fantasy

I am not a hardcore gamer. I wouldn't even really call myself a gamer at all -- I'm of the "if my husband's playing it and it looks really fun, I'll give it a try" school.

Well, I've never played D&D in my life, but I am a HUGE Neverwinter Nights fan. I love being able to customize my character's appearance and skills, I love the graphics, I love the adventures and the ability to roleplay my character in many different ways (from goody two-shoes to black-hearted villain).

Having finished the original Neverwinter Nights and the Shadows of Undrentide expansion pack, I started in on Hordes of the Underdark. Without a doubt, it's my favorite so far. The quests are more interesting (some even stumped me, and I had to go to the Bioware site for a little help!). There are new classes, which are fun to play, and there's even a little romance in the game! I have to admit, I thought that was a great element. I don't know how the guys who play this cared for it, but it really added some fun for me.

I have to admit, I'm enjoying the new campaign in Hordes of the Underdark more than either of the previous Neverwinter Nights campaigns (the original game or the Shadows of Undrentide expansion). It has a strong "Forgotten Realms" feel to it, and it's great for people who've been wanting a high level adventure with tons of Drow, Ilithids, Beholders, and other denizens of the Underdark. The new prestige classes, spells, feats, etc... are a lot of fun and should definitely add to the re-playability factor. I've personally played through this expansion twice: with a Druid/Shifter and Bard/Dragon Disciple, and I'd certainly consider playing it again.

Also, from a module builder perspective, the new toolset content is quite impressive. To mention just a few things: new tilesets, new magic item abilities, intelligent weapons, improvements and added scripting functions, vastly improved henchman AI... and your characters can now wear robes! These are things that the Neverwinter community has been clamoring for, and it's nice to see the wishes of the players and module creators being addressed. Kudos to Bioware for listening to its customers. This expansion brings Neverwinter Nights to a new level of maturity with regards to the sheer wealth of possibility for fans who design modules.

For me Hordes of the Underdark is the most fun installment of the series to play. The plot is OK, and is the standard fare for most Dungeons crawls. The Hero and his party of followers head into the depths of the earth to save their homeland from invasion and destruction. Graphically Neverwinter Nights is OK, though it isn't the most graphically outstanding game I have seen. However, the game play is very good. In this installment you can add two henchmen to form a small party for the first time. Unlike dungeon siege there is more of a plot to keep you going, with puzzles to keep you on your toes. D & D purists may hate this games because of its real time and non-turn based structure. However, they may well be in the minority as flowing game play is what I, for one look for. So four stars because it is just an expansion, but one worth buying.