For those of you unfortunate enough not to be familiar with the
first Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a massive D&D
(Dungeons and Dragons) style role-playing game set in the fantasy
world of the Forgotten Realms. Neverwinter Nights 2 combines an
epic single-player campaign that makes you work through three
complete stories and features online play and a robust
module-making editor. As a single player, you'll be swept from
the tiniest of villages into a tale of danger and war, where
you'll eventually rise from a peasant to a full-fledged
Hero-of-the-Realms.
In this epic sequel, character development has improved
dramatically. View larger.
The new graphics engine is absolutely amazing. View larger.
If you are interested in having adventures, look no further than
Neverwinter Nights 2. View larger.
One of the biggest areas of improvement in Neverwinter Nights 2
is with character development. Armor is made up of many different
segments, allowing for an impressive assortment of characters
that let you make better use of more available graphics. Build
whatever character best suits your style of play -- good or evil,
chaotic or lawful -- with any number of skills, feats and
professions. Whether you like lobbing fireballs and researching
forgotten spells as a powerful Wizard, hacking head-on through
innumerable orcs as a Fighter, or slipping unnoticed through the
shadows as a Rogue, you'll be able to create a character that's
perfect for you. What's more, the races of Neverwinter Nights all
have sub-races as well, which will add a great deal of replay
value as you progress. You can also choose character histories
now, each of which provide different bonuses and change how
others interact with you in the game world. And while you may
already have an idea of what kind of character you want to play,
Neverwinter Nights 2 includes a handy "recommended" option for
those players who would rather let the game customize a character
just for them. Another major enhancement is with the addition of
companions. In Neverwinter Nights, you just hired henchman, and
they did things for you that you didn't really have any control
over. You'll have complete control over the companions you attain
in Neverwinter Nights 2, and they'll remain integral to the story
-- they will travel and fight with you, and some may even fall in
love with you or betray you.
The game follows standard D&D alignment conventions, keeping
track of your morality throughout the game. Depending on whether
the actions you perform are good or bad, how those around you
relate to you will gradually shift, which is especially
significant where the members of your party are concerned. There
is even an influence system similar to the one in Knights of the
Old Republic 2 that allows you to gradually redeem, or corrupt,
your party members through your actions. Design the character you
want and choose your alignment, your allies, your companions, and
how you want your character to develop, and then carry the battle
to your enemies. Without spoiling the ending, the whole
experience leads up to a cool plot twist and a massive battle
that sets up the third and final act.
The new graphics engine is absolutely amazing, depicting all the
fancy worlds, beautiful ping, dynamic lighting, per-pixel
lighting and more. And the multiplayer characters have been given
an increase in their ways of communication with one another. And
when you cast a spell effect, the other players won't have to
read something to find out what you just cast -- they'll know
right away and will know how to react. Neverwinter Nights 2 also
gives you the tools you need to build your own modules,
campaigns, and adventures for your friends. You can move
buildings, alter terrain, script encounters, write dialogues, or
create quests and items in order to create an epic adventure for
you, or any other worldbuilder, to use. So if you are interested
in having adventures, or building adventures of your own, you
need look no further than Neverwinter Nights 2.
- Massive D&D-style role-playing game set in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms.
- Epic single-player campaign that makes you work through three complete stories.
- Character designs allow for different types, races, alignments, and even histories.
- More communicative multiplayer mode with features such as emotes.
- Build your own campaigns and adventures, creating new quests and items with a more robust module maker.