Nightfall is the latest campaign in the Guild Wars massively multiplayer online role-playing game series (or MMORPG as they're generally referred to). It isn't a typical expansion pack as it can be played standalone, as can all the Guild Wars campaigns. Also, unlike your average MMORPG, this one doesn't require you to pay a monthly subscription fee. All you fork out for is the game, which is a definite major plus in our spell-books.

This is certainly a casual player-friendly attitude to take, as the lack of subscription means you don't feel compelled to be playing 'x' amount of hours per week in order to get value for money. And the great thing about Guild Wars is that in many ways it's designed to appeal to the casuals out there.

For example, you can travel to any city merely by clicking on the map, so there are no huge time-sinks like prolonged hikes through acres of wilderness. After you select your character's skills and abilities, you can chop and change them at any point, so you're never locked into bad choices and forced to re-roll from scratch. Novices can feel free to make mistakes.

Players can choose to level-up by fighting against monsters and taking on quests - and the levels come quite easily - or they can elect to begin with a Player versus Player (PvP) character already at the maximum level. PvP battles are fought in arenas between teams of players with varying scenarios, some of which are as simple as killing the opposing team, while others involve objectives such as defending a shrine, or capture-the-flag style games.

Finding a PvP match is dead easy even if you don't have the time to form up a proper party of four, because the random arena will match you up with some group-mates inside of a minute. It's all very cleverly done, although the combat itself is quite hotly paced, even manic at times. There's an almost arcade-like and 'slidey' feel to your character's movement, and all this will take some acclimatisation for those used to more sedate MMORPGs. Despite all the beginner-friendly features, mastering the intricacies of PvP combat is highly challenging.

In terms of new content, Nightfall delivers a desert-themed continent which consists of over fifty locales and several hundred quests. Some of these quests are the typical kill or delivery tasks, but others are much more imaginatively plotted and enjoyable, which is good to see.

There are also two new character classes to play. The Dervish is a scythe-wielding holy warrior who specialises in dealing area-effect damage in close combat, whereas the Paragon is a defensive specialist who can buff other players and has a handy ranged attack in the form of a javelin.

The biggest change to grace Nightfall, however, is the addition of computer controlled heroes to your party. These heroes can be equipped, levelled and ordered about in battle to some extent, and they mean that solo players or small parties can easily fill groups out to tackle tougher challenges. Of course, an AI-controlled character will never match a human's cunning or intelligence, but then again, neither will it pull an entire camp of monsters onto the group, get everyone killed and then tell you that "u suck."

It's striking how much effort Nightfall puts into making the MMORPG experience as painless as possible, particularly if you're a casual player who just likes to solo or dip into the world from time to time. Its design philosophy is commendable and the game's packed with plenty of adventuring content, alongside a well organised PvP system.

Guild Wars Nightfall is quite a fresh feeling MMORPG with an emphasis on keeping matters very casual player-friendly; that and the lack of a monthly subscription fee make it definitely worth a whirl. Veteran players will also want to grab this expansion to enjoy the new classes, quests and AI-controlled hero characters.