Role-playing fans are in for a treat this summer with the release of
Neverwinter Nights. The people behind the Baldur's Gate games, BioWare,
have built the game from the ground up, developing a new fully 3D engine for the
game dubbed Aurora. The new 3D engine, an adherence to the popular 3rd
edition Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, and a storied ancestry in the
Baldur's Gate series seem like they'd alone be enough to make Neverwinter
Nights a good choice for RPG fans. However, there is a lot more to
Neverwinter Nights that just might put it into a new class by itself in the annals
of computer RPGs. We were given a demo of the game at E3 in Los Angeles this year, and we were
quite impressed with what we saw. Before we get into some of Neverwinter
Night's more unique features, though, let's cover some of its basics.
As mentioned earlier, the game adheres to the 3rd edition Dungeons &
Dragons ruleset, and as a result you'll have a wide selection of classes
from which to choose when creating your character. All seven races and
eleven classes outlined in the ruleset will be available for selection, and both
genders will be equally represented. To further personalize your
character, there will be 12 voice styles for each gender. If this seems
like an overwhelming number of choices to you, don't fret; you can select a
"recommended" button at any point to have the computer make good choices for
you.
The extensive number of options doesn't stop at the character creation
screens. Once in the game, your character will have access to a wide
selection of armor and clothing, and your character's appearance will change to
reflect what clothing is worn and what weapons are equipped. The game also
comes with over 200 different spells, so magic-using classes with have a
wide-variety of spells at their disposal.
All of this variety gives players the option of replaying the game's campaign
and having a different experience the next time through the game. The
replay option is not necessitated by a short or repetitive campaign as in some
other games. The extensive campaign game was originally touted as taking
about 60 hours to complete, but BioWare has since revised the expected playing
time to 100 hours or more. In addition, the campaign can also be
experienced as a multiplayer game with other players over a network or the
Internet. You won't even have to spend a lot of time looking for friends
to join you - the game will have integrated support for GameSpy to match you up
with other players.
The campaign takes place in the Forgotten Realms, and opens in the northern
city of Neverwinter. The city is in the grips of a plague known as the
"Wailing Death." The city of Waterdeep has responded to Neverwinter's call
for help, and sent a collection of magical creatures to be used as reagents in a
cure for the plague. Unfortunately, unknown assailants ambush the location
where the creatures are held, releasing them into the night. It is up to
the player to recapture the creatures, eradicate the plague, and determine who
was responsible for their release.
The end of the campaign is just the beginning »
