Neverwinter Nights is one of the all-time best role-playing games on the PC, not only because of the sheer open-endedness of the character development (mainly thanks to it’s core being the D&D system) and awesome visuals and sounds, but also because of the well thought-out plot which is both engrossing and intellectually rewarding, which is what you would expect from the team with brought us legendary games such as Starcraft, Warcraft and the infamous Diablo II. One of the features of the game which intrigued me was the Aurora Creation Toolset, whichaallowed ordinary people and player’s of the game to design their own game in itself. Now: I’ve tried a few of these throughout the time I’ve had NWN (nigh on three years now) and most of the have been complete parp. But every now and again, something has stood out to be as having the potential to be brilliant, before failing to meet it’s true calling. Twilight, by Rick Burton, does not fail.

My favourite class to use in D&D based game has been, is, and probably always will, the Paladin. The warrior of virtue, whose mighty sword and shield deal holy death to the minions of evil and whose presence alone strikes fear into the heart of the undead. So to find a homemade module, which itself is one of the most highly rated among the many on the NWN fansite, NWNVault, in which the character may only be a Paladin, I thoght this would be a great little fun fan module to play through. Little did I know the talent and time Mr. Burton has put into this adventure.

Whilst I am stilling playing the module (and am soon to play it’s sequel, Midnight), so far I am incredibly impressed. The innovation in gameplay is amazing, surpassing that even of the original game which astounded me so not that long ago. There are incredible puzzles, such as navigating your blinded sidekick through a trap-filled room, or setting a whole room full of braziers alight just by walking near them (you’ll now what I mean if you have played it), which, as someone who has tinkered with the Aurora Toolset, is no easy task. The storyline has a sense of epic which, again, surpasses that of the original game, as the expansion, Shadows of the Undrentide, to rival that level of enjoyment that a comic book reader would get from the DC epic ‘Crisis of Infinite Earths’ or a Star Wars fan from the last 3 episodes. It’s that good. WHat is also particuarly enjoyable is the character interactions. Your sidekick, Piratose, is not your sidekick by choice, and her personality is vivid and, unlike most D&D based RPG’s, actually develops. The main characters, evildoers included, are impressively thought out and thoroughly realistic (well, you know what I mean), and you get a sense, through the great cutscenes that unfold the tell the story, of life in the game, that this is a world which is ‘real’, and stands out as a ridiculously good effort the create an enjoyable gaming world.

Overall, what I’m trying to say is this Rick Burton has single-handedly created an incredibly enjoyable experience, that stands to be counted alongside the official modules, expansions and the game itself. If I were Bioware, I’d snap him up quickly.

If you want to play Twilight, simply download it here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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