For our long-time readers, you may not know that I was a big PC gamer back in the mid-2000s.
There was a game that took 1,000s of hours from my childhood, it forged some of my greatest friendships and is one of the most pivotal reasons why this website that you are reading today exists.
That game is Guild Wars. A MMORPG that took the PC gaming industry by storm, rivalling WoW with its beautiful graphics, immersive world, enjoyable classes and most importantly, no monthly membership required.
Released in 2005, it saw millions of players at its peak, inspiring the creation of Guild Wars 2 and now, because retro is back, ArenaNet is going back to its roots and giving the original some much-needed TLC.
This new re-vamp is being called Guild Wars Reforged and comes with a boatload of "system enhancements" enticing GW2 players and old-school gamers to return to the franchise in a way that's refreshing but keeping the nostalgic feel of the good old days.
What's new?
- New low price (rumoured to be around $20)
- Steam Deck Verified (pending)
- Support for XInput controllers (such as the Xbox Wireless Controller)
- New quest tracking and direction system
- On-screen control guide
- UI enhanced with HD skill icons, larger text options, and quality-of-life improvements
- Support for high-DPI displays
- New ambient occlusion, HD bloom, and antialiasing rendering enhancements
- Rebuilt audio system with environmental effects (no hardware support needed)
This is not an entirely new game; see it as a small remaster of Prophicies, Factions and Nightfall, which brings modern enhancements, alongside the ability for Steam Deck gamers to explore this MMORPG uniquely.
Those who have already purchased Guild Wars in the past via ArenaNet will get access to this when it is released on December 3rd. Newcomers, or returning Guild Wars fans, can buy it individually for a yet-to-be-confirmed price.
There are also rumours that old developers who worked on the original have returned to make this a reality, which is what we all want to hear.
This is very exciting for me, and I know it's niche, but the original GuildWars was one of the best MMORPGs ever made, and I think this is going to be a bunch of fun to explore using a modern handheld like the Steam Deck. I'll be downloading it on day one, that's for sure.
