Neverwinter Nights 2 for PC Reviews

Neverwinter Nights 2

Atari

Release Date: October 31, 2006

Metascore

Based on

46 Critics

User Score

6.3

Based on

496 Ratings

Summary Back to top

Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to BioWare Corp.'s best-selling and genre-defining role-playing game set in the popular Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe created by Wizards of the Coast. Neverwinter Nights 2 will be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, founded by Feargus Urquhart who, as the President of Black Isle Studios, was responsible for the publishing of the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series and the development of the Icewind Dale and Planescape:Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to BioWare Corp.'s best-selling and genre-defining role-playing game set in the popular Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe created by Wizards of the Coast. Neverwinter Nights 2 will be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, founded by Feargus Urquhart who, as the President of Black Isle Studios, was responsible for the publishing of the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series and the development of the Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment franchises, both powered by BioWare Engine Technology, as well as overseeing the creation and development of the Fallout series. BioWare will provide tools, technology, and game assets from the original Neverwinter Nights as well as lend creative input and oversight to the development process. [Atari]… Expand

Starring: Neil Goldberg, Jesse Reynolds, Dan Spitzley

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Genre(s): PC-style RPG

# of players: 4 Online

Cheats: On GameFAQs

Rating: T

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Critic Reviews Back to top

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

100

GameDaily

This extremely enjoyable action RPG contains fabulous visuals, plenty of options, and incredible gameplay. Neverwinter Nights 2 is truly one of the most epic adventures found on a PC, and it should be purchased without hesitation.

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Just Adventure

The music and voice acting are superb. I really liked Qara’s and Neeka’s voices. The performance was with a ton of attitude and personality.

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Yahoo! Games

It's no "Baldur's Gate II," nor is it a "Planescape: Torment," but the way things are going it's the closest we're likely to get this century.

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ActionTrip

Obsidian obviously hasn't made any real breakthroughs, which is a bummer, really, seeing as the original brought quite a lot of fresh ideas to the RPG scene.

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Edge Magazine

There’s scope to build everything from a two-hour co-op dungeon crawl to a 100-hour purple-prosed epic. It’s that breadth that makes NN2 as much of an essential purchase as genre fans could ask for. [Christmas 2006, p.88]

Quandary

So it isn't perfect, particularly not for players who prefer using the mouse, but Neverwinter Nights 2 is nevertheless a hugely enjoyable trip.

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G4 TV

This game, unfortunately, tries too hard to play true to its D&D roots to be able to offer much appeal to casual gamers.

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User Reviews Back to top

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

102

fathergod

Jun 17, 2011

As close as a RPG can get! Combat can be a little sluggish at times but with patches, that problem clears up. Sadly, developers are makingAs close as a RPG can get! Combat can be a little sluggish at times but with patches, that problem clears up. Sadly, developers are making games now where its more hack n slash with a little story.… Expand

sidonh

Nov 22, 2014

The start is slow, there are some clichés and the ending still makes me want to hunt down Avellone and punch him. So why do I keep returningThe start is slow, there are some clichés and the ending still makes me want to hunt down Avellone and punch him. So why do I keep returning to this game? It's fun. Its companions are witty and amusing and alive (sometimes). The plot is ...well, Faerun-esque, but enjoyable.

I believe everyone is familiar with the trial scene (and if not, you should be), some seemingly dull quests provided much amusement and it's a rich trip down the old Forgotten Realms. It may not be to everyone's tastes but for a D&D enthusiast, this is a classic.… Expand

DnD83

Dec 16, 2006

I'm able to run this game on my business notebook at a reasonable speed and with few of the bugs that I've seen so many people I'm able to run this game on my business notebook at a reasonable speed and with few of the bugs that I've seen so many people claiming to have "high-end" systems have reported. Some patience is necessary but this game is probably 3 or 4 patches away (from v.1.03) from appeasing the critics. This game is in a rough spot, critics-wise, because it's caught between the rabid loyalty of fans to NWN1 and the excellence of TES:Oblivion. Taken alone, however, it's a pretty good game. Of course, it isn't Oblivion, graphics-wise, but if you enjoyed Wizardry in its early incarnations, Bard's Tale, Ultima and Baldur's Gates I & II, there is no reason, a few bugs here and there, not to like this game.… Expand

Wargizmo

Jun 25, 2013

Even after 5+ years since its release this game still has so many bugs and glitches it takes away from the overall experience. In my firstEven after 5+ years since its release this game still has so many bugs and glitches it takes away from the overall experience. In my first playthrough I encountered 2 game breaking bugs (one where I had to load from an old save to progress, another where I had to use the console to spawn a particular npc); as well as dozens of small glitches, AI glitches, graphical glitches, quest glitches. The story and characters are decent enough but this game was clearly not put through enough QA and is essentially a beta build.

As to gameplay, there are some fundamental flaws with the D&D engine that take away from the fun, for example the massive length of time it takes to buff your characters and the needlessly complex character statistics and crafting system. Yes, the game can be really fun but you have to really work for it. For every awesome battle or story arc there is just as much time spent micromanaging inventory and sitting there waiting for buffs to cast.

As far as plot goes, some of the characters and store were really well done, but the writing is VERY inconsistent and more than one occasion some of the characters said something that literally made me cringe. At one point a character makes a fart joke and then EXPLAINS the fart joke (apparently the devs thought it was too subtle) and then is lauded by two of the other characters for her wit; also while we're on the subject of writing, can with stop using the phrase "could care less", it's supposed to be "couldn't care less", this was used at least 3 times in the campaign.

There is the core of a great game here somewhere, and if you have the patience and don't mind using the console occasionally then it's worth putting some time into, but there are MUCH better games you should look at first. If you haven't played the first NWN or Dragonage then you're better off checking those games out first.… Expand

NicholasG.

Feb 7, 2007

Quite a disappointing game really. I'm a fan of NWN series (and especially KoTOR series). I don't like the graphics, the storyline Quite a disappointing game really. I'm a fan of NWN series (and especially KoTOR series). I don't like the graphics, the storyline is kinda childish, and the action is unnatural (let alone some bugs in quests)... Well, it's unplayable in my opinion. No Bioware, no NWN!… Expand

RonC.

Dec 4, 2006

Four years of polishing and fine tunining a great game as NWN was, I was extremely let down and disapointed in the proclaimed sequel. Four years of polishing and fine tunining a great game as NWN was, I was extremely let down and disapointed in the proclaimed sequel. Obsidian/Atari seemed eager to make a quick profit before the end quarter by releasing this beta version at best. I am a gamer, not a beta tester and not a tester paying $50 (not including the 2 vid card upgrades due to faulty information on "supported cards"). The cameras are terrible, the AI will kill your entire party with aoe spells directed at half dead target / targets when single target spells are mem'd in spell book. UI is bulky and quirky at best. Bottom line, all the good things in 1 are missing in 2, actually this game regresses in many aspects and just plain frustrating to play, highly unsatisfied, and misled by pre-release ratings and interviews with OE.… Expand

Methane

Nov 12, 2006

Do NOT buy this game. It seems that every large review website gives it anywhere from a 7-10. Go check out BioWare's forums. The Do NOT buy this game. It seems that every large review website gives it anywhere from a 7-10. Go check out BioWare's forums. The complaint thread was 14 pages loger then the pro's thread on the first day. NWN1 was never intended to be a single player game. It was a game designed to be multiplayer and focused on the toolset. The reason it survived for years as a top-rated game, despite little upgrades on graphics, was because the community was so extremely huge and brought forth HUGE custom content upgrades. People could create their own playable modules online. That factor alone made NWN1 a classic. NWN2 is ALL campaign. For every online game you want to play, you have to download files (manually, from the internet, with no autodownload function). In NWN1, there are 4 modules in the entire campaign. In NWN2, there are 10 (at least). This means no online game can ever be large - ever. They will be restricted to less-then-an-hour watered down scenarios. NWN2 has tons of bugs. Many people say using the toolset is impossible unless you have a huge monitor. Likewise, a lot of people say that NWN2 is a big step backwards. They point out that BG1, over nine years old, has many features that NWN2 lacks. The D&D rule is, "Sometimes, rules can be bent by DMs to improve gameplay." NWN2 sticks *entirely* to D&D rules, ignoring what a lot of people enjoy. Oh, and DMing? If anyone is a DM at all, the most basic functions are left out. Want to give gold? Type it in the Debugger manually. XP or levels? Find some other way to do it then with the interface, because it isn't there. Death penalties? Why, that'll be too hard! Why not just let them respawn 54 times without a single loss of XP? Gold value is nonexistant. You don't travel dungeons to get money, you travel to get items and XP so you don't have to spend the 100k you have on upgrades.… Expand

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