Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Final Hands-On

Please note that if you took part in the preview event you won't find any new information here. We will, however, be bringing you some interesting goodies over the next few days.

Last weekend we were given an all too brief taste of Guild Wars: Eye of the North, a game which means to bridge the story gap between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, tiding gamers over until the sequel hits. And so far, it's looking like GWEN will deliver on both accounts – and exceed our expectations while doing so.

The Locales
Nightfall sported the greatest locales ever seen in the Guild Wars series. It was highly varied and incredibly stylised. Quite frankly, playing Nightfall was a dream come true for fans of solid art direction. When Factions hit, the same was said - so does Eye of the North continue this trend of trumping its predecessor? It's too early to say as we've only played a small portion of the game; but were we to make the judgement, then we’d have to admit that GWEN is somewhat lacking.

That's not to say that what we saw was not of a high calibre - it was - but being based in the snow did make a lot of the vistas feel a bit too samey. But again, I must re-iterate that making such a statement is premature until the full game has been played through and through.

The Quests
The greatest difference between GWEN and other Guild Wars titles is its incredibly large emphasis on questing. Primary quests seem to have all but devoured missions, the game’s original story-moving type of quest. And because the quests are generally shorter than the missions of old, they're more approachable and don't necessarily require human help. This is thanks to the Hero system implemented by Nightfall and the ever increasing AI of the henchman.

Again, like with Factions and Nightfall, cutscenes have been given more attention in the way of using more interesting angles and a script less cringe-inducing than what was on display in Prophecies. There's a point where you'll get a vision of the future early on the game, which looks like something out of Dante's Inferno, where you'll see some unique effects which really prove just how robust the Guild Wars engine is.

Guild Wars may nearly be three years old but it barely shows signs of age. This is a true testament to its gameplay and art direction, proving there’s more to a game than its graphics.

There are also a plethora of new types of quests; a personal favourite are the solo ones. Basically they're quests that, as you’d expect, you do alone. Occasionally you'll get NPC help but for the most part they're catered to one on one situations.

The quest which got everyone talking was offered by an NPC named Kilroy Stonekin, who first appeared in Prophecies. If you're thinking “That name sounds familiar” it's because it is an allusion to the famous Leeroy Jenkins. And yes, Kilroy is just as aggro-inducing as his namesake. The quest has you take on evil dwarves who owe Kilroy money - but instead of using your sword, wand or bow, you use brass knuckles.

This, I think, would humble Mr. Jenkins.



The Races
One of the most notable inclusions to Eye of the North are the two new races. Though this isn't exactly a new thing, as we've seen non-human races like the Tengu, Charr, Dwarves and the like, it's interesting because their inclusion acts as a teaser. In Guild Wars 2 you'll finally be able to play as them, as opposed to have them merely tag along.

While what the preview showed us of the Asurans was rather limited, it's quite safe to say they'll be quite a popular pick come Guild Wars 2, if only because Vekk, your primary Asuran contact, is voiced by Maurice LaMarche. Who? He’s only one of my favourite voices from my childhood afternoons – he is, in fact, none other than Brain from Pinky and the Brain.

The Norn, however, are going to flood the Guild Wars 2 servers. The preview gave us an excellent taste of these shape-shifting half-giants with a Nordic-based culture and wonderful towns, and of course we got to see their latent ability to transform into a bear. Bears are awesome. Being able to transform into one is more awesome.

Their culture is built around a warrior’s mantle, and each Norn seeks to prove their worth in the battlefield. They live by the blade and die by the blade.

The dwarves also made an appearance in the preview, as you'd expect since the game takes place in Northern Tyria, the snowlands, where in Prophecies they were so prevalent. They're given a bit more depth through the inclusion of Odgen Stonehealer, who is highly reminiscent of the movie version of Gimli from Lord of the Rings. It's unfortunate, then, that they won't be a playable race in Guild Wars 2.



Guild Wars: Eye of the North hits this Friday, and so as to not break tradition, we'll endeavour to bring you the world's first review yet again. I think it's time to cash-in those saved up sick-days at work.

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