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Platforms: | PC |
Publisher: | Infogrames |
Developer: | BioWare Corp |
Genres: | RPG / Classic Role-Playing |
Release Date: | June 18, 2002 |
Game Modes: | Singleplayer / Multiplayer |
Hordes of the Underdark is the second expansion pack for BioWare’s popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Neverwinter Nights. The original was a combination of a single-player role-playing game, an editing tool to create your own custom adventures, and a multiplayer role-playing client.
Take your time and comb through this massive RPG.
Neverwinter Nights is a huge, gripping RPG. Central to its pull is a storyline as persuasive as any you’ll encountered in a fantasy roleplaying game. Unlike many RPGs of its ilk, progression isn’t about getting that extra experience level. While the quality of items, weapons, and armor continued to dazzle deep into this marathon, the plot takes a first-row seat as well. From the makers of Baldur’s Gate you couldn’t expect anything less.
Neverwinter Nights pulls off a masterstroke of balance. Without getting into the minutiae of its inspirations and brethren in this genre, let’s just say that for the pure game-minded, NWN sits right in the middle (and arguably atop) the triumvirate of RPG splendor consisting of BioWare’s own Baldur’s Gate II, Gas Powered Games’ stunning Dungeon Siege, and Blizzard’s monumental Diablo II. It’s as replayable as Diablo II, with a vast treasure chest of equipment. It’s a visual feast of effects that pushes it beyond Dungeon Siege’s mesmerizing intensity. And it wends a tale of torment, salvation, and betrayal surpassed only in Baldur’s Gate II.
Play by the Rules
Neverwinter Nights follows the D&D 3rd Edition rules where it counts (and casts them aside in favor of better game balance when it doesn’t), with all the engineering issues of initiative rolls and swipes to hit, spell-effect chances, saving throws, and the impact of feats buzzing away as floating chunks of text. It’s a numbers game, where your hits, misses, damage, initiative and so on are elegantly displayed.
D&D rules supply info, and though I went through the game with a monk who focuses on melee (with a few spell back-ups), I’d like to free Neverwinter a second time with a spell-caster, as it seems to require just a little more experience to survive right out the door. Starting with any class is made relatively simple thanks to the game’s prelude, which trains you how to use the interface, how to fight, and how to recuperate.
Decking out your character with the latest in adventuring fashions is a predictable trek through fantasy hardware: find a +1 sword; sell excess clutter; trade up for a +2 sword; get a magic shield; and so on and so forth. Most of these objects are found in the numerous dungeons, crypts, and caves, but can also be bought from willing merchants in each central town, and even manufactured with the right ingredients.
Fight the Good Fight
NWN is a D&D game, so the monsters are all D&D, but that’s no bad thing with so many expertly detailed enemies to fight. From goblins to orcs, ogres to frost giants, zombies to dire bears, to huge dragons, you’ll face them all and discover your own cunning ploys against each.
Combat, though technically turn-based, is no “he goes, you goes”: there’s always something to watch. Enemies move from side to side, dodge and parry, slash, and cast spells with fluid determination. Particularly when you’re passing from one chapter to the next, the difficulty cranks up and suddenly a slew of new spell effects cascades down in a rainbow of colors, glyphs, and runes that reminds one of Dungeon Siege.
Saving anywhere is vital, but NWN includes some supremely valuable player aids to prevent you from getting stuck. Die amid a huge battle, and you can “respawn” back in the fray for a cost of gold and experience, with any damage you’ve already doled out still in effect. Better still, drop a vital plot item and you can recover it (for a cost) at the Divining Pool at the Temple. Between limitations established by strength and sheer capacity, inventory management becomes one of the biggest headaches in the game.
- NWN’s cutscenes are simple, but do a good job of forwarding the story.
- From humble begginings we all start.
- With its cool day-night cycle, the plague-infested city looks a lot more mysterious.
Vastly Superior
Neverwinter Night’s singleplayer campaign, divided into multiple chapers, is absolutely huge. It’s bustling with main quests, side quests, and various characters that you can mingle with and discover the game’s universe. Characters are all worth interacting between the almost turn-based action, with adult humor that’s a little bawdy without being crass (“I wouldn’t mind having her pork chops on my plate at dinner tonight,” says one guy).
This here’s a massive role-playing game to beat – it will take one or two weeks, or even more, if you’re not in a huge hurry and want to comb through most of it. In any case, it’s complex without being overbearing, and approachable enough that even begginer players of serious RPGs will be able to tackle it without shooing away pen and paper veterans. A true classic.
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System Requirements: Pentium II 233 MHz, 96 MB RAM, 16 MB Video, Win98
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Tags: Neverwinter Nights 1 Download Full PC Game Review
Platforms: | PC |
Publisher: | Atari, Inc. |
Developer: | Obsidian Entertainment |
Genres: | RPG / Classic Role-Playing |
Release Date: | October 31, 2006 |
Game Modes: | Singleplayer / Multiplayer |
Neverwinter Nights s is an old-fashioned RPG, where careful character management and shifting through complex dialogue trees take precedence over single-minded dungeon romps, and success is largely determined by the understanding of the 3.5 ruleset that only tabletop D&D players can fully grasp. Not that the game’s inaccessible – in fact, Obsidian did a nice job of demystifying D&D for non-D&D players (a friendly 175-page manual helps), while the relatively linear plot and simple side quests keep you moving along and leveling up at a merry pace.
The first Neverwinter Nights was a solid D&D role-playing game, but where it really impressed was with its dynamic toolset that let players create their own campaigns. Developer Obsidian’s own campaign within Neverwinter Nights 2 doesn’t break new ground, but it’s done with much humor, intelligence, and love and respect for the wonky fantasy geekfest that is D&D.
The game kicks off with a basic tutorial that details the basics of the game. Experienced Neverwinter Nights players, however, are sure to feel right at home, and might completely skip the prologue. Quests, character progression and battles are handled pretty much the same way as in Neverwinter Nights. Another recognizable facet is the dialogue system, which resembles Bioware’s Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic, in almost every way. In line with this, Obsidian has incorporated an involving storyline to keep you on your toes.
Gameplay wise, there’s a lot to enjoy. Progressing through the chapters unlocks an impressive amount of skills, henchmen and a wide variety of quests to go through. The coolest thing is that the development team was smart enough to include practically all the skills, feats and special abilities that were present in Neverwitner Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Familiar prestige classes and base classes were also included, but some of them require special conditions in order to be unlocked.
Obsidian wisely increased the first game’s one-companion limit up to four, giving you a full, controllable party with their own stats and inventory. The NPCs that join you are the usual assortment of fantasy clichés, but again, the writing makes it work. What’s also interesting about them is that they react to your decisions (actually, non-part characters do this as well). In short, doing things that are out of your character will affect your party’s loyalty to you, and a healthy injection of moral ambiguity ensures that not all of those decisions are easy to make.
At some point in the game, your character achieves a certain level of prestige that allows him (or her) to own a stronghold. Possessing a stronghold definitely changes further endeavors. For one thing, besides handling main quests and side-quests, you’ll be preoccupied with various chores required to keep a stronghold functional. Things such as training troops, improving weapons and armor, maintaining and repairing everything within your territory, instituting taxes, and even signing up merchants to flog various goods for you. NWN fans will surely find this to be a rather noteworthy improvement over the original.
Even though Neverwinter Nights 2 sees a few inventive components, the game actually doesn’t amount up to anything groundbreaking in terms of gameplay. Quite simply, the development team decided to draw on all the aspects of gameplay that made KoTOR and the original Neverwinter Nights great, and implement them in the sequel. As you’d have thought, Neverwinter Nights 2 is like Knights of the Old Republic sprinkled with D&D.
System Requirements: Pentium IV 2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 7.2 GB HDD, 128 MB Video, WinXP
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