Even in beta, still the best MMO ever conceived.

User Rating: 10 | Guild Wars 2 PC
Despite only having about 40 hours into the game, I can already tell this is one great MMO.

POLISH: The game is still just in beta, and yet it is still more polished and well done than the vast majority of mmo's that have already released. There are few glitches, the few of which do exist still have plenty of time to be ironed out before release. Balance is also surprisingly good considering the stage of the game, and can only get better.

PVE:

GW2 takes the traditional quest system and turns it completely on it's head. For the actual storyline, you have a personal, instanced, chain of storyline 'quests' that change depending on your choices and actions within the story. These are all full voiced and fairly well written.

For the open-world content, GW2 replaces quest hubs with general areas where you can gain "renown," or reputation, for completing tasks in the area. The difference between this and regular quests is, you don't have to talk to an npc, and there is no "go to x and then return to y." But the real innovation here is the Dynamic Events system. Similar to the rifts from Rift or the public quests from Warhammer, DEs are events that take place randomly and/or on timers that all players in the area may participate in. You will be helping collect ore for an NPC in a heart area, when suddenly huge waves of monsters start attacking your outpost! Help defend against the monsters and you will be rewarded with xp and currency. If the monsters win, the outpost will be overrun and the merchants as well as the waypoint in the area will become unavailable until the monsters are pushed back. This is just one example of the many varied dynamic events that take place in GW2. You will never be bored exploring the world like in most mmos.

Combat:

The combat in the game is some of the most visceral and enjoyable combat available in an mmo. The the land combat, think God of War with hotkey abilities. You can dodge incoming attacks with an actual roll button, strafe side to side to dodge projectiles like an FPS, and land skill-shots that don't auto target like the skillshots in League of Legends. The combat is much more fast-paced and interesting than traditional mmos, and it is much more challenging as well, especially for melee players. Don't except to run up to a mob and trade blows until one of you dies! You will be jumping and dodging around your opponent, making tactical decisions about which skills to use and when to use them.

Graphics:

The game is still unfinished, and as of now it only uses DX9 to render. However, the game still looks absolutely beautiful on maximum settings, and still looks surprisingly well on low settings. ArenaNet employs a number of artists famous for their excellent concept art, and uses this to it's advantage in GW2. The entire game has the look and feel of a moving painting, giving it a beautiful art direction that will last for years by not aiming for super-realistic graphics. Truly, the game looks stunning, ESPECIALLY when compared to the vast majority of MMOs (I'm looking at you WoW).


Conclusion:

GW2 is shaping up to be an impressive game that will lead a revolution in the genre of mmos. The focus on cooperation, lack of mob-tagging and other frustrations, the innovative and enjoyable combat system, massive and competitive offerings for pvp, as well as the excellent event system, are all leading to an amazing game worthy of the top stop in mmos.

Oh and one more thing, did I mention it has NO MONTHLY FEE?