Guild Wars: Nightfall

Tobias falls for this bewitching MMO

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A sequel to anything, be it film, book or game, is usually hissed at and never thought to be as good as the original but, with Guild Wars: Nightfall, the opposite has most certainly occurred. With two new classes, story, missions, PVP (player versus player) mode, items, NPC heroes and setting, it offers twice as much as both original Prophecies and sequel Factions put together. This is, in fact, exactly what Nightfall is; a game building upon every positive aspect of the series, plus new additional features and content for both the PVP and single player modes.

Nightfall is set in the desert land of Elona. In order to give you a general image of this new world, there are similarities in both setting and even one of the extra character classes with the Prince of Persia games. It is vibrant and colourful, full of architectural and environmental detail which, although already accomplished with the Eastern setting of Factions, is a very welcome change from the endless miles of charred Ascalon from Prophecies.

However, although the setting has changed and new features added, Nightfall's overall structure remains the same. Players log in online into the world, starting in a town to chat with other players and form parties with one another in order to go out into the outside world to complete missions and quests. For those with a little more bloodlust and a competitive streak there is the PVP mode. Here players will be able to pit their characters against others in different matches and battles.

When you create a new character you will be given the option to enter either the PVP or Role-playing world. If you create one for the PVP mode they will already be at level 20 in order to keep you on the same level as others. You can customise your character's weapons and armour to a degree but not much. The best thing to do is to create a character for the Role-playing world. Here you will be able to mingle with others as said and do missions and quests to reach level 20 manually, and collect much needed items and weapons along the way that you will not be able to acquire in PVP mode. Once you character is at level 20 you will then be able to transport them from the Role-playing world into PVP mode to compete against other players.

As said, nothing is much different in Nightfall compared to Prophecies and Factions but some excellent additions have been made. The major new feature is Heroes. Throughout the game you will be able to add up to three heroes into your party just as you could with henchmen in Prophecies and Factions but you will be able to customise them. You can control and customise them in terms of their weapons, armour, items they have on their person, changing the various skills they can use on their skill bar, set their attacking formations to attack, guard or avoid conflict, etc. Although most of the time they might act like NPCs if you do not give them direct commands in battle and they can waste your precious time setting all of their customisations, they are a great addition for players who wish to get really involved in the single player game and not have to put up with others joining their party and running off or stealing most of the gold or items dropped by enemies or found in chests.

When creating a character for Nightfall you will now be able to select the two new character classes, the Paragon and Dervish. The Paragon are most suitable for players who like to attack at long range, with a lot of heavy attacks with their heavy sun-spears. Their skills are mostly buffs split into echoes and chants that more or less means all of their attacks do extreme damage when used effectively. The Paragon are not so amazing a class and are very similar to the normal Warrior but they fit in with the new setting and are very useful in certain situations. The Dervish are very different, thankfully so, to give the two new classes some distinction. The Dervish are all equipped with large scythes and perform sweeping attacks to damage enemies situated around them. They can also perform spells and enchantments, creating a very healthy balance between melee and spell casting. It has always been a problem for players wanting the two together, as no race has ever had such ability but now the Dervish fit into this category perfectly.

The new storyline of Nightfall is very engrossing and if you also read the game manuals that accompany the title then you will enjoy the game and narrative immensely. In order to progress in the story you will need to complete 20 primary missions, different from the quests you receive from NPCs. It may only be 20 but at the length that they are, spanning over the entire land of Elona and having many secondary quests of their own, it provides players with many hours of singe player action. Different characters drive the story and sometimes it can be confusing as to who is from a certain faction and place and what it is that they have to do with the story at all but once your mind works it all out, you will find it is too late to stop playing in all likelihood.

Nightfall is a very pretty game, surpassing both Prophecies and Factions in setting and visual style, reaching a level of detail and quality that is very impressive considering the sheer amount of players and environmental richness the game incorporates. There is also a great deal of variety across the board. The two new classes Paragon and Dervish look stunning and fit in perfectly with the desert setting of Elona, which itself has so many different and detailed terrains throughout the land including scorching plains, lush jungles, cavernous tunnels and ranging mountains. Something to also take note of is the detail that has been put into the architecture; most buildings in both Prophecies and Factions were quite basic, simply designed to fit in, but those in Nightfall have been modelled to sheer excellence with their scaling sizes and monumental designs.

The music, not just in Nightfall but also in Prophecies and Factions before it, is outstanding and truly spectacular at times. A great amount of talent and time has been spent here, creating a unique score to match the new locale, whilst also adding to the sense of heroism and bravery with the change of atmospheric to drumming music as you charge into battle. The voice acting has also received a good level of attention, with accents to match character appearance and race.

Guild Wars Nightfall could possibly be the series at its best. For newcomers it has everything you could ask from any MMO with many unique features of its own you will not find in others. For veterans of the series, you will gladly find your love for it refreshed and charged, once again to play through this new glorious setting and deeper plotline, incorporating two new character classes and hero customisation to keep you online and campaigning for hours on end. Indeed, apart from there being no monthly subscription fee, what more could you ask for?

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By Tobias Rowe