With an absence of monthly fees, stand-alone campaigns, and a unique skill system, the Guild Wars series is a notable departure from the norm for online RPGs. In fact, it departs with so many conventions it’s difficult to pin the game down. Although the developers don’t call it a MMORPG, it is often classified as such, and it does feel like one at times. So far they have released Prophecies (the original game), Factions, and Nightfall. This time you must save Elona from Warmarshel Varesh, who intends to awaken a long-forgotten god that will plunge the lands into an epic apocalypse.

Like other Guild Wars titles, Nightfall is an entire game that doesn’t require the other campaigns. If you have more than one, however, you will find that they tie together and your characters can travel between them by completing certain quests.

Nightfall’s setting stretches across jungles and deserts inspired by Ancient Egypt, many of which are quite stunning. The game’s graphics have always been excellent, and Nightfall is at least as visually appealing as its predecessors, if not more so. ArenaNet, the developers, also deserve credit for their outstanding game technology, which makes Guild Wars Gold one of the most streamlined multiplayer games on the market, from installing the software and registering an account to downloading updates and finding your friends. Server outages, resets, and disconnects seem almost non-existent compared to other games of this kind.

New Classes
Like Factions, Nightfall introduces 2 new professions, in this case the Dervish and the Paragon, to the game’s 6 main professions. The Dervish is a scythe-weilding warrior with some unique area of effect (AOE) attacks. Paragons throw spears and have various health buffs to assist their teammates in battle.

It’s evident that, the more professions they add to Guild Wars Gold, the more these professions are going to start resembling each other. In the end it always comes back to the rudimentary tank/healer dynamic, but the additional professions in Nightfall are nicely implemented and fun to play. They appear to be more popular than the professions that came with Factions.