I was unwilling to log out Guild Wars 2 but I had to because the first public beta weekend has ended. The beta didn't open all races and you can't choose Asura and Sylvari to play while some features such as cinematic dialogue is still not finished. Besides, the game only support DX9 at the moment and it seems that there's still no confirmation that the game will support DX11. I won't blame the developer since the game hasn't been released.

There are a lot of things to say about the beta but I will just focus on the combat part. Generally the combat is fascinating and addictive but there are also something annoying and not cool in actual gameplay.

The good

1. Guild Wars 2 is like an action game and you can cast your skills freely without the need to target an enemy first. Of course the use of dodge (rolling) makes the combat more exciting.

2. Animation is an important factor to combat experience and Guild Wars 2 has smooth and physically realistic moving and fighting animation. No matter you swing a greatsword or shoot a rifle, you can feel the impact on the target.

3. Different weapons bring you different skills and change your play style. Who says Warrior can only wield a battleaxe or greatsword? Warrior can use rifle and become a ranged class.

4. No tank and no healer. Every profession can protect and heal himself as well as his allies. You start with one healing skill but as you level up and gain skill points you will have more options. There are numerous Utility skills for solo and group combat.

5. You won't be able to take advantage from your level when dealing with low level monsters. The game will lower your level to match the area's level. So even you are at level 20, you still have to fight as best as you can when dealing with enemies of level 10.

6. You can press F1 to cast special skills. Different professions with different weapons have different special skills. They can be some massive destruction skills, and they can be some abilities that help turn the tables.

7. There are environmental weapons around that make the combat interesting. By picking up those weapons (wooden plank, metal bar, boulder and so on) you get access to a new set of skills.

8. Some tough battles come with cinematics which make the combat really impressive.

9. PvP is completely different experience. It's faster than PvE and really heart-stopping. The maps are big and well-designed, and you can take advantage of the terrains and structures.

Not good

1. Not enough weapon skills, and they are unlocked too fast on the other hand. You can unlock all skills for that weapon at level 1 or 2 and you won't have new skills then, unless you change your weapon.

2. Some skills like Warrior's Whirlwind requires you to choose a direction first and it's actually annoying for me because it stops a fluent combat.

3. Lack of AoE skills for some weapons. Warrior equips with one-handed sword or rifle has no AoE ability and it will leave you in very dangerous situation when you are surrounded by multiple monsters. You can hit anyone within your weapon range but most of the damages are on single target.

4. Some monsters, or some battles are too difficult to deal with by solo. It becomes more difficult when you are facing a group consist of both ranged and melee monsters.

5. When you are fighting an Event boss together with dozens of other players you can almost see nothing of your combat except the shining skills effects and lots of numbers popping up. This is the problem most MMOs have, anyway.

Above is my impression of the combat in Guild Wars 2 beta weekend. Since I don't have the chance to try out all professions, my comments could tend to be subjective. So that's my impression.

Resource: MMOsite