| Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Expansion | 
 enlarge
| From: Atari
Category: Video Games
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $20.99
You Save: $7.00 (25%)
New (21) from $20.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 489
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Vista
ESRB: Teen
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 27711
Model: 27711
UPC: 742725277113
EAN: 0742725277113
ASIN: B001E3ARJ6
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Features:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2) is a computer role-playing game set in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms, one of the popular campaign settings of Dungeons and Dragons. It takes the player from the tiniest of villages into a sweeping tale of danger and war, chronicling their rise from a peasant to a full-fledged hero of the Realms, defending it against one of the greatest threats of the age. Build a character that suits your style of play - good or evil, chaotic or lawful, with any number of skills, feats and professions available at the click of a button. Whether lobbing fireballs and researching forgotten spells as a powerful Wizard, hacking a trail through legions of orcs as a Fighter armed only with a battle axe and your courage, or taking on the role of a Rogue that can slip into the shadows at a moment's notice, the choice is yours. Choose your alignment, your allies, your companions, and how you want your character to develop... design the character you want, role-play the way you want, and carry the battle to the enemy.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 OK but I miss the conversations January 1, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I recently purchased this game. It's interesting that you can create your entire party - I used one character that I created for a previous run-through of NWN2. That said, I'm not a big fan of the overland map. I like to get immersed in the world and it's tough to do that with the way the overland map works. Mainly, though, I miss the party interactions. I liked Mask of the Betrayer MUCH better, and Dragon Age looks like it is going to be pretty good as well.
 Not the best but quite good December 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The game is an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2 and introduces a new feature of the overland map which can be explored by your party. Every time you encounter the enemies on the overland map, you can parley or fight with them. The fights are following the typical NWN2 engine and are quite exciting. Side quests are interesting and some are challenging as well as a few battles on the main quest line especially at the end of the game. However, the story is quite dull, there is no real drive in it, and the pieces are not really put together. Also, the overland map encounters are very frequent and later in the game are not challenging at all since usually the main hero can dispose of any monsters with a couple strokes of the sword, so it takes longer to actually run to the exit point and load the areas than it takes to defeat the enemies.
The game is full of glitches and bugs and the graphics are somewhat on the lower side compared to similar recent games like Witcher Enhanced Edition.
On the other hand, if you like NWN and NWN2, it is a must have especially with a possibility of full party RPG. Unfortunately, the design is quite weak, and the game does not stand up to the brilliance of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and Icewind Dale 1 and 2 classical series.
 Just what the doctor ordered December 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Storm of Zehir follows in the grand tradition of Neverwinter Nights (NWN) expansions in attempting to set its own direction and tone while incorporating portions of previous narrative to draw players into the history of the world in which the game is set. Like previous expansions there is much to love, and a little bit to hate about this expansion as it pushes at the boundaries of the engine and the genre.
A big difference between this expansion and previous NWN environments is the split between an overland map (where you move about an entire region) and actual locations in which you can move about. The overland map is wonderful for creating a sense of distance and ambiance, while the locations provide the depth necessary for combat, dialogue, and intrigue.
So as to get them out of the way, I will begin with the bad stuff. First and foremost Storm of Zehir has incorporated the dreaded 'random encounter' mechanic of D&D with the overland map critters. Because of the virtually limitless capacity for players to grind on overland critters the game was also built with the assumption that players would spend considerable time fighting cookie-cutter fights out in the jungle with 200 gnolls, 3000 kobolds, and a partridge in a pear tree. In my tabletop experience we have always avoided these kind of repetitive and functionally random encounters because: they are boring. Other players may disagree, as the wild popularity of MMORPGs might attest, but for me D&D has always been about story, and random encounters do nothing to move this along.
Secondly, the expansion has something of a split personality with regards to towns. Certain towns can be dealt with almost entirely in an overland map setting-- no loading required. But randomly and inconsistently, other towns require you to actually enter the town (load screen... load screen... wait some more...) and wander about. I would have preferred more consistency with when you actually had a town built in-game, and when you could access through overland text menus.
There are a few minor issues in addition to these two large ones, but by and large the positives outweigh the negatives. The first, and most gratifying, change from previous NWN2 content is the richness of the locations. Every environment is bursting with detail and objects; giving more of a feeling of a living world that players might recognize from Baldur's Gate titles, and less of the "our engine can only support 10 polygons on the screen at a time" of NWN [the first one].
Dialogue is also more satisfying in this expansion than previously, where unnecessary chatter has been reduced and useful conversation is more obviously there. Since this is an expansion, and not a game such as Baldur's Gate II, obviously the volume of dialogue is nothing to write home about. But what dialogue is available is tightly written, useful, or just entertaining.
Crafting has been improved in this expansion with the addition of 'recipes book' which can be directly accessed near workbenches to make gear. The mishmash nature of previous implementation has been cleaned up through a mechanic that has you open the recipe book, chose the recipe, and if you have the right components (many of which are simply gold costs now), viola, you make your item. The availability of crafting also reduces the dependence on finding merchants with items of the appropriate level and speeds up gameplay.
Finally, the last improvement I will get into is the story itself. Storm of Zehir builds on previous attempts with the old NWN expansions, and of course NWN2 in building a strong narrative that connects the various events of the core game, expansions, and Forgotten Realms into a story that sucks the player in and makes them feel like they are participating like they would in a real table-top game. As a DM my players always appreciated when their actions had implications in the world. When they built an inn and made a name for it, when they defeated the Dread Lord SomethingorOther and the townsfolk remembered it. Allusions to past events in NWN2 were well-placed and made me feel like I was really in a world where what I'd done previously mattered. I was proud of my Knight-Captain and happy to see her legacy lived on in some small part (with careful non-references to anything specific I might have accomplished...) I would love to see more expansions in NWN2, and have them all link in to each other in unobtrusive ways like this.
So in short, Storm of Zehir is a fun expansion that you will not dream about in years to come, but that you might mention to your friends. If you like NWN style games, or are a D&D fan this expansion is well worth your time. If, like me, you moved away from your D&D group and hunger for the experience of hanging out with your friends haranguing your DM and squeezing out some story from the teeth of tactical combat, Storm of Zehir is the best new diary substitute out there.
Explore the Forgotten Realms! December 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great update to the NeverWinter Nights series. What make it a great addition is the freedom given to explore anywhere on the map and the fact that one could have a chance encounter with monsters or foes anywhere. You're not led by the nose - you determine a path yourself while the story works around you. I'd rather go to a game reserve than a zoo - its the same concept.
 disappointing rpg December 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to this game for some months when I heard about its upcoming release, and I really couldn't have been more disappointed. I had really enjoyed Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer, and they were amoung 2 of my favorite rpgs, but this game abandons everything I liked about those games.
My favorite rpgs, have an immersive story with great character depth. I like having NPCs with their own personalities, and I really enjoyed the influence system of NW 2 and especially MOTB. I enjoy characters that give their input and will argue with you or each other and even leave or turn on your party based on your actions. This game has none of that. Their is no influence system, the characters are uninteresting and one dimensional at best, and the story is short and boring.
Other problems with the game made it so frustrating to play so that I couldn't even finish it. This game can barely be called an expansion as it really has nothing to do with the other two games expect for using some similar place and people names. Your characters are low level nothings, and there is no good, weapons, armor or items, to find in the entire game. The crafting system returns again for this game, and unfortunately I've never liked it. Its too tedious and boring for me. The whole trading system in this game had potential but was poorly implemented and I found that boring as well.
The worst part of the game was the wandering monsters on the overland map. There were numerous points in the game where every second or two I am being attacked. These battles have repetitive maps, repetitive creatures, produce no good treasure, and are meaningless beyond gaining some xp. I got so bored and sick of these, that I found myself running to the other side to flee, even if I could easily defeat them, just so I could move on with the game. Unfortunately most of the game's combat are these meaningless random encounters.
From what I read this game had a serious budget crunch compared to the other two and it really shows. I love the D&D theme and would like there to be more games with it, but not like this one. They didn't even use the same voice actor to voice Khelgar. Pretty pathetic.
On the upside, like it matters, they did manage to make some of the often useless D&D skills and attributes more meaningful in this game. But that doesn't make up for the game's enormous shortcomings.
|
|
|
