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Fantastic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 17
Date: April 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I think this game is as good as Guild Wars.Not only new type of armors and characters are very fantastic,but also new environments and user interface are very successful.

Great follow-up to Guild Wars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: May 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Guild Wars: Factions presents itself as a huge sucess both as an expansion to the original Guild Wars and as it's own standalone game.

If you enjoy the original Guild Wars, this add-on is highly advisable. The two new professions are well made and enjoyable to play. It comes with an entire new world, new skills, new armor and other such features that increase the gameplay.

If you never played Guild Wars before, this is game is still worth the shot. It's graphics are stunning, especially compared to the normal MMO (Massively Multipler Online) games. However, it is not an MMORPG and should not be viewed as such.
The game is centered around how you can develop your own combat style by the way you customize your character and its skills, not on levelling him up and finding that super-powerful weapon. While it does stay true to the RPG genre, it is so much more.

On top of that, there are no fees.
Nothing wrong with not paying extra,eh?

PvP, and limited at that

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 26
Date: May 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After loving GW, I'm uninstalling Factions. The +/-:

+Graphics (beautiful, intricate, and run well on most systems)
+GUI (the user interface) very simple and straightforward
+System resources (very easy to switch btw this an other programs w/ zero hangups)
+diversity (w/ 8 classes combinable into a character w/ x/y pair of classes, several hundred skills and the ability to switch your character in almost every way, you can shift character builds very easily)
+ Learning curve (very simplistic combat, roles, and you're max level w/in a few hours if playing a new charcter)

-PvE (constantly respawning mass-mobs of enemies that are higher lvl than the PCs, almost immediate requirement to be at top level w/ your character)
-Story (the constantly morphing nature of your character makes you feel like several soldiers in one giganitc army and NOTHING is done to make you feel like an individual)
-Seriously limited models (characters can wear one of a few armors--all of which are beautiful--and have a very limited set of appearances. Necromancers look very different from warriors, but most necros look like each other)
-PvP (better know what a mold is and be prepared to fit it, at least until you can talk folks into trying your strategy, which may never occur)
-Community (PvP action really limits the desire of folks to help one another out)
-Weapons (several models, but very little in the way of unique abilities)
-BUGS (not mobs, but as w/ many online games near launch, this one has some crippling ones: I've replayed the first mission 10-ish times trying to get competent parties and then to get the bug where the mission refuses to complete)

After two hours and the apex being about 1/8th of the cost for a single piece of armor dropping, I was asking "Why?" a lot more than I was asking "How?".

If you loved the PvP aspect of the original GW, this should entertain you. If you want an MMO, a friendly community, PvE, story, or anything remotely consituting an incenstive to develop (not grind) your online alterego, skip this.

IMO, this is cafe-monkey fodder or a PvP/Raid only title.

Yech, from me, a rpg fan.

Totally bugged and frustration gaming

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 33
Date: May 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I played Guild Wars for more then 1800 hours and couldn't wait to get Factions in my hands. Now... I'm more as just a little bit disapointed.
The Henchmens KI is even worse then before. The maps have bugs all over and the game is unbalanced in Monster force and player force. They wanted to increase the difficulty.. fine... to try for 4 hours to get ONE bossmonster down and die about 10 times per try as your henchmen ressurect you inside a damage field (Balthasar aura) so you die instandly again and get 15% more mallus... this game is not funny. I was a BIG Guild Wars fan.. now.. with Faction. Guild Wars itself has to many disadvantages to play it (PvP) as you don't get the equipments for your PvE chars. This game is.. dead.. sorry to say. for me a HELL NO!!! Don't buy it!!!!! As Guild Wars only provided 4 character slots for 6 possible chars.. I had even two games so I could create all characters... bought 2 Factions so I can all move em to the new play ground... BIG MISTAKE... cash blown into the wind.
Keep your hand away from NCSoft games... simple.. they have a Microsoft behavior.. use the player as beta Tester.. do setups so you buy the game more as just once. I'm sure.. this game will not survive the next update.. as peoples will leave it soon. Just to many bugs and frustration. The customer support.. is ridiculous... just do yourself a favor and buy something more funny!

Beautiful game with unbalanced power

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 12
Date: May 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game is beautiful, the graphics, the characters....everything. But the power is absolutely unbalanced. They tried to provide us with more challenge but it's not challenging, it's frustrating trying to beat one quest for an entire day. The are fewer quests but even though they give more exp a character can't level enough to be able to fight the mobs. They are 3-5 levels higher. It is fun but it is more frustrating.

Wow...Why All The Whining?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 100 / 113
Date: May 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well I was surprised to see so many complaining reviews. I have been playing this game since the original came out...and I've played Factions since its debut.
So...let's see what all this fuss is about.

1. Bugs...
I have yet to be unable to complete any mission because of bugs. I did on one occasion become 'stuck' in the scenery. My team simply ported to a new location and all was well. However, I was not at all concerned...the game hasn't been out for a week yet. Did you expect perfection in 3 days? I find that unreasonable at best. Now if the problem were to persist say a month from now...well maybe then you'd have cause.

2. Oh Poor Me They Keep Beating Me Up.
Well yeah. probably because, like many players I've seen, you didn't bother to do any of the multitude of very high experience giving quests before you left the starter island. (Doing them all takes approximately 2 hours- I timed it) You just skipped em all and went straight for the primary 'get off the island' quests. I've seen many a level 10 on the mainland trying to get in a group. Then they complain they keep dying. Well of course you are. When I left the island I was level 17...from quests only, I didn't do any 'farming' and after about two quests outside the first 'mainland city' I was level 20 with both sets of bonus 15 attribute quests (available on the starter island). And so you know, I did all of this with one partner and the rest henchies.

3. They All Look Alike...
Yeah, but they did in the first Guild Wars too. What's your point? They added all new armors...new appearances for the new classes as well as the old ones. For a game that has thousands of players did you expect every one to look different?

4. PvP Is Cookie Cutter.
Yup. It is. But hey they all started somewhere. Each month finds a new PvP trend. Gale Warriors one month... Massive Minion bombing the next. So, if you wish to try a new tactic I suggest you gather a few friends and do it. There's nothing stopping you. I'm sure you've also had occasion to put down someone elses strategy so maybe the problem is inherent in the system. But nothing really prevents you from doing anything you want, provided you have good people willing to try.

In conclusion, considering the fact that this game basically has a yearly fee of about $45 (the price to buy the game)I think it's a worthy addition to any MMO fans collection.

Not what you think you're paying for...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 24 / 38
Date: May 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you bought the first Guild Wars (now called Prophecies) and were inclined to believe that Factions would offer more of what you loved, then you might be in for a suprise.

The good:

The Visuals:
Visuals in this game are very nice and a good change from the older Prophecies campaign. In Prophecies I often felt like I was being blinded by glare because some of the maps (notably the Cyrstal Desert and Shiverpeaks) were so monochromatic and tended toward white/yellow. The city of Cantha is impressive if not a little repetitive. What really shines are the Luxon and Kurzick areas. These provide a very nice atmosphere for adventure with the Kurzick tending to be very dark and forboding while the Luxon is more of a bright hill country-meets-frozen sea.

New skills:
Many new skills have been included with quite a few elites. This makes taking an older Prophecies character through the game quite worthwhile as you'll be able to purchase and capture many new skills for your character.

New classes:
You now have the opportunity to play the ritualist and assassin classes. The ritualist being a versatile hybrid of healing/protection and damage dealing class via the use of spirits. The assassin a lightly armored class that specializes in killing caster/soft targets. The addition of these classes provide a nice rounding out of the pre-exisiting classes from Prophecies.

Challenge Missions:
A nice diversion where you race against the clock to do things like kill as many foes as possible. High scorers may be rewared with faction, experience points and gold depending on the challenge mission.

The Bad:

Quests:
The quest system is boring and in the FedEX style. Go to point A, then point B, then point C, then back to A. Talk to person A, A says talk to B, B says talk to C. All the while you be killing endless mobs of the same monster.

Skills:
There are new skills for each class, but many are simply renamed versions of older Prophecies skills. Sure, it's fun to have two of the same skills on your skillbar, but it's not that original.

Timed Missions:
All missions are now timed. If you finish them quickly you earn more experience points and more skill points. This puts players in the awkward position of having to rush through missions in order to get the best bonus. In a mixed pickup group some players may be on the mission for the second/third/forth time and wish to rush while new players will want to take their time. This can lead to mission failure.

The Map:
To prevent running/bypassing of the storyline (which was common in Prophecies) much of the Factions map is gated. Characters may only progress further by completing quests and missions. This is fine on the first character through, but many times a player may wish to bring a second and third character through the game but bypass the more tedious parts. This is no longer possible in Factions.

Alliances and Elite Missions:
There are new elite missions in the Factions campaign that are only available if a player happens to be a member of a controlling alliance. Alliances are formed by guilds allying with each other. To control an outpost/town and hence elite content an Alliance must gain faction point via PvP or PvE. Town/Outpost control is costly (500k-1.5million faction). Only large alliances with several hundred players can hope to control outposts and access elite missions. This locks out the casual gamer from some of the higher end content. Casual players may still be able to access this content by paying the controlling alliance. This system is ripe for exploitation in the form of price gouging. It also encourages consistent farming for faction. This farming is a form of grinding play that was originally what the Guild Wars team set out to abolish. Sadly they've only encouraged it in Factions.

Too little content for PvE fans:
The power gamer or those with highly addictive playstyles will find they finish the content Factions provides within 2-4 days. You can stretch this out by doing most of the quests, but their FedEX style is painful and somewhat annoying.

guild wars faction

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 19
Date: May 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

IT A NICE GAME NO FEE'S FOR ONE LINE PLAY. IT PLAYS LIKE MOST GAMES WITH THE W,S,A,D, AND THE MOUSE. YOU CAN GET NPC'S TO HELP YOU DO QUEST BUT YOU GET LESS EXP AND LESS GOLD BUT KEEP THE ITEMS YOU LOOT. IN UPPER LEVELS YOU NEED THE NPC'S TO HELP WITH QUEST OR OTHER PLAYERS.TOP LEVEL IS 20 BUT THEY HAVE LOTS OF UPGRADES TO GET. IT WAS MY FIRST GUILD WAR GAME AND I LIKE IT. I PREORDERED THEIR NEXT GAME FROM NCSOFT IT WILL BE OUT IN OCTOBER I THINK.

Simply Beautiful

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: May 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Factions is a fantastic game and a perfect addition to Prophecies. Combining both accounts is the way to go. Sharing worlds, storage, outfits, gold, etc. expands the gaming experience exponentially. When a character gets to the point of crossing over between games, suddenly there is a proliferation of characters and everything gets 'really' interesting.

I've got to mention how beautiful this game is. Starting with character design (which puts the butt-ugly characters of WoW, EQII, Oblivion and all others to shame... who the heck cares how far apart the eyebrows are!!!); the Asian-influenced landscapes are like walking through a movie; and, even the battles made my wife look over and comment "Wow, that's really stunning." As an artist, I've impossibly high graphic standards and this one hits it.

I think the most important element that sets these games apart from their competitors is Design (with a capital D). Loading times are invisible; the log-in/character creation screen appears instantly, is straight-forward, and very easy to navigate; the game experience is not overly complicated and has an intuiative user interface; the storyline (mostly non-existent in other MMORPG's) is engaging and drives the action forward (c'mon... you get to the "end" of WoW and what happens?... what?... nothing... they want you to keep playing and soaking online fees out of you); and finally, speaking of no online fees there's no need for the Guild Wars website to be sneeky... (try logging onto EQII and not having the feeling you're being charged for something!).

The only problem is you'll find yourself buying multi-copies of the game, setting up several accounts, and maintaining a large character base (I've got 3 copies each of Prophecies and Factions with 18 characters in 3 guilds).

Suggestions for future builds would be: increased interaction with the environment making use of the great emotes available; unlockable character traits & outfits for a second go-round; more variation on where monsters spawn; and, a bit more control of your henchmen.

All that said... buy this game! Pick up both while you're at it, combine your game keys into one account and you won't regret it.

And don't get me started about the Dance Parties... the new Assassin and Ritualist dances are to die for! Makes the chat part of the game a hoot!

Awesome Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: May 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Guild Wars Factions is great! There are now over 50 new armor, weapons, etc. Quests are plentiful and fun. But there is one thing that still haunts this game, the level max, which is 20. That isn't very high considering little games like RuneScape having Lv126. I don't think that they understand that people like to have a challenge of trying to higher levels. All that set aside, this game is powerhouse of fun. Leveling up is still fun. Here is something good about this game, you still get to keep your account from the original and play it on factions. There are 2 new professions, which are the Riualist and the Assasin. The game also provides new skills for professions. The graphics are still amazing, and the enviroments pump life and never look the same. There is no repetitive monster killing, just like the original. This game surpasses the original Guild Wars due to the new content, This game is amazing, there is barely anything wrong, except the max level, but that doesn't stop such an amazing game like this.

Good: Graphics are amazing and enviroments look amazing.
The 2 new professions
Bunch of new skills
Fun to level up
No repititive creature killing
Over 50 new armor, weapons, etc
You get to keep your account from the original
New Quests and Continent to play on

Bad: Max level is 20

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