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| From: NCsoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $18.27
You Save: $21.72 (54%)
New (15) Used (14) from $13.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 2479
Platform: Windows Xp
ESRB: Teen
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows XP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.4
MPN: 100722
Model: FG-XP-GWNST-016
UPC: 875646000161
EAN: 0875646000161
ASIN: B000HCU7B8
Release Date: November 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Easily the BEST Chapter in the series! November 2, 2006
36 out of 38 found this review helpful
You've probably already read the gaming reviews on this, so you know the stats: new Hero system, new items, new classes, no monthly fee, etc.
One of the most important new additions to the game series is the Hero system, where you can customize and have much greater control over your Heroes (upgraded henchmen). I tend to solo a lot, since I rarely have blocks of time or have the patience to deal with other players, so this lets me get an often more competent (you customize their skills) team together. The beauty of this latest Chapter is that it enhances all previous Chapters (Prophecies and Factions): you can use your Heroes in the prior Chapters. This backwards compatibility was quite the bonus to my prior investment, and rewarding loyal players is EXACTLY the right thing to do.
Every Chapter, ArenaNet has upgraded the graphics engine, and Nightfall continues that trend. I know, I know, gameplay > graphics, but this scores on both counts. Graphically, it has spoiled me for many other games, and the art direction and creativity is nothing short of astounding.
As for cons, it isn't quite as casual gamer-friendly as some of the other titles out there, such as City of Heroes. You do need to learn about how skills work, and sometimes you get item drops (there is loot!) that you don't know what to do with. However, if you know how to read, you can just look it up on the 'net.
I've found this latest release to actually be their best one yet, and I'm still debating whether to recommend new players pick up Chapter One (Prophecies) for the storyline or this one for sheer features and streamlined gameply and story. They've truly learned from the previous two Chapters and incorporated the lessons into Nightfall.
 Fun at the beginning, level cap kills any later on November 1, 2006
I will forgo my usual page and a half review which I normally write for games. Nightfall I just don't feel warrants it. Almost everything is the same in this newer version of Guild Wars. You have eight skills that can be equipped at any one time, there is a point and click battle system, missions and quests, you can have eight people in your party blah blah blah. Everything is essentially the same. The only real difference is the heroes system. In Nightfall you are given a first hero: Koss who is a warrior and he levels up as you do. Also, his armor automatically levels up and his weapon and focus item can be changed. Skills can be earned for the heroes and equipped how you see fit. These heroes become more helpful as the game goes on because they actually do what you tell them to do. They can also be ordered to certain parts of the map. I suppose many players were complaining about the mental capability of the henchmen and sometimes other players. The hero system was Ncsoft's solution. I must admit it is a much better system and playing by myself is considerably less stressful. I really enjoy MMORPGs but sometimes I just want to go and not be tethered by other players.
Now for the bad parts of Nightfall. As I said before, it is more of the same. In some ways this is good, in others it really sucks. The good part is that the learning curve is very small. You can easily learn the basics of the game within an hour or less. Missions and quests follow the same general convention. One of the smaller things that bothers me is that the armor looks the same until you get well into the game. Downsides of the Nightfall's gameplay is it takes maybe 15-20 hours to reach level 20. You stay on what is referred to as "noob" island for your first fifteen levels at least. Once you get to the main continent you are faced with this overwhelming sense of what do I do now? The worst part is you continue to do endless quests and never really see where the story comes in. After about 30 hours in I just didn't see why I should continue playing. The game is boring - plain and simple. Guild Wars allegiance to the 20 level character cap is ludicrous and is the reason why people ultimately will lose interest with the game. For those of us who want to play the game to experience an RPG are left behind those who play PVP. Guild Wars will never come close to the numbers of subscribers of World of Warcraft because the game gets stale after about a month. Yes, you can customize your weapons a little and dye your armor, but an immersive interactive world this is not. Considering the fourth episode in the series just came out recently, many will be flocking to the stores to give money to these clowns who make sub-par cookie cutter games.
 A Fantastic Addition to the Guild Wars Universe November 1, 2006
58 out of 65 found this review helpful
This game, like its predecessors Guild Wars: Prophecies and Guild Wars: Factions, is designed for players who--
(1) Enjoy a great story and playing a part in that story
(2) Appreciate fine graphics, stunning landscapes, and strikingly rendered monsters and battle effects
(3) Enjoy small group/solo adventuring
(4) Enjoy strategizing, exploring, and questing
(5) Can sometimes play for long stretches at a time ... but can often only play in smaller blocks of 30-60 minutes and still want to have fun and get stuff done
(6) Might have to pause mid-quest to do something else (wash dishes, go for a walk, take out the garbage, answer the phone...) and come back later (Guild Wars, I find, is much more "forgiving" for players who have lives, where World of Warcraft is not, since Guild Wars more or less "holds your place" if you are called away temporarily to do other things)
Nightfall adds new story content, new professions (the paragon [kind of a spear-wielding paladin] and the dervish [a whirling, spinning slice and dicer]), a bucketload of nifty innovations, and ABOVE ALL, HEROES. The heroes are customizable, controllable henchmen that add a whole new dimension to the game--not only to Nightfall but to the two previous editions of Guild Wars as well.
I have to say I am pleased and greatly impressed with Nightfall. I took a character or two over from the previous campaigns and nabbed a few heroes and now those characters are back playing through the Prophecies and Factions missions and quests with their Heroes. I love this!
NCSoft has, in effect, upped the ante and enriched and deepened the playability of ALL of their games at once, although I hasten to add that you must purchase Nightfall to access the new regions (i.e., the beautiful, African-themed Elona), the new missions, and--best of all--the new Heroes.
I have nearly completed the Nightfall campaign (with a dervish and a monk), and all I can say is that it's been great fun. The Guild Wars series just continues to get better, richer, deeper, and more fun to play. Best of all, unlike that other online game behemoth (World of Warcraft), Guild Wars is very casual/solo player friendly, both time-wise and group-wise. You can complete virtually any quest or mission in this campaign ALONE (with henchmen), if that is your playing style. It is difficult to do (I *like* difficult, heh), but it can be done. I know this because that is how I have played all three Guild Wars campaigns.
People familiar with the first two campaigns and looking for something "totally new" will not find it here but that, in my opinion, is a good thing. Nightfall builds upon and enhances the successful gameplay formula established by Prophecies and Factions, retaining all of the aspects of previous campaigns that players appreciated and yet incorporating new bells and whistles that make the basic story-centered structure better and even more enjoyable.
Whether performing a wide variety of quests and killing countless hosts of monsters and enemies is "grinding" and "boring" or "great fun" really depends on your perspective, I suppose. I think it's great fun. I just completed a quest in this campaign yesterday wherein you must help a herdsman get his cows to safe pasture past mobs of brigands. I found the assignment difficult, creative, and funny all at the same time, with the herd mooing and stampeding every which way and the brigands attacking in waves and cows dying all along the way. Now, that's entertainment! And that was but one quest among ... zillions.
In short, Nightfall is a solid and enjoyable addition to the fine Guild Wars series. I highly recommend it.
____________
[edit (11/14/07): The excellent Guild Wars series ends with its Eye of the North Expansion Pack. Guild Wars 2, a sort of "reinvention" of the game, is due out in 2009 [hopefully!].)
Another great chapter for the Guild Wars franchise October 31, 2006
15 out of 20 found this review helpful
First, please ignore "A Kid's Review". He doens't know what he's talking about. Guild Wars is not an mmorpg, first of all. It's an online coop games. There are a few RPG elements to it, but it's not classified as MMORPG. Second, Nightfall is not just slightly different from the previous two chapters, a lot of things changes have been brought to nightfall. The most significant change is the addition of a Hero's system. In the previous two campaigns, you could hire Henchmen, or computer controller NPC that aid you in battle, but you have no direct control over them. In Nightfall, you have Heros that are highly customizable. You can change the weapons, the skill sets on your Hero, and have a lot more control over what your heroes do. And believe me when I tell you that a properly controlled/equipped Hero can sometimes surpass a human teammate. And with the Hero addition, comes another competetive Hero vs Hero mode, where you lead a group of Hero's and fight against another human player with his/her group of Hero's. There are many new tweaks to the existing guild wars system that, depending on your preference, improve the gameplay of the entire guild war series.
The best part I love about this game is that you're rewarded for your skills, not how much time you spent on the game. The character levels are capped at 20, and it's easily achieved in 2-3 days. But that's not all there is to it. The real fun begins after level 20, when you start focusing on your build (skill set), as different area/enemies usually require a different build. And doing missions/quests/farming with a group of people is always fun. For those who are competitive, there are player vs player, guild vs guild, hero vs hero, and other game modes for your to fight against each other. Strategy and planning play a huge role and is extremely fun.
The online gameplay is completely free, and the developers do a great job patching the game regularly to fix any bugs there might be. I own all three campaigns, and enjoy them all! Highly recommended.
Game of the year! October 31, 2006
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
The other 2 campaigns in the GuildWars series were both great in their own way, but this one is even better. It combines all the great features of the first two and adds a whole lot more. Hero's have been added to the mix and they take the game to a new level. You can equip them with skills and weapons and even change their secondary profession. The world is larger and more beautiful, and the two new professions are both nicely balanced and really fun to play. Considering there is still no monthly fee, this could possibly be the PC game of the year.
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