It’s been a good couple of years recently for Bioware. The barnstorming success of Neverwinter Nights firmly cemented the RPG genre as a financially viable one and bought praise from all quarters (except for inbred, bearded goblin-slayers going by names like Okatula the Goblin killer and the like). Then Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic came along and brought the magic back to the Star Wars universe, which has now been followed up with a rather smashing second expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights. It seems like a long time since the only gamers playing RPG’s were the unwashed and socially inept.

Undoubtedly, Hordes of the Underdark is the stronger of the two expansion packs that have been released for Neverwinter Nights. The game adds a new single-player campaign, the introduction of six new prestige classes as well as characters and weapons, which can now be customised.

The biggest different between this and the previous expansion pack Shadows of the Undrentide is that you start HOTU as a level 15 character and can now level up until you reach level 40 and can gain ‘Epic’ status as you progress. In gameplay terms this means that you have access to many of the better spells and weapons from the off although you will need a decent PC to make the most of the spell effects.

By having access to all the best stuff immediately the game becomes more exciting as you feel more able to take on more challenging opponents straight away. The campaign is also more of an interest than in SOU and moves along at a pace whilst also having some rather juicy cut-scenes thrown in for good measure. The story revolves around you being tasked with journeying into the deepest parts of Undermountain in search of the Drow, a dark race of elves hell-bent on causing havoc.

You’re now allowed up to two henchmen which gives the game more of a party feel to it than before and although their animation is rather bland (and they do have an irritating tendency to get stuck behind things) they are overall more talkative and interesting than in previous incarnations of the game.

A slight disappointment is the lack of support for the single-player campaign in multiplayer mode. Whilst it’s not a major problem it may certainly disappoint fans that had taken advantage of this option with previous campaigns.

Naturally though the game’s focus is on the single-player game and with Bioware’s great level design it excels creating an expansion which is packed with detail and is possibly even more atmospheric than the original.

85%

Excellent Expansion

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

85%