Guild Wars: E3 for everyone

The word has been out for some time that Guild Wars planned on starting an open beta test that would have taken place during E3 this this week, starting on May 12th going until May 14th. But due to overwhelming demand, the great people at ArenaNet have decided to let us in early, giving us an extra couple of days to get comfortable with it. Players will even be interacting with those that are at E3; but it's no fucking replacement for actually being there. It's a great gesture though, and clearly seems a worthwhile way to generate interest in their game. Even though I'm waiting for World of Warcraft to jump into the MMORPG scene, most of what I'd heard about Guild Wars sounds great. A completely open beta, a free service even - this kind of practice should be more commonplace. Although only a 62 KB download, I caught it on this month's PC Gamer demo CD.

ArenaNet is made up of a few Blizzard expatriates, and given what I've seen so far it certainly shows. From the soundtrack to the game's hyperintuitive interface, all the earmarks of something from Blizzard's studios are here. Furthermore, ArenaNet has outdone themselves with the game's visually stunning engine. There is very little lag, and all game assets are streamed as required, so the game is extremely light on system resources. My only complaint is that I can't really get a feel for the strength of my character, as all new characters created during this test are locked at level 15. Because of the game's focus on combat and a team-based approach to questing (not entirely unlike groups in Diablo II), having a fairly decent character to complete many of the quests shouldn't be as tedious to obtain as traditional MMORPGs. I plan on having some more thoughts at the end of the test this weekend, but if you're in Khylo be sure to stop by and say hi. Tell them Valhagen Thesselier sent you.

This pre-E3 hype gets worse every year. Nintendo unleashed a flurry of new information at their press event regarding their Zelda franchise, as well as pictures of the DS I'm sure weren't intended for the eyes of commoners until tomorrow. With Metroid DS and a game from Square Enix, it might be enough to get people to see past the cumbersome design. Another surprise was a brand new Zelda game for the GBA, to be developed by Capcom. The Minish Cap is a magic item that first appeared in the Four Swords for the GBA, and seems to be central to this new game's story. It's difficult not to get caught up in the E3 hype, and some people are even declaring the console war over after viewing the trailer for the next Zelda Gamecube title. I admit the trailer makes it look pretty good, but aside from an updated Ocarina of Time I'm not really feeling it. And I'd hardly call the new Link "dark"; he still looks like a kid to me. I'm looking forward to the monsters and the new gameworld, but I think I'll be saving my excitement for Metroid Prime 2 (Dark Samus? Just what the hell is going on here?).

Oh and remember that Advance Wars title for the Gamecube? It now has a name: Advance Wars: Under Fire. Kuju Entertainment has taken an excellent strategy game and turned it into some sort of third person shooter with minimal battlefield tactics.

still waiting for next week's chemical blast