Guild Wars 2 Preview

The editors at GameSpot have whipped up some impressions of Guild Wars 2 based on what they saw of the persistent world RPG sequel at Germany's GamesCom event.
The Sylvari are an all-new, playable race in Guild Wars 2. The race of plant-based creatures aren't "humanoid in the way we know," says lead content creator Jeff Grubb. According to Grubb they're quite different than the other races and don't quite understand the culture and logic of the other races. He explains that they're unified as a culture and share the common dream of eradicating the dragons bent on wrecking havoc on the world of Tyria. Sylvari are born fully aware and are characterised as a noble race. Despite this, not all Sylvari have good intentions and certain splinter groups have arisen to challenge their way of life. The last piece of information we could gather is that, like their owners, Sylvarian armour and weapons are also organic, and grown from roots and leaves rather than forged with fire.

The other major feature in Guild Wars 2 is the addition of playable underwater areas, which was hinted at in the trailer. According to NCSoft's Chris Lye, this will grant players substantially more "freedom of movement," and the freedom to explore Tyria's landmasses and the oceans below. Lye says the ability to explore Tyria's underwater world, and the complexities that go along with that, is one of the reasons why it's taking a while to develop the game. The team didn't go into details on how this new experience will affect gameplay, but we're excited to see how they'll incorporate this into the game.