always- go for the killing blow first. If you are all in full health then they will -always- go for the squishies first, then the one doing the most damage at them and finally, if they cant reach any of those, they will hit the one closest to them.
FINALLY! Combine this with the other two mechanics above and you have an A.I that will rip your face and wear your bones for armor if you underestimate it. You will always have to keep an eye out on your position, the damage output you are doing and, if you are a tank, a mix of both. And last but not least my favorite mechanic

Heroes are nothing more than common people in uncommon situations

What I mean by this, is that the only difference between a level 5 player character and a level 5 guard is not so much as you would expect. Though human players eventually earn the edge over everything in the game ever (naturally) due to the fact they learn new skills and have a wider arsenal to tackle each problem, the limit the game has, of only 8 being accessible at you once you leave the outposts, means the gap is not as high as it is in other games.

With the AI monsters, enemies and allies, utilizing the same 8 slots, to an extend equal to their level and difficulty, you can never expect enemies to be "canon fodder". With some enemies in the expansion owning pretty competitive builds made by players as well, the only difference between your party and theirs is how you will outsmart and outmaneuver your enemy exploiting the gaps in its AI, rather than you mashing your skills which are stronger.

This surprises even veteran MMO players, as a simple band of bandits you find outside an outpost can murder your party in seconds utilizing synergies and skill sets players would use in their place as well.

In Conclusion

The biggest surprise of them all? The game, despite all the above, manages to be pretty chill in its pacing. The A.I's ways are predictable, and unless you try to attack an enemy right next to his buddies, or don't pay attention to their patrol routes, then you should be fine. Many times I have just put on some chill music, opened up guild wars and casually strolled around the story, alt-tabbing every now and then. Though much to the game's credit, in order to do so you have to "Earn it" by learning it and unlocking better skills.

All in all, I wish more games used this gameplay style for their games, rather than go for cheap "thrills" and intense fights that when boiled down are just "how much damage they soak VS how much damage you soak" with the occasional timed dodge or evade sequence

In the sound aspect, we have wins and loses. Voice acting is cheesy, but then again the story is a cliche cheesefest as well, but overall it is not something you will cringe over. Sound effects are pretty standard, nothing you will be amazed by the impact or realism of it, but not something that feels fake or annoying.

Ambience is amazing, with creature sounds, footsteps and the occasional map sounds immersing you perfectly in it. True, nothing modern days have not done better, but it is not a game you want to fully mute.

Music was composed by Jeremy Soule who also has done the soundtrack for the Elder Scrolls games so I will not bother saying anything else.

Though when it comes to looks Guild Wars may not look like much today, with solid gameplay, visual aesthetics and superb music, it is a game well worth checking out.

With numerous aspects I did not mention, such as classes, multiclassing and the campaigns, the core of the game offers an enjoyable and fun gameplay easy and equally fun to enjoy alone or with friends!