Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir hearkens back to the days of the Baldur�s Gate and Icewind Dale franchises by including full party customization, dungeon crawling, and free exploration of a non-linear game world via an Overland Map. The gripping storyline foreshadows the events that will take place in the Forgotten Realms with the coming of release this June of the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game.
In the aftermath of the defeat of the King of Shadows, the Sword Coast is in the midst of an uneasy economic recovery. Trade syndicates have sprung up to exploit the post-war confusion for their own ends. The players� party will wade into this uncertain environment; in order to increase their own fortunes, they can either ally with a syndicate to create a trade empire, or cut their own path through Faerûn by preying upon caravans and selling the goods on the black market. As they attempt to extend their influence, players will become aware of a new faction working behind the scenes: the evil, shapeshifting, serpentine Yuan-Ti.
In addition to trading and economic manipulation, the Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Overland Map allows players to explore the Chultan Peninsula and Sword Coast in a non-linear manner never before seen in any of the Neverwinter Nights games. Exploration will take players from well-known locations, like Neverwinter and Crossroad Keep, to more exotic areas, such as the xenophobic jungle nation of Samarach. Groups of highwaymen and monsters populate the Overland Map and the farther from civilization the player roams, the more difficult the encounters become. The 15-hour campaign in Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir is also packed with new classes, spells, creatures, and playable races.
Fans of the compelling multiplayer features of Neverwinter Nights 2 will also be able to take advantage of new improvements to the multiplayer experience, while modders will be able to take advantage of the power and flexibility of the Overland Map and Trading System features along with other world-building enhancements.
* Game Features -
# Travel the Sword Coast and Samarach using the open ended exploration of the new Overland Map. Use skills like Spot and Survival while on the Overland Map to avoid ambushes and even find hidden locales and lost artifacts.
# Create your own full party of adventurers. Devastate your foes with a squad of fireball-flinging Sorcerers, form a solid wall of steel with a party of Fighters, or strike the perfect balance in your party by spreading out the classes you choose for your characters.
# Improved party gameplay including streamlined party conversations, a new Teamwork Benefit System, and powerful party feats.
# The world's economy reacts to your adventures and choices. And, through trading and quests, you can expand your merchant company into a massive trading empire.
# Updated classic features: New classes (including prestige classes), spells, creatures, and playable races.
I have just finished the Storm of Zehir after I bought it in May... Yes, apart from starting to create a party, I didn't play it more and left it as it was. I guess the very beginning wasn't too much appealing for me. But after I sat full time of this, it was fun. The overland map and fully customizable party creation was great - I enjoyed exploring the areas (nice idea with this tourist thing). I had a strong party of Wizard/Red Wizard, Rogue/Assassin, Cleric/Doomguide and Warrior/Weapon Master. With that, I picked only the fights I wanted - with the shadowy thief in lead... I encountered no serious bugs (despite exploring all areas in the game). To be honest - the trading system is the best one currently in NWN2 (yes, I played Dark Waters, which I liked very much). All in all, I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed it. I felt it was a freeform adventure, centered mostly on economic (who is Zehir?), open exploration and the like. Certainly worth the money. Especially in Poland, where they sell it boxed with Mysteries of Westgate. But that's another story...
Posted by Rand at 2009-10-0714:00:24
I'm not going to sit here n add my vote yet, I'll try replaying again (don't remember if I finished the game the first time I playedlol so I can't give a proper vote. But the biggest thing that got me when I played this the first time is the fact that your character from the NWN2 official campaign isn't recognized but everyone else that went with you to kill the King of Shadows they were there when you died. I made the same comment on another site n was told it was a completely new mod, I was starting over with a brand new character but it was still a lil discouraging to go bk to the keep that you built bk up only to find that everyone that supposedly died with you is alive n kicking but you the character aint nothing to anybody there lol... Seemed a bit unfair... Anyways enoug of my whinning. I'll try this mod again n hopefully beable to finish n vote lol. Thank you for listenin (reading) my bs :) _________________________ "Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. The Prophecies will be fulfilled. The Dragon is Reborn."
Posted by Rhevan at on10/04/09
I was tired of the OC linear game play (and non stop text reading) and at the same time I was looking for a MMORPG that I could play alone offline. SOZ did it, it has a bit of Baldur's gate, a bit of MMORPG feel and a bit of Birthright feel wich I enjoy alot. I love the crafting system and the overland exploration, unlimited encounters possibilities and I like the fact that I can create my own party. Much better than the boring original campaign wich disapointed me. It's just really cool.
Posted by fishnuke at on09/11/09
I liked the expansion to allowing Icewind Dale style character arbitration, as well as the overland map. Incredulousness grew to despair which grew to horror as I searched each of the nearly 50 areas in Chult and later on the Sword Coast, realizing that every cave entrance, every temple, was just a single area, often just a little room. Also a bit disappointed that after MotB and epic levels, we'd get yet another 1st level tutorial in how to fight for the beginning. Epic Yuan-ti would be pretty cool. The last fight was thankfully pretty stiff.
Posted by jcamp07 at on08/07/09
I thought this was a nice change of pace from MotB. It lacked the epic story and much of the voice acting was terrible, but I had a lot of fun with the classic CRPG feel. This is much better experience than many of the higher rated Hall of Fame modules that I have played. I'm sure its weaknesses and lack of polish would have been similarly forgiven if it had not been professionally produced. I may have felt differently if I had payed $30 for this, but it is well worth the $14 that Amazon is currently charging.
Posted by Valkronn at on06/18/09
The only things I liked were the chance to build you own party and the raising dead army in porto llast. The rest was boring and poor made, IMHO.
Posted by pdeath at on05/24/09
Enjoyable. Its probably better value for money then MoW (Which does have a better story line) because of the new features and because it is truly different then the models you can download for free. The overland map is the first completely new thing I have seen in the NWN universe for a long time. Agree with comments that the story line could easily have been improved. However it is truly non-linear without the chaotic nature of the Infinite Dungeons release for NWN1. But from a technical perspective it was a success (I have just finished MoW with my first Yuan-ti Pure Blood character :-)).
Posted by magus77 at 2009-05-2412:56:17
Just playing it, patch 1.22 - no vote yet, only some comments: + Party system, dying - not perfect, but a huge step in the right direction for me. - Party still har several problems: In some locations the 'leader', i.e. the first character you create (before arriving on the ship at start) is placed up front by entering or leaving. That means, when we leave crossroad keep, my wizard is up front and all monster partys beeline to to us, because he has no hiding skill. - Changing leaders on the overland map using function keys leads to curious effects. + Encounter level and realistic XP. - Not implemented correctly, because summoned monsters never do anything to a party's level range and bring no XP when killed. - Many small bugs and inconsistencies despite patch 1.22. Sometimes the journal is simply unclear and you have to look into 'quests done' to find out, what happened. Dialogs are often unclear and expect you to look into the journal, because not all is said ind the dialog. + Overland map brings a PnP feeling and is well done - The subareas reachable from the overland map are very ... minimalistic, to put it politely. Some things are not logical - like not being able to rest in a hunting lodge after killing the monsters in it - but able to camp besides it. + There seem to be several 9. level wizard spells missing (from the selection during level up)? Where spells taken out of this game? It seems so. Why? + Spells are much better - even the greater Invisibility works (they needed two expansions to get this simple thing right...) + AI - a huge improvement, but still not there: Playing is often a constant fight with the interface. Sometimes characters are 'teleported' without any reason several steps. In fight and out of fights. (Rubberbanding?). I cannot understand why after 3 expansions they are unable to get the AI right. Either give us an AI which controls the characters in way that we must noht micro manage, OR give us simple options like 'defend against any enemy in a near/medium/far range'. I never used the AI in Icewind Dale and Baldurs Gate, but decided to control it all by hand - but a fighter, when he was told to guard an area, did so. Spells had to be cast by hand, but this was fun - not a constant fight against an AI where you have to pause every round to check was has gone wrong this time. (For example: One of my characters should auto pick up items. Worked like a char for around 1-2 hours. The she stopped, and I never managed to switch on this option for her. Now another character does it.) +/- The entire game has an unfinished and unpolished feeling, while being enjoyable at the same time So far my impressions - will vote after I finished it. Magus
Posted by Shambling at on05/08/09
The good: Making your own group and using all the skills within that group as needed. Overland Map I like this idea but see below Visuals were well done some striking scenery here. Sound was good. Bad: Story, I've been through NWN2 why do I want to play though it again in another module. Combat (minus the end fight was overly easy, I could stand at the entrance to an area and the mobs would just rush me there in 1's or 2's) I understand you were probably trying to add some AI where mobs heard combat and were coming to the aid of their fellows however it didn't work well. Overland Map gets tedious with the overland encounters too repetetive no variety. Alot of small areas. I like the use of the Yuan Ti and the new tilesets are well done but the story is just not great. Playing through the original NWN2 area again = yawn.
Posted by aquiloparry at on04/13/09
Gameplay was good, AI, and Chat scripts greatly improved. No more locking other players out during conversations, more comfortable for multiplayer. The NPC loading, and versatile development are a wonderful improvement. knocked off a point for overuse of the outdoor map, and shallow gameplay. Wish the UI changes had been included at release.
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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