Overall, Factions is an excellent package. While players of Prophecies may look at it and see a $50 price tag and complain, the game is truly complete - it isn't just a straight up expansion pack.

The series could benefit from features such as other playable races or a crafting system, but you'll likely be so busy adventuring that you won't have much time for gathering herbs.

Each module of Factions was obviously overseen by the staunchest of perfectionists, because they work amazingly well. Factions is a must-buy for Guild Wars fans and a must-try for everyone else.

Perhaps ironically, the more you play, the fresher it stays, thanks to unlocking arenas and skills.

Solid, and cheap enough to warrant dipping into instead of devoting your life to. [July 2006, p.88]

There's still some basic things it lacks, most obviously a decent in-game auction house for trading items, and a better teaming system for locating people interested in grouping, but it does keep a count on how long you've been playing and after a long session pops up a "You've been playing for four hours. Take a break".

The campaign feels rushed: you'll be halfway to your maximum level before the story proper even starts, and the plot, about a mysterious illness that plagues the land, is clichéd.