Guild Wars 2 Preview

PAX Prime offers another chance for members of the press to check out on Guild Wars 2, and so did Piki Geek, who offers a hands-on preview for ArenaNet’s title. Here’s a sampling:

To start, the game looks amazing. From the loading art, which looks like genuine paintings of the area’s landscape or creatures, to the in-game characters themselves, the quality of the game’s art far surpasses anything seen in a current MMO release. While having quality art is important, the real heart of any MMO is the gameplay itself, and especially the combat mechanics.

This is where I got really intrigued, as Guild Wars 2 combines their past mechanics with a few new surprises that elevate the game from a sequel to a successor.

Dodging has always been a part of MMOs, usually as a passive ability, or occasionally as an active ability to increase dodge chance. In Guild Wars 2, you might mistakenly think you’re playing an action RPG because you can dodge out of the way of most, if not all attacks.

When I say dodge, your character isn’t just staying in place and ducking, but somersaulting on the ground in any of the cardinal directions, negating damage. This feature, combined with the fact that Guild Wars 2 features no healing class, means your survival in any boss fight no longer depends on your healer’s mana pool, but your own reflexes.