Rating: 
Summary: Single player fans forget it
Review: If you want to play online, it is worth getting, but the single player game is not worth the price. You will spend half your time bashing open chests and the other half in mindless hack n slash.If you buy it expecting another Baldur's Gate level of single player game, you will be very disappointed, it is a clone of Diablo2.
Rating: 
Summary: If you liked Baldur's Gate....
Review: Because I enjoyed Baldur's Gate II so much, I added this game to my "wish list" EONS ago. Well, it was finally released (about 6 months AFTER I removed it from my wish list thinking that it'd never come out.) The game has been very addictive. The user interface has been updated since Baldur's Gate and one of my favorite updates is the ability to run around in the world with the map on the screen or other menus onscreen. So far the characters and quests are interesting. I don't like that I don't have as much control of my henchmen -- I get them killed a lot. But, I tend to want games to be "easy" to win unlike some of my gamer friends who like more of a challenge....I'm the one with the easy/difficulty option turned all the way to easy. I can't wait for my friends (the really geeky ones who are even bigger addicts) to build their own worlds with the interface and invite me to play via LAN. BEFORE you purchase the game, you must read the hardware recommendations on the box and double-check your configuration with what's been working at posted on the Bioware message boards. I am running it on an Intel P4 (I think it's 1 Gig-ish) with about 128 MBs of RAMBUS. I have a 64 MB ATI Radeon DDR VIVO and installed the 2nd most recent drivers -- not the Catalyst drivers (most recent.) And, a Soundblaster Live. A friend of mine had trouble running it because there was a conflict with his CD drive. However, he was successfully able to run the game by placing the "play" disk in an older USB CD drive instead. Using the older USB drive hasn't slowed it down at all, but he hasn't tried playing over a LAN yet. Happy hunting.
Rating: 
Summary: Want premature white hair? Then definately BUY THIS GAME!
Review: I have never been so angry with a game publisher in my life. I have a relatively new (6 months old) Pentium III 1 GHZ system with 384 MB RAM which runs EVERYTHING I have ever tried without a problem: Diablo II, DungeonSiege, you name it. Then I installed NWN. I spent over 8 hours trying to get it to work. I updated drivers. I browsed their support forum. And in the end, I paid $150 to have my computer rebuilt and spent another 8 hours re-installing all of my software. What do the developers say in response? "Hey, it works on our computers -- we've been playing it 8 hours a day!" (paraphrase, not exact quote). Well, I'm very glad they've spent their time writing a game that they can play -- I hope they have fun with it. I just think it is incredibly stupid and unprofessional to release software of such poor quality. Maybe the game is great, but the deployment package is absurd.
Rating: 
Summary: More Than A Game: World Creator and Interactive Community
Review: For those who have read the reviews and hype surrounding NWN over the past months/years like myself, its very satisfying and safe to say that Bioware delivered what it promised and what everyone hoped this game would be -- it is an excellent role-playing game (RPG) and the DM elements are all top-notch. For everyone else, this is an excellent role-playing game (RPG) but that's only one aspect of it. It's a fantasy / medievel RPG, but so much more. This allows you to create an assortments of player types, items, scenerios, worlds, etc, (just like the Dungeons and Dragons paper and pencil games if you've played those). But the difference is you don't have to imagine what it looks like since it's right in front of you. You can either simply play, as most people will do, or you can be a "Dungeon Master" (DM) and create your own scenerios and/or worlds for people to interact and explore. Not only that, but the DM can interact and manipulate the players and world while it's going -- in real time. The Graphics and gameplay are great and the animation is very fluid. Though when you play online with others, you will probably experience some lag from time to time. Not everyone will like the campaign story shipped with the game (about 60-80 hours of play) which is actually rather easy compared to other games, but not the most inventive. For one, there is the tediousness of Diablo and Everquest where you kill and loot, kill and loot. But the beautiful thing is that it doesn't matter since you never have to play it. The fan base for this game is HUGE, so players and gamers will be creating hundreds of scenerios that you'll easily be able to download -- or make your own! (Though having some programming experience will be a huge benefit). Overall, this "game" isn't so much a game as it is an entire world creator and interactive community within a fantasy / medieval backdrop. Literally, the only limitation to the game will be yours and everyone else's imagination. If you want to experience NWN, you need to immerse yourself in the community or hop online with your friends. But if all you want to do is "complete a quest" you can certainly do that with this, but other games will suffice almost as well (but again the graphics in this are beautiful). However, if you're the type of person where the joy is in the journey, not the destination, then NWN is definitely for you. The biggest downside to this type of game is time. Like Everquest, it will take time to immerse yourself and get the maximum enjoyment out of this game. So parents, if you ever want to see you children again (unless you're good at dictating their online game time) you may not want to buy this game. But for those who are looking to plunge themselves into a world of fun, imagination and nearly unlimited creativity, you can't do better than this right now. Side Note: The game has been somewhat buggy and problematic for some people. And while it seems that it's been a problem for a lot of people, keep in mind that more people are buying this game currently than any other, so the percentage probably isn't any (or much) higher than those problems other computer games experience. Bioware will certainly be addressing these issues, and to see if your computer will work for this game as it is now, check out the Bioware website for this game at ...otherwise, you may want to wait a while before buying the game, depending on how your system rates with the known issues until they have made the appropriate bug fixes.
Rating:
Summary: Seems a little dated to me...
Review: Although the game itself has many features that would make a great RPG, the problem is it would have made a great RPG a yr or two ago... The graphics look dated, the monsters and sidekicks can be complete dolts when it comes to basic pathfinding, and if you do get the game running you might be left slightly dismayed by the entire plot... with great RPGs like Morrowind, and Dingeon Siege, and the excellent RTS Warcraft III on shelves... I reccomend passing this one up, the hype was definately over-rated.
Rating:
Summary: BUG RIDDEN DOWNGRADE FROM BALDURS GATE II
Review: The game might deserve a 3 star rating if it worked, but it is filled with problems. First, the game doesn't run for more than about 15 minutes.
Second, when it does run it is sluggish, even on my fairly fast machine with an Athlon 1400Mhz an ATI Radeon 8500 (with latest drivers) and 768 megs of ram.
Third, the graphics are less appealing than the beautiful 2D produced by Baldur's gate. I the benefits of 3D aren't worth the poorer image quality.
Fourth, the henchmen don't really have any personality and don't add to the game.
Fifth, sometimes when it crashes it destroys the "quick save" saved games. Definately don't buy if you are interested in the Single player experience! It might be alright for DM and creating modules, but wait till the MANY BUGS are fixed. I can't imagine playing multiplayer and having party members dropping out every few minutes to reboot their machine because the software forced them to do a hard reboot.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy it for the single player game
Review: If you are buying it for the on-line play, or toolset, you will like it (although the toolset requires scripting if you want to go beyond very simple constructs). The single player game Bioware made for the game is disappointing. It plays exactly like diablo2. It was so tedious I couldn't finish it, no real story, and nothing but combat and breaking into barrels and chests. More than half the game is simply searching through all the barrels and chests in the streets amd dungeons, the other half is hack and slash combat.
Rating:
Summary: Read This Before Wasting Time and Money
Review: Do not buy this game if you have a Windows 2000 system especially if you have a AMD Athalon Processor and AGP card. No matter how many Megs of RAM you have or how good your graphics card you will still have problems. People with high end systems (Windows 98 OS) that exceed the recommended system requirements have also reported problems. This game smells of beta. Wait another 2 months before a purchase and save yourself the frustration ... If you think you are going to come home and DM your own LAN game with one CD you will quickly find out that the CD-Key authentication and BioWare's EULA extends into your own home. Each person that comes over to your house for a LAN party must have their own CD and the CD-Key must be different.
Rating:
Summary: May not appeal to all, but I thought it was great.
Review: Neverwinter Nights is, of course, published by the same company that put out Baldur's gate and BGII. Those were great games, but they are not what you will get from NWN. It is a bit of a let down at first, because there are few drawbacks. You can't have more than one other person on your team (not counting your familiar/summoned pet/animal companion), and neither can you control the actions of a henchmen/pet beyond basic commands like "follow" "attack nearest" or "use your ranged attacks instead of your melee attacks" and things like that. The plot is also much more linear than BG and BGII. There are side quests that you don't need to do, but a large part of the game is consumed with the main quest, and in truth, almost all of the side quests are completable without straying far from the path you follow in the main quest. NWN is also a bit more buggy than BG and it's possible to break some of the quests inadvertantly. Now, all that aside, I will tell you why I still give this game 5 stars. Firstly, it is different from BG, but not entirely in bad ways. The npc interaction isn't as good, but the story is more centered around your character without 5 npcs in the group. The more linear plotline plays into this as well, making it more of a story, so to speak. If you don't like this sort of thing, then you may be put off a bit, but it's done well and the game is engrossing. Helping to draw you in are the wonderful 3d graphics and sound. There are beautiful lighting effects and the spells look nice and dramatic, accompanied by appropriate sounds and the like. The scenery is very colorful and diverse, and the monster models are all well done (and pleasing to slay!). Sounds get louder as you approach, etc (standard fare nowadays). Another nice touch compared to BG is the 3rd edition rule set. This allows for a bit more character diversity and customization, with feats and skills and so on. Want to play a wizard who can wear light armor and pick locks? A feat and some skill points in the right place, and presto. The biggest advantage of NWN, however, isn't the 1 player adventure. It's the limitless power of the toolset and DM client. EVERYthing done in the 1 player game is recreatable using the tool set. It takes a lot of knowledge and practice to get a handle on the uses of scripting, but the possibilities are amazing. You have access to all the effects, graphics, sounds, and anything else you want, that are used in the game, and also you can download new texture packs to add even more. This would be nice by itself, but what's more is you can connect to your modules (or the modules that ship with the game) using the DM client and have power as a dungeon master. Customize encounters.. posess creatures or NPCs to role play a scene. It's all possible. The DM client could have a few more features, but already people are working around these holes and making scripted items to complete missing DM abilities.
All in all, NWN is a very versatile game that can appeal to a wide range of people, particularily pen and paper rpg fans. It looks beautiful, plays well, and is a whole lot of fun!
Rating:
Summary: Just another hack n' slash game basically
Review: I'm going to keep this short. Yes, Neverwinter Nights features the 3rd Edition D&D rules, it's got a great multiplayer and it comes with an awesome construction kit, however, in the end Neverwinter Nights, despite all the features, is still just a hack n' slash "adventure" game that plays more like an all out action title similiar to Diablo. In terms of single player, it can't compare to the likes of Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. But as for the multiplayer, it's definently fun to get with a lot of people and hack up enemies together. But while the multiplayer can be quite fun, the game just doesn't have that D&D feel and it comes off more like a souped up Dungeon Siege. If your looking for a game similiar to Diablo, Dungeon Siege (etc), than look no further, because Neverwiner Nights is probably the best in it's class. It's absolutely huge and definently has a lot of multiplayer value. Just don't expect another Baldurs Gate.
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