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Still Needs Work

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First the system stats: Pentium 4 3.4Ghz, 2GB Ram, Video Nvidia Geforce 6800GT 256MB

The game has some serious flaws that still need to be fixed before it should have been released. My system is at or better then the recommended level of the game and the game is choppy most of the time. Even with the video settings lowered. Game loading is extremely slow, going from one area to the next actually took 15 minutes to load. Game play is also infuriating, monster target areas are extremely small and sometimes you player end up running to the monster and just standing there while being hit. Also going through doors can take forever while the otherside loads. There is no control over your NPC's you have no say on if they should join or you want to get rid of one. This makes assigning skills for your player extremely critical, try opening chests after your thief leaves. The camera positions have problems where it's almost impossible to get a view. Some of the rooms are so cluttered your player or NPC gets hung up on the items and gets stuck. The NPC's are not very smart they could go running off at any minute to do battle with other monsters that aren't even close. If you reach a monster first most times they will stand directly behind and will just stand rather then moving around to where they could attack. Still the graphics are nice and might be a good game if they fix the problems.

This is a bad game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: November 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have played NeverwinterNights since day one of the original games's release. Neverwinter Nights 2 is NOT a worthy successor to NwN. Here's why:

It is a buggy game. And by that I do not just mean the single-player. Yes, the AI is lacking. Yes, the henchmen will simply cease following you and yes there are some show-stoppers in which quests fail to complete or needed events just do not fire.

The big bugs are in the toolset. You see there is an added step to creating areas in NwN2 that we did not have to deal with in NwN. You must BAKE an area before people can use it. Now, bear in mind it takes about five times longer to make the same size area in the new toolset compared to the same area in the old. Yes, it looks better but not five times better. Now, try to bake it. Unless the area is very simplistic with few placeables (chairs, tables, etc...) it won't bake!

Add to this the laundry list of missing features: a new database to replace the old flat-file system from SoTU (they are meekly turning on the old SoTU system in patch 1.03), the DM client is missing about 60% of its functionality, due to performance issues modules are limited to 2 large and about 2 dozen small outdoor areas (compare this to HUNDREDS of outdoor areas in the original), a new treasure system based on the 3.5 DMG, toolset functions like the item creation wizard, creature creation wizard, FOUNTAIN WATER EFFECTS, Waterfalls! and many, many more.

All of this and the graphics engine is a mess. It runs very poorly on my Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 with 1 gig of Corsair PC6400 RAM with an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT card. I am limited to medium settings with all shadows off in which I get 14-20 fps! This is a brand-new self-build that runs BF2142 on high settings with 60-90 fps! Oh and BF2142 looks so much better.

NwN2 does a good job of implimenting the 3.5 D&D rules. These rules are a major improvement over 3.0 and lightyears beyond the old AD&D.

This game was rushed to market. It is still in 'beta' and does just deserve your money. Wait about six months and then check back. I wish I could return my two copies.

Aweful, just aweful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 24
Date: November 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am a big fan of NWN1 and would give that game 5 stars. This game is by far not even close to it. Not only are the graphics inferior, but the game play is very awkward. It's like they took everything that was good about NWN1, and through it out the window. As someone said in a previous review, it's clear they are just riding the success of NWN1.

I would expect this game to run smooth with the system I just built last week, but boy was I wrong. My ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe, 2 gigs of ram, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+, and 2 Nvidia 7300 GT's running in SLI mode are not enough to make this poor excuse for a sequel to run smooth.

Save your money, this game get's an F-

Be warned - NWN2 unplayable on most computers

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 16
Date: November 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Not everyone walks around with the complete system specs for their machine in their head. Looking at the requirements on the box I assumed that since I have plenty of memory and that my comp is still fairly new I'd be up and playing in no time. But it turned out that my video card wasn't an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or 6800. The game wouldn't run at all with my inferior card.
Now that I'm retro-researching, I'm finding out MANY buyers can't access this game without significant upgrades or flat-out buying a new computer. PLEASE don't make the same mistake I did. Make absolutely certain your machine has what it takes to play the game before putting your money down. Otherwise you may end up feeling cheated.

Dissapointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 23
Date: November 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Mega-disappointment, especially since this game was WAY behind schedule. Originally it was scheduled for release about a year ago - what have they been doing in the extra year they added to development? And why, for the love of God, can't they get something as simple as WASD/Camera follow controls right??? Come on people, this kind of control has been around for many, many years - why can't you get it right?

The game runs fine on my machine, but the interface/contols are too big of an obstacle to game play. The character customization (graphics) is basically non-existant, the voice acting/scripts are dreadful, the graphics are wanting, and on and on... To be honest, NWN1 was a far better effort.

I'll be going back to Nightfall - see you in Elona

The gameplay is relatively good, but beware

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: November 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'll start out by giving my input on a hardware problem I haven't seen others chime in on yet, and then I'll give my impressions on the game itself.

My system is around 2 years old (AMD 64 3000+ CPU, GeForce 6800 GPU, 1 GB of OCZ 3500 DDR ram), but runs the game on high details without a problem. The issue I did run into (on around my 5th gaming session) was that this game makes my system run much hotter than any other game I've played (and I have around a dozen other recent games). My hard drive got so hot that it started making a rapping sound. I powered down, let it cool off, and since it has been fine, but I fear I may yet have to replace it. My cooling setup has been more than adequate for any other game (1 front case fan and 2 in the back, with correct airflow), although I know it could be improved. I guess the best way I can describe it is that this game seems to make your system run as hot as if you were trying to overclock your system. So if you are like me and have never pushed your system to its limits, be catious while running this game because you may not have optimized cooling for your system to handle it. I advise anyone playing this game to keep a close eye on their system's temperature or you may end up damaging your hardware.

I'm not really sure why this game runs so hot, since the graphics aren't anything special by today's standards. However they made this game, it takes up mountains of resources for its very plain graphics for some reason. So all I can say is be wary.

The game itself has a pretty good storyline, and I do like the fact there are more NPC interactions than in the original. It is also nice that you can control your NPCs and that your party has a maximum capacity of four instead of three. However, I do wish they would have introduced a turn-based toggle feature to enhance single player play. Fallout: Tactics has this type of feature, which I found refreshing. The absolute worst feature of the game is the camera. It's a complete chore to have to constantly readjust the camera to find an acceptable angle, especially indoors. Most times I just use an extreme bird's eye like view, which ironically results in me not being able to take in the full effect of the resource-intensive (yet mediocre) graphics the game has. The game also has its share of bugs, although I haven't experienced as many of them as most have.

My overall impression is that the game is a fun continuation on the series, but that the graphics engine and programming involved were poorly done. I give the game four stars for fun (assuming you can safely run it with an acceptable level of playability) and two stars for the developers releasing the game as it is (so three stars overall) which is giving so many gamers, who aren't hardware geniuses, so many problems. This is definitely not a user-friendly game for the average person.

Terrible

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: November 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have started a new game twice and gotten so bored with it that I keep discarding it and ending up playing around with the toolset. I've discovered that this game is intentionally incomplete. The maximum level in this release for a character is 20 (the old NWN1 with both expansions allowed you to go to 40). Continual Flame is included in the toolset, but is completely disabled when loaded into the playable portion of the software. I guess those Continual Flame whiners from NWN1 won. I can't get Keen Edge or Weapon of Impact to function at all, even though it appears that they are supposed to. There are many high level spells which appear in the toolset, but simply do not function in the playable portion of the game. Conversations within this release of the game strongly imply that there are more crafting recipes available than those that are outlined in the recipe books, and that does appear to be the case since many recipes stop at a mere +5 enchantment but the game is designed to take +10 or +20 in many cases. However, why would anyone go through the trouble of trying to find them when they simply may not be there, or worse, they're not there now but will be there only after the release and installation of the next "expansion". Crafting is now a huge part of the game such that my Rogue character is now pretty much worthless when it comes to having decent items. I played around with a triple classed Rogue/Cleric/Wizard and found that with that combination you'd come close to being able to craft any of the explicitly stated recipes with that character at level 20 (I would still need to able to go up a few more levels to get absolutely everything). Also, why would I want to design modules for this game that will be inherently limited because I designed them without the limit-dissolving future expansions? You'd be foolish to design a module now, unless you have no problem with it becoming completely obsolete upon release of the next so-called "expansion".

I still can't bash items. I can not attack and murder non-hostiles. I can get my pickpocketing detected by the victim every time I do it and there doesn't appear to be any negative consequences in the game; the NPCs do not react or attack you. You can not die unless your entire party is killed. I see nothing in the way of dyes to customize armor, and the light gems are gone. As I said before, Continual Flame is disabled, while Keen Edge and Weapon of Impact are present but doesn't seem to function properly. Greater Magic Weapon sort of works, but it borks around with the Enhancement Bonus all wrong. The inventory system is still borked - no dragging and dropping into containers, and has unidentifiable artwork. Crafting items is essential in this game but can only be accomplished with the help of multiple level 20 party members. They fixed it so it is impossible for a non-magic caster (such as a Rogue) to craft magical items, not even if you're level 20 with a Godlike Ring of Crafting with items and scrolls for all the spells you need. Item and scroll casts don't count towards enchanting items. Also, crafted items are restricted to three enchantments each, though items you find in the game can and do easily have more, for some reason. You can't steal from stores (always hated this about the D&D implementations since BG1). I like the character creation, and the gameplay itself is alright. Performance is good if I keep shadows turned off. The world detail is good, though your movements are always restricted down one single path. No exploring here. The plot is okay so far, but incredibly linear. Load times are ridiculously long. I really like the fact that you can have four fully fledged controllable party members, though the Item Use behavior turned off doesn't seem to turn off item use for that character. Say goodbye to all your charges on that amulet if anyone that you aren't directly controlling is actually wearing it. The biggest problem I have is the intentional incompleteness of this game.

I am struggling to enjoy this game right now and the fact that it was intentionally released as incomplete really makes me mad. If I had it to do over again, I'd only consider buying it in a couple years when their Platinum or Diamond edition is released with all the "expansions"/remaining portions of the game included.

All Atari games are on the suspect list now

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: December 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After the recent release of the Platinum/Diamond editions of their Neverwinter Nights games, the topic needs to be covered of Copy Protection. We are all grownups now and some of us like me prefer to use Alcohol or some other form of CD jukebox emulation to store all of their CD's so I don't have to fish for a CD every time I want to play one of the games I own.

Atari CD's all now appear to include various forms of the insidious ROOTKIT type "You-GOTTA-be-kidding"-ware which will come up and refuse to run if you even have Alcohol installed on your system!

Never mind anything from these people until they stop making me uninstall my CD emulator before I can play their meager offering!

Rent it before you buy it, you'll probably blow them off like I will be doing from now on. Toss all of thier stuff INCLUDING their DDO and Lord of the Rings because they went way way over the line of what they are permitted to do as software developers.

(REJECTED!)

Neverwinter Nights 2...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: November 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to the popular Neverwinter Nights. How does it hold up to its predecessor? Well, if you are looking for upgraded graphics, a new user interface and new "bling" then it is probably what you were waiting for.

First off, let me state that Neverwinter Nights 2 is NOT a game that caters to the console crowd. It is not a "hack and slash" nor is it an adventure game like The Longest Journey or Syberia. It is a PC Role-Playing Game designed specifically for PC gamers which happens to appeal to me. You cannot quickly run through killing hordes of monsters nor are the quests "smash and grab" oriented.

I found it most refreshing that the RPG elements were presented in a KOTORish type of environment. That is, when you are in a dialogue with important NPCs the setting changes that promotes dialogue, choice and interaction which delivers a good immersion value.

Is this game for everyone? No, fans of Diablo, Dungeon Seige or FPS will probably not get into this game. Fans of the original Neverwinter Nights will because it stays fairly true to the premise of the original. It delivers a solid single-player expierience with robust tools to create your own campaign settings, bringing Neverwinter Nights into the next techno-gadget environment. If you were thrilled by Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the simplicity and speed with which you can run through everything then you probably will need to switch gears to come down to a slow paced true PC RPG and not a hybrid like Oblivion (Designed for the console and PC).

However, there are problems. From the NWN Vault boards, among others, there are postings of technical problems abound. Personally, I have not expierienced any using a Pentium IV 3.4, 6800 GT video card with 1gig of DDR RAM. This is not to discount problems others are having, but some solutions might be to ensure you have the latest drivers. I am not the smartest guy when it comes to computers, but when I updated my sound, video drivers I noticed a marked improvement in all my games including Neverwinter Nights 2. The system requirements are a bit steep, but if you are serious about PC gaming then you need to have money to spend. If not, the consoles are relatively cheap, although you have to like the console environment over the PC one.

The story starts out fairly standard for a RPG, you are the adopted son of a prominent member of a villiage and encounter various hardships that lead you up to becoming the big hero of the day. It does not feel bland at all, the voice acting is well done and the story flows fairly smoothly. I especially like the KOTORish interaction in the dialogue.

I have found no significant bugs that have been a game-killer for me. Is there items that need to be improved upon? Yes, an excellent posting on the main NWN site lists 101 things that can be improved in NWN 2. The moderators are responsive, and based upon their historical patterns of replying and fixing/moding areas that gamers want improved...well, patches will be coming.

Already I've downloaded several patches from the Update link, one of which was pretty extensive. The customer support is there, and that is definately a good thing. Should games come ready to play out of the box? Oh yeah, but the reality is with complex games (like RPGS) that it doesnt, as long as the techinical support is there then my money was well spent. Overall a 4-star game.

Pros:
- Improved graphics over the original
- Good voice acting
- Excellent dialogue
- Fun gameplay (If you like PC RPGs)
- Great tutorial

Cons:
- Camera controls aren't user-friendly
- UI needs to be revamped (Particulary the SHIFT-Right click when interacting with objects)
- Game can stutter even on high end gaming rigs.
- Too many users expieriencing techinal difficulties. These need to be addressed so everyone can enjoy the game.

Ongoing to hopefully somewhere

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: November 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm writing this review halfway through the first chapter and more properly should be "first impressions" rather than a full review. The major theme of my experience is that the technical bugs far outweigh anything else so far -- and am playing on a system that meets all the "reccomended" tech specs.
The graphics are beautiful but they aren't a generations worth of improvement over baldur's gate (so I don't know what is making use of all those system requirements.) Secondly within the first two days of playing I've been kicked out of the game 4 times with error messages (never happend in Baldur's gate either), plus let me not get started with the camera! The stupid thing has a mind of its own!
Which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't keep getting left behind in the indoor levels. Nothing worse than turning a corner and watching your life bar go down when you can't see what's happing to your character as the camera is fixated on the wall before the turn.

Hope the patches come soon, otherwise what a waste of $50.

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