Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 136 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 111 out of 136
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 136
  3. Negative: 7 out of 136
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  1. DeusXCom
    Aug 3, 2014
    9
    In case of Hordes of the Underdark I was still confused what is everybody raving about. I mostly hated dungeons and interiors in the original NWN, so my logic was - How can an expansion located mostly underground be so good? After playing through this, I understand it perfectly. Hordes of the Underdark is by far the best adventure from the Neverwinter Nights era that Bioware produced and IIn case of Hordes of the Underdark I was still confused what is everybody raving about. I mostly hated dungeons and interiors in the original NWN, so my logic was - How can an expansion located mostly underground be so good? After playing through this, I understand it perfectly. Hordes of the Underdark is by far the best adventure from the Neverwinter Nights era that Bioware produced and I wouldn't even hesitate to say that this time, the story was even on Baldur's Gate quality levels. Amazing story, characters, quests and that final ultimate epicness, hmmmm, that right there is the good stuff fans of the BG series have been eagerly waiting for and it definitely puts Neverwinter Nights into the good light and maybe even let it slightly peak into the classic hall of fame, not really there with the best, but almost. 9/10… Expand
  2. Eddyward
    Mar 11, 2011
    10
    Brilliant expansion for a brilliant game.
    It's nice that Bioware has given us another aspect of the D&D setting to explore, and hasn't just stuck to the typical caves, dungeons and big cities.
    This also adds quite a bit to the multiplayer aspects of the game. I've seen plenty of servers add an underdark to their PW, and greatly benefited from it.
  3. moonlight_shado
    Nov 26, 2015
    9
    My alltime favourite. I've finished this expansion many times with many different build types and i will do it again sooner or later. Best Bioware game and one of the best pc games with d&d setting in history.
  4. KaiEkkrin
    Jun 24, 2011
    7
    This second expansion for Neverwinter Nights got a lot of praise, even though the story feels like a bit of a rambling mess compared to Shadows of Undrentide (wisely, it's a continuation of that expansion's storyline and ignores the NWN original campaign). As an "epic" D&D adventure (over level 20) it has the usual stat inflation problem, with far too many spells (many now useless) endingThis second expansion for Neverwinter Nights got a lot of praise, even though the story feels like a bit of a rambling mess compared to Shadows of Undrentide (wisely, it's a continuation of that expansion's storyline and ignores the NWN original campaign). As an "epic" D&D adventure (over level 20) it has the usual stat inflation problem, with far too many spells (many now useless) ending up in your list if your character is a spellcaster. But: two NPC companions at once! More Deekin!… Expand
  5. MortenE.
    Dec 8, 2003
    10
    Extremely good game if you liked the past games in the series you will love this game.
  6. Meert
    Dec 8, 2003
    10
    It's really an epic scope adventure. You can't just breeze through hacking and slashing everyone else. You make your choices throughout the game and these choices do change the outcome of the game.
  7. JohnV.
    Dec 3, 2003
    10
    Wow , Bioware did a really great job with this game. HoTU puts SoU to shame. A must buy for anyone who likes Neverwinter Nights.
  8. [Anonymous]
    Feb 25, 2004
    9
    Great game, better storyline than the previous 2 games.
  9. PatrickO.
    Nov 27, 2003
    10
    Even better than the first expansion pack...amazing graphics and storyline!
  10. JamesC.
    Nov 29, 2003
    10
    Freakin awesome!
  11. jseph1234
    Feb 7, 2018
    10
    Has to be one of the GREATEST Fantasy RPG games I have ever played. It was a challenging and engrossing experience with magnificent NPC's, Environs and Story to make it everything you want in a great Fantasy RPG. Can't recommend enough purchasing the Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition for this MASTERPIECE by Bioware!
  12. Kai82
    Dec 16, 2020
    10
    The expansion is far better than the main game. It has an exciting story with good twists that are as amazing as surprising. Even after many years I still remember the story, characters and twists. It is a very loose continuation from the previous (weaker) expansion. Your character survived the events and obtained a useful artifact “The Relic of the Reaper”. It is a pocket dimension whichThe expansion is far better than the main game. It has an exciting story with good twists that are as amazing as surprising. Even after many years I still remember the story, characters and twists. It is a very loose continuation from the previous (weaker) expansion. Your character survived the events and obtained a useful artifact “The Relic of the Reaper”. It is a pocket dimension which transport and revives the character upon death and can also be used as a portal system for previous visited places (You need an item for this). The mentioned Reaper is the host / guardian of this place. The story is set again in the Forgotten Realms on Faerun and starts in the city Waterdeep. There are constant attacks from Drow on the city and they are invading from Underground. This should not be possible as under the city is the (undisputed) realm of Halaster. Halaster is one of the most powerful mages in this age, slightly mad (or medium mad?) and does not like Drow. You are hired by a former adventurer named Durnan who is now an inn keeper to investigate this mystery. The set up alone is great as there is something really wrong. As you progress the story never loses momentum and there are twist that I still would put on my top 10 list in gaming. The other content is also good. You get interesting quests, some moral dilemmas, a few good riddles and meet interesting characters (party members and NPCs). There are also some variation in the story and the ending / conclusion is fitting in each possible outcome. I will not go into details because of spoilers here (Would consider it a crime). It adds also some new (prestige) classes like Dwarven Defender (Iron wall that hits back;-), Pale Master (Necromantic abilities), Shifter (What the name says), Weapon Master (Also what the name says), Champion of Torm (Some kind of Paladin I did not use) and Red Dragon Disciple (Dragonic abilities) atop on a now level cap of 40. I tested mostly the Dwarven Defender, Red Dragon Disiple and Pale Master and found them useful (There are some drawbacks but that is normal as no perfect class exists). A mayor improvment is that you can have 2 party members now instead of 1 like in the main game / first expansion. This while being an improvement is still not enough because I had more than 2 companions I would take with me especially later on (Party of 6 is what I prefer). I think I give you some tips: Firstly the amount of money you get for great items is limited to 5000 Gold if I remember correctly. Later in the game you need tremendous amounts of money to use all possible options (Not needed but very nice gameplay and roleplay-wise). I solved this by exporting my character with all items to the main game, sell the items for incredible amounts of money and returning the character to the expansion. Don't know if this still works. I experimented also with creating a new character manually. You have 15 levels to use and I tested a lot of combinations for viability. You can later improve weapons to an amount that is ridiculous (But not unlimited). For last play different ways. It is the only noteworthy exception in a D&D game were I finished the story with an evil character (Never happened before or after). The graphics looked amazing back then and there was a great variety in the game. Like the main game it aged not that well but this is just a testament how much the graphics have improved since back then. The soundtrack is still good and should deliver. Overall this was a positive surprise and I returned many times to this game. The story, character and variations in the outcomes are what makes this game so great for me. It was an amazing expansion and should not be disregarded or hide behind other games.… Expand
  13. Dark_Ansem
    Apr 9, 2020
    10
    The definitive experience, if you don't count premium modules. Story is a bit of Baldur's Gate, Icewind dale and Planescape Torment.
  14. Amorph0us
    Jan 6, 2022
    9
    What a great expansion. I waited for so long for an expansion to be based on Underdark. Really successful.

Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Best PC Game of 2003
75
#75 Most Discussed PC Game of 2003
52
#52 Most Shared PC Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. FiringSquad
    84
    You’re not likely to find another game that lets you skip the pansy levels and move onto the dragon-smiting immediately.
    Read full review
  2. DailyGame
    85
    Those of you who are invested in the series will be very happy with the new features and the 15 to 20 hours of single player hack-and-slash action that this expansion offers.
    Read full review
  3. Computer Gaming World
    70
    Has that woefully underbaked, released-just-in-time-for-the-holidays taint to it, and that's just a colossal shame, because underneath that nastiness is a great, great expansion. [Mar 2004, p.78]
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