Guild Wars 2 Preview

PC Gamer offers yet another preview for ArenaNet’s highly anticipated sequel to Guild Wars, punctuated with excerpts from a chat the writer had with lead designer Eric Flannum. Here’s a sampling that should give at least a rough idea on underwater combat and how Guild Wars 2 emphasizes grouping and cooperation:

The Engineer is built to be played from a distance. He’s got a huge range of toys at his disposal. His standard firearms pack a mighty punch, and he can use special kits to dramatically alter his role on the battlefield. The flamethrower kit is handy for cordoning off segments of the battlefield, while his grenade kit gives him devastating crowd control potential. But he’s not ideal in for a fistfight. Especially not a fistfight with a shark.

As the shark chewed, metal bolts started to fizz through the water beside me. It became apparent the pirate ship was still a nest for its former residents: I was being bombarded by pirates, who took offence to my proximity to their booty recovery efforts. Down to a third of my health bar and stranded alone, underwater, I contemplated my death.

And then, on the watery horizon: four strangers. They arced through the water toward me, and burst the shark nibbling on my leg like a fishy bag. They quickly moved on to the pirates, giving me time to surface, cast a healing spell on myself, then duck back underwater to help finish off my erstwhile attackers.

Eric quantifies my experience in our interview. (When you choose to play by yourself, you’re still playing an MMO. There’s a reason you’re playing an MMO: because you want to play with other players. But you don’t have to join a group, and you don’t have to feel you’re excluded from content.) But grouping isn’t an entirely amorphous process you’re still going to need to band together to hit one of the game’s dungeons.