This weekend at PAX Prime in Seattle, Ten Ton Hammer was fortunate enough to get plenty of hands-on time with the live demo for Guild Wars 2. In fact, we even managed to play through full demo sessions of both the low level human experience in and around the village of Shaemoor, as well as the mid-level charr content including the epic Shatterer event and a whole lot more.

Since the overall breadth of content to consume in the Guild Wars 2 demo encompasses far more than what a single article could properly cover, we have a two part look at the game in action. First up, Ethec shares his thoughts and experiences in his first hands-on impressions of the game, specifically as a low level human ranger. How is the game shaping up so far? Read on and find out!

I found myself in a slightly more peaceful version of the village area, but Shaemoor had no lack of adventuring tasks to accomplish. I brought up the map, and Jon noted several small, dark hearts with gilded edges around the area. ArenaNet is tentatively calling this a “scout system”, and it’s a nice alternative to the typical quest hub you’d find in most MMOs in that you’re working to improve an area through a variety of different tasks and events. As you perform these tasks, the heart fills up slightly, but events start to pop up that give you greater amounts of favor with the scout. And when the heart is filled (a heart of gold?) you’re rewarded handsomely with items and experience for your efforts.

• Continue reading Guild Wars 2 - Hands-On at PAX Prime Part 1!