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Same game different name

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 26
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The thing I notice quickly about the entire series is that it remains the same no matter how many expansions they do. It's just another hack n slash, but, the worst thing about it is there is no improvement on equipment. Weapons, Armor, Runes, magical items, shields, etc. all remain the same as in the origional. That +15% weapon you got in Prophecies is still as good as the +15% weapon you get in Nightfall and/or Factions. Without player/character improvements this series is destine for boredom much faster with each rendition.

Once you have leveled up at least one character to level 20 the repitition is tedious and boring to say the least since it requires going thru the same content over and over and just hacking and slashing your way thru it. It's an experience grind, but, there's no other reason to level up since there isn't any improved equipment to be had.

I grew bored playing Faction and were it not for the Alliance battles and the fort battles I would have quit playing the series a long time ago. Adding Heroes to the game does nothing for me except add more ignorant Ai performance during battles although it does allow me to keep them in place while I pull....about the only improvement worth Nightfall purchase.

Bottom Line if you have the others and only if you play the non-pvp portion of the game will you really get anything of value out of this expansion. My suggestion is just wait until the price falls as it already has by $10 I see. It's just not the mmorpg that it should be. If they would separate pvp from non-pvp and allow players to progress in higher levels and equipment this by far would be an outstanding non pay to play game. Chances of that happening are nill to none, but, we can hope soon someone will pickup on this idea that that is what single player players want.

nightfall is actually way less fun than the original

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 21
Date: November 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was surprised to find that they had actually made this expansion much more limiting as to what you can do without help from others, whether it be npc's or pc's. and for some reason(probably people are getting just as sick of this game as I am) I find there are a whole lot less people playing the game now then when it first came out and for a good while thereafter.

and worst part is, like the other reviewer noted, there is still a lot of bickering and rude behavior in the game. unfortunately, many of those are still playing the game, while the more decent player seems to have, to a very large degree, simply quit playing the game. and this makes for a very frustrating gaming experience.

I would recommend other ventures or avenues of entertainment. if it's gaming you desire, I'd look elsewhere. there is very little effort put into keeping the players in line. with the game being designed for teens, I'd think they should do something about that. who wants their kids at recess with nobody present at all to keep them in line?

A Review For The Casual Gamer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 18 / 33
Date: November 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Although I've put in literally hundreds of hours playing Guild Wars Prophecies and Factions, I have to say Nightfall is... well, not fun. If you're the type who likes to chat, but ultimately solos most missions, then this is not your game. Like the other games there is a "newbie" island to build your character, test your skills, and level up. The new Hero system makes the leveling process (grind) somewhere between annoying and excrutiating (does "process" sound fun to you?). Not only do you need to level up your own character, but to make the Heros worth a darn, they need leveling up as well or they'll just be dead meat once a mission starts. OK, boring.

UPDATE Jan 11, 2007. OK, I take most of it back. My initial response was decidedly negative; and, although I still LOVE Factions, Nightfall ain't so bad. It's still a long noob island process, but recent updates just make the whole of the Guild Wars world better and better.

Was 2 Stars. Now 4.

It's beautiful, yes. The "newbie" island is the best part. But even noob island becomes exasperatingly long and tedious with quest after quest after quest after quest (the idea I guess is to allow for you to level up your worthless Heros). The "mission" that takes you from what I can only assume is ArenaNet's idea of a very long and arduous training island is so impossibly hard, it'll make you want to sue them to get your time back. After you "make it" to the mainland, it just feels like a let down.

Stick with the original. Don't waste your money. They'll try to stuck you in to ordering the game easily online through their login store, but resist! Sure, the rationale will be, "Gee, they don't charge online monthly fees... gosh, I'll buck up." Don't.

Not recommended. Go back and play the other games.

same old - same old

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: December 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Very disappointed. Paid alot for the same old game. If you enjoyed it so much you want to do GW over again, go ahead and buy it. Not enough innovation to justify the money.

Another Repeat, but fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 31
Date: October 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Are you an mmorpg fan? if you are, you will enjoy the guild wars series. Do you have guild wars 1 and/or 2 and u are looking forward to a new refreshed different gaming style? if yes, then u might wanna put down your wallet and just play the first 2 games. The guildwars games all are very alike and barely change with each sequel...the only point in buying each one is so that you can access new features like proffesions, character slots, new items, ect. The same thing happens with every game in the series: with each game you get 2 new proffesions, 2 more character slots, and a couple of extra features in each campaign. Nightfall isnt any different than its other brothers in the series: same style gameplay, identical graphics, same style of leveling up and doing quests (and a 20 level cap just as we have all seen in the previous games), and party options and style is organized the way its always been.

So basicaly, if your looking for a new, different game in the GW series (gw stands for guildwars, not george washington) then u might want to save your money for other mmorpgs coming out(of course, if your like me and your looking for a free online game with no monthly fee like the gw games and this seems to be the only free one out there, then thats a good reason not to buy WoW). If u loved the other guildwars series and you just want some new features, then go ahead, this is for you.

An okay game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: January 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Nightfall is a microstep better than the original chapter of Guildwars. The art has improved and the heroes are a break in the monotony. The monster and armor art is better but on the scenery side there is more of the big featureless areas that make the game much less immersive and less interesting. AI has changed for the worse, but that was happening in the earlier chapters before nightfall was released. The extreme it has reached is much like other video games, highly overpowered nearly invincible enemies that have no tactics and do little more than target the healer using abilities that can kill the whole group in one hit (ones the player can never have).

Although this is an online game expect teaming with real people to be very rare. Most of the remaining loyal players are very antisocial and obsessive, so almost no one plays with other people. Consider it a online single player game as you'll be playing with AI controlled party memebers.

The price is much too high. Even though you pay no monthly fee after the initial purchase, the content and game design really isn't worth more than the most bargain basement price tag(maybe $10). The earlier chapters should also be included since no one is playing them anymore anyway. It could be some interesting scenery and a slight variation in quest themes. That could give the average non-obsessive player at least a few weeks of playtime before they get bored and erase it.

fun but way to short (only 20 lvls)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: August 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

its a great game but with only 20 lvls and dosent take long to git to but the game play is good the is story so so over an ok game not the best but good non the less not recommended

Fun at the beginning, level cap kills any later on

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I will forgo my usual page and a half review which I normally write for games. Nightfall I just don't feel warrants it. Almost everything is the same in this newer version of Guild Wars. You have eight skills that can be equipped at any one time, there is a point and click battle system, missions and quests, you can have eight people in your party blah blah blah. Everything is essentially the same. The only real difference is the heroes system. In Nightfall you are given a first hero: Koss who is a warrior and he levels up as you do. Also, his armor automatically levels up and his weapon and focus item can be changed. Skills can be earned for the heroes and equipped how you see fit. These heroes become more helpful as the game goes on because they actually do what you tell them to do. They can also be ordered to certain parts of the map. I suppose many players were complaining about the mental capability of the henchmen and sometimes other players. The hero system was Ncsoft's solution. I must admit it is a much better system and playing by myself is considerably less stressful. I really enjoy MMORPGs but sometimes I just want to go and not be tethered by other players.

Now for the bad parts of Nightfall. As I said before, it is more of the same. In some ways this is good, in others it really sucks. The good part is that the learning curve is very small. You can easily learn the basics of the game within an hour or less. Missions and quests follow the same general convention. One of the smaller things that bothers me is that the armor looks the same until you get well into the game. Downsides of the Nightfall's gameplay is it takes maybe 15-20 hours to reach level 20. You stay on what is referred to as "noob" island for your first fifteen levels at least. Once you get to the main continent you are faced with this overwhelming sense of what do I do now? The worst part is you continue to do endless quests and never really see where the story comes in. After about 30 hours in I just didn't see why I should continue playing. The game is boring - plain and simple. Guild Wars allegiance to the 20 level character cap is ludicrous and is the reason why people ultimately will lose interest with the game. For those of us who want to play the game to experience an RPG are left behind those who play PVP. Guild Wars will never come close to the numbers of subscribers of World of Warcraft because the game gets stale after about a month. Yes, you can customize your weapons a little and dye your armor, but an immersive interactive world this is not. Considering the fourth episode in the series just came out recently, many will be flocking to the stores to give money to these clowns who make sub-par cookie cutter games.

A Fantastic Addition to the Guild Wars Universe

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 54 / 60
Date: November 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game, like its predecessors Guild Wars: Prophecies and Guild Wars: Factions, is designed for players who--

(1) Enjoy a great story and playing a part in that story
(2) Appreciate fine graphics, stunning landscapes, and strikingly rendered monsters and battle effects
(3) Enjoy small group/solo adventuring
(4) Enjoy strategizing, exploring, and questing
(5) Can sometimes play for long stretches at a time ... but can often only play in smaller blocks of 30-60 minutes and still want to have fun and get stuff done
(6) Might have to pause mid-quest to do something else (wash dishes, go for a walk, take out the garbage, answer the phone...) and come back later (Guild Wars, I find, is much more "forgiving" for players who have lives, where World of Warcraft is not, since Guild Wars more or less "holds your place" if you are called away temporarily to do other things)

Nightfall adds new story content, new professions (the paragon [kind of a spear-wielding paladin] and the dervish [a whirling, spinning slice and dicer]), a bucketload of nifty innovations, and ABOVE ALL, HEROES. The heroes are customizable, controllable henchmen that add a whole new dimension to the game--not only to Nightfall but to the two previous editions of Guild Wars as well.

I have to say I am pleased and greatly impressed with Nightfall. I took a character or two over from the previous campaigns and nabbed a few heroes and now those characters are back playing through the Prophecies and Factions missions and quests with their Heroes. I love this!

NCSoft has, in effect, upped the ante and enriched and deepened the playability of ALL of their games at once, although I hasten to add that you must purchase Nightfall to access the new regions (i.e., the beautiful, African-themed Elona), the new missions, and--best of all--the new Heroes.

I have nearly completed the Nightfall campaign (with a dervish and a monk), and all I can say is that it's been great fun. The Guild Wars series just continues to get better, richer, deeper, and more fun to play. Best of all, unlike that other online game behemoth (World of Warcraft), Guild Wars is very casual/solo player friendly, both time-wise and group-wise. You can complete virtually any quest or mission in this campaign ALONE (with henchmen), if that is your playing style. It is difficult to do (I *like* difficult, heh), but it can be done. I know this because that is how I have played all three Guild Wars campaigns.

People familiar with the first two campaigns and looking for something "totally new" will not find it here but that, in my opinion, is a good thing. Nightfall builds upon and enhances the successful gameplay formula established by Prophecies and Factions, retaining all of the aspects of previous campaigns that players appreciated and yet incorporating new bells and whistles that make the basic story-centered structure better and even more enjoyable.

Whether performing a wide variety of quests and killing countless hosts of monsters and enemies is "grinding" and "boring" or "great fun" really depends on your perspective, I suppose. I think it's great fun. I just completed a quest in this campaign yesterday wherein you must help a herdsman get his cows to safe pasture past mobs of brigands. I found the assignment difficult, creative, and funny all at the same time, with the herd mooing and stampeding every which way and the brigands attacking in waves and cows dying all along the way. Now, that's entertainment! And that was but one quest among ... zillions.

In short, Nightfall is a solid and enjoyable addition to the fine Guild Wars series. I highly recommend it.

____________

[edit (11/14/07): The excellent Guild Wars series ends with its Eye of the North Expansion Pack. Guild Wars 2, a sort of "reinvention" of the game, is due out in 2009 [hopefully!].)

Casual Gaming Girl Prefers Guild Wars to World of Warcraft

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: January 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I abandoned WOW for Guild Wars.

When diving into the Guild Wars sage, I began with Nightfall. I recommend Nightfall to new Guild Wars players. Heros taught me about other classes and were always available when I needed help.

Although my Radeon 9200 video card was sufficient in WOW, it lags a little in GW. I like GW so much, I plan to upgrade when I can.

I was a casual WOW player in WOW for 6 months, only leveling to 48. After playing Guild Wars a few weeks, I gave up my WOW subscription. I have continued playing Guild Wars when I can and love it. Here's why:

1) The missions (main quests) in Guild Wars taken while I level my characters impact the environment as a whole. I feel like what I'm doing is meaningful. And they begin as soon as a new character is made. The "Collect 10 bear pelts" type quests in WOW felt silly. Nothing in the WOW environment ever changes for more than a moment or two.

2) When I quest in GWs, I am not interupted by other players. Only my party members can chat with me, and they are involved on the same quests I am. In WOW, I was constantly interupted. Players begged, nagged, and sometimes made unneccessary negative comments. The chat was constant. I played on a PVP server so getting "ganked" or killed by powerful other players was a constant possibility and seemed to happen right when I was about to complete tasks. That was a drag.

3) I dreaded end game material in WOW and am excited about end gaming in Guild Wars. My husband did WOW end game instances for the minimum 15-20 hours a week necessary for his guild, and he was considered to be "casual." Hello, I have a life. That's too much for me. Plus it got really boring, he said. Instances in WOW are difficult, but they never change. Players must memorize what needs to be done and do exactly that. There's little room for innovation or reason for it. Players do the same 4 - 12 hour instances over and over again for loot. It reminds me of hacking at a penata for candy. Once you get started, little thought is involved. In Guild Wars, end game is all about PVP. An innovative mind is an asset. There are lots of PVP games to choose from and groups are rated for how well they play together. I wouldn't have to mindlessly click for hours for a possible good drop. I get to show how well I play and how well I adapt to changes. I can customize my character to do what's best for my playing style and the situations I will be in. I feel motivated to study and practice so that I will play well. Guild Wars end game is a sport. WOW end game is an addiction.

4) The environment in Guild Wars is more realistic and beautiful.

5) Guild Wars has no monthly payments.

Guild Wars isn't perfect. Waiting for loads when entering/leaving cities, having no auction house, and only having perfect Barbie and Ken - like characters to choose from are just some things I wish were different. But it's my favorite and I love playing it.

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