BioWare's Neverwinter Nights Re-Animated By Good Old Games

[Tom Goldman]

BioWare's Neverwinter Nights Re-Animated By Good Old Games

The Neverwinter Nights community is still going strong, and now it'll be able to go even stronger because of a re-release on Good Old Games.

BioWare's Neverwinter Nights [http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition] never really died, but Good Old Games is re-keeping the game alive again, or something, with the announcement that it's now available for download on the service. For $9.99, purchasers get the Neverwinter Nights: Diamond Edition which features 2.1GB of RPG goodness that never has to end if you don't want it to.

Neverwinter Nights was BioWare's Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms effort that came after the successful Baldur's Gate [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103712-BioWares-Baldurs-Gate-Coming-to-GOG-com]. BioWare gave the license 3D graphics this time and included a revolutionary set of mod tools that enabled users to create their own CRPG Dungeons & Dragons multiplayer experiences supporting up to 96 individuals. Some top creators even had their adventures sold by BioWare on its official website.

These tools were so robust that the Neverwinter Nights community has been active for the past 8 years. Some members may have moved over to the Dragon Age [http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Age-Origins-Pc/dp/B001IK1BWC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1288198644&sr=8-3] toolset, but now that Neverwinter Nights is available on GOG.com the community could become an undying zombie.

The Diamond Edition includes three expansion packs: Shadows of Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, and Kingmaker. These add new classes, monsters, spells, feats, and toolset features, in addition to expanding the original game's level cap and giving players many new adventures to embark upon. In my personal opinion, Neverwinter Nights takes a step back from Baldur's Gate by only allowing a party of two in single-player, so the adventure can get lonely at times, but there's still a lot of good content here for the price. It's a BioWare RPG, and they aren't known for being of poor quality.

Source: GOG [http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition]

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[Woodsey]

I've still got my (Dad's) special edition box and discs.

Never finished the thing though. The furthest I ever got to was the first monster you have to catch and it destroyed me.

 

[T_ConX]

I've still got my Platinum set. I can't even dare to imagine how many hours I've sunk into that game.

 

[ThaBenMan]

Nice, I loved playing NWN back in the day. I may just have to check this out.

 

[lacktheknack]

It's been on Gametap for the past six months or so. I've already been playing it.

 

[luckycharms8282]

Looks like an interesting game. Classic games can live a long time

 

[sir.rutthed]

One more game to get once I obtain a steady source of income. I swear, GOG is gonna run me into the ground if they keep this up.

 

[Irridium]

And I still have Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale to download and get through.

GoG, you really don't want me to have any free time, do you?

 

[Abedeus]

Well, I already have the game and expansion packs (the game is still very popular online), but I would consider paying $10 just so I don't have to INSTALL THE GAME FOR OVER AN HOUR EVERY TIME I WANT TO PLAY!!

Seriously, I don't miss the days of CD-Roms.

 

[lumenadducere]

Ooh, very nice. If I didn't still have my disks I'd definitely be picking this one up. Hordes of the Underdark was very well done, and for that alone I'd say the price is worth it. Add in the ridiculous number of mods and fantastic user-made campaigns out there, and you have a game that could easily last you hundreds of hours. For $9.99 that's an incredible deal.

 

[Aurora219]

Anyone who hasn't played this: BUY IT. Best RPG I've played.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I've had it for years now, yes. Though I've pretty much tossed it off myself having completed everything about that game possible by now, and mostly just did multiplayer RPG on a world called Arelith.

Been playing DDO, STO, and the occasional EVE for now.

 

[Delusibeta]

Next week: Icewind Dale 2 and Bauldur's Gate 2 the week after (unless CD Projekt be trollin' again and releases Glover).

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Still play this game online, have since I was a teenager.

 

[Rad Party God]

So... is this an online RPG or what?, I'm sorry for my complete ignorance, but I've been searching a good online/offline, non Diablo clone, non MMO, RPG. It's $10 bucks and it seems pretty fun, I may get it once I got the money and right now I'm trying to stay as far away from MMOs as I can, until Guild Wars 2 gets released of course.

 

[Wuffykins]

So... is this an online RPG or what?, I'm sorry for my complete ignorance, but I've been searching a good online/offline, non Diablo clone, non MMO, RPG. It's $10 bucks and it seems pretty fun, I may get it once I got the money and right now I'm trying to stay as far away from MMOs as I can, until Guild Wars 2 gets released of course.

I'd say yes and no to that, but it's definitely not an MMO. At its base, it's a single player RPG with 3 campaigns in the Diamond Edition (not including the premium modules included, will describe them more later). On top of this you also get the toolset and access to the absolute multitude of mods, campaigns, and other shenanigans available for download.

As for online stuff, this is where it gets interesting as I think it was originally designed to bring the tabletop experience to the PC, as certain campaigns can be set up with one player taking over DM duties (complete with special game client) as the others play through it and interact with the DM through NPCs and the like. Then there are the specially programmed 'persistent worlds' you can find on the 'net which are MMO-ish in nature, or you can go for a standard co-op multiplayer experience.

Long story short, if you're wondering if it's worth the ten bucks, google the Neverwinter Nights Vault (unsure if I'm allowed to post a direct link due to the, umm, other gaming site it's technically associated with) and ogle all the free content you'll get access to. Seriously, it's worth the money.

Personally I'm hoping they can get the other Premium modules up, especially Infinite Dungeons. I'm still annoyed at Atari's decision to stop selling them and really hope GOG can convince them otherwise.