Guild Wars

It��s news to no one that most MMOs devolve into nothing more than chore simulators. What gamer hasn��t committed countless hours to turning boring, weak characters into powerhouses, only to repeat the cycle over and over again? ArenaNet aims to change that; its development team, made up of the networking talent behind Battle.net and veterans of many Blizzard games, wants you to have fun from the get-go with its new title Guild Wars, a massively multiplayer action game in the vein of Diablo.

During E3, ArenaNet invited the public to play Guild Wars missions with E3 attendees via a free downloadable client available on the company��s website. From May 12 to May 14, scores of players were online, battling other players and nonplayer characters in this new fantasy playground.

The world

Missions take you to places like the Tombs of Drascir, which features large, crumbling stone fortresses. This harsh, rocky expanse, rich with reds, browns, and purples, is a sharp contrast to the lush green jungles of the Wilds, where plant life is three times the height of any human character. Along the way, you encounter original creatures like the lightclaw griffon and fierce bone dragons composed of reptilian remains. The stunning lighting across these realms imbues the game with a sense of magic.

The hook

The game��s successful pick-up-and-play quality comes from the innovative way players acquire skills. Guild Wars�� character-enhancement system was inspired by Magic: The Gathering, the popular fantasy card game. There are hundreds of skills to learn, but only eight can be taken into combat. Your choices, not endless leveling up, will decide your fate. The free-fighting gameplay was modeled after Diablo��s, except that character classes are character professions (six announced so far), and players can specialize in two of them.

Plus, playing Guild Wars online is free. That��s a revolution everyone should follow. In the future, players who want to expand their experience can purchase chapter expansions, available via download or at retail outlets. Predictive downloading will stream necessary content in as needed: The expansion will be downloaded, just waiting for a final OK from your credit card.

The snare

Although there are fresh elements among the creatures and visuals, Guild Wars still runs the risk of getting lost in the clutter of online fantasy games. Not too much information is available about the game��s story, but what is known fits the familiar clich��s inherent to the genre. While developers don��t have to create a nonfantasy story to stand out, another sword-and-shield entry such as this will have to fight its way out of the crowd.

The Word: Free-Dom!

Publisher: NCsoft Developer: ArenaNet Genre: MMORPG Release Date: Late 2004

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.