Guild Wars 2 video preview - Take a look at the Sylvari and Asura races' starting areas

In just over a month, ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 will finally be out, throwing its hat into the MMO ring with a massive open world and a slew of original ideas. While we've already written about what makes Guild Wars 2 different, we wanted to revisit the game before the launch to see some content we hadn't experienced yet, and we were recently invited to take a look at the last two races: Asura and Sylvari.

Here's a video showing off the Sylvari race, which is likely the most unique in Guild Wars 2. Plotwise, their story is a nice departure from typical fantasy races. Their beings entirely born from foliage, and their race is actually quite new, only sprouting up a few decades earlier. Check out the video to see their strange starting moments, which are different from every other race's in Guild Wars 2.

We also recently got a look at the Asura, too. It's easy to look at the Asura and say "Oh, they're the fun gnomes of the Guild Wars universe," but underestimating them is a big mistake. ArenaNet didn't go for the cliched trickster when creating the Asura - they're more akin to The Brain from Pinky and The Brain. They're obsessed with tech, they can build great stuff, and they're the smartest people in the room - and they know it. Everyone else is dumb, and they're the only ones that know what is going on. This mentality makes them unique in the fantasy-space, and it's why they're one of the more interesting races in the game.

Guild Wars 2 comes out next month! Be sure to check back for more news leading up to (and following) the release.

Hollander Cooper

Hollander Cooper was the Lead Features Editor of GamesRadar+ between 2011 and 2014. After that lengthy stint managing GR's editorial calendar he moved behind the curtain and into the video game industry itself, working as social media manager for EA and as a communications lead at Riot Games. Hollander is currently stationed at Apple as an organic social lead for the App Store and Apple Arcade.