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You heard right, 60 (sixty) full-length movies worth of voice-over and dialogue will ship with Guild Wars 2. One can scarcely imagine how large the game file will be. After doing some research on leveling curves and player personality in GW2, I have to give it to the guys at NCSoft; this game is shaping up to be a finely-tuned work of art. Do you remember how you felt when you walked down the street in the Assassin’s Creed or Fable series? The sound of bustling streets and daytime commotion filled the air, and it truly felt like you were an inhabitant of a dynamic, living world.
Bobby Stein, the Lead Writer for Guild Wars 2, hopes to reach that level of immersion and set the bar a notch higher. In addition to endless cinematics and dialogue options, the game will feature several “layers” of ambient sounds (including an original score) that will engulf your character from the very first time you set foot in a town or village. Stein emphasizes that one element of voice work will not take precedence over the others:
…you won’t be absorbing most of this dialogue through traditional cinematics. Instead, we’re evenly distributing story bits, lore, gameplay information, and ambience over hundreds of hours of play. Yes, we’ve got gorgeous, stylized cinematics that will make your jaw drop, but much of what you hear simply happens all around you, or at specific dramatic points in your personal story.
To bring further authenticity to the game world, NCSoft has paid attention to differing dialects and formalities across different cultures within Tyria. So, you don’t have to worry about being bombarded with a constant stream of olde english tones or phrases throughout your journey.
You can read the full story and listen to a few sound clips here.