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Excellent game, excellent value.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 26
Date: October 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Neverwinter Nights Gold is the original NWN game and the Shadows of Undrentide Expansion pack. If you already own NWN, then just purchase Shadows of Undrentide. If you already own both, then there's nothing new here at all. The 'extra modules' included are the free ones from Bioware which, if you've patched the game, you already have anyway. If you don't have either of those already, this is the version to get.

Out of the box, this is arguably one of the best RPG's ever made for the PC. Both the original module, and the expansion module are excellent RPG's in their own right. But the real reason to get the game is the huge quantity of excellent fan-made content available. Many, many, many excellent fan-made modules are already available. Specifically, the Dreamcatcher series, the Shadowlords series, the Lone Wolf series, and 'Midwinter Festival' are far more interesting than the included modules and completely free. Two very noteworthy projects are nearing completion as well. One is a conversion of the classic Dragonlance book series into NWN modules, and the other is a huge Planescape project called CODI (City of Doors Inititative.) Many modules modules include original graphics, sounds, and 3d models that add awesome variety to the game, and look nothing short of professional.

This game is also almost entirely free of bugs. Earlier reviews correctly reported that the game was barely playable. The code is now very mature, and runs near perfectly on almost any hardware that meets the minimum requirements.

NWN was made primarily as an engine for fan-made content, and has spawned one of the most interesting RPG communities to be found. If you like RPG's at all, you must buy this game!

NWN-The REAL DEAL

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 21
Date: February 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you have a 10 year old computer then DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! But if you have a fairly new computer with a decent video card-(in other words, your system is set up to PLAY video games) and you loved playing the old Pen and paer Dungeons and Dragons-THEN BUY THIS GAME NO MATTER WHAT THE COST!!!!! BUY A FEW COPIES FOR YOUR FRIENDS TOO!!! This game is the ULTIMATE in D&D roleplaying adventure, and here's why: The Original Campaign is incredibly detailed and long to play--even if you "hack-N-slash your way through it. The second campaign is truly awesome as a stand alone adventure in its own right. I found the first Campaign somewhat slow to start out and skipped ahead to the second "Shadows of Undrentide" and it totally blew me away! A masterpiece in story-writing-plot. Now lets just suppose that you buy the game but neither plot appeals to you--there is an EDITOR that comes with it so you can make your own adventures for you and your friends to play! You can even move your Pen-N-Paper game into NWN and just play online! What's that? You don't know anything about computers--just how to play computer games?--Well you are still in luck!-There is a massive online gaming community with dare I say "Thousands" of talented people releasing quality modules all the time. I believe there are about 2300 modules available for download currently--but that number changes daily give or take a few--the point is, there are so many adventures to partake in that you will be playing this game for YEARS!!! There does not seem to be any slowing down this gaming community! It is comprable to say (please no one take this the wrong way) a medievil-fantasy "Sims" game! We ALL know how big the "Sims" has got over the years and how it has stayed big for so long--the gaming community that has created mods/haks/items/models etc. etc. This new edition of NWN GOLD is well worth the price! The original OC PLUS the first Expansion for the price of 1 and a half cd's!!! that is an offer you cant refuse! Take the chance, if you have problems with the game at first search the "Forums" and the community will have no doubt already have listed the solution to the problem--I've never really had many problems with the game--but then again I dont have a computer from "Bob's Basement Bargain Blowout"

It's a Niche Game, Not Everyone Will Enjoy It Like I Did

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 17 / 22
Date: December 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If I could think of a way to best describe Neverwinter Nights, it would be Diablo meets Baldur's Gate. The game is made by the same people that designed Baldur's Gate but it's more of a mainstream "hack and slash" adventure than an epic RPG. Don't get me wrong, the in-game story is great but it just doesn't feel like a classic RPG. One reason for this might be because of the easy Aurora Toolset. If you've ever messed around with PC gaming toolsets, this one will probably be the easiest custom content editor you'll ever see in a game. It was designed that way so that D&D fans everywhere could quickly create their own adventures. (The game even allows you to act as a Dungeon Master.) Unfortunately, the official adventure included with Neverwinter Nights also uses the same toolset that was designed for "Joe Schmoe" and something probably gets lost in the process because each map is designed by a toolset that allows you to simply click and drag houses and farms to build your own D&D adventure. Frankly, most maps just feel the same. Keep in mind too that while it's very easy to place items and creatures with the toolset, you'll need a basic knowledge of programming to script actions in your module. Luckily, NWN Gold is included with the expansion Shadows of Undrentide which adds more custom content to the toolset and another official and lengthy campaign. Make sure you check the official Bioware website so that you can download one of the many custom adventures designed by gamers. There is also a fairly large online community and many gamers have set up their own servers that are up and running 24/7 for online D&D fun. I had a good time with Neverwinter Nights, but not everyone may find the game as enjoyable, especially if they don't like online play or the easy-to-use toolset.

Too Linear, Too Slow, Not Immersive

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 21 / 38
Date: December 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The game is well-done, and the ability for anyone to set up a game server for online play, with custom content, is what really makes this game interesting. The single-player game, however, has some qualities that didn't appeal to me:

(a) The game is pretty linear. At certain points, you will find that you have a single line of advancement open to you. This happened to me at the end of Chapter One, for example, where I was having a hard time defeating a key enemy, but literally had nothing else I could do other than keep trying until I succeeded. I much prefer the free-form type of gaming (such as you would get from Morrowind), where you can wander off and level up once more before retackling a hard opponent.

(b) I found the game to be tedious at times. Part of this was the UI, which is actually "ok" or even "pretty good." But there are still minor annoyances, like having to buy one healing potion at a time when you really want to get, say, 10. Also, the need to click on "End Dialog" after every conversation is a pain.

But the D&D rules are the main source of tedium. As a spell-caster, you have to "memorize" spells in order to cast them. This means that even though you know a spell, you can't cast it unless it's memorized. So you constantly find yourself needing to rearrange your memorized spells for a specific situation, rest, cast the spells, rearrange the spells back to "normal combat" configuration, rest again, then proceed. This would be less painful if there was a way to save spell configurations and swap them out as a group, rather than having to swap out spells one at a time. But a much better approach is the "if you know the spell and you have the mana you can cast it" approach that most other RPGs use.

This is one reason why I wish Bioware would create a non-D&D game. The D&D rules are just too rooted in the paper-and-dice world, and simply don't support a free-flowing, fast-paced game.

(c) The camera controls can be annoying. I constantly find myself having to twist the camera around so I can pick up something, open a chest or door, or try to talk to someone. Too often I wind up clicking on a hireling, summoned creature, or my familiar. Playing with the camera keeps me from playing with the game, and adds to the feeling that the pace of the game is slow and tedious. Really, why should it take 15 seconds to pick up some treasure that's on the floor?

Overwhelming

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 25
Date: January 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

All right, I've tried to get into this one about as much as a fan of the Forgotten Realms can, but, I just don't like it. Here's why: the game is overwhelmingly cluttered with... stuff! Normally, I'd never knock that in such a title. Morrowind, Warcraft, and some other older turned based titles had as much, if not more "stuff" to contend with while playing. Yet, Neverwinter lacks something in its delivery. There were too many times where I got disoriented by some column or building crossing between my character and my eyes that resulted in some minor attack catching me entirely off guard. The ability to modify/personalize your character and his equipment is too limited. Interactions between you and NPCs are frequently tedious and unrewarding. And for those who claim that the expansion packs or tool sets make-up for these frustrations; please note that I didn't give the game 1-star. Oh yeah, the music wasn't that bad either.

hack-n-slash maybe, but still great fun!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I like this game a lot. Forgive the length of this review - this is a long game, which has a lot of elements.

For starters, the sounds are excellent. The voice-overs are a little goofy; I get a little tired of Tomi's "hokey-dokie!", but the sound effects are very nice. The music is simply outstanding, and very well written. I especially like the musical trigger, which changes the soundtrack when you are going into battle.

Visuals are outstanding as well. There should be enough eye-candy to satisfy most critics (weather effects, shadows, and a wide range of item art).

Game control is generally straight-forward. There is a tutorial which walks you thru the basic game mechanics. But really, most RPGs have the same generic features - character development, inventory management, maps and notebooks, and so on. It's not too hard to figure out to press "i" to bring up your inventory screen, or to click on an NPC to talk to them.

Camera control is a bit tricky. There are three modes - chase, top down and driving mode. The game defaults to chase mode, which automatically rotates the screen. I found myself getting a little queazy, as the screen would rotate, so changed it to top down mode. All that means is that I have to spin the screen manually.

You might need to spend some time in screen rotation and zooming, due to the way the game sometimes puts plot items right underneath another object. I often end up clicking on an avatar and getting a dialogue box, rather than examining the item I want.

As a small side note, there are WAY too many crates/barrels/boxes in the game, in places you don't expect to see them. A lot of them are locked, and a lot of those are trapped. It gets to be tedious, because you really want to search all the areas, in case there is a signficant plot item.

The campaign is pretty big. It's divided into four "chapters", but they're fairly longish. I've finished the OC (official, or original campaign) and the SoU expansion pack. I really don't know how long it took me to finish. I found the SoU expansion to be a little more fun in some areas, even tho it was a lot shorter. The SoU adds visual effects to plot items, and henchie inventory control, among other things.

It is kind of linear in play, and personally, I like that. In most non-linear games, I have a tendency to dawdle around or simply get lost without knowing what to do. The main storyline is fairly straight forward, but there are still a lot of side-quests you can tackle along the way, if you get bored of the story.

Others have said the game is too much hack-n-slash, but I like that. In all my RPGing, I always select the generic fighter type. So in this game, I chose a half-orc barbarian. I don't choose my character types based on lazyness. I know a lot of people would say choosing the big dumb brute is the easy way. But when you think about it, if you have to wade into five or six mobs with just your brute force, taking direct blows, it's just another style of strategy, which is the style I've been playing since the old C-64 Bards Tale games.

In any event, there are a huge number of items to find in the game - weapons, armor, magic items. Gold abounds. I was a little worried at the start of the game, trying to hire a henchman for 250gp, when all I had was 50gp in my pocket. But as soon as I started adventuring, that turned into a non-issue. The game-world is big enough that it does take a bit of time moving around from place to place.

I haven't played online yet, and am franky probably not going to even try. My online gaming experience was spoiled years ago thanks to Diablo, Battle.Net and wide-spread cheating. I know these newer games have methods to control stuff, but honestly, quite a lot of people I meet online are just plain jerks. I guess anonyminity tends to make people less polite to strangers which they'll never meet personally.

Excellent game with a cool toolset feature

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Neverwinter Nights has been around for a couple of years now with the two expansion packs merely extending and expanding the life of an already excellent genre-best game.

My biggest complaints with this game have always been only being able to create a single character, and relatively weak henchmen. You could not upgrade the NPC hireling's equipment, nor could you form a true party of guys and gals you created.

In Shadows Of Unrentide you don't have this problem. It's ridiculously easy if you use your character from the original game. I've played it for a few hours and have been fighting Kobolds, wolves, skeletons, and a few bears. Not much challenge for a level 12 Rogue/3 Fighter/ 5 Harper Scout, really. My henchman is the Half Orc Barbarian/Wizard and he's got almost 200 hit points. I expect that although I'll enjoy the quest side of this expansion, that I'll have to wait until Hordes of the Underdark before I get challenging combat again.

The graphics are nice and the music is excellent, you really can't find anything that's not outstanding in the presentation aspect of this game.

The toolset is also an interesting feature. You can make a basic little fun game without to much fuss, but if you want to make your own hirelings, make portals work, etc. you'll need a good grasp of programming language. Cutting and pasting scripts from other modules may not work, especially if they are made to work with a hak pack that you downloaded specifically for the aforementioned game. You can easily make hacked equipment. I had a 1st-level fighter taking out Ancient dragons with one or two hits because he had armor/items that made him immune to everything, and weapons that did all sorts of crazy fire/ice/electrical/acid/negative energy/positive energy/sonic, etc. damage to enemies. Cheating like that normally ruins a game, but it was funny to watch when I tried it out.

Yeah.

Now if only it had Drizzt Do'Urden or a few of the Forgotten Realms heroes or villains in it...

Shadows of Undrentide not meant to be a continuation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Just wanted to make a note on some of the comments of the posters below. Shadows of Undrentide, the expansion that comes with NWN Gold, is not meant to be a continuation of the original campaign. In other words, it's designed for you to start out at 1st level again. Much like real D&D, if you take a 17th level character and put him/her through an adventure designed for a 1st level character, it will be a cakewalk.

Neverwinter Nights Gold

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: January 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Enter a world of magic and adventure in Neverwinter Nights Gold Edition. This pack includes both the original Neverwinter Nights and the Shadows of Unrentide Expansion. This game is a RPG with both single and multiplayer modes. It is my opinion that this exciting game is well worth your money and time.
The storyline of this game is well-developed and the characters fill their roles well. The campaign also includes many sidequests so you can take a break from the main story. Much freedom is given to how you create your character and how you go along with the storyline. Also, your inventory is easy to use and you are easily able to access anything you carry.
This is a fun and versatile game that is definitely worth playing.

Great concept poorly executed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: March 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When this game works, it works well. However, I never got through the first campaign due to game breaking bugs. These were persistant bugs that appeared on 4 different systems, all of which were more than well equipped to handle this game hardware wise, and all of which have had no issues playing other equally demanding titles. This game is hands down the most bug-ridden piece of software I have ever owned in my 20+ years as a consumer of video games. It was buggy on release, and subsequent patching has introduced more bugs (while making some fixes).

The bottom line is this: No game, period, that has been on the market for this long should be as riddled with bugs as this one is. I would be ashamed to have been involved in a project like this.

As for the publisher, Atari has a big nostalgia factor as a company (for those of us old enough), but they have really shamed themselves as a producer of this game due to two factors. First, they introduced a copy protection scheme to the disk (securom, I think) that has caused game breaking issues for many users (a simple google search or a visit to Bioware's forums will bear this out). Secondly, their support is the worst I have ever experienced.

I was given the same basic troubleshooting steps (all of which I had tried before even contacting them) by a half dozen different techs who got rid of me after their steps didn't work. These were the very basic things that even an idiot should know to try. Whenever I initiated another support contact (after being ditched by the previous tech), the process repeated itself. It was as if they don't read their own case notes. Truly the poorest support in the business and quite shameful.

Buy this game if you like D&D, but don't expect to play it for long. After so many bugs and issues, you will tire quickly.

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