Neverwinter Nights

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Title : Neverwinter Nights
Author : Infogrames Entertainment
Release Date : 20020618
Binding : CD-ROM
Regular Price : $59.99
Amazon.com Price : $54.95 ( 8 %)
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Editorial Reviews :
Do you remember those late-night D&D sessions? They always seemed so illicit. There's a kind of wanton luxury inherent in pretending you are an elf when you should be doing your math. Oh, you can act like you don't know what we're talking about, Elwyn Stormrider. Your secret's safe with us. But though your late-night geek fests have likely been disrupted by school, work, love, or moving away from your long-lost buddies, a new game from BioWare will soon let you reunite your far-flung band and head into the dungeon.
More often than not, role-playing games on consoles and personal computers have shied away from that sort of experience--by which we mean the experience of dorks sitting around a table in the basement--and there are valid reasons they have done so. There is a certain amount of linearity that must be accepted without a live moderator to handle events that veer from the beaten path. What's more, the task of creating a completely open-ended mechanism for players to engage in their own storytelling seems daunting--and that's putting it mildly. Imagine trying to convert a game world hundreds of thousands of people have been imagining for years. Then, just for kicks, try to give gamers some measure of the leeway they're accustomed to in freeform, pen-and-paper role-playing. Well, that's precisely the task before veteran developer BioWare. And if the demonstration at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo is any indication, the company has a lot to be proud of.

Neverwinter Nights endeavors to be faithful to Wizards of the Coast's 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, which will be familiar to anyone who has ever played any version of D&D. Neverwinter Nights actually consists of two separate but related products: a client, which is used to connect to and play in active Internet adventures, and the Aurora Toolset, which aspiring Dungeon Masters can leverage to create tales of action and intrigue.

The client portion is where most players' entire experience will reside. Characters are created here, including the full roster of official races and classes and a boggling assortment of character art. Even weird stuff, like some of the new race-specific weapons, are included. Interactions with other characters, the environment, and creatures of the night utilize a radial menu system--think The Sims--where context-appropriate choices fan out wherever you click. Spells, special abilities, and virtually anything else to which you'd need quick access uses the same interface.

The 3rd Edition of the venerable D&D system brings with it the concept of feats, which are special abilities selected and honed as you accrue experience. Though we could speak for several hours on the subject without taking a breath, let us simply summarize by saying that as a player you will not want for ways to customize your alter ego. Though Neverwinter Nights is designed to bring computer and tabletop role-playing together, it also sports a fully featured campaign that can be played alone or with friends. No stranger to the genre, BioWare brought about a veritable renaissance in electronic role-playing with its Baldur's Gate series (and the Infinity Engine that underpinned it). Though very little has been announced in the way of details, it seems reasonable to assume that we'll be in for a treat.

The Aurora Toolset, like any arcane device of great power, is going to need its secrets coaxed out of it. You can't just walk up to it, turn a few knobs, maybe wave a wand around, and expect it to produce a masterpiece of enduring vision. For one thing, you'll have to provide the vision, which is not included with the product. It does, however, include wizards, or automated tasks, that will excise some of the drudgery from the process. But while perfectly enjoyable campaigns could certainly be created by the novice, truly compelling and well-imagined games are going to take more than imagination.

In short, Neverwinter Nights is like any other role-pl

Features/Technical Specs :
help, FAQ's and email. I usually play when the Infograms phone lines are closed and have had one-or-two bugs I had to fix myself w/o help. I would also like the flexibility of the windows that the game ChessMaster 6000 and above demonstrated. Which ones are open, how big they are, and save a customized setup... but I can live with what they got.

I also miss the complete accessibility of the world that was present in the original Baldur's gate. I like strategy and exploration. Even BGII lacked some of the exploratory nature and expansiveness of the original BG (although, from what I read, I am in a minority on this issue). I would like waypoints. I would like to click on the overview map to send my character a long distance. I would like the world in the palm of my hand! Whoops, slipping into charcter... sorry!

While I have spent a lot of time saying what NWN is not, I got to tell you it is FUN!! It recaptures that online gaming experience that I had with the original NWN on AOL (I left AOL when they dropped NWN). Lord Nasher is a little older, but then so aren't we all. Buy it! Play it! You'll enjoy it!

(by Xachaffery Vermillion)

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