What is there not to like about underwater exploration in Guild Wars 2? What have ArenaNet got on offer?
Beautiful vistas and wildlife aplenty? – Yep, that’s there.
A separate skill bar with underwater exclusive weaponry? – Got that, too.
Movement and skills utilising the z-axis? – You bet!
Un-treacle-like water? – Fantastic!
No breath bar? – Thank The Six for that!
The chance of ship travel making it into the game? – Ah, well… that’s starting to look a little less likely.
I still feel a pang of hope and excitement when I re-read the oceanic battle in Edge of Destiny, and wonder how the developers could implement something similar into the game. Well, after going over the coverage of underwater combat from the various fan day re-caps and press demonstrations, I’m feeling less inclined to believe galleons and warships will actually be operable, or even accessible, in the Guild Wars 2.
With such an immersive, second-worldly aspect included in the Tyrian landscape, the prospect of jumping aboard the Cormorant to traverse the Sea of Sorrows and do battle with Zhaitan may indeed be wishful thinking on my part. Instead, we may end up swimming our way to Orr, despite how risky and ill-conceived that sounds.
"It's either us or the Krait, matey. How's your breast stroke?"
My theory from several months back now feels so much more far-fetched. Why would ArenaNet put the system of ship travel into Guild Wars 2 when they already have this completely adequate and simple method of travel? Well, I’ll go ahead and suggest that I possibly raised my hopes a little high, and perhaps blame Mr. King for feeding that one particular theory.
I’m not going to jump the cannon and take back all I suggested, however. I’ll look out for Magnus in Lion’s Arch when I visit the city in August – see what information I can wring out of him.
- Cornish
July 12th, 2011 at 12:46 am
Yeah, I had hoped for mounts, but in a game where you have instant fast travel I never really believed it would happen.
July 12th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Have you played final fantasy X? If so, you remember the battle on the boat with the sinspawn? I should hope that they would at least include a “ferry travel” instance. It would be fairly easy to do; cut scenes showing us leaving the harbour, then fade to an instanced “dungeon” type scenario where we fight off pirates who board (read: spawn) from both sides. Then the big boss fight followed by a cut scene of us happily sailing into the harbour. It doesn’t require any further tech than they will already be employing in the other dungeons, and I would love to feel the sea air in my lungs!
July 13th, 2011 at 1:51 am
I never played any Final Fantasy past IX, but I’ll take a look at some of that gameplay on youtube.
In my brief time playing Allods Online, the most impressive feature I found in that game was the ferry-like travel system they used. The further you progress in that game, options like ship to ship combat open up, and I believe that includes PvP aspects, too.
A dungeon or instance would be a fantastic avenue to explore content such as this. Thinking of the possibilities open to explorable versions of this maritime dungeon is so exciting!
July 19th, 2011 at 12:56 am
There still is that possibility, i mean, with the underwater combat…if you go overboard you have to swim to the part of the boat you can get back up on. And now you can fight your way to it through the never ending minions of Zhaitan.
That just sounds fun to me, boat battles in which you can get knocked off the boat just to have to swim to safety. It even now that seems more probable to me. I mean, wouldn’t the water be more like a horror film if you couldn’t fight in it and your trying to get back on the boat? Those minions do look a little iffy ^.^
July 28th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Just noticed a interview on tentonhammer that deals with a boat moving through water and attacking an enemy stronghold could be a precursor to boat battles.