Guild Wars 2

The original Guild Wars was one of those MMOs that patiently snuck under the radar for most people, boasting a modest but loyal fan base, great gameplay, but never the kind of explosive presence of Everquest, which came before it, or World of Warcraft, which came after.

But GWII, which has been through a few open betas in the first half of the year, has taken the MMO community by surprise in its new approach towards multiplayer environments. Learning some of the best lessons from Rift, in terms of dynamic events and more personalised quests, and WoW, in the form of brilliant art direction and structured levelling, they also seem determined to put their own spin on things.

That effort seems to have mostly gone into the subtleties, not any revolutionary changes. But there are a lot of subtleties. Your character has an ongoing series of personal quests along with one based on locations. Many dungeons are instanced and scale your level to the challenge, so that players of many levels can all go in together. Underwater combat is a whole other skill set for players to build up. There is a world v. world area where players from all over can engage in ongoing siege warfare. And all around, little touches make this feel very much like a 2012 take on the MMO, one that makes World of Warcraft feel decidedly dated and clunky by comparison.

To be sure, there’s still a separate real-money store for perks and add-ons, many of the character classes are par for the course, and the spell and ability effects can sometimes be impossible to follow when too many players are in the same place. But ultimately, this is a fantastic refresh of a genre that was getting all too stale. [Alex Cole]