Nightfall represents the third entry in NCsoft's successful Guild Wars series, and provides the most compelling reason yet for fans of single-player RPGs to try out this subscription-free MMO. While developer ArenaNet continues to push the franchise forward with new professions and exotic locales, some critics expressed concerns over the aging graphics engine and the fact that party formation in the virtual towns remains needlessly difficult. However, there's still the addictive gameplay, and the flexibility of self-contained expansions means you can jump in (or jump out) at any time. How many of you plan on picking up Nightfall?
- 1UP (90/100) thinks Nightfall will appeal to the NWN-Oblivion crowd: "The most noteworthy addition comes in the form of 14 new nonplayer hero characters who -- unlike the addlebrained henchmen of campaigns past -- offer complete customization options to players. It saves a lot of headaches, and makes Guild Wars feel more like a single-player RPG than ever before."
- Gamespot (82/100) appreciates the enhanced enemy AI: "Nightfall introduces many impressive-looking, powerful new enemies to fight, and it also seems to have updated their artificial intelligence to make them even more ruthless -- they'll happily go after your party's soft targets, like your monks and elementalists, not just attack the frontline."
- GameDaily (70/100) had some issues with Nightfall's pacing: "It takes a long time for the story to get started. Unlike previous games, players can't select a secondary profession until level 5. Even so, many players will have made it halfway to level 20 (the game's maximum level) before the story starts to pick up any real momentum. Of course, Guild Wars has never been a game that has put strong emphasis on levels, but it's the only marker players have to see if they've outgrown a particular area."
