Rating: 
Summary: Prelimary Review After 4 Days of Play
Review: Having burnt out on Dark Ages of Camelot's great eye candy but appalling lack of content, I had been anxiously awaiting NWN.I have not played much multi-player, so this review is based on my time doing the single player (all scores based on 0 to 5 scale) GRAPHICS: 2
NWN looks like Baldur's Gate. There are some interesting spell graphics, but the inability to completely control the camera and move to a first person or "shadow" aspect (i.e. DAOC, AC, etc). is very limiting IMHO. Compared to other games released lately (Dungeon Siege comes to mind), the graphics were a major disappointment. SOUND: 2
Nothing special here but the totally annoying NPC voices caused me to go from a 3 to a 2. STORYLINE (Single Player): 2
The story line is "locked", i.e. you cannot complete certain quests or even leave certain areas until you have completed pre-requisites. I prefer my RPGs to allow me more freedom to move and explore. I'm hoping that people create large, open worlds to multi-play in. Otherwise the "storyline" is quite droll and you lose interest in most of the quests except to gain XP. CHARACTHER CREATION: 5+
This is what saves the game. Finally a game that does not lock you into narrow race/class limits. I've actually spent more time studying the classes, races, spells and feats than playing the game. Having my unique creation of a character that isn't a cookie cutter of everyone else's is major plus. So, at this point the game is more appealing as a challenge to learn the rules and intricacies involved. NWN has gone from a long awaited game to a place holder for AC2 at this point. I'm hoping the multi-player experience changes that for me. Side Note: I recently replaced my Motherboard/CPU from an Epox & P4 1.7 to a Soyo & AMD XP 1900 and NWN would freeze up during game play. I went back to the P4 setup and it works flawlessly.
Rating: 
Summary: Good game, but not what I expected.
Review: Neverwinter Nights was a little hard to get going (had to go out and buy a new video card), but now that it is working it is intriguing and a lot of fun. :) You start out at an academy where you can take tutorials on how to play, and then you go to the graduation ceremony... where things start getting interesting. :)
The one thing that you should be aware of is that it isn't like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Torment, or Baldur's Gate II. They've changed everything, you have to learn to play all over again. It is more like Dungeon Seige or Dark Alliance than it is like their old games. You have a grid system for holding your things, rather than the slots you expect from their games... the party system is different... now you have to hire "henchmen." The system for getting your stats is very different. You don't have any choice but to start out the game with horrible stats. There aren't clearcut boundaries anymore... if you choose to be a ranger, you can learn to pick locks, or basically switch to anything else. Seems a lot harder to specialize and you never have to have a weak party member just because of their skills. They do too many things for you.
Personally, I liked the old games better... I thought they were great before they started to conform to the rest of the world. But hey, it is fun anyway, and I'm sure that the storyline will be rich.
Rating: 
Summary: false advertising at Bioware
Review: i recently purchased this games as a hopes that it would be a great game that i could enjoy just as much as i have with Baldurs Gate 2
but i realized after first trying it that this game was a bomb.
first it was advertised as being available for all three operating sysems. and that is one of the main reason i got it was so that it would work on my linux system. i cannot even install it for linux because i do not think it was truely made for linux.
next on windows it stutters terribly and looks horrid.
my main recomandation is that if you are looking for a great rpg game stick with baldurs gate 2 or wait for icewind dale 2
thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: This game rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: My review title says it all. If you have this game and are having problems don't give up once you get this game running right, it rocks. I bought this game and brought it home, got on the net and read some reviews and posts on some forums. and was scared i'd have problems with the game. Most of the posts were from people with high end machines and they were having some major problems. So i got through install with no problems, updated with no problems, then started my game. Got through character generation, and the game cinematics were great looking but very slow. So i tried a few things to try and fix this problem, first i tried closing all programs running except for the once absolutely necessary, and defintely disabled all my virus scan programs. next i updated my video card drivers from my cards manufacturers website. So the next day the 1.18 update was released and after i downloaded it and it was patched to my game. well lets just say that's when i went from a 1 star rating on this game to a 5 star. this game really rocks. so don't give up hope. this game is worth a little hassle trust me. I am very happy with this game. And incase you are wondering about my machine it's 3 and a half years old. So if i can get it to work perfectly so can you. Here are my systems stats. p3 466 mhz, 224 mb, pny nvidia geforce 3 video card, audigy gamer sound card. see a very outdated system and running this game perfectly. just keep trying, i promise it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: It's not that good of a game
Review: And those words fit it well. This game is pure and simple another Diablo clone---how so you ask? Well first lets take the old henchmen,you can't add too his armor or weapons,and he simply tags along to help you fight. Another gripe I have with this game is it has many "non" D&D features in it. For example there are "level limits" to what items I may use and equip,not spells I can learn (which are level dependant) but enchanted items (D&D does not have this,but guess what does---Diablo and it's many clones out there!). Another thing I have a gripe about,this game runs a 3D engine,a supposely good 3D engine,but when I put on bracers,cloaks,etc. do they show up on my character icon (the little toon that runs around in the game world) no they don't---only worn armor changes such. And am I the only one that thinks that most of the suits of armor and clothes in the game make one look just plain silly? Another thing that makes this a simple Diablo clone is the Stone of Recall (can we say Town Portal),it allows one to teleport back to the core places (ala towns) of the game---though the unique gold cost is a nice change there. All and all with this being one of the most anticipated games of the year it was a "BIG" let down for me. I have the feeling this was a game that someone took,decided to write their own rules and version,and then pay to have the D&D and Wizards logo slapped on it to make it sell. Now don't get me wrong,I like Diablo,but this game does not even do a good clone of Diablo to be honest. And the idea of being able to play with others online like it was a table-top D&D game is just plain absurd---even if this was a "D&D" game which the way I see---it's not. If this is what we have to look forward from Bio-ware in the future well let me say they are going to lose alot of customers. You know I should have known when I saw the Atari logo,and then opened the box to find the CD's "not" in a jewel case,but instead cheap paper-slips that this was not going to be a good game.
Rating:
Summary: Neverwinter Nights is obviously meant for multi-player...
Review: Not that that's a bad thing. First of all though, in case you didn't know, Neverwinter Nights has been in development for a VERY (over 4 years) long time. Baldurs Gate fans (like me) have been waiting for this game so anxiously, you wouldn't believe. Most of of us would probably expect a game similiar to Baldurs Gate, but regardless of what you heard... it's not nearly as good.
You see, Neverwinter has a different purpose (which I don't like)... and that's multiplayer, and creating your own "worlds" with the tool set. Don't get me wrong, the game is still fun... but it plays like a souped up version of Dungeon Siege. Unlike Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter lets you control only one character, instead of a whole 6-man/woman party. True, this is dissapointing in a way, but the game is meant for playing with other people, and that's where the parties form... so not really anything to worry about.
The game looks and plays almost identical to Dungeon Siege (which I hated)... the only difference is that Neverwinter uses the 3rd-Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. And no, I'm not going to explain it. But just expect lots and lots of hack n' slash.
So, basically, this game really isn't anything special. It really isn't. Behind all the flashy D&D rules, lies good ol' hack n' slash. The only thing is that it's fun when your doing it with other people. I don't understand why many are saying that Baldurs fans will love this game, because I'm a huge Baldurs Gate fan, and I don't love it. However, I do LIKE it... it's a good, fun multi-player experience. No, it's not the end-all RPG... not even the best RPG this year (Morrowind is 20 times better). But if your looking for some fun multi-player gaming, then buy Neverwinter Nights. Just don't expect another masterpiece like Baldurs Gate II. And if you don't own Morrowind, get that instead of this...
Rating:
Summary: Caution!!!!!
Review: To anyone who is considering buying this game, be warned thios game is giving massive trouble to almost all who try to even install it. Much less try and play it. Please for your own good read some posts on the neverwinter nights website, you'll see loads of complaints and cries of help all day long. Save your money until patches are released to fix some of the problems.
Rating:
Summary: Blown Away!
Review: I had to review NWN and just say that this game lived up to the hype. I had been waiting for this game for years and during the legal dispute many people thought it would never make it to stores. It's out.. and its freakin amazing. Bioware is famous for their Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale games.. but this takes the cake. I haven't been able to stop playing since I installed it. The multi-player has huge promise once people get some dedicated servers going. If you like RPG's or played the pen and paper version of AD&D, you're going to dig this game. Enough out of me, I've got to get back into the game.
Rating:
Summary: Neverwinter Nights - very limiting hardware requirements
Review: Hello, I've been looking forward to NwN for quite a long time and I finally got it. To my disappointment, I cannot play it and will have to return it. Bioware has decided to limit users to only 2 graphics accelerator vendors (Nvidea and ATI) rather than support a wider variety of chipsets with various levels of graphic quality. I am a laptop-only user since I frequently game in various locations. If I had a desktop machine, I'd just buy a new graphics card that NwN supports. But that isn't an option on a laptop. My laptop is a top-of-the-line machine, only 6 months old, an IBM Thinkpad T22 1GHz, 256MB, 20GB, 1400x1024 LCD. All other games run GREAT on this machine including the latest and greatest graphics-intense ones. Sorry - only a very few of the most recent laptops have an ATI Radeon 16 MB laptop graphics controller. Unless you have that one, you are OUT OF LUCK if you are a laptop user as this game WILL NOT WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER! I think this is a REALLY POOR decision on Bioware's part. While nice graphics are a good feature, they are not the only feature. This game is 90% about roleplaying/adventuring with a group of people (aka content) and only 10% about graphics (aka glitz). The graphic quality of BG or BG2 would have been plenty good. To preclude many users, even those with modern equipment, for that 10% of extra glitz just isn't smart. So I'm out of luck and will have to return to BG2 or perhaps give the new Morrowind III a try. What a major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mp, single player [is bad]
Review: At first my review had nothing but great things to say about this game. After getting over the first day adrenaline and finishing the game, I have a slightly different opinion. The single player experience is less than stellar. Its too easy to level up, and the grunts are to easy to beat. The main bosses are hard at times, but even they represent little or no challenge when you reach the higher levels. You only get one henchman, which means you are basically fighting mobs of bad guys all alone. Also, even though there are a number of side quests, they seem very reptitive (kill someone for me) and are fairly linear. You can only play in one city at a time, so once you beat the first chapter you can't go back to finish other quests. This means you can end up with tons of useless junk that may or may not be quest critical, and you have to carry it around because you don't know if you'll need it. The camera is sonewhat limited to only seeing what's around you. While this is more realistic, you can't see up a three story castle, you only see the wall in fornt of you. The story line overall is fairly lame, basically a save the world story that has been done thousands of times. If you want a better Single player game, try morrowind or the older baldur's Gate 2.
This game was clearly designed for multiplayer, and this is where the game has the most potential. It's quite obvious the five years of development were spent trying to find a way to allow users to create their own worlds without simply giving them a debug version of the software. The toolset has the potential to allow players to basically create their own games. The problem is, this will take time. If you load up the single player campaign in the toolset you will see how much scripting and planning it takes just to create one area. With the DM client some of this can be adlibbed, but there will have to be multiple DMs if you want to handle more than a few players. However, the game has only been out a few weeks and there all ready some great modules being developed. This will definitely be the defining point of the game. As for tech issues, I bought a new 128mb video card for morrowind, so i am having no problems with the graphics. The patch is necessary for monsters to have special abilities, but otherwise the game ran fine for me. I use a 866p3 with 512 meg of ram on windows XP. If you have an older graphics card it probably won't support it, and there have also been issues with systems with processors greater than 2ghz. Check out the forums at bioware.com to make sure your system will work. Don't buy this game if you want to play a spectacular single player game by yourself, because you'll probably be dissapointed. However, if you like mutiplaying rpg's, this game will be great. I always liked D+d games but never had the patience to role all the die and learn all the rules, but the computer does that for you. There all already new custom tilesets and characters being made by gamers, and with time there will be new modules you can play. As people become more experienced with the toolset there will be more and more worlds available, basically like mini-everquests without the monthly fee. The point is, the players can control the rules, which was the basic idea behind D+D to begin with. Single player= 3 stars
Multiplayer= 5 stars
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