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(More customer reviews)Shadows of Undrentide doesn't do much to change the way Neverwinter Nights is played, and this is generally for the best. The main changes in terms of characterization are five new prestige classes, a scattering of new feats and skills, and a few new spells for each spellcaster type. New creatures have been added as well, including two new familiars. Lastly, several new tilesets have been added: snow, desert, and Netherese ruins.
The new campaign isn't as long as BioWare's infinity engine game expansions (Heart of Winter, Throne of Bhaal) but isn't too short either. There's enough new things to see to make it interesting, and the roleplaying aspect is significantly improved over the original NWN campaign. For one, you really have the chance to act evil and still get through the game, which until now- in the general universe of D&D computer gaming- has been difficult at best. The plot is a pretty standard artifact hunt, but it does take some interesting turns. Fans of the Forgotten Realms D&D setting will appreciate this especially, but it's easy enough to follow that those who can't tell Elminster from Gandalf should be able to make sense of it.
As for the campaign difficulty, it is pretty tough. Whether out of some perverse humor or just because the original campaign was too easy, the developers seem to be baiting players to their doom. The prestige classes are the cool new thing about Shadows, but none of them (with the probable exception of Arcane Archer) are spellcasting classes. However, I found it extremely difficult to play single player without a spellcasting character [if it matters, I thought Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and the original NWN were all fun, but too easy]. You will often run into masses of enemies that individually are no match for your combat prowess, but taken in whole will make hay out of your warrior or rogue. When this happens, there's really no substitute for a good fireball. Of course, this can be remedied if you get all your friends online to help you out, which I heartily recommend.
You can bring along one of several potential allies- a dwarf rogue/priest, a half-orc barbarian/sorcerer, or a kobold bard. I found the spellcasting AI to be abysmal- the priest won't heal you when you're almost dead unless you ask her to, and the sorcerer seems to have nothing but ray of frost in his repertoire- and uses it even when he would do far better just meleeing the enemy up. The good news is you can now manage their inventory, so if you have an extra set of armor or weaponry (another plus in not being a warrior) you can give it to them. The pathfinding and trap handling AI seems to be improved as well. NPCs will no longer charge over a trap when they spot another one beyond it, and will finish disarming one before attacking an enemy.
New items in the expansion include grenade-like weapons such as alchemist's fire and acid flasks. These are useful early on, and in large quantities can duplicate that much-needed fireball effect, but are oddly expensive and don't do that much damage individually. New weapons, loot, and armor are of course available, though these generally don't have a new look. Some new potions and assorted artifacts can be found, some of which are quite interesting. For example, there is a bag that summons creatures depending on what ingredients you put inside it.
The new prestige classes available are the Arcane Archer, Assassin, Blackguard, Harper Scout, and Shadowdancer. This is where I have a bit of a gripe with Shadows. Save for Arcane Archer, these classes are, frankly, worthless. They were already pretty bad with the core rules, but some of those rules require things that NWN can't do (e.g. crafting Harper Pins as a Harper Scout). The developers overcame these problems by changing some abilities and, in my opinion, the computerized versions are even worse than the pen and paper ones. Also, as I mentioned earlier, there aren't spellcasting classes (arcane archer is far less arcane than archer). I was hoping they'd add the archmage or loremaster at least, but no luck there so you'll have to settle for the new familiars and spells. The familiars are the pseudodragon and fairy dragon, both of which are very cool. Spells include such notably absent ones as Shield, the Bigby's Hand series, Inflict Wounds spells, and Earthquake.
Of course, perhaps the best thing about Shadows is the potential fan content. The new tilesets look great, and the complex interactions in the new campaign show what can be done with the engine. Once the mod community sinks its teeth into the expansion, there will no doubt be plenty more adventures to share. This has always been the best part of Neverwinter Nights, and will surely be the best part of Shadows of Undrentide.
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Neverwinter Nights "Shadows of Undrentide" Expansion Pack (PC CD-ROM), Product #24570
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