Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide

"Oh well, it adds some good stuff..."

Introduction

Just in case you care, Shadows of Undrentide is the first expansion for neverwinter nights, which was rated as one of the top RPGs. Overall, this is a good x-pack. Not great, just good.

GamePlay 8

It's about the same as in the original. If you read my review for the original, you'll notice that my biggest disappointment was the lack of a party (BG fan is writing this). This x-pack doesn't add party support, but adds more control over your henchman/woman. You can manage his/her inventory, choose their leveling class etc. However, the new campaign doesn't have a wide selection of henchmen; only 3 (there were originally 4, but due to some kinda bug, they had to remove one). The lack of a good ''tank'' henchman is a problem for archers and mages.

I have found the new prestige classes very good. Some, like the Blackguard, have some great ''roleplay'' value. Others, like the Arcane Archer is really interesting to play with, due to the special abilities.

I give a ''8'' here for two reasons : First, there is no higher level cap; it's still at 20, which is NOT much. A 30 would be much better, but BioWare said the second x-pack (called Hordes of the Underdark) will raise the limit. Second, henchmen and summons can be really stupid, getting in fights you don't really want them to start, getting stuck in narrow passages etc. Of course you can use the commands such as ''stand ground'' and ''follow'', but sometimes it just doesn't work.

Video 9

The graphics are excellent. It is hard to argue with that. There are some flaws in some tilesets, but not worth mentioning. All the spells have nice animation, especially those new ''Bigby's Hand''. Characters are usually well modeled.

Audio 10

The sound owns, period. There are many sound effects, from a small fire to a big rock falling from a cliff. The music is also very good, but there are not so many new tracks. But who needs new tracks when the originals are already excellent?

Story 8

The story is pretty good, probably better than the orginal. However, I've found that I liked the replay value of the original better. It's hard to explain, but I just don't feel like going through the new campaign a third time; and I played the original many, many times, getting bored only after I did chapter 1 for the sixth time.

Replay Value 7

I'm the kind of person who likes big, deep stories (once again, my BG persona shows up). The campaign, even though it's pretty good, isn't as deep as the BG story. At least, you don't have to save the world like in all the Final Fantasy's...

Like in the original game, the main replay value comes from modules, which you can download on the Internet, and from multiplayer. Liking big stories, there are only a few modules I can really recommend. People who are good at using the great but extra-complicated (for me, at least) editor usually create persistent worlds or action-only modules.

Buy or Rent?

I would go for a buy if you liked the original. The game overall is pretty good. If you liked the multiplayer and modules part of the original -or- of you're any good with the editor, this x-pack is almost a ''must''. Even though I like NWN better now than when I wrote my original review, I still maintain that Baldur's Gate was the best RPG I ever played.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/03, Updated 06/23/03