On paper, Guild Wars 2 sounds like it could just be the MMORPG to rival the genre defining World of Warcraft and from our discussions with author Jeff Grub of Ghosts of Ascalon – a book based on the lore presented in Guild Wars 2 – the game is set to target a much larger audience than any other MMO to date.

The game is “not playing by the rules”, introducing three unique concepts never seen in an MMORPG.

Visceral combat is a defining feature allowing players to combine moves and attacks to not only create some incredibly slick look action sequences, but giving players full control over the damage they do, and take. A users specific defensive actions can reduce or eliminate damage, and offensive attacks can be chained or positioned to do more damage.

One of the biggest draws to Guild Wars 2 would probably have to be its story, and this is what developers have invested the most time into. While the game has an overall framework with ultimate goal of battling the ruling dragons, within this context you as a player determine your own individual path to become a hero.

When you step into the world of Tyria, a your character will become as unique as yourself as a person. The character creation screen moves from just defining race, class and appearance. You choose where you grew up, what your beliefs and values are, what character traits you want to display. This opens up to hundreds, possibly thousands of unique combinations.

The idea of unique gameplay doesn’t just stop at the character creation screen. In our discussion with Jeff, he explained how, as you begin your quest, players will be faced with choices, with opportunities to do good, or do evil; to assist the weak or ignore them. How you respond, has a direct effect on your individual story and what quests and options become available to you. It sounds a little like a choose your own adventure novel.

Dynamic Events is a another key to the unique experience players get with Guild Wars 2. It ties in with the development of a player’s own unique story and how it affects the world and other players around them. When attacks happen on friendly villages, players may choose to ignore the fight and potentially loose the village and its service or fight protect it and keep its services or option up new options. Dynamic events happen at random, or often as a result of an event in a player’s quest line.

On the graphical side of things, Guild Wars 2 may just be one of the best looking MMORPGs to date. The scenery is full of vibrant colours, and there is great contrast between the the areas of peace and war. There are plenty of unique and detailed textures to ensure that your eyes will never be bored.

Things only get more impressive when you experience combat. Fight scenes are beautifully choreographed, including flashy animations that feel well paired with the actions and not just there for show. With the addition of visceral combat, it becomes more than just a button clicking hack and slash.

Gamers shouldn’t be concerned by how good it looks either, we have been told to expect only minor changes to the system specs required by the original Guild Wars. However, those that want extra will be able to take advantage of it, as well as features such as NVIDIA 3D Vision and advanced physics.

One things the developers have been tight lipped about, is any mention of a beta or release date. They want to ensure that the game is completely ready for the public and are not locking themselves in to a hard launch where they are forced to take shortcuts to meet a deadline.

From our hands on experience though, the game feels incredibly well polished, and the speculation that Guild Wars 2 could be seeing a Spring 2011 release date is definitely plausible.

Check out our hands on video:

Images to come