Public Guild Wars demo for E3

On May 12 through May 14, many who work in the gaming industry will be in Los Angeles attending E3, and one of the tradeshow's draws is the chance to get an exclusive early look at games. But while Guild Wars will certainly make an appearance on the show floor, it's a rare case where those at home can get just as good a look at the game--months before its release.

While most online games don't open up until beta testing begins, as ArenaNet and NCsoft will announce on Monday, the Guild Wars demo will let gamers directly participate in the online RPG for a full three days. The Guild Wars demo was designed for easy online distribution, and the small 100K client will only need to download around 30MB of art assets from the ArenaNet servers before demo participants can set up an account and log into the game. The developer says it's ready for a massive influx of participants.

Guild Wars isn't like most online RPGs, as ArenaNet has followed its founders' experience with Diablo to create an ongoing game that won't include monthly fees. The demo will provide a look at a glimpse into the game's expansive world. During the three-day demo, players can experience solo quests, cooperative missions that begin the Guild Wars story, a competitive arena for multiplayer combat, and a competitive worldwide tournament that will run continuously with multiple levels and a variety of game types.

To prepare for the E3 demo, ArenaNet will release the game client in the weeks before the event. On May 1, the client will premiere on GameSpot DLX and give players an early chance to download the game and set up an account for the demo. Even though the demo's release is still two weeks away, reserve the installer now via GameSpot DLX.