Monday 14 October 2013

Style Case Study #2: Guild Wars

Style Case Study #2: Guild Wars
Genre: MMORPG
Developer: ArenaNet
Publisher: NCsoft
Platform: PC
Engine: Guild Wars engine
Release Date: April 26, 2005
Image Source: http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/guild-wars-eye-of-the-north/charr-concept-art.jpg

One of several MMOs available today, the Guild Wars franchise is probably best known for it's stunning concept artwork. One need only use a quick Google image search to find hundreds of images depicting beautiful environments and landscapes, imaginative characters and enemies and other things from the series. The majority of these concepts have been translated faithfully into the games themselves, which currently span 3 interconnected campaigns, an expansion pack and a recently released sequel.

Set across 3 fictional continents, including the fantasy-esque Tyria, the oriental Kantha and the savannah-like Elona, the games feature 12 playable professions, each possessing a selection of great-looking unique armour sets, as well as a plethora of non-playable characters and enemies that each fit seamlessly into the world they appear in. In addition to this, while most fantasy MMOs tend to base their races after those in Tolkien's Middle earth, Guild Wars features it's own unique races, including the hardy, Viking-like Norn, the warlike, industrial lion-like Charr and the impish, yet genius Asura.

As far as style goes, however, ArenaNet have chosen to present their fantasy world as photorealistic. However, this has done little to diminish the beauty of Guild Wars' design, which has been strong enough to withstand the test of time, with the sequel having upgrading the graphical quality even further.

So now for the Verdict; did Guild Wars' art style result in better character design?
No

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