Neverwinter Nights broke new ground on a series of titles set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons. Taking what they knew from their earlier titles, such as the Baldur's Gate games, the teams at Bioware streamlined the gameplay of D&D and made it vastly more approachable by most people. that the improved gameplay, great new graphics and a plot that kept people invested, made for a great title that would carry on the legacy. Enter Obsidian. This development house worked closely alongside Bioware to create the graphically enhanced next-generation version of the game. How well was it all done? First, we must travel back in time …

Let me set the stage a little. I was 11-years-old, and a friend of mine had showed me these amazing books he had borrowed from his brother. They had pictures of mythical creatures, magical lands, and men and women in armor waging war against the forces of evil. Not having an income (other than the measly allowance) and not having parents that could be easily convinced to run out and buy what I wanted, when I wanted it, I was relegated to reading a friend's book or checking the local library for more information. That is what I did. I found everything I could at the time. This, and the rise of home video-game consoles, was the genesis of my love of games and all things fantasy.

I have played nearly everything with the D&D logo on it when it comes to video games. From the absolutely horrible to the downright engaging, most have satisfied that need for escapism into these wondrous worlds to fight the good (or bad) fight. Neverwinter Nights 2 is no different in that regard and does it as good, if a little different, than the original.

No matter what class, race, gender or alignment you choose, you always start in the same situation. You are a young adult that was orphaned and left in this small village under the care of a strict but loving father figure. As events unfold, it seems as if you were destined to grow old without much of a care — if the world hadn't crumbled around you. Things are set in motion and, as is common in most fantasy titles, you are at the very center. I won't delve too deeply into the plot as it is the driving force of the game, but suffice to say, there are many twists and turns that will keep you wanting more.

One thing that was done differently in the original Neverwinter Nights from earlier titles, was not utilizing proper group of adventurers as one would in the D&D universe. That is to say, everything focused on controlling a single character rather than managing a party. This worked well for the way the game played, but I assume that the designers decided to change this design in this newer game. Obsidian gives you full control of the party, which can vary in size depending on the part of the game. From leveling up the character to selecting which spells or abilities they will use, the player has the option to control the details, although they aren't required to micromanage unless they want to.

Considering the graphics upgrade, the game plays as smoothly as the original. You can adjust the controls some to fit your play style, but in essence, it can be either a point and click to move, attack, select or open or an over-the-shoulder, third-person action game "light." I saw no major issues with either control types that some adjustment and fine tuning didn't fix.

Graphically the game looks very good. Nothing amazing, but the artists have done a great job of capturing the world of Faerun and giving the player some nice animations to watch as well. The best aspect of the visuals is the amazing spell effects, which can actually be a bit too much at times, especially in the heat of the battle.

A big shining point of the game, for me, are the sounds. Between the little background sounds and the great voice acting, they have made the game that much better by including them. There are still your moral choices in most major dialogues that will give you the chance to take on the role of hero or not-so-good guy and can be expected the responses translate to alignment changes.

One major factor in the popularity of the first Neverwinter Nights was that Bioware included the toolset with the game to allow for the player base to create what they wanted and even host these games, much as a Dungeon master would host a pen and paper D&D game. This allowed for a massive community of people, myself included, creating and sharing their adventures. Included in the sequel is a newly redesigned toolset to take advantage of the engine. I did not get much time to play around with that aspect of the game, but from what I saw, it definitely improves upon the original.

Overall this game is a must-have for any fan of the genre. The initial technical problems that the game saw upon release have been quelled, and the game plays rather well on a not-so-new system. As it is not newly released and there is a new expansion, the price has dropped significantly making this a perfect buy for those looking to enter the world anew or re-enter and prepare for Mask of the Betrayer.