The official Hordes campaign is not only my most enjoyable Neverwinter Nights play experience yet, but also ranks as the single most satisfying RPG game experience I've ever had. If you haven't ever played Neverwinter Nights, now is the time to buy NWN Gold and Hordes and get down to business learning this fantastic game.

The plot of the Hordes campaign is, on the one hand, the same plot every RPG has - "save the world." However there's nothing formulaic about the plot of Hordes. Bioware has made a compelling story that you will have trouble walking away from. The story is complex and well written, taking you to many well-portrayed locations classic to the D&D genre, such as Undermountain, the Underdark, and Beholder and Illithid cities. These locations are moody, alien, dark and disturbing in a truly tangible way. You will not explore these locations *wondering* how you should react - you *will* react, tangibly and viscerally, to their disturbing lighting and ailen architecture.

In addition, throughout the campaign Bioware has made extensive use of the new cinematic camera features added by SOU, bringing a sense of big screen urgency to this adventure. No more reading in a little text box about how important it is you undertake this quest. Instead you watch beautiful, dramatic, in-game cutscenes that show you horrors being unleashed upon the world that only you can stop. And as you approach the close of the story, you are not wondering how you should feel, or fiddling with your equipment because you're bored. You will forget game mechanics and move urgently towards the resolution of the story.

When all is said and done, you will be left with a character that is roughly 25th-30th level. And you will truly see your character as an epic hero - not becuase of a number on your character sheet, or because of feats and skills you chose, and not because of your epic loot. (And there's plenty of awesome loot if you like that.) You will see your character as an epic hero because of your vivid memories of the epic *actions* that your character has performed. "Level 30" will seem meaningless compared to looking at your character and remembering an entire city looking to you as it's only hope - and actually leading that city to *defeat* an entire army in order to realize that hope.

Having now played the OC and tried multiple game features, I have to say that this expansion has an extremely professional and clean feel to it. I was troubled by only a single bug during my play through of the campaign - a moment when a cutscene didn't fire perfectly. This certainly didn't stop my game play. Every feature added has a very polished feel, as if a great deal of care and attention was placed on each of the new game additions. The smallest features, such as the new icons used to represent added feats, are attractive and show care in design.

Henchman AI is much improved in Hordes, and you can now take 2 of them with you while you travel. Playing on Hardcore difficulty, I had a henchman die only once. Countless times my party-mates contributed smart decisions to battles. For example Deekin would use his Fear spell only on foes that were vulnerable to it, often with great results. NPCs that join your party have been given a *lot* of side chatter, comments, and extra interactions with either each other or you - and it's often hilarious. You will definitely NOT feel like you are alone on this adventure with a mute robot that often dies.

I've commented so much on the OC that I don't have much space to comment on the multitude of other great features. Six new Prestige Classes are added, and judging from the Bioware forums they're all a huge hit for different reasons. Many new feats, some epic and some not, were added. Weapon and armorcrafting skills now allow you to modify the appearance of your items - so you can pick between a chain shirt having all those metal loops, or that leather trim. Cloth, leather and metal dyes allow you to completely customize the colors of your armor and helmets. Intimidate and Bluff skills allow new and different types of social interactions. Robes have been added to the game and they look amazing. Items in your inventory can now be the target for spells and items, allowing you to poison your blade, or cast spells on your items that give them new properties.

After NWN's rocky life story, HotU has erased any doubts about Bioware and their commitment to quality. They demonstrate so many gifts and talents in Hordes - care, precision, smart design - and most importantly, an essential understanding of what an RPG gamer wants when they sit down to play. Bioware has really hit the nail on the head with this great campaign: it leaves you feeling like a true hero from myth or legend.

In an era of RPGs that largely disappoint, Bioware has produced a classic - a resplendent gem that is impressive on so many levels that is almost impossible to rate the game high enough. If you have any love for 3E D&D or for NWN, you simply must buy this expansion.

22 of 26 found the following review helpful:

Engaging single player adventure, awesome toolset content  Dec 17, 2003
By M. Gold
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.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark  Mar 29, 2004

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark adds more of everything. The new Prestige Classes are generally more interesting and useful than those in the previous expansion pack (Shadows of Underntide). The new feats, like the Prestige Classes, are also much more interesting and useful than the previous expansion. The list of epic spells, improved henchman, max level, and tile sets are all improvements for the game.

Hordes of Underdark also adds a new set of official modules with the expansion. The plotline, dungeon layout, puzzles, and feel of the modules are far superior to that of previous official modules (and even better than most player/fan-base modules). A major problem is that it was designed for single-player only. Technically, you could play the game multiplayer, but the player hosting the game would have to be well versed in using the DM Client commands from the Player Client interface to combat these "issues."

Hordes of the Underdark has also released more glitches and bugs than even the original unpatched game. Even after Hordes being patched, most users experience occasional freezes and crashes. This is not such a big deal when you have the auto-save feature turned on, but still detracts from the excitement of playing the game.

One problem that I have witnessed in Neverwinter Nights from the beginning is that there has never been a large player/fan-base Mods for high levels (level 20). With the new cap of level 40 in Hordes, I have still not witnessed many high quality Mods for characters level 20-40. Lastly, those Mods that have been designed well for the higher levels frequently have a bias for more warrior based characters.

For players whose main focus in NWN is the single-player mode and enjoyed the expansion of freedoms in Shadows of Underntide (classes, feats, etc), those who enjoy "maxing" out a character or designing super templates, enjoy designing their own Mods or like to be able to keep up with playing the most current Mods, then Hordes of Underdark is an excellent expansion. For players whose computer's limits were being pushed by the previous expansion (Hordes doubles the "recommended" RAM requirement), who play primary/solely multiplayer mode, or for those who get their kicks by challenging high-level content, then Hordes doesn't deliver as much as it seems to contain.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Worthy upgrade for Neverwinter Nights.  Jan 29, 2004
By FIG "-Josh"
This game is awesome, finally your character can brawl with the best of them. To the neverwinter fans, if you thought Shadows of Undrentide wasn't worth a purchase, this expansion will prove to you that missing out on all the new content is stupid. Personally, I thought Shadows of Udrentide kicked @$$ but to each his own opinion. Epic spells, feats and levels make this game a must buy if you bought the first Nevewinter. Tons of online content in the form of Mods is already available utilizing the expansion. The toolset has also recieved heafty additions in the form of tilesets, monster, scripting and armor.-Dungeon Masters rejoice. Theres more of everything but most important thing of all, the graphics are now better due to the 'sky boxes'(give the appearance of a sky in background) and the ability to move the camera right beside you. It feels almost like another game. I'll be playing this game for another year or so. Bioware really listens to the fans and it shows in spades.

8 of 10 found the following review helpful:

The Difference is Epic  Dec 10, 2003
By S. Wold "boomersiesta"
Having played through "Hordes of the Underdark", I am more than pleased to report that this expansion is a far, far greater single-player experience than either the original or the "Shadows of Undrentide" campaigns. Besides the ability to reach beyond 20 levels, the story is epic enough to match your burgeoning god-like hero.

Of course, there are the additions similar to what "Shadows" offered: New monsters, feats, skills, spells, prestige classes, custom items, environments, toolset wizards and the like, but the epic-level advancement of characters and magic items is what will really extend the life of NWN (at least until a sequel, or possibly another expansion).

A not-inconsiderable point of contention to the many positives of "Hordes" is that it is *not* backwardly-compatable with previous versions of NWN online. While this will most likely be fixed in a future update, it should not have shipped this way to begin with. Very annoying.

All in all, this is a highly worthwhile purchase (unless you play multiplayer online often - if this is the case, wait until Bioware fixes the compatibility issues). Even if no further expansions are made for NWN, this is a fitting tribute to the best computer representation of the D&D world so far.

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