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Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $19.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Avoid this like the wailing death!
Review: IF you're lucky, this game will actually run on your computer. Then just hope your CD doesn't crack. Or that the patches won't lock your computer or ruin your saved games. Or that the hours spent on making a mod are down the drain because a patch messed them up. Or that... And these are not isolated incidents. MANY people are having these problems and MORE!

This game was thrown together to appease a software company with a deadline. The greatest RPG that never was...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Multiplayer niche doesn't work well
Review: So here's the scoop. Black Isle Studios is the king of computer D&D games, hands down. It's games all find the niches that make playing D&D fun.

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2: Fantastic single-player; you role-play, cast spells, fall in love, kick dragon [bottom], great story.

Icewind Dale: Devoted to combat, and the combat is challenging and imaginative

Planescape: Torment: Unique setting, novel quality story, exotic locales and NPCs, just a fantastic RPG.

Then there's Neverwinter. Its single player falls short, though they do implement the 3rd Edition fairly well. Unfortunately, since this is a digital game, some of the intangible feats had to be dropped. NWN is supposed to be about the multiplayer and the ability to write your own modules. Again, it is unfortunate you are so limited to the selection of the tilesets, creatures, etc, and the execution is a bit suspect.

The multiplayer modules are limited to the skill of those who create it. Hopefully there will be those who can use the Aurora toolset to its fullest. But right now, it leaves much to be desired. I would suggest WarCraft 3 or Morrowind as an alternative.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Almost delivers on everything it promised... almost
Review: Perhaps the best that can be said about Neverwinter Nights is that it comes very close to fulfilling all the hype that lead up to its release. It isn't, however, going to put Wizards of the Coast out of business. Here is why.

The Aurora toolset is powerful- very powerful. Probably too powerful, as it is difficult to learn and slow to use. I'm a computer programmer that has also acted as a pen and paper Dungeon Master, yet I still haven't quite worked up the urge to delve into all those tutorials and menus. The main problem with building your own modules is that you have to pick and place everything, which takes literally forever. Also, the editor has some odd quirks and limitations, and if you use hacks or scripts can screw up the game very easily. You are well advised to backup everything before you do anything.

The single play campaign is very long and quite challenging. The plot is good, and the characters have more than one dimension. Unfortunately, it shares some of the elements of the only other 3rd edition D&D CRPG- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. That is to say, there are way too many dumb 'Fed Ex quests,' and the graphics seem squarish and get very repetitive. It is still a good deal better than that game, however, as combat is actually fun and the NPCs do more than just tell you to go somewhere and find something.

As for stability issues, if you don't hack there probably won't be too many. However, once in a while you might encounter inexplicable and often serious bugs. For example, sometimes items vanish or stop working for no apparent reason. I've also seen savegames get corrupted, which is bad but not impossibly so, since you can export and restart a chapter. It's advisable you keep several saves and update them at intervals in case something breaks.

Aside from its flaws, NWN has a great look and 3rd Edition feel. The rules aren't nearly as faked as they are in Pool of Radiance, though some spells and feats are modified to be workable with the real-time system. That said, not all of the rules are implemented, but quite a few are. I have to admit I was astonished at how thorough a job BioWare did... although my opinion might be skewed due to having played through the entire Pool of Radiance game (still can't believe I did that). As is to be expected, the spells look fantastic, and combat is generally exciting and fun. You'll encounter scores of different monsters, and they each look unique and well done.

The interface is easy to learn, especially for veterans of Baldur's Gate or similar games. As with its 2-D predecessor, you can pause the game to issue commands. You do not control a party any longer, however, and can have at most three followers (a henchman, familiar/animal companion, and summoned creature). The followers' artificial intelligence is passing, but not too great. Perhaps the community or BioWare will improve on it with future patches. If there's one thing at all that hasn't changed in the makeover from Infinity engine to Aurora, it has to be the path-finding. It's still horrible, and despite the fact that I like NWN in general, I can't think of an excuse for this. It's as if BioWare has been deaf to player's comments for the last few years... I hope they remedy it somehow.

Despite its pitfalls, Neverwinter Nights goes a long way to addressing the need for a customizable computer D&D experience. It is definitely a revolutionary step up from Baldur's Gate in terms of this aspect, and it has a great deal of potential. I am looking forward to seeing what BioWare is going to do with this proprietary engine in the future. For now, all those who enjoyed the Infinity engine games or wish to try out a D&D CRPG are heartily encouraged to get a copy of Neverwinter Nights.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good game, but could have been a lot better.
Review: Ah, Neverwinter Nights. How to begin? Third edition rules. This was the strong point. Third edition worked well, and I definately understood the game a lot more than when I played Baldur's Gate. But once we start comparing to the BG games, that's where NWN falls down. BG2 was far longer than NWN, the six-character party allowed for far greater interaction between you and your companions (in fact, NWN requires you to interrogate your henchman almost constantly to get any information out of them at all) and was overall deeper and more enjoyable to play. BG2 made me laugh for days and kept me playing all night (NWN easter eggs are pretty much limited to Aribeth's bralessness. It's there, look closely. Check out gnome ears, too). The graphics, though certainly impressively 3D, lacked the refreshment of BG2, the tileset stamping obvious and dull. The AI falls down fairly often, as well, NPCs getting stuck on everything (I took down two dragons with a crossbow just by moving to the other side of a rock). The module system is great, certainly, but the limitations of terrain and especially creatures ruin it for me. (No beholders? Gnolls? Kobolds? Hobgoblins? Illithid?) Still a great game, but a dissapointment. Not that that stops me playing it too much.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It could have been better.
Review: Well, after buying all the BG games this year I honestly expected NWN to be one of the best games ever. It came along with 2 other smashing hits - Warcraft III and Morrowind and after playing all of them I can sadly say that NWN isn't close to wither... It is actually worse than the old BG games.

The game plays much like old Diablo II, only with somewhat less diverse graphics and enemies... It is basically just another hack and slash, no matter how "roleplaying" the creators advertise it to be.

The graphics are pretty bad. I know this disagrees with most reviews, but after plating Morrowind and some other games I have to give this as may honest opinion. The really bad thing is that there aren't many tilesets. This means that the whole game you'll be fighting the same monsters in the same looking dungeons again and again. it gets boring. Also, the characters look rather stupid, especially the mage. You have to see it to understand it, but consider yourself warned.

The Music and Sound are high quality, as expected.

The story is somewhat dissapointing. It has a sence of deja vu... The only thing original about it is that there is absolutely nothing we have not seen before in it. Sadly the characters are somewhat unappealing and their actions are sometimes fairly strange. Still, you may like it, if it wasn't for the repetetive 'kill them all' style the game plays.

The single player is on the overall dissapointing because of a number of feature including fighters being able to destroy chests thus making the thief unlock skill obsolete and useless. The number of chests in the game is huge, and the sad thing is that most are empty and you never know which ones are the good ones. The player often finds himself spending more time in opning chests than in actually playing.

The Multiplayer is considered the strong side of the game, in fact many fans try to explain the bad single player with it... It plays pretty much like Diablo in ADD style. If you like either you may find yourself liking NWN, or you may find yourself being bored.

A few words for the editor. It is a tool that allows you to make your own mods and adventures. It sounds fun, but you should realize that making a good mod means hours and hours of work, weeks long. Right now there aren't any mods that are good, but the community has some interesting projects

On the overall, NWN is a dissapointment. The number of silly mistakes Bioware make in the sungle player mode quite boring and at times even annoying experience. The MP regime is fun, but can not truly compare with the Blizzard titles in terms of balancing.

I would recommend you buying Morrowind if you are a single player lover, or WarCraft III if you prefer multiplayer. And, if you haven't played the Baldur's Gate series (BG series) you will certainly find them much more interesting than NWN.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Neverwinter Nights is a very cool game
Review: I'm just going to add a quick note. I've been playing Asheron's Call 1, Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, and Neverwinter nights. NWN is a very interesting game with options to make it a lot more like D&D or less so for those of us who aren't pros. I got a new graphics card the other day and loaded up a new game of NWN. It made me want to play it all over again. Wow, it's far more beautiful than I knew! I'm going to play it all over again and then hit up multiplayer :]

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't bother
Review: For all the hype I've heard about this game, it really fell short. Hack n' slash all the way. Skills are pointless. Henchmen are stupid. D&D game system still stinks even in the 3rd edition. (When will someone make a RPG based on the far superior Palladium system I wonder?) If you are looking for a great ROLEPLAYING game, I'd go for Morrowind instead (that is if you have a high end system). If you are looking for a hack and slash combat type game, get Dungeon Siege. NWN is going to do nothing but dissapoint.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: Dungeons & Dragons the way it's suppose to be! Even if you're not a fan of 3rd Edition Rules, this game ROCKS!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This Game was fun but i suggest Morrowind
Review: Ok.... i admit this game was fun but the D&D is a little too complicated for me. I'm one of those people that like to just pick and design a character then go out and kill every1 that is possible to kill. I would Suggest Morrowind if you have a good computer. Morrowind is alot more in depth and u get to do absolutly anything. If u have a slower or old comp this is definatly the game u want to get

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What can I say
Review: I have always wanted to get completly addicted to a game. I've seen my friends do it, talk about people they know on-line, make webpages, just go all out. Never been able to do that... till now. If you are a fan of RPG's, then you must have this game. I grew up with D&D and other role-playing games (took me years to convince my grandmother that I was NOT going to go on a killing spree because I played dungeons and dragons), and this is what it is all about. Granted, there are things you can do in the PnP (pen and paper) that you can't here, but it would be impossible to duplicate the human imagination onto the computer.

To tell the truth, the single player only gets about 3 stars. I enjoyed it, beat it in about a weeks time. Alot of plot twists and all. Also, I should confess, I did almost give up on the game when I first tryed multiplayer. Finding a random game is a mess on gamespy. Fortanly I found a web-site that matches real players up with games. I now run a weekly game that I built myself with the toolset, and play in a couple. Everyone roleplays, everyone stays in character. Nobody worries about what level their character is, just because the people I play with are more worried about the story being told to them. Yes, I have played everquest and diablo 2, and if the most important thing to you is making sure your character is a high level, then more power to you. This is a game about story.. but you have to find the right people (my e-mail should be up there, I will tell you the site to go to if you are a serious role-player).

Also, I have to mention the toolset. I have NO knowlage of the scripting, I do not have the world builders guild, but I had to start running the module that I made twice a week because of how many people wanted to play it and couldn't because my regular game was full. It takes a couple of hours of playing around, doing a search or two on the bioware forums if you need a qustion answered (or knowing someone who did it already), but after that, I can make a new dungeon with monsters and a plot to why the players would ever want to go there in about 20 minutes.

To end.. just get this game if you are a true role-playing game fan.


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