Neverwinter Nights 2

"Not bad, but not without fault of course."

Gameplay: 8
Overall, the gameplay is solid. The campaign length and difficulty is good, but its a pity you can only get up to level 20. There are many sidequests to wander off to and decisions to make that will end up showing their consequences somewhere along the road. With the latest patch, there are only a couple minor bugs, but nothing that cannot be worked around. I suppose the most significant flaws are the camera angles and the AI. The camera can be frustrating at times, since it needs frequent adjustment. During cutscenes, it can have trouble focusing in on a character, especially when he/she/it is moving. As for the AI, your party members can be clueless. They have a real talent for standing around aimlessly, even while you're being attacked in front of them on occasion. This can be remedied by manually ordering them to guard or follow you, but it can become quite tiresome. Even when they are following you, they can have trouble keeping up with the pace, sometimes getting stuck.

Graphics: 7
Excellent improvement from NW1, but for its hefty system recommendations, it doesn't look that great and it pales in comparison to Oblivion. There are also many clipping issues, and sometimes the walking/running animations of the legs don't work, so it looks as if a character is "floating" across a surface. If you're graphics card isn't that great, you may experience more problems.

Sound: 8
Nice orchestral music and the voice acting is solid for the most part. There was only a small handful of voice actors who delivered terrible performances, especially the ending narrator and the character named 'Nimas' you may meet in Captain Brelaina's office. Once you hear her annoyingly ear shattering voice, you'll know who I'm referring to. Unfortunately, some sounds and tracks were reused from NW1.

Value: 9
Great value. With the multitude of dialogue choices, alignment paths, and the classes you can experience, this game is worth your time. Once mods start rolling out, it should be even more fun. Be sure to download the latest patch though, it'll make things less frustrating.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/07