Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

"Eat this, you Drow sons of other Drow!"

Hmm...I'm outnumbered 20-1 by all-powerful dragons, I only have a dagger and my Bra of Manly Fortitude. BRING IT ON!!!

Activate RPG Whore Sense! Aside from the fact that the mere mention of an RPG makes me pant and hump the nearest post, Neverwinter Nights holds a special place in my heart. With all its customization features, a bevy of fan-made mods, and new epic weapons, armor, items, prestige classes, and a whole host of new monsters well-equipped to skewer you alive, it makes for one fine experience.

I'll get the bad stuff out of the way. About the only complaint I have with the whole 'D&D translated into computer code' thing is the whole bit is subjected to the not-so-random calculations of a computer. See, I can roll three 1's in a row, completely miss my target, then hit them and proceed to roll three 1's FOR ANOTHER THREE ROUNDS IN A ROW! Okay, so that doesn't happen as often as all that, but you will, in fact, have to suffer from the fact that no computer is as random as a real dice throw, and the computer seems to like punishing you for just playing the game, at least early on. That may be something of a petty complaint, but when it comes to watching my character and a goddamn kobold go ten rounds without hitting each other, it tends to get on my nerves.

Fortunately, this particular game transcends that difficulty by setting you up at level 15 from the start. No more hoping to roll a 19 or greater just to deal three points of damage, no! This is an epic quest, and it starts off as such. The early levels of pain and suffering are replaced by high-octane battles with the greatest monsters the Underdark can throw at you.

Speaking of that, the game's story is a step up from the previous expansion, Shadows of Undrentide. Though I question Bioware's willingness to have female archvillains (delicious, but deadly) but their squeamish tendencies when confronted between a romantic relationship between a female PC and your female Drow henchman! Come on, where's the interspecial girl-girl loving?

The story itself starts out right in the middle of the action. As Bioware would have it, your character from the end of Shadows of Undrentide has made a name for him/herself (you can also create a new character, to the same effect) and has been summoned to Waterdeep, which is being beset by monsters from Undermountain. Said Undermountain is a magical dungeon maintained by a mad wizard who's been captured by the Drow, who are in turn aiming to take over the surface world. Sounds serious. Well, it just builds from there, with Drow armies, demon hordes, and a whole heaping load of monsters for you to fight.

But enough of that! Let me recount to you tales of my adventures in the Underdark. I'm surrounded by Driders and Drow, while Vrocks and other magical creatures numbering in the dozens battle each other as I rush in, my Astral Blade of "Oh God It Hurts!" blazing in the dimly-lit room. Sparks flash as my sword bounces off weapon and shield alike, real-time lighting periodically giving full view of the carnage. The Vrocks fire odd ripples of magic that daze the Drow, and of course, with my immunity to mind-affecting abilities, I am quick to take advantage of the situation. Blood flowed green, red and brown as Drow and Vrock alike fell to my blade. My Drow henchwoman/assassin drew the attention of the rest while I snuck around to their backside and dealt a sneak attack that sent them screaming for their dark gods.

Long narrative short, I wasted the suckers. The marble floor was given a coloring treatment. Blood red. My favorite.

This is a game for all of you out there who always want the strongest, the toughest, and the best equipment out there. There's a dungeon-load of powerful weapons, armor and items with suitable effects to keep you busy mixing and matching to get the most out of your swag. The only downside is selling this stuff has taken a bad turn from the original campaign of NWN. The sell price for items has a ceiling, which is a real downer considering the buying price for the same item is often ten or twenty times what you sold it for. Damn capitalism.

Another thing missing from this expansion is the sun. Most of the game takes place underground, so the majority of the environments you'll see will be caves of varying color, temples (of generally the same color) and the odd underground castle and catacomb.

The monsters, however, are a treat to watch as well as fight. There's nothing quite like going up against a pair of Mithril Golems with immunity to critical hits and enough AC to make a dragon scoff. You'll have to be on your toes from start to finish, and make good use of the 36 customizable hotkeys for various actions, from spellcasting to potion drinking. From monstrous undead to the spidery Drider to massive dragons, Balor and more, there's a lot to fight down in the Dark, and it's all hungry. For you.

As with the previous iterations of NWN, there's a lot of options to be had. While you start out with the same selection of classes as in NWN and Shadows of Undrentide, there are six new Prestige classes you can aspire to, each one with specialized powers and abilities all their own. The Red Dragon Disciple powers up the associated Sorcerer class with stat bonuses and a breath weapon, while the Champion of Torm class gives you added abilities and saving throws, and the Weapon Master class (one of my favorites) gives you ungodly strength with a selected weapon. Groovy.

Now, I must divert a bit from my prescribed course and speak of the online play. If you happen to have both expansions and the CEP (a free download from Bioware), the entirety of the online community is open to you. There are many game modes available, though my personal experience with it was...underwhelming. Some servers offer player-vs.-player action, and that's fine if you like tournament-style play, but the persistent servers act more like miniature MMORPGs. There's no DM guiding your adventure, but rather you are the guiding force. Just as in the game, you look for quests to undertake, recruit others into your party, then fight monsters, take home swag, lather, rinse, repeat. Though, again, in my experience, it ends up being more of a 3D chatroom than one of constant questing and adventure. Might've just been the time of day.

Anyway, that's about it. Overall this is a great expansion as a single-player experience, and having it will open up more playing options online as well. The amount of content it adds is amazingly satisfying for the price, especially the new equipment. See you on the other side!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/04