Guild Wars Trilogy Review
Guild Wars: Prophecies
Guild Wars Prophecies was the first of the Guild Wars Trilogy that was released. Prophecies introduced players to the core professions available in Guild Wars: Elementalist, Mesmer, Monk, Necromancer, Ranger, and Warrior.
The missions and quests in Prophecies is in a land known as Tyria. It includes 25 missions and over 200 quests throughout areas known as: Ascalon, Shiverpeak Mountains, Kryta, Maguuma Jungle, Crystal Desert, and Ring of Fire Islands.
A unique area in Prophecies is the starter area known as “Pre-Searing.” This area takes place back in time and once a player exits out of this area, it is no longer accessible. Also, characters from other campaigns are not allowed here either.
The elite missions that were introduced in Prophecies became the core elite missions that are also available in the other campaigns (located from different areas in those campaigns too). It includes: Fissure of Woe, and the Underworld.
Guild Wars also has player versus player areas for those that are more into PvP. In Guild Wars Prophecies, the PvP areas include: Heroes Ascent, Guild battles, and Random Arenas.
Guild Wars: Factions
Guild Wars: Factions was the second campaign released in the Guild Wars Trilogy. In addition to the six main professions, Factions added the Assassin and Ritualist as playable professions.
Factions takes place in a land known as Cantha. The storyline takes players on 13 missions and over 200 quests throughout areas known as: Shing Jea Island, Kaineng City, Echovald Forest, and the Jade Sea.
The elite missions introduced in Factions includes one on each side of the Kurzick and Luxon territories: The Deep (for Luxons) and Urgoz’s Warren (for Kurzicks). Alliances on opposing sides are able to enter the other side’s mission though through use of scrolls.
This campaign also includes PvP areas. It brought in new alliances guilds can become a part of: Kurzick and Luxon. With this, faction was able to be farmed in competitive missions and battles (PvP areas) such as Alliance Battles, Fort Aspenwood, and the Jade Quarry.
Guild Wars: Nightfall
Guild Wars Nightfall was the third campaign released in the Guild Wars Trilogy. In addition to the main professions, Nightfall added the Paragon and Dervish available as playable professions.
The storyline in Nightfall takes place in a land known as Elona. There are 20 missions and over 200 quests that players participate in throughout areas known as: Istan, Kourna, Vabbi, The Desolation, and the Realm of Torment.
The new elite mission introduced with Nightfall is in the Domain of Anguish. It is only available on a character once it has finished the last mission in Nightfall. The gems collected from those quests can purchase torment weapons which are able to be displayed in a character’s Hall of Monuments (through the Eye of the North expansion).
Nightfall also has new PvP areas available. This campaign brought the Codex Arena (which replaced Hero Battles) where players can battle each other to farm Balthazar faction and work on their title associated with this arena.
The biggest addition to Nightfall was the use of Heroes. With this, players are able to gain access to heroes that can join them on quests and missions in any areas they may go to (except for PvP). This makes completing certain things significantly easier, because through heroes you can change their skills, weapons, and runes, to be how you want them – unlike with henchmen.
Graphics (5 out of 5)
Guild Wars graphics are fantastic, even for a game that originally came out in 2005. The world throughout the trilogy is beautiful and well designed. The characters aren’t cartoonish and childish. The armor is interestingly intricate. Overall, it is fantastic and still playable on most computers without any extras having to be added.
Sound (5 out of 5)
Guild Wars music is quite enjoyable. Different areas in the game have different scores and goes well with each area. The storyline cut-scenes also have voice actors that make watching those scenes more enjoyable. All of the sounds in the game area able to be adjusted by the user. If you don’t want to listen to music, character dialog, sound effects, etc., you don’t have to.
User Interface (5 out of 5)
The interface that is setup for you in Guild Wars can be adjusted to fit your screen resolution better. Just go into the area to edit it and you can move things around to how you want to use it and see it better.
Gameplay (5 out of 5)
Moving around in Guild Wars is easy. Once you visit a town or outpost, you will always be able to travel there again quickly by simply clicking on it from your map. The missions and quests are for the most part easily accomplished by yourself (with heroes and henchmen), and for the more difficult ones, members of your Guild or Alliance are usually willing to help you. If not, if you hang out in the town it is in you can find yourself in a pick-up-group pretty quickly. The re-playablility of Guild Wars is also quite high. There are ten professions that you can replay the whole game with, always friends that could use a hand, and titles to achieve.
