Guild Wars 2: 10 Reasons to Be Excited

8. The Cities The six main cities that have been revealed so far in Guild Wars 2 are truly phenomenal. The human starting city of Divinity's Reach, the charr starting city called the Black Citadel, the norn cluster of lodges known as Hoelbrak, the sylvari Grove, the asura city of Rata Sum, and the free city of Lion's Arch have each been crafted in exquisite detail. Not only that, but they are LARGE! You can literally spend hours wandering around the streets and corridors looking for secrets. Each of these cities are certainly unique, and they are all vastly different from one another. The Black Citadel looks like a steampunk Death Star, and has all of the twisting passageways and catwalks you would expect. There's even a big parking lot for a bunch of vehicles that look like the offspring of the Batmobile and something out of Mad Max. Divinity's Reach is quite possibly the largest city ever built for a video game like this. It has innumerable streets and alleys, a massive hanging gardens, an orrery, a big scary sinkhole, and even a carnival! Prepare to get lost in there for days! Hoelbrak has five immense lodges spread out over a snowy mountain slope, complete with ice-sculptures, bearskin beds, training yards, and hidden caverns. And while the Grove and Rata Sum haven't been revealed to beta players yet, we know that the sylvari city features buildings way up in the branches of massive trees, as well as plenty of fascinating nooks and crannies deep blow the surface of a lake. The asura city looks to be one of the most interesting yet, with floating upside-down pyramids, battle arenas for golems, and hovering magical computer displays. The free city of Lion's Arch is likewise a marvel. Plan to spend hours climbing the massive bridges made out of old ships, cliff-diving down into a sunken city, watching the jumping fountain, playing in the Pokemon-like mini-pet battle arena, or exploring the huge sewer system. If you love highly-detailed, handcrafted environments, and love to be rewarded for exploring, then the cities of Guild Wars 2 are almost a whole game in and of themselves!