Guild Wars: Factions

9.0
Excellent

Gameplay	9.0	"Prepare to lose all rights to a social life."
Graphics	9.0
Sound	8.0
Value	10

By Tristan Clark

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What an intense few days. Last week I got Guild Wars Factions, the first of (hopefully) many standalone expansions that will add to the world of Guild Wars. After a lot of junk food and not a lot of sleep, I’m ready to share my verdict with you all. Basically, if you played and enjoyed the original game, then you’re going to love Factions. If you haven’t had the pleasure of playing one of the best MMOG’s around, than this new release is a great way to get acquainted with it. Either way, you’re in for a treat, because Factions manages to improve on an already solid game in almost every way.

If you’ve never played Guild Wars before, imagine a MMOG that actually allows you to accomplish things without having to dedicate hours at a time to it. What sets this game apart is its business model, which is drastically different to most other MMOGs out there: there is no monthly fee. Like any other kind of game, the only transaction you’ll make is when you buy the product itself. The way ArenaNet plans to keep making money is to release periodic expansions that are the same price as a full game - which is where Factions comes in.

Although I had my decked out character from Prophecies (the new name of the original game), I decided to take the new professions for a spin. Right from the start, it was easy to see the improvements ArenaNet had made. The character creation screen is a lot cooler, with many more options available to create the kind of bad-ass hero you’ve always wanted to play as. After creating a male ritualist, I was ready to dive into the world of Cantha, the new continent created for Factions.

Cantha is an Asian-themed land torn apart by warring (you guessed it) factions. Some time in the past, the ruler of Cantha was betrayed by the evil Shiro Tagachi, who in turn was slain by guards. However, his death cry spread over Cantha, petrifying the forests and turning the seas into solid jade. 200 years later, the lands are divided between the Luxon and the Kurzick, two nations striving for dominance. To make matters worse, the evil Shiro has apparently arisen once more, so naturally it's your job to finish him off once and for all. Throughout the course of your adventures, you can ally yourself with either of these sides, which is where one of the most interesting new features comes into play. You see, the land of Cantha is entirely contestable, and the territory of the warring sides is constantly shifting as teams of players fight each other for land. It’s a great concept, and it’s pulled off nicely in Factions, promising to be the main thing that keeps players coming back for more.

The world itself is much richer than the original land of Tyria. It’s a lot more organic and animated, moving away from the often dark and depressing landscapes of Prophecies, and generally seems much more alive – I always felt that the original landscapes were a little empty, probably due to the fact that most of the game is instanced. In Factions, though, you’ll find instanced areas populated with hundreds of NPCs and animals of every size and shape. In addition, the quests themselves feel a lot more dynamic and involving. One mission I found early on had me travelling to a bar to rid it of an obnoxious drunkard, only to come across a little girl surrounded by guards; if you accept her tale of being kidnapped, the guards turn on your party, resulting in a pitched battle that has you surrounded on all sides. Little elements like this add up to make Cantha look more like a living, breathing place.

The two new professions in Factions are fun to play as, but there is definitely a good reason why there are currently more Assassins running around than Ritualists. If you choose the latter, be prepared to multitask like crazy; you’ll have to manage summoned spirits, heal your party, heal yourself, heal your spirits, and also take the offensive in battles. It’s a lot more effort than the easy to use Assassin, who can teleport in and out of battle, dealing a lot of damage while avoiding return blows. Hopefully, as time goes by, we’ll see more people give the Ritualist a go (even if for no other reason than to fill the streets with what everyone agrees is a very nice dance emote).

The new challenge missions are a great addition. Imagine an arcade game where you’re always trying to beat the high score, and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. It can be quite addictive trying to stay alive longer than your friends – and of course you get all the bragging rights afterwards. Likewise, the traditional PvP modes are as competitive as ever, and should suck quite a lot of people in for some time to come.

The main potential problem you might have with Factions is true of any MMOG – basically, you get out of it what you put in. While Guild Wars doesn’t require nearly so much of an investment as other games, you’ll still need to spend a good few hours in order to find your feet. This is made so much easier if you can attach yourself to a decent guild, or if you have a large number of friends in the game. I found a lot of my time in Prophecies wasn’t as good as it could have been simply because I was forced to team up with complete idiots. Once I joined a fun, relaxed guild, however, things instantly got better - and the same rule applies to Factions.

There’s so much more about the game that I haven’t talked about, but your attention span is probably already waning. Suffice to say, if you’re after a MMOG that is fun, immersive, and easy to get into, you can’t get much better than Guild Wars Factions. It improves on its predecessor in almost every way possible, and should occupy you for some time to come. Now if you’ll excuse me, Sammy (my white tiger) and I are off to slaughter some zombified Canthans.

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