Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

Other products by Atari

Product Features

• Expansion for Neverwinter Nights
• New 20-hour single-player campaign
• Epic levels allow characters to advance as far as level 40
• New prestige classes, feats, weapons, spells, and voice sets
• 2 new tilesets and additional content for the Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009MGVH
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches ; 8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 2, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,097 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PC

Game Informer Review

When first looking through the manual and checking out all the new feats, classes, and powers available in this expansion, I thought that they were way too obscenely powerful and would throw off the game's difficulty balancing. However, even with a godlike character, the challenges found in the Hordes of the Underdark are no joke.

The adventure included in Underdark is one of the better official campaigns. Since players start at level 15, all the NPCs react to them as a legendary hero from the beginning – a nice change from the standard RPG opening. In all the time I spent playing Hordes, I didn't kill a single rat, maggot, or slime. In the very beginning of the quest, there's a blue dragon – which incidentally fell quite easily to Enserric the Longsword (who is quite the character himself, and has some of the best lines in the game). That's an example of the power levels involved here.

Hordes allows characters to reach level 40 (!), twice the old level cap, and doesn't disappoint in ways to make your hero über-powerful. Epic feats give you such silly abilities as turning into an ancient dragon or completely dodging one attack per round, no matter what. The six new prestige classes are fun to play as, though some are a bit underpowered compared to others. Items scale up with you as well, and can grant some really sickening bonuses. Enserric, for instance, heals you for five hit points every time you hit something; though five HP isn't a whole lot when you've got 230 to begin with.

This expansion adds quite a bit of stuff for lower-level heroes as well. New crafting skills allow players to customize their equipment even more than before. Some of the prestige classes can be accessed as early as level six, and lots of new scripts have been added to give players greater control over their henchmen. Heroes can have two followers rather than the previous limit of one, which lets you have some semblance of an actual party even in single-player. Despite the new and vastly superior control, however, they still tend to run off and die when you're not paying attention.

Mod makers will enjoy the improvements on the already comprehensive toolset. BioWare has also added a number of scripts to the game which allow for better interaction and combat. Of course, these upgrades will help regular players as well, in the form of better modules to adventure through.

Owners of Neverwinter Nights are punishing themselves by not getting Hordes of the Underdark. The amount by which it expands the game in every direction is truly epic.

Concept:
Allow heroes to reach utterly stupid levels of power, and give them suitably ridiculous tasks

Graphics:
Somewhat improved over the original, particularly the textures

Sound:
Same old Neverwinter sounds. The battle music gets awfully old

Playability:
The improved camera control is very welcome, and the whole interface is a little smoother around the edges

Entertainment:
There's no better way to dork out to the max, online or off

Replay:
High

Rated: 8.5 out of 10
Editor: Adam Biessener
Issue: February 2004

2nd Opinion:
Neverwinter Nights' first expansion, Shadows of Undrentide, was certainly an engrossing tale, and a great addition to the universe, but for how much I enjoyed that adventure it pales in comparison to Hordes of the Underdark. Sure, this expansion looks slightly better than the last, and manages to add in an assortment of new goodies for level-up junkies like myself, but what really makes this game for me is that it revolves around the Drow and all the dark creatures of the D&D universe. You just can't help but love Mind Flayers and those evil elf beeatches. If you managed to miss out on Shadows, you should do yourself a favor and make sure you check out Hordes, as it represents some of the best storytelling going on in the PC world. Even if you don't care about the plot, you can always just make some crazy powerful characters and tear it up.

Rated: 8.5 out of 10
Editor: Andy McNamara


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Product Description

Neverwinter Nights' first expansion, Shadows of Undrentide, was certainly an engrossing tale, and a great addition to the universe, but for how much I enjoyed that adventure it pales in comparison to Hordes of the Underdark. Sure, this expansion looks slightly better than the last, and manages to add in an assortment of new goodies for level-up junkies like myself, but what really makes this game for me is that it revolves around the Drow and all the dark creatures of the D&D universe. You just can't help but love Mind Flayers and those evil elf beeatches. If you managed to miss out on Shadows, you should do yourself a favor and make sure you check out Hordes, as it represents some of the best storytelling going on in the PC world. Even if you don't care about the plot, you can always just make some crazy powerful characters and tear it up.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hordes: An instant "Must Have" Classic, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

Cinematic, flashy, epic, and thoroughly satisfying - Hordes of the Underdark is the truly phenomenal culmination of the Neverwinter Nights franchise. While player reviews were mixed in regards to the original NWN campaign and the first expansion campaign, I have seen little if anything for Hordes except high praise. It brings to the table both a well written and dramatic campaign and an avalanche of new game features like feats, prestige classes and skills and the much-awaited Epic Levels - expanding the game from 20 class levels to 40 - all of it in an extremely smooth and meticulously produced package.

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 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging single player adventure, awesome toolset content, December 17, 2003

By	M. Gold "anachrodragon" (Tukwila, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, March 29, 2004

By	"kniteflux" (Maple Grove, MN United States) - See all my reviews

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.

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