Neverwinter Nights is a role playing game based on the
Dungeons and Dragons rules system. For those of you not familiar with games like
Baldur's Gate or
Icewind Dale, as
NN takes after, these are not your average video game RPGs. With deep plots, plenty of action, and intricate gameplay systems, these games have risen to the top of their genre.
The plot of Neverwinter Nights centers on a plague that has stricken the good town of Neverwinter. As one of the many heroes called to the rescue, it is your task to find the source of the problem, uncovering surprises, plot twists, friends, and foes along the way.
As you pick your character, you must decide on their race, class, and special abilities. There are plenty of each, making for many possible combinations, but it takes a veteran of the system to create the perfectly balanced character. This isn't the point of character creation, though. Being skilled in everything is impossible, and this is where the NPC adventurers come in. There are six different adventurers for hire within the town of Neverwinter, all of which are skilled in certain areas like fighting or lock-picking. Hiring an adventurer will not only balance out your skills, but it will also offer more adventures which will reveal more of the story about your mercenary companions.
Quests are what drives the game forward, and most of your quests will be to further the main plot. However, there are plenty of side quests that are completely optional, but reward you well in both gold and information.
Though the Single Player mode offers plenty of replay value, not to mention a long enough story, the Multiplayer options push Neverwinter Nights beyond the call of duty. You can either join a group of other people online and take a shot at the game with them, or you can be a Dungeon Master, giving you complete control over the flow of the game for another group of players.
The icing on the cake is the Toolset for building your own adventures. This offers all of the units, items, structures, and locations that the developers used to make the game. You can create almost any adventure you can think of, and then take it on the net to use in Multiplayer games, or just play it by yourself. Although this item of the game takes a lot of practice to master, the rewards are well worth it.
