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Alotta hype and for single players that's about it.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: July 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well after hearing for several years about the soon to be legendary Neverwinter Nights I have gone out and purchased it as well as it's expansion. My feelings still are very mixed. While it looks better than any other RPG I've had, there are things about it I simply cannot understand. For instance! You are told on various loading screens again and again to have a henchman. The makers have scaled difficulty to assume that you have one. Why doesn't this make sense? Well hmmmm... lets see. Maybe cause they're ai is misery. No matter it's setting your henchman cannot be trusted for a second not to get himself killed. Perhaps cause despite the heavily hyped conversion to 3rd ed, you are not even allowed to access your henchmans (A la original Diablo2) inventory or character sheet! Oh you can when you add the expansion pack. Except that still won't help you in the original, and far, far longer single player campaign since it is STILL UNSUPPORTED for NWN. Wow! Thanks for nothing! Hmmm then there is the storyline. Let me get this straight. I have been recruited to Neverwinter Academy by the Elven Paladin of Tyr Lady Aribeth. No matter my class or alignment. She just has a real good feeling about me I guess... and a good thing too since a plague has come to Neverwinter which Priests are conviently unable to heal or divine a single thing about no matter their religious denomination. The Lords of the Land are powerless to stop it, and in comes your 1st level character to find out the information that even High Priests and Archmages can discern nothing of. Yeah Right! Then there is the balance of play or perhaps better stated the lack thereof. There are basically two kinds of fights in this game. You either totally slaughter the enemy with such ease you will find yourself thinking "Man! If this is as hard as it get I might have to turn up the difficulty." That will become ashes in your mouth when you are turning it to easy cause you are SICK AND TIRED of fighting this same mini boss again and again and again. Since every time you fight him he hands you your head like it was nothing. (Even folks with a much greater tolerance of the games flaws than I have been forced to admit that you will end up having to switch difficulty levels more with this game than virtually anything else in living memory.) How they could have made so many excellently balanced BG games and then totally miss on this is a mystery to me. The mini quests are the worst kind of fed ex drivel. Obviously a certain amount of it is inevitable but this is too much. EVERYONE wants you to stop and talk to someone. Yada yada to infinity. If you are going to buy this game for it's single player campaign, do not do it. That is not what this game is about, and about two hours into tired mega overused side quests into the game you'll see why. For something that was supposed to be groundbreakingly new, this is a BORING game continuing to overuse the same old to death. It is safe to say the predicted "revolution" in crgps is not here yet again.

Enough user-created content to make it a worthwhile purchase

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It would be fairer to compare this story to the original Baldur's Gate, instead of the sequel Baldur's Gate 2. The storyline to NWN is not as strong as Baldur's Gate, as your own character is another "nameless adventurer", and therefore has very little personal stake in the story's events. It's best to think of the single-player campaign as a showcase for the Bioware developers, to show what the game-engine is capable of doing.

The graphics engine is much more advanced than the Infinity Engine used in Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Everything is portrayed in a 3D-environment. This is especially evident in the flame effects from objects as mundane as torches, to the flames emanating from an approaching demon. Spell effects are spectacular - the best being area effect spells. Even spells as mundane as "Hold Undead" display a mighty impressive light show.

The interface is also much less cluttered than the older Bioware games. Some of the commands come from a radial interface, which can be activated by right-clicking the mouse. The rest (eg. Journal, Inventory, Spellbook) come from a small menu on the right-hand side of the screen. The other 90% of the screen is clear, which makes it possible to watch the rest of the action without being distracted.

It is possible to switch between different camera view modes from within the game menu. You can also zoom in and out using the mousewheel (if your mouse has one). This feature is particularly useful when fighting foes, and you want to examine the battle up close.

One of the most glaring differences between NWN and Baldur's Gate, is the lack of multiple characters in your party. In Baldur's Gate 2, there was space for up to five extra characters. This made for some interesting moments, especially if some of your characters had different alignments. I think the reason for this may have been the difficulty of implementing this "multiple-character" feature in the Aurora toolset, and making it user-friendly enough for the casual mod-creator. Hopefully, NWN will implement this feature in a sequel to NWN.

I would strongly recommend this game to newcomers to the RPG genre of PC gaming. NWN's interpretation of the 3rd Edition rules is incredibly easy to master, as so many of the mechanics (eg saving throws, attacks of opportunity) are calculated behind the scenes without any intervention from the player. A new player can quite literally hack and slash their way through this game ala' Diablo, if they chose to. However, for experienced players of D&D there is enough depth in the single-player game to keep them amused for a few hours.

However, Neverwinter Night's greatest strength has only become self-evident over the few years since it's release - and this it's customisable tools. The Aurora toolset gives users the power to create their own adventures and distribute them to other players on the internet. I strongly recommmend Penultima series (created by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne's) as a terrific jump-off point. Penultima can best be thought of as a send-up of the RPG games that Bioware are famous for. Every single convention of RPG-gaming is skewered mercilessly. It's very much inspired by the Discworld-series of Terry Pratchett novels, and is well worth the download. And Penultima is only the tip of the iceberg. There are countless other examples on the internet, of adventures that have been created by devoted fans of NWN. In some cases, like Penultima, the originality and flair of the storylines outshine the original campaign created by Bioware.

Please note, that a tutorial and detailed documentation on the Aurora toolset, is available for free download on the Bioware website. There is no need to purchase the strategy guide. In addition, the NWN internet community has posted many articles and tutorials on the Aurora toolset.

When NWN was first released, many players were complaining of the "lack of content" in the game. They felt that there wasn't enough depth to the single-player campaign to warrant its purchase. It's now obvious that Bioware were taking a huge gamble, hoping that whatever "depth" was lacking in the campaign, would be more than compensated for by the huge numbers of fan-created modules that would follow. In the end, it paid off, as any visit to Bioware's NWN website would so effectively attest to. NWN has a thriving internet community, and in the end, it is this that makes the game such a worthwhile purchase.

One final note, for those with older PC's. The game is best viewed and played on a relatively fast PC. This game was reviewed on an AMD Athlon 2000+ XP with 512MB RAM and GEForce 4 videocard. Sound effects (and there are plenty) are best experienced on a 3D-effects capable soundcard, such as a Soundblaster Live!

A Fabulous Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: September 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I absolutely love this game. I played the single player campaign through twice just to catch all the things I missed the first time through. The storyline is rich, the voice acting is very good and non-repetitive, and the graphics are excellent. I normally don't really pay attention to the storyline in games of this nature (see Dungeon Siege), but I found myself reading every line of conversation out of interest. Love, betrayal, good, evil, it's all there. You can also play your character as a simpleton (low intelligence) and the game will modify conversations to reflect the fact that people consider you an idiot. I highly recommend playing at least once as an ugly fool, the dialog is side splitting funny.

The user interface is better than some I've seen, but could use some improvement. Overall though, getting things done is pretty easy with mouse clicks and hotkeys. The game uses a combination of real time combat, with use of the pause button to queue up actions so you can line up special attacks or spells. You are limited to hiring one henchman and summoning creatures to fill out your party (so max of 4), which I find easier to manage, although some might be turned off by not being able to create a party.

Some complaints I have about the game are that there are a few stability issues, I've gotten the blue screen of death a few times playing this. The AI pathfinding is pretty bad, especially for your hired henchmen that follow you around. I have a system that almost exactly meets (slightly exceeds) the recommended system specifications and the game lags in city and other heavy population areas on very low detail graphic settings. It's managable though, more of an annoyance than a show stopper. However, I don't see how this game could possibly be playable with the minimum specs.. Also, the default camera views are absolutely horrible, it's like they couldn't decide if they were going to make an FPS or an RTS view and ended up with a cruddy version of both. Fortunately someone developed a camera hak with the tools included in the game and the view is much improved with a short download.

Overall though, I would not let the complaints get in the way of a highly enjoyable gaming experience. This review is based entirely on single player.

Good game, but not stellar

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: June 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game on the day it was released, with very high expectations.

I have found that this game is like a blend of two other games -- Dungeon Siege and Arcanum. It has the 3D perspective of DS, with the non-linear storyline and NPC interaction variety of Arcanum. This is an excellent combination for a game as it gives both sides of the house, thinking adventurers and mindless hack'n slashers, something to enjoy.

The tutorial at the beginning of the game is useful for learning to navigate and interact with the game and shows the basics of combat, item usage, and leveling up. It does not show everything, which is nice because it leaves the player in a position to learn some things on his/her own.

Where I feel NWN falls short is in the quality of the graphics. I was very surprised when I started up the game and the graphics were not up to standard with today's 3D games. More effort went into the actual gameplay, and that's where it should be, but the graphics lack in detail and richness in some places. This becomes especially apparent when interacting with NPCs -- they have no discernable faces!

This game requires much of your graphics card, wanting 32-bit color settings (NOTE: the game says it requires 32-bit color, but it runs fine on my system at lower settings). The higher the color depth, the better the game looks (to a point). I ran into an issue with the color depth and NWN wanting to crash -- new video drivers fixed the issue completely.

I tried the Aurora Toolkit and was rewarded with a null pointer access and an application crash. I had to use the task manager to rid myself of the application, and have not tried it since. I suspect that the new video drivers fixed this as well...

I have not tried the multiplayer capabilities, and therefore cannot comment on it with any degree of fairness. My suspicions, though, suggest that multiplayer is the way to go with this game.

This is a fun game that is guaranteed to eat up hours and hours of your precious free time. While not perfect, it's very, very good and is the most complete RPG to date. In spite of the few negatives I have stated in my experiences with NWN, I'm planning to finish the single player game and look for user campaigns. It's worth the time.

Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: June 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The only problem I have with this game is poor AI. Examples: 1. My henchman walked into a sign and he kept walking straight until I finished fighting and changed my position. I almost got killed because of that (had to use a lot of potions) because the game is designed to be played with a henchman and he/she decided to act retarded. 2. What bothers me is that I can walk in into any friendly house and brake their furniture, steal their stuff and they don't even notice me while I do it. After that, they are still friendly... I guess I am still under influence of Morrowind 3. That game set standards for AI. But despite low AI for your friends or neutral characters, your enemies have a decent AI.
If you are looking for a good multiplayer game, Neverwinter Nights is your choice but if you are looking for a good single player - get Morrowind 3 (awesome graphics, involving storyline and great AI).
I read some reviews about bugs and how it won't run. I didn't encounter any problems with this game. Just an advice, keep your computer well maintained and then you won't have to blame game developers for releasing software with a lot of bugs. (Unless it's Pool Of Radiance)
Before you are actually gonna buy the game, read the requirements on the box so you will not turn out to be like that guy with "top of the line" (hehe) laptop.

Not very entertaining.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 18 / 36
Date: February 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

NEVERWINTER NIGHTS is a very derivative, stale game that does not live up to the standards and expectations of Bioware Studios. It has an equal amount of pros and cons, which I will address and compare.

The Pros:
-Neverwinter contains a large amount of quests and items to use, and introduces several interesting customization options.
-Neverwinter also, rather boldly, strays from the easier to use 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons, and becomes possibly the first ever 3rd edition RPG to hit the market.
-Neverwinter also attempts to cover a lot of ground with its skills and feats. The leveling up of characters is translated into a simplified, much more rapid system.
-Neverwinter introduces the most easy to use editor in a game so far.

The Cons:
-Neverwinter does not contain nearly enough skills or feats. Far too many have been grievously oversimplified.
-The story, especially after Baldur's Gate, is a little too lukewarm.
-NPC's* are now much less competent in your party. Since you can only have one, and you can't control them or access their inventories, my NPC felt all too static. Plus, I cannot tell you how indescribably annoying it is when you die ten thousand times, when the fight would be over in two seconds if they would just cast the right spell. Also, they don't know when a battle is coming, so they can only use their magical power-ups** in the middle of combat. It's usually too late.
-The game's editor is still too difficult to use well. There has to be a better system for using scripts***.
-The game is far too short. It did not take very long too finish the game. And I play on the harder difficulties.

Overall, the game is disappointing. It attempts to block out the all-important NPC element, and over-stresses cosmetic and pointless changes in your character and NPCs. I do not recommend this to a fan of the genre. Stick with the classics, or pick up KOTOR**** instead.

*Non Player Character: A character that you do not create, usually not a protagonist.
**A spell that helps your party by temporarily making you stronger or more able.
*** Bits of code that direct characters and events. For instance, a script tells the game to make an NPC attack you if you attack him, or makes the gargoyle come alive when you pick up the statuette.
****Knights of the Old Republic. Critically acclaimed Role-Playing game made by the same company.

P.S. Do not check the box saying that the review was unhelpful unless it actually is. Please, do not mark it just because you disagree.

Woe is me

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 18
Date: April 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Alright lets try and be fair. The game is pretty good. Amazing graphics, interesting and challenging plot twists. It's pretty good if you have recently beaten one of the Zelda series of games and are looking for something along those same lines. But I have eagerly anticipated the sequel to Baldur's Gate, and instead I got this. I felt the same hopeless depressed feeling I got after watching Highlander II. (You sci-fi geeks out there know what I'm talking about). The Baldur's Gate genre has been mutated and defiled, and nothing will ever make it right again. (The Highlander TV series almost made it right, but even then the franchise had to pretty much pretend the 2nd movie never happened, but I digress)

I miss being able to control a party of unique, quarrelling individuals. Instead I control one individual and must chose between a limited number of henchmen. Even then I must fire one to hire another, and I cannot control them to any extent. I can't have them hold stuff for me, see what they have, even tell them who to attack, or especially important with magic users, tell them which spell to use.

You know I don't even think the same company made Neverwinter Nights as made Baldurs Gate. I seem to go to a whole different website.

Give the game its due. You scripters and creators out there can do some amazing things with the toolset. It almost makes me want to take the time to learn scripting. And the graphics and updated items on the web and the general support of the game make it far more versatile and allow for a great deal many options than you ever could have had with Zelda. But my chief complaint I guess is that I have been anticipating the sequel to Baldur's Gate for a long time...and instead I got this. Worse yet, it is painfully (and I do mean painfully) obvious that there will be no sequel to Baldur's Gate. That story has ended.

Oh yeah, one more thing just to keep my review honest. I have played Warcraft, Starcraft, Baldur's Gate, etc...and I just plain don't bother playing the online versions of those games. If I wanted to play against a human, I would play a board game. So I have no information to share with how great or [bad] playing Neverwinter Nights online can be. (Maybe someday when I have DSL I will give it a try.)

No RPG experience? Try another game first.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: June 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've never played D&D. My best friends brother was into it for a while in highschool, but he and his friends would never let us play. Something about being girls I guess. Anyway...

I picked up a copy of Neverwinter because everyone at work was playing. The game is simply beautiful to look at. The tutorial does a fairly good job of explaing how to move around and use the menus, but I found my first experience frustrating. Not knowing anything about D&D was a definate disadvantage. That coupled with complicated interaction menus (looking at it now, it was probably the best way to get as many options in as they could, but it was hard to get used to in the beginning and seemed to slow everything down) and limited camera views sometimes made it hard to get things to work the way you wanted, or expected them too. I found myself more intersted in the map creator than actually playing the game.

So, I put it away for a while and played Dungeon Siege instead. DS is very easy to play for RPG newbies like myself and still seems to be interesting enough to hold the attention of more seasoned D&D gaming fans. I highly recommend playing it before Neverwinter if you are new to RPG's. I just tried NWN again a few weeks ago after several months off. I found it much easier and more enjoyable now that I know a little more from playing DS.

Neverwinter Nights - very limiting hardware requirements

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 20 / 42
Date: June 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

The best adaptation of pen and paper roleplaying to computer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As is said in the title, Neverwinter Nights is thus far the best adaptation of Pen and Paper roleplaying (and more specifically, D&D rules as a whole) to computer thus far. It should be said that the single player game is in fact not the best. The storyline is decent, though mediocre compared to the likes of Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate. The plot is rather linear, and as has been said in previous reviews, much more akin to perhaps Icewind Dale (though yes, it does have more "brains" than Diablo). The graphics are immersive, though I have seen better. Sound is a truly great aspect of the game, and aids incredibly in helping you become a part of the environment. The dynamic lighting system is also incredible.

However, what truly makes this game unique (and worthy of my 5 star rating) is the multiplayer. Simply put, the options for enjoyment are unlimited. At the time of this review, there are 1000+ modules for download and play either alone or in a group, and nearly as many servers online catering to all types of gameplay. There are local and server vault worlds, high and low powered campaigns, role play enforced or hack-n-slash communities, etc. The list truly is endless. And if you don't like what's out there, then just use the provided in-game tools to make your own NWN experience. Port that nearly forgotten gold box game or classic AD&D module from back in your gaming days to a more advanced medium, or simply start from scratch and create your own world.

Quite frankly, any review of NWN that weighs the single player experience more heavily than the multiplayer is defunct. The game has always been touted for its multiplayer versatility, and the single player game really does seem as more of an add-in. If you ONLY plan on enjoying the single player aspect, then you would honestly be better off either waiting for the price of the game to sink a bit, or buying another product altogether. However, if you even think you'll be using the online resources of NWN (which are furthered by great official and non-official sites out there, such as neverwinternights.com, neverwinterhaven.com, the neverwinter nexus, etc.) then make a purchase that you will not soon regret.

As for issues concerning hardware compatibility: I myself have not once experienced such an issue with this game, though I know that many real problems did exist. However, with the latest patch, and a little computer maintenance you should be quite fine. So long as you support the game's minimum requirements (and possibly even come up a small ways short) you will indeed be in the clear.

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