One of the greatest things about the original Neverwinter Nights was the ability to craft your own complete role-playing adventures with relative ease. This has led to a large body of modules that rival commercial games, and was eventually exploited by Atari in the form of several ‘Premium Modules’. Neverwinter Nights 2 also features a large module toolset, though it is more cumbersome to use, was released in a less than optimal state, and has taken longer for developers to craft new modules with. Very soon, though, the first official ‘Adventure Pack’ will be released – Mysteries of Westgate from Ossian Studios. I will be reviewing that module later, but had a few thoughts on it – and also wanted to highlight the impending release.
First and most important – the module has ‘gone gold’. This means that the game is done and ready for release, and will be released in the next week or so.
The plot summary reads: “Set in the infamous Forgotten Realms city of Westgate, players find themselves in possession of a powerful but cursed treasure that threatens to destroy them. Linked to the underworld organization known as the Night Masks, the treasure will draw players into a city-spanning clash between warring factions. Players must choose their allegiance in order to break the curse and ultimately uncover a plot that threatens Westgate itself”.
The ‘powerful but cursed treasure’ is a mask that belongs to the Night Masks. There have been references to this infamous group in previous games, but their real fame comes from their part in R. A. Salvatore’s “Cleric Quintet’ novels released in the early 1990s. This is a feared and dangerous band of assassins who were sent to kill Cadderly in their featured book of that series, and they are painted as a dark and efficient group of killers who never (well, aside from the whole ‘killing Cadderly’ thing) fail to get their mark. So for anyone familiar with the background lore, this sets up a compelling tale that is sure to be dark and deadly and full of twists and moral conflicts. I can’t wait!
Back in 2005 I wrote an article for GamerDad on the Neverwinter Nights Premium Modules (I updated it in 2006 after the final releases in the series, you can read it here). In the article I highlighted each of the six modules. Six? But there are only five ‘official’ modules! That is true – the sixth was called ‘Darkness Over Daggerford’, which was canceled when Atari pulled the plug on the program … only to reinstate it to release ‘Wyvern Crown of Cormyr’ some months later. There are three ironies around ‘Daggerford’ – first, it was developed by none other than Ossian Studios. Second, as I said in the article “It is perhaps ironic that my favorite of the Premium Modules is the one that was canceled and released for free.”
The third irony is that the module was completed and ready for release in September of 2007, prior to the release of either the ‘Mask of the Betrayer’ or ‘Storms of Zehir’ expansions. So what happened? Apparently Atari needed to have a DRM system in place that would protect ‘non exe’ installations such as these modules. This was a greater challenge than Atari. Obsidian (makers of NWN2) and Ossian estimated, and it kept getting pushed back from patch to patch … and eventually came out as part of the recently released 1.22 patch. For those without a calendar handy, that is nearly an eighteen month delay – across two holiday shopping cycles – in order to develop a system to prevent sales loss to piracy. Perhaps that would count as a fourth irony.
The good side of this is that the resulting system only requires a single online-connected ‘authentication’ session when you first play, and that is completely transparent. Anyone who played the Premium Modules for the original NWN will recall that you needed to be online at the start of EVERY time you wanted to play a module. For those who – like me – are laptop gamers and not always in touch with a wireless network, this was a real hassle.
So if you are a PC gamer and a fan of role-playing games, rejoice: one of the best small developers we have seen is about to unleash another excellent adventure, and with a budget price and unobtrusive DRM there is no reason to let it pass! As for me, I’m already getting two characters ready for the adventure, since it starts at level 8. I will have a nice Elf Sorcerer named Trislyn Jast (my typical mage), and also a Deheriian Cleric named … you guessed it, Cadderly!
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives! 
Man, I want to love Neverwinter Nights 2 so much but for whatever reason I just can’t seem to get into it no matter how hard I try. I haven’t picked up the latest expansion yet though and it sounds like a lot of the new features it adds would appeal to me more.
It’s great to see Atari that supports the game with adventure packs like this and worked out a friendly DRM solution for them.
Did you like the original NWN? I understand how folks feel about NWN2, because it is fairly linear and constricted, but personally the strengths for me outweigh the weaknesses.
Have you played Mask of the Betrayer? That was the first expansion, and featured perhaps the best game writing since Planescape: Torment.
Storm of Zehir is also very good, but the strengths lie in a full party system that we haven’t seen since Baldur’s Gate II, and a fully functional overland map with loads to do. The core game is fun, but lacking the depth or strength of story.
Mysteries of Westgate promises loads of intrigue and depth of writing as well as well designed areas … I doubt Ossian will disappoint!
I had mixed feelings about the original, but enjoyed it quite a bit overall. It was the next big RPG I played after going through the Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games, and to me didn’t measure up to those, but still had a good experience with it. Actually spent more time with the mod toolset than playing the game itself.
I have NWN2 and the Mask of the Betrayer expansion, just not Storm of Zehir. The party system and world map are the two things about SoZ that could finally get me into the game though, as those are two big things I love about BG and ID.
Really can’t put a finger on exactly why I haven’t gotten involved in the game much. I guess the poor engine performance turned me off when it first came out, and then there was something about the camera system that didn’t feel right to me either.
I was a huge fan of the first one and I have to be honest with you, I think NWN2 blows it our of the water. I would have to disagree with this review about the toolset being cumbersome. I have been able to do so much more with this toolset than I ever could with the first. I will say that my skills have improved, but it is more user friendly, especially now. Storm of Zehir really changed the face of the game with the party and overland system. If you guys don’t have it, I suggest you check it out!! Looking forward to MoW.
I think ‘especially now’ is important – when released there was a huge furor in the mod community about the toolkit. Personally I’ve never built anything large, so I have no first-hand reference.
It is funny – was discussing it with friends and one said ‘if I never have to battle the NWN2 camera again it will be too soon … I don’t care if Mask of the Betrayer is the best-written game ever I will never play it unless it gets redone on some other game engine’.
So yeah, you’re not alone there …