NEVERWINTER NIGHTS


RPG of the year? It's highly likely...

By MARTIN KINGSLEY

Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Planescape: Torment. These are the crème de la crème of classic RPG gaming.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), all three games were developed by Bioware, each having redefined the RPG genre, all garnering awards from various publications and academies. Prepare to add another title to that list: Neverwinter Nights….

The first thing that strikes you when playing NWN is the sheer atmosphere. Some RPGs have storylines and settings that feel dull and contrived, not so with NWN.

The intro sequence depicts a suitably buff hero creeping through a forest at night, bow at the ready, before engaging in an epic fight with a truly mean-looking Minotaur…with a truly mean-looking axe.

When the fight is over, it's on to the character creation process. NWN uses the 3rd edition of the D&D rules, meaning that there is almost unlimited scope for player creation. Here's the rundown on how the character creation process works:

Name: Insert name here. Need I say more?

Gender: Male or female. Like most RPG's, there are no statistical differences between the genders, though the conversation tree changes to reflect your choice.

Races: Your usual D&D fare, with Humans, Elves, half-Elves, Halflings, Gnomes and half-Orcs as selectable races. Each race has different abilities and gets various bonuses and penalties. The races are all fairly balanced, meaning there is no one race that is better than all the others.

Feats: Feats are the special abilities that you can obtain during the character creation process and then through leveling up. Feats allow your character to do things that normally would require either impossibly high statistics or critical hits. For instance, the Monk class gets various feats involving his agility and fighting skills such as Knockdown (drops a smaller enemy to the mat), Improved Knockdown (same, but treats all enemies as smaller, regardless of their actual size), increased speed and ambidexterity (wield a weapon in each hand without penalties). Each class has their own special Feats, as well as the generic ones that exist.

Stats: The very essence of any RPG experience. You can customize these to your heart's content. A new addition is that of the "Recommended" button. This particular button looks at the choices you've made in regards to race, class and so on, then customizes your stats accordingly to make the most of your previous decisions. No more re-rolling, trying to get the highest possible combination.

Me being an avid RPG fan, I cautiously hit the "Recommended" button. Bang! There in front of me was a character that I would have been proud to create. From there, just hit play and you're off!

You start the game at the Hero Academy in the city of Neverwinter. The tutorial is neatly disguised as the first few rooms of the Academy. Once you've graduated, it's off into the main plot, as assassins kick in the doors and cause endless havoc.

You see, the city of Neverwinter is under the influence of a deadly plague that is unaffected by even the strongest magic. So… The top brass got together and decided to come up with a cure. The cure is…(drum roll, please) The Waterdhavian creatures!

They are four rare and magical creatures that were to be used as reagents to create a cure for the dying populace. Alas, the assassins broke in and the creatures have fled into the night. Now, it's your job to get them back, in the process beating seven shades of brown stuff out of anyone who gets in your way. This sort of "chosen one" plot line isn't exactly new, but there's enough variety that it's given a fresh new lease on life.

This is only the beginning, however I'm not going to give anything away. Suffice to say that the storyline is truly excellent. If you ignore all the sub-quests, there's at least 3 months worth of playtime in here.

Speaking of sub-quests… In some RPG's, sub-quests feel almost tacked on, meant to add an hour or so to the experience. NWN tries it's best to make the sub-quests as engrossing as the main story! A brilliant music score, that is so good it's almost unreal, helps to reinforce the story, along with great voiceovers.

Without a good engine, however, these elements are wasted. Bioware have realised this and, instead of using their isometric 2D engine from the Baldur's Gate and Planescape games, they've made the jump to full 3D.

The world comes to life thanks to crisp textures, amazing spell effects, real time shadows and smooth animations. While the characters are not exactly the most beautiful of polygons, the rest of the FX make up for this - and in grand style. You'll find yourself spending more time staring at the enemy spell effects rather than trying to counter them.

Enemy AI has always been a problem in RPG's. NWN's enemy AI is something to be proud of, with different enemies showing off different types of intelligence, with goblins trying Doom-style grunt rushes, while skeletons and other high-level evil-doers show off an intelligent malevolence of a level rarely seen in any game to date.

The same cannot be said for your ally's AI. You see, NWN focuses more on player character development than on party tactics. But if you must have a party, then you can hire some henchmen. Henchman are cool, with individual personalities and sub-quests. But these guys are dumb, with a capital Dee! They get stuck in walls and floors and disappear between screens (probably sneaking off for a pint). Even so, one would expect these issues to be resolved in a forthcoming patch.

Hmmm…I seem to be forgetting something… Ah, wait! I know: Multiplayer!

As I said above, I'm an RPG fanatic, and I've been waiting for the day that someone decides to incorporate the Dungeon Master from the old pen and paper days. Hurray, for that day has finally arrived.

Dungeon Master's are the omnipotent force behind every pen and paper RPG, forging adventures, creating quests, obstacles and controlling the world as they see fit. NWN allows you to be the DM, giving you full control over a multiplayer game.

The Aurora toolset is easy to use and comes with comprehensive help files. With such ease-of-use, it shouldn't be long until we see MODs arriving on the scene.

Without any doubt in my mind, Neverwinter Nights is THE best fantasy RPG of the year. Bioware, the RPG community salutes you!

ORIGINALITY 100%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 85%
ENJOYMENT 95%