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(More customer reviews)Cinematic, flashy, epic, and thoroughly satisfying - Hordes of the Underdark is the truly phenomenal culmination of the Neverwinter Nights franchise. While player reviews were mixed in regards to the original NWN campaign and the first expansion campaign, I have seen little if anything for Hordes except high praise. It brings to the table both a well written and dramatic campaign and an avalanche of new game features like feats, prestige classes and skills and the much-awaited Epic Levels - expanding the game from 20 class levels to 40 - all of it in an extremely smooth and meticulously produced package.
The official Hordes campaign is not only my most enjoyable Neverwinter Nights play experience yet, but also ranks as the single most satisfying RPG game experience I've ever had. If you haven't ever played Neverwinter Nights, now is the time to buy NWN Gold and Hordes and get down to business learning this fantastic game.
The plot of the Hordes campaign is, on the one hand, the same plot every RPG has - "save the world." However there's nothing formulaic about the plot of Hordes. Bioware has made a compelling story that you will have trouble walking away from. The story is complex and well written, taking you to many well-portrayed locations classic to the D&D genre, such as Undermountain, the Underdark, and Beholder and Illithid cities. These locations are moody, alien, dark and disturbing in a truly tangible way. You will not explore these locations *wondering* how you should react - you *will* react, tangibly and viscerally, to their disturbing lighting and ailen architecture.
In addition, throughout the campaign Bioware has made extensive use of the new cinematic camera features added by SOU, bringing a sense of big screen urgency to this adventure. No more reading in a little text box about how important it is you undertake this quest. Instead you watch beautiful, dramatic, in-game cutscenes that show you horrors being unleashed upon the world that only you can stop. And as you approach the close of the story, you are not wondering how you should feel, or fiddling with your equipment because you're bored. You will forget game mechanics and move urgently towards the resolution of the story.
When all is said and done, you will be left with a character that is roughly 25th-30th level. And you will truly see your character as an epic hero - not becuase of a number on your character sheet, or because of feats and skills you chose, and not because of your epic loot. (And there's plenty of awesome loot if you like that.) You will see your character as an epic hero because of your vivid memories of the epic *actions* that your character has performed. "Level 30" will seem meaningless compared to looking at your character and remembering an entire city looking to you as it's only hope - and actually leading that city to *defeat* an entire army in order to realize that hope.
Having now played the OC and tried multiple game features, I have to say that this expansion has an extremely professional and clean feel to it. I was troubled by only a single bug during my play through of the campaign - a moment when a cutscene didn't fire perfectly. This certainly didn't stop my game play. Every feature added has a very polished feel, as if a great deal of care and attention was placed on each of the new game additions. The smallest features, such as the new icons used to represent added feats, are attractive and show care in design.
Henchman AI is much improved in Hordes, and you can now take 2 of them with you while you travel. Playing on Hardcore difficulty, I had a henchman die only once. Countless times my party-mates contributed smart decisions to battles. For example Deekin would use his Fear spell only on foes that were vulnerable to it, often with great results. NPCs that join your party have been given a *lot* of side chatter, comments, and extra interactions with either each other or you - and it's often hilarious. You will definitely NOT feel like you are alone on this adventure with a mute robot that often dies.
I've commented so much on the OC that I don't have much space to comment on the multitude of other great features. Six new Prestige Classes are added, and judging from the Bioware forums they're all a huge hit for different reasons. Many new feats, some epic and some not, were added. Weapon and armorcrafting skills now allow you to modify the appearance of your items - so you can pick between a chain shirt having all those metal loops, or that leather trim. Cloth, leather and metal dyes allow you to completely customize the colors of your armor and helmets. Intimidate and Bluff skills allow new and different types of social interactions. Robes have been added to the game and they look amazing. Items in your inventory can now be the target for spells and items, allowing you to poison your blade, or cast spells on your items that give them new properties.
After NWN's rocky life story, HotU has erased any doubts about Bioware and their commitment to quality. They demonstrate so many gifts and talents in Hordes - care, precision, smart design - and most importantly, an essential understanding of what an RPG gamer wants when they sit down to play. Bioware has really hit the nail on the head with this great campaign: it leaves you feeling like a true hero from myth or legend.
In an era of RPGs that largely disappoint, Bioware has produced a classic - a resplendent gem that is impressive on so many levels that is almost impossible to rate the game high enough. If you have any love for 3E D&D or for NWN, you simply must buy this expansion.
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Product Description:
Neverwinter Nights' first expansion, Shadows of Undrentide, was certainly an engrossing tale, and a great addition to the universe, but for how much I enjoyed that adventure it pales in comparison to Hordes of the Underdark. Sure, this expansion looks slightly better than the last, and manages to add in an assortment of new goodies for level-up junkies like myself, but what really makes this game for me is that it revolves around the Drow and all the dark creatures of the D&D universe. You just can't help but love Mind Flayers and those evil elf beeatches. If you managed to miss out on Shadows, you should do yourself a favor and make sure you check out Hordes, as it represents some of the best storytelling going on in the PC world. Even if you don't care about the plot, you can always just make some crazy powerful characters and tear it up.
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