Canthan New Year festivities: ROLLERBEETLE RACING!

Hahahahaha. This is great.

In the main courtyard of Shing Jea Monastery, there is a soldier standing around who has the rather odd title of Rollerbeetle Trainer. If you stroll on over for a chat, he tells you about the latest craze - racing rollerbeatles. Apparently these are special racing beatles which have been shipped over to Cantha especially for the New Year festivities.

"This sounds like a laugh" I think "Why not? Send me to the race track!"

When I got there, though, things were not as I expected. For starters, I'd been turned into a giant bug!

The Rollerbeetles are pretty cool. They have two giant feelers which they fold up underneath then when you move around, and you move around by ... rolling. Excellent stuff. I spend some time crashing around the area like a drunken madman, and then started chatting to some of the Canthan NPCs who were hanging around.

As with any race track, there were a number of shady characters, as well as those who are there to help you out. First up, it was time to Pimp My Ride.

Decked out with my new hippy designs (like my car, my Rollerbeetle is an environmentally friendly hybrid!) I thought I'd get some tips on racing.

Yep, this guy is actually telling me to 'grease my beetle'. I'm very much hoping that this is like waxing your board before surfing, and that there's not some strange double meaning .........

Clicking on the Enter Mission button starts off the usual countdown timer, and when it gets to zero you're transported to some holding pens, just like horses on a racecourse. Another timer starts ticking down, and then - they're off!

Underneath your level bar on the left hand side of the screen you have an RPM bar. Obviously the more revs you're making the faster you're going, and also the easier it is to get up hills. Your skills have been transformed into special beatle skills. Some of these will boost your speed, some will protect you from other beatle's attacks, and some are offensive spells to knockout other beatles.

As you whizz round the course, there are boxes you can smash into which will give you extra skills - usually single use ones. The race is fast and frantic, hitting those skill bar numbers to help your progress round the course, dodging other beatles - and cattle! - and trying to not fall off the track.

It's like Mario Kart on steriods with giant bugs. Hilarious stuff, and once you cross the finishing line, you can't help going back for more.

This was really great fun, and goes to show why Guild Wars has such long term appeal. Not just because of the special festivals and celebrations that pop up in-game, but because ArenaNet really know how to create fun little mini-games like this.

If you missed out on the New Year's celebrations, never mind - keep on eye on our forums and news items for a heads up for the next festival.

Cheers,
TOM

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