Product Details
 | Guild Wars: Eye Of The North Expansion Pack |
| List Price: | $29.99 |
| Price: | $8.80 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by NYC Electronics
28 new or used available from $7.70
Average customer review:
Product Description
Guild Wars Eye of the North is the first expansion pack to the Guild Wars product line that plays with ALL 3 Guild Wars games (Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, and Guild Wars Nightfall). Play in cooperative group combat as your existing character stands side by side with new recruit allies to delve deep into the perilous dungeons of Tyria. Win or lose, your game play will set the stage for Guild Wars 2.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #814 in Video Games
- Brand: NCsoft
- Model: FG-XP-GWXST-041
- Released on: 2007-08-28
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
- Dimensions: .63 pounds
Features
- Return to the battle-scarred continent of Tyria
- 150 new profession-specific skills
- Wreak bloody vengeance on the vicious Charr
- Do you have what it takes to enlist the fearsome Norn to your side?
- Immortalize your legend in the Hall of Monuments
Customer Reviews
Once again, Guild Wars gets it right!
This expansion pack requires
that players have at least one of the previous Guild Wars campaigns and
at least one character at level 20. If you want to play Eye of the North
(EotN), you must already have Guild Wars: Prophecies, Guild Wars:
Factions, and/or Guild Wars: Nightfall installed or purchase at least
one of them now.
PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS
(1) Guild Wars: PROPHECIES
has a good story line and is also the most natural "prequel" for the
story in Eye of the North. However, leveling to level 20 in Prophecies
is comparatively slow and reaching the city of Lion's Arch (where you
can access the new region in EotN) will take you many hours of
concentrated (though enjoyable) play.
(2) Guild Wars: FACTIONS is the
quickest of the campaigns in which to level up to level 20. It also has
the best story of the three campaigns, although some players did not
like Factions as well as the other two campaigns. I enjoyed the
campaign's Asian theme and locations, although I found the missions in
Factions to be much more challenging than in Prophecies.
(3) Guild
Wars: NIGHTFALL introduces Heroes (customizable non-player characters),
which are very helpful as you level your character, but has the weakest
storyline of the three campaigns (it is still a good story, however). I
also found the leveling to be a bit slower in Nightfall than in
Factions.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT EYE OF THE NORTH
Everything that I
appreciate about Guild Wars is in EotN:
(1) It has an intriguing
story, punctuated by entertaining and often amusing cut scenes
(mini-movies). The story is also divided into three main "arcs",
allowing players to go this way or that in the story line, as they so
choose.
(2) It has additional Heroes (you get a monk, elementalist
[mage], and mesmer almost from the get-go, and more Heroes come soon
after via questing).
(3) Once again, Guild Wars is packed with
extraordinary landscapes, monsters, and battle effects. I spend a lot of
time just snapping gorgeous landscape "photos" (Print Screen) to use on
my desktop.
(4) Numerous multi-level dungeons have been included.
The dungeons are challenging and often fun (but sometimes extremely
difficult if not downright impossible [see below]).
(5) The option to
play in groups of "real" players or alone (with henchmen/heroes) or in
any combination of real players and henches you want. I LOVE the fact
that the Guild Wars campaigns accommodate so many playing styles. As for
me, I like to play on my own or with a friend most of the time but I do
group up with others occasionally. Grouping is also a great option for
normally solo players that are having particular difficulty with some
mission or quest.
(6) The story arcs involving the new races--Norn,
Charr, and Asura--are entertaining and the associated missions are
challenging, occasionally humorous, and creative.
WHAT's NOT GOOD
ABOUT EYE OF THE NORTH
(1) Guild/Alliance interface--It would be
helpful to be able to "see" not only who is online but where and what
they are, for both your guild and alliance, but you cannot.
(2)
Polymock/Dwarven Boxing/Norn Fighting--The new "minigames" introduced in
EotN are not very fun in my opinion but, since they are optional, this
is not a big problem.
(3) Hall of Monuments--The Hall of Monuments is
a place where you can display past campaign achievements. As other
reviewers have noted, the Hall is a letdown but, like the minigames, is
incidental to the story.
(4) Dungeon Difficulty -- A number of the
dungeons and associated quests are irritatingly long and/or difficult
(at least with henches and heroes). I wish Guild Wars offered a more
reasonable range of dungeon difficulty settings to choose from. Online
sites such as guildwiki do provide helpful information and tips for
defeating these dungeons and bosses. (With the right heroes and skill
sets, many of the dungeons and end bosses can indeed be soloed with
henchmen and heroes, but several of the dungeons [see Comments for
dungeon list] are, in my opinion, too long, too difficult, and/or NOT
WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT with hero/hench teams. In ratcheting up the
difficulty to such an extent, ArenaNet has inexplicably opted to post,
in effect, a "Keep Out!" sign for a substantial portion of this
expansion for many of its more casual/solo players.)
Overall,
however, I am still pleased with and greatly enjoying EotN. It is a
welcome addition to an already great game series, this time designed as
an Expansion Pack tailored for veteran level 20 players. For new
players, Guild Wars is a great game and it's easy to get started. One
can jump in via any of the previous campaigns listed above and have a
great time with it.
[*This review was updated 10 October 2007]
A wonderful collection of repeatable endgame
content
First, you must understand
that GW:EN is not a chapter, and is not trying to be. Instead, it's a
giant collection of extra material for very experienced characters.
Almost everything here is repeatable, with sizable rewards and lots of
skills/titles/other ways to become more powerful. People will tell you
it's short, but that's just the story line. The story itself IS a little
short, though it's also quite good and the bits in the Charr homelands
(and the bonus quests with Gwen) are wonderfully nostalgic for players
of the original Prophecies. However, in addition to a main plotline
that's basically 12 missions long (about the length of Factions but
without the intermediary questing that made that very short chapter seem
longer than this) there are a full 18 massive multilayer dungeons. Each
dungeon has it's own plot (or in some cases plots), has sizable rewards
and secrets, and takes several hours to complete. Add to that an (ever
increasing) pile of quests that aren't accessible until after you've
complete pieces of the main story and no one could seriously claim
there's not a ton of fun things to do here.
The game is still
gorgeous (even moreso, really), the new heroes are excellent and the
minigames are fun. There aren't a lot of new skills, but what's here
does create some very interesting possibilities when combined with
what's in the other chapters.
All in all, this is a must buy for
anyone that enjoys Guild Wars. It's a great collection of content for
the level 20 character that's done it all, and if you're a fan of the
game what more could you want?
A great
idea that wasn't playtested enough
I've been playing GW since shortly it came out and have bought every campaign and expansion and
have been generally very happy with it. I wish I could say the same for
Guild Wars: Eye of the North (GWEN). First off, let's start with the
good things:
1. Tons of eye-candy. Tons of attention was paid to
making the dungeons et al. look amazing. There are gas traps that shoot
out amazing fountains of poison, there are cogs and wheels in motion,
etc. It is very well done in the graphics dept.
2. The story line
is really good. It ties in various factions from previous campaigns.
3.
Tons of new PvE skills. There are new Title tracks and skills to go
with them (Norn, Dwarf, and Asura) with benefits for displaying the
title (similar to Lightbringer track from Nightfall). There are also
standard skills you can buy for PvP and PvE from a skill trainer as
well, but by and large, the new skills are on the Title tracks, which
also means they can't be used in PvP.
Now for why I am
disappointed in GWEN:
1. Dungeons - These were touted to be
oh-so-amazing things to explore. Well, they are in an entirally visual
way. The problem that arises is that most dungeons are a pain in the
rear. You basically have to meta for each specific dungeon and if you
don't ahead of time, expect to finally reach the boss at the end of the
dungeon after 2-3 hours fighting your way there and find out that you
have no way of beating the boss, and will have to start all over. There
are some simple puzzles in dungeons which I will say is a good thing,
but they are childishly simple. There not even to the level of say
Knights of the Old Republic series (whose hardest puzzle was a modified
Towers of Hanoi). Another issue is the benefit/difficulty ratio - it
just isn't worth the time to go through the dungeons (except when
required to). On average, there is 7.5K xp and 1.25k gold for clearing
out a 2-level dungeon (plus a guaranteed gold item or gem drop at the
end). But be prepared to spend 2-3 hours earning it. Yes, you'll get
tons of swag to sell and score some pts. for the various Title tracks,
but you can do other things with a lot less hassle for the same, if not
better, rewards.
The dungeons just feel like they were thrown in
without making sure they were not a NPE (negative playing experience (a
playtesting term used to indicate an experience where the fun was pretty
much sucked out of the game for a player)).
Unfortunately, some
dungeons are required to complete the story line, and one is very
heinously a NPE. After spending quite some time to fight your way to the
boss, you find out that he has a shield that requires you to run
through fire to be able to drop explosive to bring down the shield
(requires 3 runs). Problem is that the enemy can explode the explosives
you are carrying, deals almost lethal damage (very lethal if you have
any death penalty), and that he never misses under ordinary
circumstances. Even if you bring down his shield, you have about 30
secs. to kill him before the shield goes back up and he starts healing.
Then you have to try to bring his shield down again! My description just
doesn't do justice to how much an NPE that dungeon is! Unfortunately,
just about all dungeons are like that.
2. Lack of universal
(usable in both PvE and PvP) Elites - the new Elites are PvE only ones.
This is a minor gripe but some new universal Elite skills would've been
good.
3. Polymock - this is a new side game that allows one to
basically duel an NPC one on one and play as a different creature
(skale, ice imp, etc.). Sounds neat, right? Problem is that you have to
go sequentially against your opponents (you can't just go to the local
Polymock NPC and play him; you have to fight your way to him), and those
that you have to challenge always have better pieces (the creatures you
can take the shape of come as playing pieces). The only way to get
better pieces is to beat people in the Polymock series, random drop in a
dungeon (only found after beating the boss of a dungeon), or the
secondary market (i.e. buying it from someone (prices currently run
around 60,000 for one piece)). Furthermore, once you actually play
Polymock, you find out that you and your opponent are stuck on towers,
and your opponent always has Area of Effect spells that he can't miss
with. While there are people that can excel at it, most players find it
generally a pain to do. Fortunately, it isn't required to complete the
story-line.
4. AI has been changed for heros/henches - In past,
your heros and hechmen/women would continue to fight if you had to back
off to heal yourself for a moment. Well, they've changed the AI so that
if you move at all during combat, the AI interprets that as a call for
retreat and your heros/henchmen will immediately stop fighting and
break-off. It doesn't matter that all you were trying to do was get in
to position to attack - your heros and hench will break off and form up
behind you!
So, to sum it all up: GWEN is artistically amazing and is generally fun, but feels that while the makers wanted to make the final chapter of GW 1 memorable, they forgot to playtest to make sure the fun of playing the game all-the-way-around exists.
No comments:
Post a Comment