When was neverwinter nights 2 released

More information about Obsidian Entertainment can be found online at www. The Atari Group is a major international producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and in all existing game formats Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony and on CD-ROM for PC. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Neverwinter Nights 2 features a new, extensive single-player game with deep character development and a powerful new toolset that provides players with unprecedented ability to create their own universes, quests and storylines "Neverwinter Nights 2 has been an incredible journey to produce.

All rights reserved. Reviews of Neverwinter Nights 2 have been generally positive. Comparable to the first NWN, gameplay starts by creating a character. Options include choosing the character's gender, race, class, appearance, and name. The player can also customize statistics and abilities.

In addition, the player can now gain or lose influence with party members, which will dictate outcomes to certain quests or even set strife inside the party. The crafting system from the original Neverwinter Nights has been revised, and players can now craft weapons, shields and armor, mix up potions, or create magical items with special "workbenches" scattered in towns and shops. Players will also be able to acquire a stronghold during the course of the campaign. The official campaign is set around the city of Neverwinter, although it will not be a continuation of the NWN campaign.

It has been stated that a character playing through the official campaigns of NWN and its two expansion packs will have reached around level 30, so there is little that will be a credible 'challenge' to those players.

In the NWN2 campaign, players start from level 1, and there is a level 20 maximum and the option to multiclass the player's character up to 4 classes 3 regular classes in addition to 1 prestige class. The official fact sheet says:. The main plot of Neverwinter Nights 2 centers around a powerful force of evil named the King of Shadows and an artifact that can ultimately defeat the arch-foe.

The protagonist starts out as a resident of the tiny village of West Harbor, which long ago served as a titanic battleground where the King of Shadows was thought defeated by most. The player character's fate is intricately tied to this historical battle, where the character's parents were killed, resulting in the infant character coming under the foster care of the elven ranger Daeghun.

As the game begins, these events are long in the past, and the infant has grown to a young adult, never having left West Harbor. The plot kicks off with the sudden invasion of West Harbor by extraplanar creatures called Githyanki and their hordes of minions.

The Githyanki seem to be searching for something, and through cryptic exposition by the player character's foster father Daeghun, we are given to understand that there is something special about a particular silver shard found years ago at the King of Shadows' defeat, and that this object should not fall into the hands of the planar creatures.

Daeghun sends the protagonist away from West Harbor with the silver shard, ostensibly to remove the object of the invaders' search from the village and thus prevent any further invasions. The player character, the "shard-bearer", embarks on a journey from West Harbor towards the city of Neverwinter, where Daeghun's brother possesses a similar silver shard, which might hold the answers as to why these shards are so important.

On the way to Neverwinter, the player character needs to go through a number of minor quests, and during them meets the first three companions -- Khelgar is a dwarven fighter who wants to become a monk, Neeshka is a self-interested tiefling rogue , and Elanee is an elven druid discovering that evil is spreading over the land and destroying her druidic circle.

These three will be the player's only and mandatory companions until the party reaches Neverwinter, at which time the player gains more control over the party composition. Ultimately, these early quests are completed to such a point that the party arrives at Neverwinter and talks with Daeghun's brother Duncan , which moves the plot forward by introducing a number of minor plot elements, most importantly the necessity of talking to Aldanon the Sage, who might be able to divine more about the nature of the silver shards.

Unfortunately, Aldanon lives in a quarantined district, and in order to gain access, the player has two plot avenues open -- choosing to join the City Watch , or to work with the thieves' guild. Both routes have a number of minor quests before access is gained to Aldanon. Eventually, the party works their way through to Aldanon, and discovers that a key character to unlocking the secret of the silver shards is one Shandra Jerro , a farm-woman the party met briefly on a minor quest prior to Neverwinter.

The Githyanki, however, are one step ahead, kidnapping Shandra and using her as bait to lure in the player character. This sets the stage for the final confrontation of Act I, where the party ventures to the Githyanki lair to save Shandra and defeat the Githyanki once and for all.

In this final confrontation it turns out that the silver shards are fragments of a powerful weapon, and it is discovered how the player character is tied to the shards in a very special way.

With the Githyanki defeated once and for all, Shandra rescued, and a greater understanding gained of the silver shards and the player's part in them, Act I concludes. Some weeks later, Shandra joins the party, as it has been decided that since she still holds a key to unlocking some further mysteries regarding the shards, she remains in danger, and she will be safer with the party than without them.

She becomes a mandatory party member for most of Act II, expanding the party size to five -- the normal party of four, plus Shandra as well.

This act is perhaps the least combat-intensive of the three acts. With the Githyanki threat routed, a new enemy now becomes evident -- a more insidious one, as the Luskan ambassador to Neverwinter, one Torio Claven , frames the player character for the massacre of a Luskan town. By low justice, a commoner accused of such a crime would be extradited to Luskan to face trial in that evil city, but the authorities of Neverwinter concoct a plan for the protagonist to become the squire of a Neverwintan knight, thus becoming subject to high justice and able to hold trial in Neverwinter.

Rise in Power, Responsibility, and Renown — In Neverwinter Nights 2, the player's journey not only expands their personal power, but also their political power.

The protagonist rises through the ranks of Neverwinter society and can even become a lesser noble of Neverwinter — a full knight with land and title. The player lords over a mighty stronghold, he commands a small army, and he is the last line of defense for Neverwinter itself. Children play through the street, farmers lead their animals around, and passersby walk on their mysterious business.

Players will even stumble upon numerous one-time events, such as a thief robbing a commoner. In addition, frequented locations, such as the city of Neverwinter itself, changes rather dramatically between chapters.

There are plenty of creatures that simply require brute force to defeat, but strategically placed throughout the story are a few more memorable boss battles that provide defining game moments.

Around the Network. Neverwinter Nights 2 at IGN.