Eye of the North is the first true expansion, as opposed to the other three releases in the series which were full games by themselves, to the popular fee-less MMO Guild Wars. It’s also a solid addition to the series—especially for veteran players looking for more PvE content.
Unlike other MMORGs, having a lot of high-level loot doesn’t even make you a mediocre player. You are nothing, without the advanced knowledge of implementing a skill set effectively. This is amplified to an even greater degree with Eye of the North.
The story begins with the excellent in-game cinema sequences featuring your actual character and Heroes. A race of demon-like creatures is spewing forth from the irritable bowel of the planet, and they’re intent on causing the total destruction of anything in their way. These creatures, “Destroyers”, are first-rate adversaries. Think of the Protoss in StarCraft, and combine them with Alien; pretty cool.
As the Destroyers purge their way to the surface, they disturb a race of creatures called Asurans. Asurans could have been pulled right from the movie Gremlins (before they turn nasty from water). Oddly their voices don’t match their bodies. Cuddly little stuffed animals shouldn’t sound like an annoyed 40-year old hippy.
Two more races you work with are decidedly typical. The Norn are very large Scandinavians (Norse) and there are Dwarves. It’s very fitting for an expansion in rugged snow-capped mountains. No worries if you hate snow. Half the game takes place in alternate climates so you won’t have to look at white too long. Though the storyline has its moments of “done that in all my other fantasy rpg’s”, it does have enough variety to stand on its own. The primary quests and city-based replayable story missions are engaging and genuinely fun. On the other extreme lie the “other quests”; non-story pick-up quests - kill a million mobs ad infinite. Aside from these are a set of special solo missions that are real nefarious. Play-tested it to near perfection, just out of reach of consummation. Cruel…
One of these solo missions deserves special mention. The Norse Vikings, fond of getting hammered, challenge you to a bizarre drinking game. Your must out-drink one of the women and perform a series of challenges in just two and a half minutes. You start off taking a few drinks from a keg, and then carry three kegs of ale around. Drink more ale (your screen gets blurrier) and then attempt slalom through a bunch of posts. As if that weren’t enough, you must drink yet again and you’ve now reached “plastered status”. At this point you really can’t see a thing, but you must herd three uncooperative pigs into a barn.
The expansion also offers over 150 new skills, a dash of new armor and weapons, and some clever tie-ins to the Guild Wars 2 sequel. You get a new Hall of Monuments and your “descendants” will retain titles earned in the current games. There’s also the addition of 18 new dungeon areas spread out throughout the continent which are full of quests for those hungry for more PvE content.
Guild Wars has a challenging entry to its gameplay. The old adage, “You get out of it what you put into it” almost holds true. The stories are great, but after 200 hours I’m still looking for more reason to play. Playing paper dolls and “look at me!” is actually a big hook for gamers in MMORGS. But loot in Eye of the North is unfavorably tame. The sheer volume one must kill gets old fast because there’s not enough of the Vegas Effect while hunting. If one’s forced to farm in a game they need to have a good payoff and most of the time there’s aren’t any good drops. This still feels like a PvP game at heart.
