Guild Wars
Guild Wars
Développé par ArenaNet et édité par NCSOFT ainsi que The9, Guild Wars est un jeu de rôle en ligne mêlant aventure et stratégie, sorti le 26 avril 2005 sur PC sous Microsoft Windows. Le titre s'appuie sur un moteur propriétaire, l'ArenaNet Guild Wars, et se distingue par l'absence de frais d'abonnement mensuels, un modèle économique mis en avant dès sa présentation officielle.
L'intrigue plonge le joueur dans le continent de Tyria, où les royaumes humains sont menacés par les Charr. Le récit place le protagoniste, un jeune héros, au cœur d'un conflit politique opposant le roi Adelbern au prince rebelle Rurik, tout en l'invitant à accomplir une ancienne prophétie et à mener des réfugiés vers le Hall of Heroes pour y forger sa légende, seul ou au sein d'une guilde.
Côté accueil, le jeu a obtenu une note moyenne de 89 sur Metacritic et une note agrégée de 87,13. La presse a salué la proposition : le Detroit Free Press a souligné l'étendue du contenu de qualité proposé pour 49,99 dollars sans frais en ligne, tandis que Computer Games Magazine a qualifié l'esthétique du jeu de magnifique. Du côté des joueurs, les avis rapportés sur Metacritic évoquent une courbe de progression accessible au départ qui se complexifie, certains allant jusqu'à le considérer comme un concurrent direct d'autres poids lourds du genre.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« We were overwhelmed by the huge range of top-quality gameplay that's available here for $49.99 (USD) with no online fees. »
« The look of Guild Wars is magnificent. [Aug 2005, p.84] »
« A revolutionary title that has completely redefined the possibilities contained within this oversaturated and rather tired genre. »
« Guild Wars will be in my hard drive for a very long time. I anticipate that this game probably will pull quite a few people away from the pay-per month MMORPG’s that are currently out there and will develop a very strong following. »
« Anyone looking for an engrossing online RPG experience without a monthly fee draining your wallet, Guild Wars is the game you simply must own. »
« The success of Guild Wars lays in the lack of a monthly fee as well as in its core principles and game mechanics. This has attracted an important number of casual players, which are very happy that they can play PvP without having to invest a lot of time into repetitive actions, focusing instead on learning and developing new tactics and strategies. »
« Guild Wars is all about the gaming experience and that experience is one of absolute pleasure from moment to moment. [PC Zone] »
« One of the best MMORPGs on the market today. Whether you are drawn in by the unique guild system, the intense PvP battles, or the even the visually stunning graphics, any gamer can find a reason to play Guild Wars. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »
« This game an absolute binger, this game is the wow killer and always will be. It's a game, easy at the beginning and little by little as you progress it offers HARD content, really hard, and there is no casual player, the game forces you to know how to play the mechanics, you have no other choice than to be good at having fun in pve and pvp. The pvp is absolutely amazing, one of the best ever. Guild wars 2 is a.... next to this game. It deserves by far the game of the year. »
« Great as a narrative game but not very good as an "MMORPG" even though it really looks like one. The servers will always be up (as stated by the developers) and you will occasionally see a player or maybe even a group. The game gives you pretty good AI companions so it is never hard and you can simply enjoy the 3 different campaigns it offers. »
« [SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.] »
« Personally Guild Wars will be my No. 1 MMO of all time. The amount of time you can put into this game, trying so many different builds and farm methods is insane. It generally aged pretty good, but PVP is sadly filled with Bots, but everything in PVE is still possible to do Solo or if you like there are still some active Guilds playing. 10/10 best game of the MMORPG Genre »
« Pros -The graphics are fairly ground-breaking for the time the game was released. -The difficulty makes the game feel progressive. the last couple of areas feel like end-game zones due to the jump in difficulty. - The world building and zone design is fantastic, the diversity of biomes and the map design is S tier. - The holiday events are very in-depth and add a lot of content to the game. - The story is fantastic and the main reason I wanted a sequel Cons - There can be a lot of screen clutter due to the party size and abilities overlapping one another. »
« The best (mmo) rpg ever made, by a stretch. Highly recommend buying it with a friend and playing through the trilogy. »
« Best Game I played, ever. Unfortunately the sequel (GW2) did not follow the same mechanisms, classes and skills. It would be wonderful games with new interface and improved gameplay. 17 years after its release, I still play with great pleasure. »
