RETRO – The fight for popularity between World of Warcraft and Guildwars has reached its peak. While the release of The Burning Crusade has been bumped to January, Guild Wars has just released its second expansion. Nightfall is an atmospheric game with a beautiful new exotic world that provides a reliable alternative to those who are getting bored of Blizzard’s MMORPG.

I always liked Standalone expansion. Not because you did not have to buy the base game, but because ( of course only if the development team was good) it could give us new worlds, levels, gameplay modes, and other stuff for our hard earned cash. If we are talking about an MMORPG such as Guild Wars than practically, we are getting a new chapter – which leaves us with not much to complain about against ArenaNet.

The parts that were not changed

This does not mean that Guild Wars’ style and architecture changed entirely. It is still the sort of limited linear world where you can level up (kinda manga styled hero), and upgrade hundreds of skills, while completing missions with other players or NPCS in instances. Those who want a game similar to WoW where thousands of players are at one play, and meet anyone anywhere will have to avoid Guild Wars, as creating a party can only be done in Towns. On the other hand, just like in the base game the story will have a huge role, that will allow us to explore the territories of Elona, with other players or NPCS in group .

Something is a miss

Before the fanboys of GW would rip my head off: the above title is not against the story of Nightfall, actually I wanted to reference Shakespear a bit, as to  how much better the lore, and detailed Elona is, plus the main story is miles better than in the base game.

Just like Africa, Elona has been full of civil wars, corrupt leaders attacking each other. Peace was only achieved between the three provinces thanks to a militia group called the sunspears. Of course peace did not last forever: a dark god that has been forgotten by the people, who was banished a long time ago is returning to Elona to destroy the world. We as rookies get to join the sunspears, who are trying to defeat the evil god.

Okay at first this seems like a really clichéd fantasy story, but the developers at ArenaNet were really good at creating the cinematics, and to make them with quality. In order to be immersed in the story we are not treated to the usual CG animation from Guild Wars or Factions, which is kind of a shame to be honest.

These heroes are not old friends

I bet a lot of you are thinking why we are retreading ground with regards to the NPC heroes that always accompany us, and why it was hyped up in the news/previews since we already had henchmen in the two previous games. However the difference here is night and day between the two NPC types! Heroes finally are not just simple bots that fight with us, but have extensive background, and personalities. In the cinematics they talk to each other, and to us (who also speaks), they are also guided by their own goals and ambitions. At the same time they are very useful companions on the battlefield.
The difference is that they breathed some life into them.

Their AI is also better, and you also get to set their skills before going into battle, and even craft them armor and weapons.

Rise and Shine

There has not been an MMO as Guild Wars in terms of graphics, but luckily the designers of ArenaNet did not sit on their butt for the last one and a half year. Mostly the shaders and lighting effects were fixed, and the result is a much more realistic – even though we are playing in a fantasy world. This is most noticeable in sunny locations where the objects can get shiny at certain parts, and not just simply brighter than the other objects.
Besides the graphics, the atmosphere and architecture is also entirely different as it has a North African vibe, unlike what the base Guild Wars continent or Factions had.
The monsters design is also noteworthy as they are getting more exciting, exotic, and scarier compared to the previous games. Giant bugs, octopus-like demons, and other demons attack us suddenly.

Scream like a Dervish or aid like a Paragon?

We also get two new classes (professions) that while are not too original based on their skills compared to the old jobs, they are still fun to use. The dervish is basically an enhanced warrior. Of course they have their special abilities like using a scythe which allows to hit multiple enemies at once, and with a spell the Dervish can become one of the Gods of Guild Wars.  A bit overpowered profession if you ask me.

The other profession is the paragon, who feels like the ranger was mixed with the Mesmer. Just like the Dervish it is not that original, and a bit too overpowered also, so basically every player will probably launch a Dervish or a Paragon.

Beginners luck….

We can also find a lot of updates to the game’s UI, streamlining the switching of skills (we can even save them) , in fact we can even collect armor sets, which will help a lot for the PVP players.
Furthermore, the developers looked out for the newbies more than ever. The intro missions are more fun, but also explain the first steps of the game correctly to a new player.

ArenaNet did everything to hook veterans and newcomers to the world of Guild Wars. Maybe it is not as much of an MMO as WoW, and not as free roaming, but the story, atmosphere and exotic landscape is way better. Old fans of the franchise will love it, and those who are getting bored of WoW should checkout Nightfall. They won’t lose that much since there is no monthly fee.

-Bad Sector- (2006)

Publisher: NCsoft – North America

Developer: ArenaNet, LLC

Genres: RPG

Publication: 2006