Neverwinter Nights 2 Preview

[Paladin]

IGN (http://pc.ign.com/articles/666/666403p1.html) has a 3 page preview with some pictures of Neverwinter Nights 2. All I can say is WOW!

It sounds as though the toolset will finally be flexible enough to create almost any adventure. And the pictures are incredible. All are from a swampy demo level that was whipped up for the preview. Some of the environmental affects:

Realistic day and night, with dynamic shadows. Fog rolls in at night and burns off during the day. The vegetation moves with the breeze. Terrain is sculpted, rather than tiles, as was the case with the first one, allowing much more freedom in area design. Buildings can be tinted, allowing the same buildings to be made to look "good" or "evil", or just to create different-looking towns, instead of being limited to specific building sets. I'm assuming alot of the stuff that the use community had to add with hacks, such as cloaks and robes, will be built into the new engine.

[Tai]

Hrm, I bought the first one thinking I would love it, installed the umpteen cd's, and never made it past level 1. I kept getting killed and got frustrated and haven't touched it since that first time =/

[Harka]

Personally I loved it and the expansion. I even replayed it. First go around I was nice, second I was evil, and third I just muked around as a Paladin to get the free flaming sword in one of the quests.

I look forward to this new one.

[Creole Ned]

Tai's experience echoes a lot of people. They never make it past the first level before giving up. Most people who do seem to really enjoy the game.

I fall into the same group as Tai (not to mention I got the Platinum version which had a horrible game-crashing bug for me that sealed the deal). But part of me still thinks about re-installing and patching. The insane part.

[jackrabbit]

I enjoyed the first one a lot, but never finished it. In my memory it bleeds together with the Dungeon Siege games. I do remember playing it coop more often that DS, though. I always love a good coop romp, and this one looks exponentially more pretty.

[Q]

As far as I recall, NWN was pretty fun solo but was absolutely miserable for multiplayer co-op.

[Creole Ned]

Tick, Q and I gave this a whirl in MP (when the game first came out I tried it with Log, Sam and Q and quickly found four players was too many). I gave up after the game crashed hard at the same spot every time.

I can't even put my finger on what it was, but something just felt off about the MP game. Maybe it was just the original campaign not being designed well for more than a single player. I dunno. But it's a game I really wanted to like because there is a ton of user content for it and some of it is apparently quite good.

[Paladin]

*Bumpy*

NWN2 is due out in about a month or so. Preorder kits are now shipping to gamespot & best buy which will give access to exclusive in-game items (1 per class) and 1 month early access to the Aurora toolset, so you can start making modules for the game if you are so inclined.

[Patton]

I loved the first one. Looking forward to the second. I didn't finish the first game, and the COOP was fun if everyone who you played with ONLY played when you did.

[pogozorro]

I played NWN once (and only once, good god it was an abomination in storytelling), but the two expansions, not to mention hundreds of fan modules, were very good.

The fact that NWN2 will have party play again makes me wet in the pants. I still play Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment on occasion.