Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to Neverwinter Nights, which was released on Oct 31st, 2006. It was developed by Obsidian and published by Atari with the assistance of NWN developer BioWare. The first expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, was released Oct 9th, 2007. The second expansion, Storm of Zehir, was released on November 18th, 2008.
NWN2 is based on Dungeons and Dragons version 3.5 (see the SRD) -- as opposed to the original NWN which was based on DnD 3.0.
Official fact sheet[]
Bards sing tales of heroes from ages past, but never have the Forgotten Realms so desperately needed a champion. Years have passed since the war between Luskan and Neverwinter, almost enough time for the wounds of war to heal. But the brief peace the Realms have known may be at an end. Tension growing between the mighty city-states means the Sword Coast again teeters on the edge of open war. Unnoticed, a greater danger stalks the City of Skilled Hands. Unbeknownst to the denizens of the North, deep in the Mere of Dead Men, dark forces from across the Realms have been rallied under the banner of a legendary evil. If left unchallenged, all of the North is doomed to fall under its power.
Even in this darkest hour, hope remains. A mysterious relic is borne to Neverwinter in the hands of a lone hero so that its secrets may be unlocked - secrets that carry the fate of all the North. So begins an epic tale of shattered alliances, noble acts and dark deeds to be told across the Realms for generations to come.
- Experience the long-awaited sequel to the game that revolutionised creating and playing computer role-playing games.
- Use the completely rewritten, powerful Obsidian Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset to create your own adventures, share them with friends, or run them through your adventure directly as the Dungeon Master.
- Play online with other gamers and enjoy limitless adventure.
- Explore the Forgotten Realms in greater graphical splendour than ever before with a completely new, cutting-edge graphics system and an overland map.
- Employ new spells, feats, and advanced prestige classes, based on the exciting Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition rules.
- Recruit up to three companions to assist in your adventures. Improved party control allows for more dynamic tactical decisions in combat and more personal interaction.
- Rediscover familiar locations and meet old friends from the Neverwinter Nights series.
Features[]
Like its predecessor, NWN2 includes an official campaign, multiplayer support, a Dungeon Master client, and a toolset where game buyers can design their own modules to distribute to others or to post on the Internet for online play. Some game content, including NWScript based scripts and dialogs, will be directly importable from NWN modules. Other content, like models, will not be directly portable because Obsidian has removed the old Aurora graphics engine and built a new one, named Electron, which supports more advanced graphics and gameplay elements than Aurora was capable of.
The main principles of gameplay are the same as in NWN, although the game interface and camera control is more flexible and customizeable and many aspects of it have been redesigned. The toolset and the graphics rendering engine have been completely rewritten to take use of technology such as DirectX 9.0 and Pixel Shader 3.0 (although only 2.0 will be required to play the game).
Official web sites[]
NWN2 web site coverage[]
International (English)[]
- Neverwintervault
- NWVault
- 1UP
- ActionTrip
- AOL Games
- CVG
- Eurogamer
- GameBanshee
- GameDAILY
- Game Power Australia
- GamePro
- Game Rankings
- Games.net
- GameSpot
- GameSpy
- GamesRadar
- IGN
- Metacritic
- Playfuls.com
- Rotten Tomatoes
- StrategyInformer
- TotalVideoGames
- ToTheGame
- WarCry
- Yahoo! Games