Despite jaw-dropping visuals and being free to play, the original Guild Wars could never quite unseat World of Warcraft as the king of massively multiplayer online RPGs. WoW's more varied playable races simply cemented it as the more imaginative effort.
Not so for Guild Wars 2, which is set 250 years on from its predecessor. Players can now choose from monstrous fire-cats, the Charr; the dwarven Asura; werefolk Norn; tree-like Sylvari or the (yawn) humans. Each has individual skill sets, unique starting areas and varied lore surrounding them. Being able to invest time in the different cultures inhabiting the world of Tyria makes for engrossing fantasy gaming and is arguably the best choice developer ArenaNet could have made for Guild Wars 2.
Gameplay itself is ostensibly unchanged – assign skills to number keys, engage in real-time combat – but a plethora of new and better-balanced powers grants depth. Mercifully, the quest system now offers more imagination than "go here, kill this" or "find 10 of these". Instead, missions guide players through Guild Wars' story, which sees the disparate races unite against Lovecraftian dragon gods, proving an unusually captivating tale for an MMO.
With art direction so bewilderingly gorgeous that I was frequently stunned into silence, GW2 tops its predecessor in just about every regard. And, yes, it's still free to play. Time to rethink that Warcraft subscription.
