Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NwN: Hordes of the Underdark, 15 Dec 2003
While Neverwinter Nights' previous and first expansion pack, Shadows of Undrentide, gave us another campaign to play through and a few nice additions to the Aurora toolset, at no point did I feel that it really improved the game as a whole. The same cannot be said about Hordes of the Underdark.
Perhaps most significantly, this second expansion gives us epic level gameplay -- your character can now reach level 40, making the new 20-hour campaign (this could easily stretch to over 30 hours) a far more dramatic and fast-paced single player experience. The game's graphics have been tweaked slightly, and the in-game camera has been freed up a lot. The single player campaign itself is generally very enjoyable, with an epic storyline set in the Underdark and the Nine Hells, and clever use of the new script functions that make HotU a far richer experience than the main game's original campaign.
Thankfully, it is not only single-player gameplay and controls that have been expanded upon, as world builders will be glad to know that the Aurora toolset has been improved considerably; new models, five new tilesets, new placeables, many, many new scripting functions... the list goes on. Builders can now add a 'skybox' to their modules, which combine with the improved camera to make for far more impressive environments than seen in unexpanded NwN. Further additions include new weapon parts and colours, robes, and new sounds and music. HotU's new campaign stands by itself as a worthy expansion to single player NwN, but to the immense community of module builders and custom content creators that still support NwN years after its release, this expansion is essential.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even better than Undrentide!, 3 Feb 2004
Hordes of the Underdark is, simply, an excellent expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights. It does everything that an add-on pack should do: gives you more playing time through an extra campaign, improves the basics (like graphics), adds extra stuff for you to find, and improves the gameplay engine that's already there.
* The new campaign finds the town of Waterdeep under attack from the drow (dark elves). After an attack in the (token) inn where the townspeople are hiding out, you soon find yourself exploring the Undermountain - a strange dungeon created by a mad wizard. But there is another world beneath this world holding new horrors for you and your comrades.
* Epic-level characters means you can progress up to level 40!
* To aid in this there are new Epic Feats, new Epic Prestige Classes, new Feats and Epic Feats, new Spells and Epic Spells.
* Loads of new items, including Acid Flasks, Firebomb Flasks, Tanglefoot Bags.
* The ability to craft new items from base materials like hide, planks, iron, steel, feathers. Use Brew Potion (on an empty flask), Scribe Scroll (on blank parchment) or Craft Wand to create new magical items! Use dye to change the colour of armour and clothing!
* Five new tilesets - The Underdark, Frozen Wastes, Drow Interior, Illithid Interior and Beholder Caves.
* Armour now has a 'robes' part, which covers part of the armour.
* For level creators, the Aurora Toolset has several improvements, including new wizards, wings and tails, scripts, and of course access to all the juicy new items, spells, feats, tilesets, and so on!
* Improved henchmen with better AI, fully usable inventories, and customisable behaviour.
* Improved game graphics.As you can see this is an excellent expansion. The campaign is for level 15 and above (you can select from a handful of new 15th-level characters), and there is so much new content to play with (both in-game and with the editor) you'll be playing this for months!
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blackguard Bob's thoughts on HotU, 19 Mar 2004
Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) is the latest add-on for the highly successful Neverwinter Nights adventure game. Because it is an add-on you must have the original game to be able to play it. You do not need to have Shadows of Undrentide (the first sequel to NWN) but you would appreciate the full extent of Bioware's products if you had all three games.
HotU is not for novices. It is a difficult game to play and introduces arcane subjects, like the new prestige classes. It is essential that you master the core classes first in the original game before you tackle HotU's new prestige classes.
In both NWN and SoU, you play a novice character from level 1. With HotU you start at level 15. You can create your own character or import one from either of the two previous games.
Once your character has levelled up to 20, from here on is where the fun begins. From level 21 your character becomes an Epic Character. This introduces fabulous possiblities for improving your character in a way that was not previously possible. This is HotU's winning hand. No more playing a weak mortal fighting less weak villians.
HotU is the real mcCoy. What you see is what you get, and you get a lot. It is hard to appreciate that HotU is just an add-on because there is soooooo much to do and some of it is done in real-time strategy. The clock is ticking. Pressure on the gamer mounts. This is a new facet to the gameplay and a welcome one.
There are loads of henchmen to choose from and for those diehards who dislike henchmen I can only say that they are needed. But do not worry, there are plenty of opportunities to play solo (whether you like it or not) if you prefer a diehard strategy.
The character animation and graphics are unsurpassed in this type of game. There is much more spoken dialogue than before and there are possibilities for romances in the storyline.
There are mutltiple plots, twists and craziness in this game and there is more than one possible ending.
HotU is incredible value for money from Bioware who seem to go from strength to strength with this genre of tales from the Forgotten Realms. You do get a sense that the game was created with the public that buy their games in mind. Many, many requests made by gamers are clearly featured in HotU and with the great gameplay, graphics and sound this has to be a winning combination.
Many of us would like to see a further addition to this series, but after you have played HotU, it would be difficult to appreciate how Bioware could top this bestseller. It's that good. But don't just take my word for it...
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