Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide

"So...this is it?"

RPG Whore Sense...tingling! Neverwinter Nights remains my first, last, only, and favorite PC RPG, because it does right all the things I want from a game. Massive monsters, an engaging battle system, quests abound, fantastic graphics, and a way to play the game as a naked female elf. Booyah.

This is, in fact, the first expansion for Neverwinter Nights, and since it's an expansion and not a full-blown sequel, I can't rate it too poorly. However, even as an expansion it provides very little in the way of new content. The quest isn't huge. The new character classes are only so-so by themselves. The new items are only moderately more useful than those found in the original NWN campaign, but enough of that. Let's get into it.

The thing that bugs me most about Shadows of Undrentide is that it isn't, as I said, a sequel. The events of the game actually take place during the timeline of the original Neverwinter Nights campaign. You start out as a new, level 1 character in whichever class you want, but therein lies the trouble. I have an inbred dislike of computerized randomization because as anyone with any programming experience knows, it's never really random. Oh sure, the programmers can do their best to keep things from becoming repetitive, but when starting a new game in NWN, inevitably battles will translate to you and even a single enemy spending several rounds trying to roll a high enough number to even make a hit on each other. Then you have to consider the fact that you haven't got very powerful weaponry, so it takes even more rounds to land another hit and actually kill the little bastard you're fighting. And if there's another one (which there will be, quite often) then you are, in essence, watching a very non-epic battle unfold before you as you pray to roll a high enough number to hit and kill the little beginner enemies you fight.

But enough about that! Shadows of Undrentide starts you off in a snowy village, far away from the still-plague-ridden city of Neverwinter. You're apprenticed under an old adventurer who has since given up his exciting life and instead settled down to train his successor. The whole problem begins when a gang of kobolds attack your master's house, steal a bunch of magical relics and severely wound him. Thus your quest begins, both to recover the relics and to get some much-needed revenge on the little buggers that wounded your master.

But like I said, it's slow-going due to the fact that you begin with a brand-new character. Once you gain a few levels, battles flow a bit more and play out more smoothly. However, there are a few problems besides that.

Shadows of Undrentide is not a very long quest. It was intended to be an intermediate adventure to hold you over till Hordes of the Underdark, and thus it's not very long. Even if you do all the sidequests, you can reach the end in under 20 hours, much less if you don't go off hunting the extra treasure and experience. In addition, the story as it unfolds isn't terribly good. As I said, it's more of a placeholder.

However, it still contains some additional content to add to the NWN universe. Among this are five new prestige classes. These include the Arcane Archer, Assassin, Shadow Dancer, Blackguard, and Harper Scout. The first three out of these five are targeted mainly toward those who prefer indirect combat, and the Harper Scout is more or less a role-playing class only, as its class abilities aren't inherently useful. The blackguard is, as the name may suggest, for anyone who wants to be an evil SOB and look good doing it. While these classes do have their uses, they're a far cry from the ones presented in Hordes of the Underdark.

Of course, Shadows does add more to the NWN universe than just this. There is, of course, the new tilesets, including the desert, rural winterland, and ruins. These are used in turn in the main quest, and they look good, though I still can't help but wish for more.

Okay, there is more. 16 new creatures, 30 new feats and 50 new spells. The feats in particular include Great Cleave, Divine Might and Divine Shield, the latter two of which have become staples for any builds involving paladin class levels. It also includes a number of feats that have certain situational uses, but are a good pick all the same. The new spells, while not fantastically essential, are still a nice addition all the same.

Quite frankly, if I were to make a recommendation on Shadows purely as an expansion, I wouldn't get it. However, many new mods are being made using the Undrentide tilesets, creatures and weapons, so to play them, you must have Shadows. In addition, to get the full online experience (you can still play this game online) you will very likely have to have Shadows of Undrentide installed in addition to Hordes of the Underdark.

While on its own it doesn't make a very good case for itself, Shadows is one of those things you gotta get through just so you can enjoy what the community has to offer. This expansion's quest may not be that great, but what is available out there from the module makers makes this worth the purchase. Besides, Neverwinter Nights: Platinum Edition will be out eventually, so if you haven't already, you might as well just buy all three games together and get the most out of the franchise.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/04