| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Neverwinter Nights 2
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
ESRB Content Descriptors Say:
ALCOHOL REFERENCE: GamerDad found references to drinking, taverns, and inns within the fantasy setting of the story. BLOOD: GamerDad found combat to result in some blood shown onscreen, which can be turned off in game settings. MILD LANGUAGE: GamerDad found some generic fantasy cursing, but no four letter words. SEXUAL THEMES: GamerDad found references to sex in conversations, but no explicit discussions or actions presented in the game. VIOLENCE: GamerDad found combat, typically resulting in the death of one side or the other, to be a major part of the game. Computer role-playing games could be thought of as a the ultimate Choose Your Own Adventure book where you not only choose your actions, but get to the consequences acted out on screen. NeverWinter Nights 2 goes one step farther. In addition to a full-fledged game story, it provides tools and utilities for gamers to create their own adventures and share them with others. The result is a good role-playing campaign (story) that has a lot of potential. If the internet community supports it with add-ons and user-made modules (stories), it could provide all the role-playing experiences for which a gamer could ask. NeverWinter Nights 2 is the sequel to NeverWinter Nights. Fans of the original will find much to like here, although the new game engine is a very big resource hog ﾖ requiring many people to run the game with as little graphical enhancement as possible in order to keep the game playable. Just like the original, the game ships with a set of tools to create a whole role-playing story including monsters, objects, locations, and even tools to help control the computer characters and monsters. However, what most players will look at first is the full-fledged campaign included in the game. Presented in several Acts, the campaign story takes a character of the player's own design and introduces him to the world, bringing alongside a host of characters that can join him (or her) on their quest to save the world (or at least a good chunk of it.) The story progresses through combat and conversations, and the player is given a good deal of freedom to explore areas at their own pace. No restrictions are made as to behavior, but characters who do naughty acts to reap quick benefits will tend to run into consequences of their actions as well. The entire game runs on a framework of a classic role playing game, Dungeons and Dragons (the 3.5 edition). A few adjustments to the rules have been made for a computer setting, but anyone familiar with D&D will know how everything operates. Those unfamiliar with D&D can learn a little in the game's rulebook and will find that most things operate as expected. Also as in the original, the game can be played solo or multiplayer over a local network or the internet to provide a way for friends scattered far and wide a way to play a role-playing game together. In addition to a graphics overhaul, the new version of the game has an overhead map feature, many new character classes/spells/feats, and the ability for the player to adventure around with an entire party of character companions.  When evaluating just the pre-built adventure included with the game, the title is a respectable achievement and a quality game for fans of more combat/strategy oriented styles of role playing games. As is traditional for this style of game (and the D&D ruleset), there are liberal opportunities to fight but the adventure also provides many ways to avoid combat by using your characters' skills and abilities. Even the tutorial fits in well with the rest of the plot, while teaching the player how to use his or her character's basic abilities. The plot of the story is more engaging than the previous NeverWinter Nights, but the freeform exploration limits it from being as deep and involved as some of the popular console-style Japaneese role playing games. The game's main limitation remains the graphics engine. While everything looks good, the game requires serious computing power to drive all those graphics. Even when the engine is adjusted to a lower resolution, the game still requires a fairly hefty computer to run smoothly. NeverWinter Nights 2 is not a good game for anyone playing with the minimum (or lower) recommended computer setup. As a role-playing story, NeverWinter Nights 2 is a good title that fails only in a slightly over-aggressive graphical update making it sluggish on many current computers. The campaign game is fun and well written, making it a good choice for fans of that style of gameplay. Where the game truly shines is in its potential for players to create and share their own creations ﾖ monsters, objects, or even whole stories. However, that can only be judged as time goes on and the online community develops. Creating one's own adventures can be fun, but it is far more rewarding if it can be shared with others. 
The game involves many staples of the fantasy genre, including taverns and inns along with good and evil spellcasters. The player is not restricted to any sort of behavior and can just as easily play as a holy Paladin or an evil Necromancer out to raise a horde of undead. Based off of the Dungeons and Dragons rules, the combat tends to result in the death of one side or the other, giving no middle ground. Thus, a run-in with a neutral party such as the city watch that leads to a fight may result in far more dire consequences than if fighting them into submission were possible. Violence onscreen is fairly tame with a small amount of blood visible and defeated characters dropping to the ground and fading away. However players will more than likely be watching the many magical visual effects rather than trying to see any gory details.
The HUGE kidfactor for the game (and the primary reason for a 14+ ranking) is based on the game's intention to provide a platform and tool for players to produce their own adventures. Players can produce any content they want and post it to the internet, thus any downloaded content should be treated with respect as if it were coming from an unknown internet source. If the trend continues as with the original version, the online community is fairly competent at policing itself and earmarking any questionable downloadable content. However, parents would still need to be monitoring carefully to help approve or disapprove downloads. The game (the main story and any written by other players) can be played multiplayer online, and so the standard disclaimer for playing online with strangers should also be applied. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Neverwinter Nights 2 |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
