Ready to dive back into Tyria? Eye of the North is the fourth retailcontent release for Guild Wars, and the first true expansion pack.Unlike the standalone titles Guild Wars (often called Prophecies),Guild Wars: Factions, and Guild Wars: Nightfall, Eye of the Northrequires a previous version of the game to play. It's strictlyhigh-level content, meaning you'll need a level 20 character to accessit. This isn't so bad, since the level grind from 1 to 20 in Guild Warsis one of the fastest out there; something that can be accomplished ina matter of days if you wholeheartedly detest sleeping.
Returning to the lands in which Prophecies took place, the story in Eyeof the North envelops a few new and returning races, including thesinister Charr, magical Asura, brutish Norn, and hardy Dwarves. We'retold the game is supposed to feature a more open-ended main narrativestructure, unlike the strict point-to-point jaunts in campaigns past.ArenaNet wanted to open things up so players could more easily discoverthe extra content embedded within the new areas like the FarShiverpeaks and the Asura's homelands.
That's not to say there's a lack of direction with the main narrative -there seems to be plenty. It starts off with the underground rumblingsof a primeval force, known as the Destroyers, forcing the diminutiveAsura to the surface of the world. In their lands of the TarnishedCoast, the Asura hope to fight back by constructing menacing machinesof war known as golems. In other parts, the armies of Ascalon, whom youmay remember from Prophecies, are still engaged in a bitter conflictwith the Charr. The Dwarves enter the fray to oppose the Destroyers aswell, since they consider them a fated enemy.
The emergence of the Destroyers is accompanied by earthquakes sopowerful they tear up Tyria's soil, opening up access to vastunderground dungeons. In these dungeons, of which there at 18, ArenaNetis implementing what they've described as "gamey" elements, such asavoiding giant rolling snowballs during battle, finding dungeon mapsthat mark boss locations and interest areas in a Zelda-like fashion,and other tweaks in their established MMO formula.
ArenaNet invited us, along with press from a number of other outlets,to their studio in Bellevue, Washington to get some hands-on time withthe game. From what we played, well, it felt a lot like Guild Wars,which is a good thing. The company is slowly transitioning their staffover to Guild Wars 2 development at this point, so Eye of the North maybe the last retail release we see for the original. Of course they'llkeep a team busy monitoring the continents of Guild Wars, to watch forissues and provide live updates, but it seems the company's focus ismore and more centered on Guild Wars 2.
To that end, ArenaNet created Eye of the North with the sequel in mind.Based on your accomplishments throughout in world of Guild Wars, you'llbe given a chunk of additional content once the sequel eventually rollsout. Accomplishments manifest at the actual Eye of the North, aphysical location in the expansion. Inside the looming tower you canhead to your Hall of Monuments, a chamber displaying trophies for youraccomplishment like heroes acquired, rare armors, titles, andminiatures. These can even be shown off to your friends if you're proud(or perhaps deceitful) enough to lead a party inside.
Wewere given a semi-guided demo of the game, which ran us through a fewstory sequences filled with all-new characters like Vakk the Asura,Jora the Norn, and Ogden Stonehealer, a Dwarf. We chose an avatar ofthe Warrior / Elementalist profession combination, giving us a mix ofmagical and melee skills. Dragon slash, silverwing slash, and sun andmoon slash were all melee hits that caused extra damage in one way oranother. Conjure frost smacked foes with cold damage, and we couldsummon an ice imp if we wished, which certainly did. Rounding out theeight-slot skill bar were healing and resurrection signets.
Things kicked off in Keining Center, where a minister told our group tocheck out a hole in the street. Initially it seemed simple enough, butwe've played games before - we know that ruptured street isn't what itseems. And it wasn't, as crawling through revealed a sprawling networkof underground tunnels within which we met Odgen for the first time,who's trying to steal a bunch of explosives. Vekk shows up, but theirconversation is interrupted by the intrusion of a troupe of Destroyers.A three minute timer popped up on the screen and everybody had tosprint out of there with extreme urgency, as the waves of Destroyersweren't stopping. Our run was accompanied by some nice environmentaleffects like earthquakes shaking loose rocks from the ceiling and ajittering screen. After a short sprint we dove through a portal tosafety, only to be encountered by a prickly Jora, particularly imposingbecause of her race's substantial height.
Next we took on a more interesting challenge, a stronghold assaultalongside one of the new Charr heroes, Pyre Fierceshot. He's ratherfearsome, as you may have gathered by reading his name, and along witha group of other Charr helps you to break a fortified wall's defenses.The goal of the battle was to let an Armor Saurus (yes, an armoreddinosaur) slam into a wooden gate enough times to break it down. Thisisn't as easy as it may sound, as the walls flanking the door arepopulated with archers and bomb-throwers that can attack and kill thehaplessly single-minded plated lizard. He can be healed, though, but inorder to get close enough you'll first need to overtake a siegedevourer, a monstrous crab-like being that once reached can be orderedto fire at the stronghold's archers. Amidst the confusion of battle,it's highly likely the Armor Saurus will be killed at least once, butanother will lope along soon afterwards.
When we finally broke down the gate, the demo continued right on intoan area called Oola's Lab. We were told the goal was to reach Oola, anAsuran crafter of golems, called a golemancer. The problem is, Oolaisn't the most receptive of hosts, as her lab is crammed with roguegolems bent on smashing you to bits. These tall, stone creatures withemerald crystals in their chests weren't so easy to defeat, especiallyonce we got hung up in a trap section. When trying to ascend a flightof stairs, we were unrelentingly bombarded with a rain of fireballs.This hot danger would persist unless we succeeded in dismantlingcontroller bots, something it took numerous resurrection cheat commandline inputs to accomplish. Though we didn't catch sight of it, ArenaNetmentioned there was a TPS controller bot somewhere in the dungeon, aswell as a red Asura swingline staff elsewhere in the game.
Beyondthe questing, we got to test drive the various mini-games of the Asura,Norn, and Dwarven races; contests which build reputation with theirrespective races and allow for additional quests and the acquisition ofplayer-versus-environment-only skills. With the Asura you get polymock,a game where you choose three monster pieces to compete against anopponent's three. Each monster piece, be it a gargoyle or skale, comeswith its own skill set, and your goal is to blast away at youropponent's piece until it keels over. By winning matches and lootingcorpses out in the field you can amass the whole collection of 18pieces.
Dwarves have a brawling arena where your character swaps their weaponfor brass knuckles and engages in some Guild Wars-style fisticuffs.Attacks include an uppercut, block, jab, straight right, and hook, andnew skills can be unlocked with successful rounds. Should you getknocked down during the course of a fight, which consists of enemiesrushing at you in increasing numbers, you can jam on a skill button toflip back up to your feet. The skill generates energy with each click,and you're required to completely fill the bar within 10 seconds oryou'll pass back out. Finally there's the Norn fighting arena that putsyou up against characters from previous Guild Wars games as well as Eyeof the North. Unlike with the Dwarven fighting, you can use all yourequipment and regular skill set here. It should also be noted thatMagni the Bison is the Norn arena's endboss. No word yet as to whetherhe busts out psycho crushers.
In terms of technical improvements, Eye of the North will see someminor graphical upgrades as well as more dynamic battle music. As faras graphics go with Guild Wars, this expansion still looks beautiful.Even without engine upgrades, which are limited to the lands in Eye ofthe North, the game would still be gorgeous - ArenaNet has a stellarart department that's able to continually outdo itself with eachsuccessive release. After the demo we briefly trekked through a few ofthe expansion's areas, from perpetually burning forests to lush,rolling hillsides, to snowy cliffs and the levitating rocks of theAsura's home turf, the game's style and flair are just as intact asthey ever were. The creature designs remain interesting, from theDestroyers' ferocious aesthetic to some strange metallic peacock-likecreatures with deadly mandibles.
This game's out in stores soon enough. A worldwide preview event is setfor the end of the month, with the release shortly thereafter. We'lllook forward to that along with more news of Guild Wars 2, whichhopefully surfaces soon after the expansion's release.
