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The expansion also offers three entertaining mini-games that players can partake in: Dwarven boxing, Polymock, and the Norn Fighting Tournament.  The player participates in these mini-games through quests and is pitted against enemies with differing skill levels, correspondent to the player’s progress.  The games are entertaining, to be sure, but considering Guild Wars’ PvP demographic, it is both surprising and disappointing that the mini-games are PvE-only and can only be played versus NPCs, not other live players.

The Hall of Monuments is another major feature in the expansion and is said to act as a bridge between the current game and Guild Wars 2, documenting the achievements of your characters.  The “Monument of Valor,” however, might come as a slap in the face to many players.  Forget all the time and effort (and obscene amounts of gold) spent in the previous three campaigns on rare weapons; the monument will only display Destroyer weapons.  So, if the player doesn’t want an empty monument in his hall, he’ll need to devote a few more hours to crafting these new elite weapons, which of course do not come cheaply.

Overall, Eye of the North does live up to the Guild Wars name in providing players with an alternative MMO and a unique gaming experience with stunning visuals accompanied by an impressive soundtrack.  The storyline provides a firm backbone for the entire game to stand upon, bringing back old friends as well as introducing colorful new characters.  And as always, there's no online subscription fee.  But the expansion, like all its predecessors, is not perfect and continues on as a work in progress even after its release.  To be fair, Arena.Net has been diligent in fixing various issues presented over the years in the Guild Wars series; being an MMO, the game can still be altered after release if something doesn't work out as planned.  Thus, the problems within Eye of the North can be rectified if the good people at A.Net keep doing their jobs properly, and we would all sleep a little happier at night.