A light in the shadow.
While playing through the main Neverwinter Nights 2 campaign, it quickly becomes obvious that this is a very different game from its predecessor indeed. While the first game was praised for its multi-player approach, fans of traditional Bioware outings such as Baldur's Gate lamented at the loss of the kind of rich narrative-driven gameplay we had come to expect from the company. It seems that Obsidian have taken heed and not only improved upon nearly every aspect of the multi-player and community aspect of the game, but brought the game much closer to it's single-player roots.
The party system is back, and depending upon in-game circumstances, we can have up to six non-player characters at our backs at any time. Each NPC is solidly-written, interesting and for the most part, not annoying. Of course, a great character line-up instantly sets the scene for a deep, involving plot focusing squarely on you.
It may not be quite up to the standards of the long, dark and deeply personal storylines of the epic Baldur's Gate series, but Neverwinter Nights 2 provides a compelling narrative that is thankfully much more gripping, driven and interesting than the unfortunate 'go to four areas, find four things' quests that permeated the first Neverwinter Nights. Firstly, it is not a sequel. You play the part of a simple villager, caught up in a rapidly-unfolding whirlwind of events around an ancient and evil Shadow Lord, involving the Githyanki, a silver sword, dark rituals, a romance (of course) and the kicker: you are more important than you know. What RPG doesn't rely on that old trick? I like the story, it's a nice old-school adventure that provides a good an excuse as any to spend more time in the Forgotten Realms.
It's a great setting, and the Dungeons & Dragons-based gameplay is as solid as ever. It provides near-endless character customisation with not only the usual array of basic classes, skills and stats, but a range of interesting prestige classes that allow you to shape your avatar pretty much as you please and prepare yourself for the challenge ahead. It is a challenging game, and fights range from spanking goblins to fighting massive armies, slaying dragons and powerful wizards, and surviving the epic centrepiece of the final act: a long castle siege against marauding evil forces.
How the player controls all this action is obviously a big issue. The original release version of the interface was initially and quite rightly derided for being clumsy, awkward, way too large and counter-intuitive, especially when compared to the fluidity of the original Neverwinter Nights. All I can say is: patch your game. The patches and updates available in the two years since release have not only totally revamped the GUI and interface, but have dealt with many graphics-related bugs and complaints. It's still not as slick as the first game (I want my radial menus, thank you very much), but it's not bad either. Alternatively, Neverwinter Nights 2 has taken a MMO-style approach and features full support for community-designed interfaces. Chances are, there's something out there you'll like.
The graphics are a vast improvement from the now-antiquated looks of the original game, and even two years after release Neverwinter Nights 2 holds up as a great-looking game. Landscapes are detailed, covered with all manner of trees, structures and the like and have non-blocky terrain which is an achievement in itself. Character models stand up to scrutiny even when zoomed in so close you can see pimples. Well, sort of. The game doesn't go for an extremely realistic look; there's a definite and very appropriate fantasy vibe to the design which is aided by some mighty fancy spell effects and an entire bestiary of magical creatures. The whole thing looks bright and colourful, surprising considering the game basically revolves around evil shadows. On a note; slower computers may struggle with high graphical settings, especially on unpatched versions of the game – all I can suggest is that you patch pronto and fiddle with the settings until things look smooth.
As for the audio side of things, I find the voice-acting good, which can be expected, although I struggle to pick out any particular voices. It's fun to listen to the banter between characters and best of all, there's actually a few perfectly listenable pre-sets for your character so you don't end up cringing every time your avatar performs an action. The music is also good, mostly the same sort of blandly inoffensive background orchestrations, but with some great pieces hidden there too.
If there's one thing I wouldn't worry about with Neverwinter Nights 2, it's getting value for money. The game is long, easily 40 hours if you take time out of the main quest to partake in subquests, romances or simply getting to know your in-game companions. Like any good Bioware, Black Isle or Obsidian release, Neverwinter Nights 2 provides much more than meets the eye for those who are willing to look for it. Throw in the strong multi-player side of things, a highly trumpeted feature of the Neverwinter Nights games and the huge online community endlessly turning out mods of all kinds, and getting value for your money is never even a whisper of an issue. There's also an official expansion pack out, titled Mask of the Betrayer, which adds in a whole new campaign, epic levels and a big bunch more.
Neverwinter Nights 2 can best be described as Neverwinter Nights for people who like playing alone. All the community bells and whistles are there if you want them, but never at the expense of a sterling single-player game.