Guild Wars Factions
by NCsoft
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Video Game Reviews of Guild Wars Factions
Customer Review: factions
Summary: 5 Stars
I've played Guild Wars Prophecies since it was just Guild Wars, but just recently bought factions and nightfall. Factions has the assassin and the ritualist, both decent professions in their own right. One of the good (and bad) things about factions is that you level incredibly fast. This is good because you can get into the other continents fairly up to speed. However, it means that there are quite a few canthan-born characters who think that they know what's going on simply because they're 20, when almost all the game is designed for level 20 characters. There aren't a ton of new skills in factions for those coming from prophecies, but the fact that there are a lot of duplicates means that you can effectively equip a skill twice, if you have prophecies as well.Customer Review: This is one of the best computer games I have played. I would recomend it to anyone.
Summary: 4 Stars
I love how fast the game got to my house. I would sit here counting the days till it his my doorstep. I had it for only a few minutes and it was already loading onto my computer!!!!Customer Review: Could have been very good, but they messed it up
Summary: 2 Stars
This game has a serious problem with the way they handle the 3D camera movement, more specifically, the z-axis (vertical orientation). The 3D camera *automatically* swings up and down in HUGE angles when you're in cramped spaces, and it really messes up the enjoyment when I can't target the mob I'm trying to fight; and even when I'm not fighting, who wants ordinary exploration to be an exercise of teeter-tottering your mouse just so you can get a good view? This is true for all Guild Wars campaigns (namely, Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall). One would think their developers and quality assurance people would have noticed this and flagged this is a serious flaw, but it somehow went by ignored. I have played various 3D games (both single player and MMORPG like Everquest 2), I have *NEVER* seen the 3D camera angle handled this way. Fortunately, most of the game terrain is not in cramped and enclosed areas, so I'm guessing that's why they let this glaring flaw slide by, but be forewarned that this can cause an inordinate amount of frustration when this issue rears its ugly head at the wrong time.
In Factions (more so than the other two campaigns), they have made diabolical multi-tiered maps that zig-zag like crazy, making it very hard to find certain quest spots. Right at the very first spot I started (Kaineng Center), it was already apparent that the designers wanted to waste your time so you can run all the way to a spot because the starburst on the map is telling you you're getting close to your target, only to find out you are arriving at a dead end and have to traverse all the way back through your original path so you can try an alternate route. I'm sorry, but in my book, this is cheesy; quests should not be an exercise in trickery and wasting the player's time this way. I have played Prophecies and Nightfall, and they weren't like that, but Factions has a place called Arborstone which I consider the "map from hell". I had a quest there to protect some stone singers, and I couldn't get to one area somehow. After more than an hour of running around in circles, I just abandoned the quest. Arborstone was also the place where the vertical angle swinging problem was REALLY BAD because the passageways were enclosed between very high ravine walls, and the 3D camera was just going crazy bobbing up and down by itself!
This is really too bad because the game graphics is excellent, better than Everquest 2, best I've ever seen in MMORPG games, paralleled only by some of the well-known single-player RPG games (e.g. Elder Scrolls, Titan Quest, etc.) But the game design is inferior in many respects to its competitors. For example, the game allows people to group, but they frequently end up in disaster because players don't have a good way to synchronize targets. In Everquest 2, clicking a player in the group automatically makes you share his target; usually, group members must be attacking what the tank is attacking. In Guild Wars, you have to ctrl-click the mob, and the chat window will say "{name} is attacking {monster name}". The problem with this is that it happens a lot where a group of monsters can have two or more of the same kind of monster, so the team members can still end up in confusion as to which mob to target. This cannot be underestimated because there are groups that are very powerful that could wipe out your group fast if you don't whittle them down in number fast.
It is typical among games that quests require you to move around, talking to various NPCs, to complete the quest. But this campaign, Factions, a lot of the quests require you to move a LOT and over extensive distances across a multi-tiered map. Frequently, I'd be on the 3rd level of the map and see my goal (shown as a star) on the map, only to find out it was on the 1st level (*groan*). It wasn't fun.
Guild Wars also took the easy way out on typical aspects of MMORPG games. For instance, vendors pretty much sell the same stuff over and over in the *entire* game, maybe increasing by one or two items as you progress into more advanced zones. I feel no excitement when I see a vendor in a new zone, because I know what to expect. There is also very little variety in terms of weapon and armor stats, although they do have a good variety on the looks of armor. There are no player vendors, no housing, no mounts, and a very poor feel of community (since you only get to see other human players in town because all zones are instanced, meaning you have a copy of the zone for yourself, and you'll be alone in there with your NPC members unless you had invited a friend to explore that zone with you while you were in town). Their Beast Taming is the lamest I have ever seen; you can tame warthogs, flamingos, tigers, lions, cranes, etc., real lousy pets; I'm not sure I'd like to use them to fight demons. You can have only one pet at a time, and I am willing to bet that 90% of the Beast Tamers (which is part of the Ranger class) don't know how to get rid of their pet because it's simply so unintuitive.
I've been going over the negative things, let me say the positives. I've already mentioned their beautiful graphics. They have no monthly fee. The entire game can be downloaded (without the need of a CD); so you can buy the game from their web site if you want, and you'll be given a link to start downloading. Game is very stable; I've never had it crash on me, but I guess this can depend on how stable one's PC is, too. The looks of the characters were excellently done; it may not give you as much berth in customizability as games like Elder Scrolls, but the faces and bodies look attractive and don't look polygonal. The creature artificial intelligence is excellent; I have seen mob behavior in this game that I've never seen in any other game. As mentioned prior, they do have a great variety of attire (which you can mix and match, if you want), along with the ability to dye them so that people really do look different. Each class has it's own dance choreography, and they are very well done, smooth in animation just as all player movements are in the game.
NCSoft is going to start on Guild Wars 2, scheduled to beta on 2008. I guess the flaws on Guild Wars is way too deep-rooted in the framework and very difficult to fix or enhance, so they just decided to rewrite and start from scratch. Well I hope they do much better this time, because if they would just retain their great graphics and add more (un-cheesy) content, I do have to admit it is a good feeling moving around in the game because their zones are very artistic and well done (except for those with multi-tiered, zig-zagging zones that are meant to trick you into taking the wrong way).
The only reason I didn't give this game a 1-star is because the graphics are really beautiful, and the sceneries are very well done. But it just goes to show that great graphics doesn't make a good game.
Customer Review: My perspective of Factions, the good and bad
Summary: 5 Stars
GW: Factions is an expansion of the original Guild Wars series, but a game in its own. After playing the original GW campaign, I decided to go through the second installment of this series. My review is based off of play from my level 20 PvE character, starting a new character, and the PvP perspective of the game.
Positive:
- Adds two new classes (Assassin and Ritualists)
- New Spells and extra armor templates
- Faction based PvP, conquer new lands based on your winnings
- New PvE Questline
- Strategy based PvP
Negative:
- Surprisingly brief storyline
- Lots of backtracking in the game (Fedex quests)
- Assassin class is most effective in PvP battles, not PvE campaigns
- Some new spells are exactly the same as the original GW, just different icons and names
- Poor community
I didn't like the storyline in this one as much as the original Guild Wars. You spend the entire campaign trying to kill evil spirits in the land of Cantha, and the crux of the campaign puts you against the most evil spirit you've ever encountered. It simply isn't as epic or interesting as the original game. However running the missions are a blast, and you'll want to do them again and again. You get better bonuses for completing them in a certain amount of time. There are also PvE challenge missions. I found that a lot of fun as you had to plan out your strategy before entering.
Running with actual players makes this game a whole lot easier. I'm not entirely sure if it was intentional, but henchmen in this game do a lot to make sure they wipe your party. Pulling too many enemies and not having any sense to run if they're being hit are commonplace with these digital mercenaries unless you carefully place them in position. Henchmen will sometimes do things that appear like they "want" you to fail. While I know the Nightfall campaign introduces heroes whom you can customize, I have a hard time believing you can complete the entire campaign on henchmen alone without throwing a few punches at the wall.
Playing with players is still a wildcard with Factions when picking up random groups, and it doesn't get any better when completing the last few missions. The party grouping system is poor, and you're liable to run with people who leave in the middle of a mission because "Mom says I need to get off"; I quote that from a mission I ran. I recommend using henchmen if you have to, but try to get in a good guild that has a leader who is always on and helping out. Friends help too.
PvP gets a boost with the two new classes, and it became apparent the minute an Assassin rampaged my monk with ease. Ritualists were also a scary group to deal with, as they inflicted moderate damage, but were incredibly hard to kill. Ritualists are also great in the PvE campaign and enjoyed playing one. The Assassin however I believe is reserved for PvP random team arenas and hero battles. They are a huge mana drain on the healer during PvE, and I have been hard-pressed to find random groups picking my Assassin up for missions.
Guild Wars Factions blends more PvP aspects into the overall game world, with a decent campaign for those looking for a one-player experience. This is still a game that is made for those who hate the MMO grind-games, but still want to play along with their peers. I recommend this game if your goal is to PvP with a balanced class system and want immediate "noob pwnage" gratification. If you're looking for an engrossing PvE storyline, I recommend sticking with the original game for your first purchase.
Customer Review: More But Less
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband and I enjoy the first outing of Guild Wars, and when Factions came out we rushed out and bought this sequel/add on.
This particular game has an Asian influence, includes two new classes-- an Assassin fighter class, and Ritualist spell caster class-- along with the six character classes found in the first. The game starts with an optional tutorial that helps you learn about how to move and fight, and an introduction to Master Togo, the mentor and main driving force in the story. Like the first, a lot of the scenery is beautiful-- great incentive to pick up that kicking graphics card you might have been eyeing!
Most of the game play is much the same. You fight monsters for gold and items, you participate in quests and missions to follow a storyline in PvE (Player vs Event) or you can participate in PvP (Player vs Player) battles or GvG (Guild vs Guild) battles. One difference between the first story and this one is that at one point in PvE, the storyline diverges and you must pick one "faction" (the Luxons or the Kurzicks) to help over the other in several missions. Guilds can become aligned with one of the factions and battle each other for control for outposts and towns on the map. For those that like this type of play, it can add a fun element as you can see the battle lines evolve over the course of the day.
The problems I have found with this particular outing is the fact that NCsoft made most of the missions have time limits, with the fastest getting the "Masters" rating, rather then having just the primary mission with a bonus objective. Some of the missions can be very stressful as you have to rush to try to come into the time limit, causing you to perhaps cause big groups to whale on you and your party and have TPK (total party kill) where the better strategy would be to take it slow and try to get the groups in smaller chunks. A couple of the missions are also team efforts, where two groups at a time have to cooperate in order to accomplish the objectives-- and even if you have a great group, if the other group fails their part, you fail yours automatically.
Another problem I found was some of the map is very confusing. The big city/metropolis that a good portion of the story is in is hard to decipher on the minimaps, and you can find yourself going in circles.
There are a whole slew of new skills to purchase or capture from the boss monsters, but I felt many of the non-elite skills were just repackaged skills from the first campaign.
NCsoft does do updates and special events that are Factions-specific like the Canthan Festival-- a nice touch from a company that doesn't charge a per-month fee for playing.
So would I recommend this to anyone? For sense of geek completeness, I would say yes. If you are looking for a good PvE introduction to the world of Guild Wars, I would say go with the original, or with Nightfall to get the heros (NPC characters that you can customize skills and armor and order around). If you are really into the PvP/GvG aspect of gameplay you may like this better then me.