The folks over at Guild Wars have penned an interesting article about their upcoming Eye of the North expansion, detailing their focus on dungeons.
It's been two short years since our first game, Guild Wars Prophecies, launched. In that time we've released two standalone campaigns that have expanded lore, increased the number of playable professions, widened skill sets, and have given players more control over their party members. Our current project, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, is our first true expansion, and one that we truly feel is a fitting coda that will guide players through the end of one epic story into the next evolution of the series, Guild Wars 2. We want Guild Wars to go out with a bang and leave a lasting impression on players, so we've decided to delve deep into RPG history in an attempt to recreate the thrill of the classic dungeon crawl.
Dungeons are a staple of the RPG genre. Ask any longtime roleplayer and he'll get misty-eyed and recall tense adventures in underground civilizations, navigating shadowy passageways and unearthing untold fortune. We knew it was the next logical addition, but we had to be sure it was implemented in such a way that was new and relevant to Guild Wars fans. So, what makes a GW: EN dungeon more exciting than your average hole in the ground? Lots of things, actually.
The labyrinthine underground known as the Depths is comprised of a vast network of passageways that touch continents near and far. GW: EN dungeons are not your typical dingy caves, mind you. They are rich with plant life, decorated with ornate carvings and majestic statues, and home to fantastic creatures. One of the biggest challenges our art department faced was to make each dungeon feel unique, while at the same time capturing the sense of an enclosed, sometimes claustrophobic, environment. Unlike the wide-open plains of Elona, groups will have less room to maneuver around obstacles. Enemies travel in high concentrations, so there will be little time to think or relax while pressing onward to the next objective. That stated, some dungeons are simply huge. Your party might trek through twisting pathways one moment, only to be spilled out into a huge open cavern the next.
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Read the rest of the article here.
Read more about Guild Wars at http://www.guildwars.com.
