Needless to say that Neverwinter Nights (NWN) is a new Dungeons & Dragons RPG from Bioware, the makers of Baldur's Gate. For those who didn't play this game yet, NWN looks and feels similar to Diablo and Dungeon Siege at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that it's no top-down hack-n-slash game how some people can think. I don't want to hype this already "hyped" game, but NWN takes all of the best elements of Baldur's Gate 2 and improves them, as well as avoiding some of the more inconvenient features and while it's not exactly a hack-n-slash game, it certainly moves a lot faster than Baldur's Gate. NWN also features 3rd Edition AD&D rules instead of 2nd, which allows for much greater customization in character creation and advancement. I'm also pretty surprised that Neverwinter Nights is actually very accessible, much more than most RPGs, making it equally recommendable to new players. I have some friends who have never played D&D and they are loving NWN, it's pretty cool to see even more addicted gamers around isn't it? :) Of course my hardcore D&D friends (hi Ivan thanks a lot for your help with NWN) finished the game much faster than me and confirmed me my feeling that NWN is pretty good after all, though Baldur's Gate 2 remains to be their number one.

NWN includes the singleplayer campaign, the Aurora Toolset, the DM client, and the multiplayer mode. The single-player campaign is comparable with BioWare's previous RPGs, though isn't nearly as long as the Baldur's Gate games. The campaign includes four chapters, the first three chapters are pretty large, each chapter could be a stand-alone game in itself. You can expect at least 70 hours of gameplay, if you will skip some quests. But if you want fully enjoy all chapters, it will take you at least 100 hours or so. As in the previous Bioware RPGs, the first thing you do is create a character.You can choose from 22 pre-made characters provided by Bioware, or you can create your own by Wizard. It's pretty easy even for newbies, there a button on each page of the process allowing you to use a "recommended" set of abilities and attributes.

The most notable gameplay change to the previous Bioware RPGs is that the party aspect has been removed. You no longer control a party of six, instead you have direct control over one character (yourself) and a hired "computer controlled" henchman of your choice. That may sound a bit weird to you, but it isn't so bad "improvement" after all. At least you don't need to manage multiple inventories anymore. This might dissapoint some, but others may like it. Of course, similarly to bots in first-person shooters, these "computer controlled" henchmen pretty suck in combat while you can control them only partially. Fortunately for the most part, they play quite fine, for example a thief will know when to disarm a trap etc.

The single player game in itself is a great offering, and worth playing. But the strongest part of NWN is multiplayer, because NWN has been designed for it from day one. There is no doubt that NWN offers really great multiplayer mode in conjunction with an extremely powerful DM utility and Aurora Toolset. The single-player story can be played cooperatively through the  LAN/Internet (up to 64 players), but there are competitive/deathmatch modes as well. The Aurora Toolset allows you to create your own campaign modules (including own customized NPC's, items, locations...) to test out with your friends. It is incredibly power, yet simple and intuitive. Within a few minutes of opening it up you will have created your own dungeon - complete with dragons and etherial creations. You can work with everything that the developers had access to include their high-level scripting C++ like language and tools. Woohoo! I really can't wait to play some of the user-created modules, maybe someone will re-create the city of Baldur's Gate, in all its glory :) In addition, NWN also includes a DM client, which allows you to modify a module in real time as players go through, you can take control over any character, you can give players items, and experience, you can cast spells, add/remove monsters, and even take control of NPCs and speak/act through them. Although it sounds absolutely fantastic, none is perfect :) There are some annoying limitations in both the Toolset and the DM client, and it certainly also bugs.

Pros

• the most complete implementation of the 3rd Ed rules to date
• outstanding character generation
• the rogue class is incredibly well implemented
• Aurora Toolset and DM client
• 200 pages long manual including plenty of background info on the 3rd Edition rules (the game is pretty goo playable even without reading), though they could have included a lot more information on how the DM client and Toolset works
• multiplayer via Internet/LAN up to 64 players
• quick voice chat (like the voice commands in UT)
• the ability to pause the action to issue orders in single player mode
• great interface - up to 36 quick slots (with use CTRL+SHIFT) at the bottom of the screen   where you can place attack modes, weapons, and items
• the auto-map has three zoom levels + ability to add notes directly to the map
• you can add your own notes to your journal
• huge community support

Cons

• sometimes it will freeze up completely (try to turn-off shadow casting!)
• bugs, Dungeon Master Client is fairly unstable, calling all the players to your location via teleport grabs all the DMs including the NPCs
• inconsistent finding, followers often get stuck
• lower magic in comparison with BG2
• frustrating item fading effect (delays after you kill someone)
• quite high hardware requirements, I recommend this minimum: 1GHZ CPU/256 RAM, Geforce2/32 and broadband Internet connection for multiplayer, but you will need much faster CPU/Videocard for accessing all the graphics features
• only one henchman can join your cause and you cant give him/her items or new spells
• no quick buy option in the store
• steep retail price

So is NWN fun? Yes, definitely! NWN was definitely worth the wait and it's probably the best $60 purchase you will make for a long time. All in all Neverwinter Nights should satisfy anyone starving for some RPG action.