Guild Wars First Impressions

[GameBanshee News]

Both RPG Vault and Gameplay Monthly have released their first impressions of ArenaNet's newly launched Guild Wars. A snip from RPG Vault's article:

The play is very combat-oriented, which is no surprise given the action RPG categorization. What you may not know if you haven't played is that it's very much weighted to party play. Nothing prevents you from heading out on your own. However, it's pretty easy to get overwhelmed since enemies typically attack in groups. Trying to pull one at a time seldom works because of the way the aggro system is designed; your target's friends may be at what would be a safe distance in many other games, but they will quickly join the fight, turning the odds against you. As a result, encounters are pretty hectic, with multiple participants on both sides - and even a few more if you have a Necromancer along with some raised minions. The pace is of battles quite rapid, although not a complete click-fest. Most are over quite quickly, although some can last a couple of minutes or more, most often when the adversaries include multiple healers.

And a snip from Gameplay Monthly's article:

First things off, this is not a regular MMO, it’s a CORPG; a Competitive Online Role Playing Game. There is actual competition in this game. There are two types of competition; PvP- Player vs. Player and PvE- Player vs. Environment. Both types are excellent that when combined, provide an experience unlike any other. In player versus player, you can join a guild or start one, which is enabled by the system's unique guild establishment program. When you have joined a guild, each guild can compete with each other in challenges and tournaments. The best guild gets posted on the official web site and in the game.