During the past couple of days major cities across the world of Guild Wars have been shaking with tremors as cracks opened up in the surrounding lands. These cracks have now, temporarily, granted access to a new region of land entitled the 'Far Shiverpeaks'. Over this weekend many tens of thousands of fans with preorder kits have logged in and started exploring this new northern region of Tyria, including myself. It's only a short sneak peek into a small portion of what Eye of the North, the upcoming expansion pack, will offer, but I'll share my first impressions nonetheless.
Having resumed playing Guild Wars only a few weeks ago it might seem a bit premature to already preorder the expansion pack, but with Eye of the North's expansive list of new features it just seemed too good to pass up on. The main points of interest for me were the Eye of the North itself, the Norn and the mini-games... however, over the course of this weekend I've found many other, more impressive, innovations. So, let's get into that shall we?
The most obvious changes are in the graphics and music. Guild Wars has never looked better and Prophecies (the original campaign upon which this expansion builds) looks like an entirely different game if you compare the two. When walking through an explorable area in the far north it's hard not to notice the amazing improvements in water (so pretty that even Lord of the Ring Online's water effects look outdated) and lighting effects, as well as the less restrictive and much larger environments. 
Character detail has gone up drastically and spell effects are prettier than ever before, ensuring that GW:EN can still compete with all the latest games in the visual department, while remaining as perfectly playable on older PCs as it has always been.
As for the music: let's just say that the, widely praised, music in previous Guild Wars campaigns doesn't even begin to compare. The new songs are much more dramatic, suitable and engaging, offering a far more enjoyable gaming experience. Better yet, the music now actually adjusts according to your situation, so when you're engaged in combat the music changes to a more appropriate battle tune. The new music and graphics combine to provide a much more epic atmosphere, suitable of the more epic and interesting storyline.
Perhaps one of the most interesting changes is in the manner this storyline is presented. Rather than offering a bunch of explorable areas and slightly related quests, while having missions offer up the real meat of the story, GW:EN or at least this section of the story, has no missions whatsoever. All the storytelling takes place during quests, by means of many cutscenes with fortunately rather good voice acting. 
As a result the other quests also seem to be much more in line with the overall setting and ensure that the entire game is a lot more immersive. And on the topic of voice acting: all NPCs now say something when you click on them!
Roaming through explorable areas is no longer a dull linear experience either, as enviroments are significantly larger and there are many great hidden gimmicks. It's these gimmicks which really liven up the world and make exploring every nook and cranny of the map a joy. There are some great movie references, such as killer rabbits (Monty Python!) or Devona shouting 'None shall pass!' in true Gandalf fashion as she stands face to shin with a Giant wielding a rather large spiked club. Screen deformation is also a really cool effect, which occurs in haunted locations and makes the environment turn all wavy. Better yet is the new presentation of many of your enemies, such as giants facing off in dueling contests when you're not around, skeletons holding a gathering of sorts around their monk-boss leader, or the giant wurm you see in the picture to the left popping into view as you turn a corner.
When it comes to foes there are actually quite a few changes in comparison to previous campaigns, the most obvious one being that they're much stronger because everything is geared towards level 20 players. Nearly every creature you'll encounter in the 'Far Shiverpeaks' is huge, and frequently you'll be fighting against overwhelming numbers, which makes for some impressive combat scenes. The skill bars for both enemies and henchmen are much improved and ensure that you'll frequently need a proper build for yourself and your heroes if you want to survive - although most of the combat, save for a couple of bosses, is fairly easy to handle thus far.
The main attraction of this sneak peek event are undoubtedly the Norn. I did get to meet up with some members of the other organizations, but the Norn are the ones who are in control in the Far Shiverpeaks and thus most of the quests are to assist them in some way. The Norn are genuine half-giants, as my max-length warrior can barely reach up to the chest of Jora, the new Norn warrior Hero you can recruit. Hanging out in their cities, brawling with them before being giving the privilege to speak with them and participating in their weird tournament - I now really can't wait to make my first Norn in Guild Wars 2! 
Interestingly the Dwarves are really fleshed out this time and Kilroy Stonekin makes a return as the crazy Rurik-style warrior who sents you out on all sorts of wacky, but totally kick-ass, quests. The Ebon Vanguard and Asura didn't get much screentime though, unfortunately.
Those much talked about mini-games have proven to be a massive success, partially due to their genius implementation. Dwarven brawling has you take out your brawling knuckles and pull some Beat 'Em Up style moves on a myriad of opponents, who use ordinary weapons and spells. It's not very challenging, so far, but it's a lot of fun and you get a nice little something every time you win too. The Norn tournament is entirely different and actually so challenging that people are openly trading builds in outposts in order to try and make it through. Essentially you're put up against one well known characters from the previous Guild Wars campaigns and as you beat them you advance through the ranks to eventually defeat the Norn organizer. It's very frustrating if you try to use a regular build, but once you utilize something more suitable for one-on-one combat it quickly becomes a rather enjoyable time sink... which again nets you some worthy items at the end.
Another impressive aspect of GW:EN are the dungeons. Contrary to what you might expect they're incredibly huge and offer varying levels for your enjoyment. Towards the end you can often find a nice boss to slay, if you have the appropriate quest, which drops a chest including one rare expensive item, as well as a few plat. These dungeons are spread out across the new world, although in the sneak peek event we only get a look at a couple of them, which proved very enjoyable. 
Unfortunately one aspect of these dungeons, namely gathering map parts and thus unlocking special bonus sections in dungeons, is not included this weekend... so we'll have to wait a week to see how that turns out. The same story goes for recording your achievements in books for faction bonuses, which will also have to wait until next week.
Some of the other cool new features include gaining faction points with specific organization by requesting their blessing at a shrine, which nets you one point for every monster kill. Sounds familiar? Wait until you reach 25 points and gain your first random bonus, ranging from a few dozen extra points to a time attack challenge. And when you run into another shrine, talking to it will further increase your point total! All of this ensures that moving through the ranks of a faction is quick and painless, far from a grind, which is good because you actually need to be of specific ranks if you want to purchase items from certain vendors, which includes the new consumable vendor selling some very useful items. Then there's the better fleshed out new heroes, as well as gaining two such heroes through the Norn tournament by defeating them in one on one combat... it all just adds up to a very complete experience, which is just better than any previous Guild Wars campaign on so many levels.
So is there nothing bad to say with regards to GW:EN? Nothing disappointing? Of course there is, heck you've probably already noticed that I have yet to cover the Hall of Monuments. 
That's right, this most awaited of GW:EN features is a disappointment. All accomplishments are character-based, not account-based, and any minipets you enter are bound to your character permanently. The only titles it shows are insanely high tier PvP ones and if you enter armor to be immortalized it won't actually be your armor it shows but just a random armor of the same type, not even the same class! Not quite the best implementation, but at least the scrying pool is cool - who knows, maybe ArenaNet can liven the HoM up a bit and make it work properly after release.
There also doesn't appear to be anything on offer for PvP lovers and with many of the monsters ranking in at level 28 already, I don't see any room for a playable hard mode unless ArenaNet resorts to lowering monster levels. Also annoying is the fact that chests can only be opened with expensive lockpicks and generally don't drop anything good (not that chests drop anything good in other campaigns). Lastly the most important complaint I have is that there are simply too many new and awesome features included to list in one entry... now I'll have to make a follow up!
If you're a Guild Wars fan who likes PvE then I see absolutely no reason not to buy this expansion pack. If this sneak peek weekend is any indication then GW:EN will be so expansive and engaging that you really can't afford to miss out, even if there aren't any cool new elite skills.
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Summary only...
The new water effects are amazing!
The explorable zones now feature a lot more open space
Gwen in her new mesmer outfit, inside the Hall of Monuments
Yes, that's a giant snowball trap! They're all over the place!
Light the braziers and the bridge comes down, one of the nice 'puzzle' elements to dungeons
The entrance to my first dungeon :)
There's plenty more weird architecture below ground...
Dungeons don't really feel like dungeons when they're huge like this
There are cool gimmicks like this all over GW:EN
At the end of a dungeon awaits your rightful reward!
Even the minotaurs love Jora... who can blame them?
Drunken questing!! Those Norn love to drink!
That is one big Bison :| (and a whole lot of dead ones)
New fire effects: perhaps not quite realistic, but very cool looking
I could spend hours just admiring the view in the Far Shiverpeaks
Actually, this isn't GW:EN, but it looked so good I couldn't help myself and posted it anyway :p
