Sight and Sound:

The graphics and audio are all as you'll remember them - beautiful, spare, and holding up excellently against the otherwise punitive ravages of time. Environments are new, such as the frosty winterland of the Far Shiverpeaks in which the bulk of the expansions content takes place, and while they're rendered with the same smart eye for maximizing style while minimizing processing power, the look and feel is otherwise unchanged.

Story and Play:

The same linear-with-options mission structure has you following one of three main story lines while engaging in any number of optional side-quests. Guild Wars has never been known for its terrific dialog or particularly deep character development, and while you shouldn't expect that trend to reverse itself, some of the quests in Eye of the North have a much lighter or more comical tone (see "Lab Space," a quest that parodies Office Space).

Guild Wars' original campaign featured a little girl with a broken flute named Gwen - Gwen is back, all grown up and leading the player on an adventure to the far north of the world of Ascalon, where an aptly-but-vaguely-named enemy, the Destroyers, are out to, you know, destroy stuff. Gwen is one of several new heroes you'll have the chance to add to your party, along with a passel of new henchmen - whose AI is neither better nor worse than in previous Guild Wars installments, something many players have harped on. All in all, it's still a much better idea to group up with other human players than to take a swarm of potentially suicidal AI toons out into the field. (Stay away from melee henchmen to increase your solo survivability if you're antisocial like me - you can last a good deal longer with ranged, magic-wielding and support henchmen.)

While any of the three main quest arcs in Eye of the North are fun to play (there's one for each of the suddenly-appeared new races, and all lead to the same endgame), the overall experience flies by and leaves one feeling a bit shortchanged - and the punishing limitations of the Hall of Monument system doesn't particularly help: you can display some accomplishments, store the elite armor you've worked so long to purchase, and store weapons - but only Eye of the North weapons.

The gameplay itself remains unchanged, with no new character professions or level cap extensions. That said, over a hundred new skills will thrill dedicated players, since the Guild Wars experience is overwhelmingly dedicated to rewarding skill over sheer grindage: you've only got eight skill slots to fill before you enter the fray; which you choose and how you use them determine your success, not the rarity of your gear or the umpteenth level you've achieved.

There are some new mechanics, but by and large they're window-dressing. Polymock, for instance, is a minigame reminiscent of card battle games that involves pitting foes with static skill sets against each other in solo battles. The giant viking race known as Norns run a fighting arena that place you in a series of solo battles as well, which would be an awesome way to test out new skill strategies if the death system in Guild Wars weren't so boring - it doesn't really punish you so much as it seems to gently suggest that another activity might be more rewarding. Still, these kind of additions really do flesh out Guild Wars' zen-like spareness, and building faction rep with the new races also brings some new (but potentially repetitive) depth to the old gal. (The Norns are safely the coolest new race: the dwarves are a late, sort of derivative addition and the Asura are either adorable or totally Jar-Jar, depending on your taste. For what it's worth, I liked them.)

Nutshell:

If you loved or liked Guild Wars and its previous products, Guild Wars: Eye of the North is right up your alley. It's fun, quick, and expands on the original in almost every way that would make sense. It will also prepare you for Guild Wars 2, which should psych you up if you're a fan of the original.

If you didn't take to Guild Wars or appreciated its unique and refreshing nature but couldn't quite make yourself enjoy it, Guild Wars: Eye of the North won't make anything better. The set-up for Guild Wars 2 isn't cute if you don't care for the original game, and has the potential to feel annoyingly like a lure to get you into the sequel.

Either way you slice it, Guild Wars: Eye of the North is an excellent addition to a very particular game, and its strengths and flaws are by this point less about game design and more about game preference. Which is exactly what Eye of the North aims to do: give more Guild Wars goodness to Guild Wars fans. If that's you, sign up. If it ain't, wait until Guild Wars 2, which should be offering broader fare.