Five years of Neverwinter Nights

Life

When I first saw that Neverwinter Nights had been some five years in the making, I was somewhat apprehensive. After the long wait for such titles as Daikatana proving ultimately futile, I loaded it up with a healthy dose of scepticism, not least because in recent months the likes of Dungeon Siege and Morrowind have proved just how far RPG games have progressed. Thankfully, I need not have worried.

Coming from the same stable that produced Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights is a complex, well designed and almost flawlessly executed game. Based on the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the game allows for the usual character classes but with some significant differences. Classes are now allowed with overlap opening up such new possibilities as for mages wearing armour.

This all manifests itself chiefly through the interface where you choose and configure a character. Those who still remember the old pencil and paper days can employ the time honoured methods, while those short of time or know how, can simply pick from a few options and let the game work out the permutations of character, class and capabilities, from which you choose your final character.

Though the game is clearly a complex working of the Dungeons and Dragons gaming system, it locks most of it away under the clever interface where you need not worry about it. The intuitive system practically means that the manual is a reference rather than a must. 

The usual array of weapons is present with magical enhancements common. The combat is easy enough to manage, with the pause capability allowing you to make selections from your inventory or arsenal to help in the struggle. As such, the combat never takes away from what is a role-playing, rather than a pure action game.

A very nice feature in the game is the ability to hire a henchman and to summon an animal familiar. The prospect of having a huge slavering orc at your beck and call has had many RPG players salivating. However, the henchman is more autonomous than has been seen in many other games of this type and has a tendency to be more egocentric than I would have hoped. They will often rage into battle without orders, or end up stuck in some awkward terrain due to what can only be described as wilful disregard for their master.

On the other hand, the animal familiars are less wilful, and seem just a little silly. They too will charge off and get killed of their own accord, but are useful nonetheless. However, the option of a badger as a familiar leads me to believe that perhaps the developers have been at this for too long.

The graphics are mostly good, though certain areas let the game down. Non-Player Characters are often very similar with what seems to be too few models to choose from. Pre-rendered scenes can be a bit bargain basement and certain textures appear more frequently than the backdrops in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

Lighting effects and shadows are truly breath taking, as are the magic effects. But again, when set against scenes that are all too familiar with ill-defined characters that are uncannily similar, it looses something.

The multiplayer game will soon have online communities flourishing as the Dungeon Master features allow you to be the god of a game in add-on scenarios, or those of your own creation.

The latter highlights another major feature of this game. The game is released with an Aurora engine editor that allows you to do more or less, a point and click style of scenario creation. This program in itself is worthy of note as anyone familiar with a Windows interface style who is undaunted by your average HTML editor, will have no problems producing scenarios. 

This is a solid game based on a set of rules that many RPG players will be familiar with, whether consciously or not. The result then, is that players will immediately feel comfortable in the universe created by this game.

The combination of huge single player re-playability, networked and Internet games and a comprehensive editor, will certainly secure this game a place in top three or four RPGs of the last several years.

Though there are minor problems, the sheer popularity of the game will ensure a stream of patches and player mods that virtually guarantee a dedicated and extensive cult following shortly after it hits the shelves.

Neverwinter Nights – Specs: