Aspyr’s d20 Hits The Mark With Neverwinter Nights 2 Port to OS X

Neverwinter Nights 2With the move to Intel Macs, Apple set the stage for increased gaming opportunities and went so far as to promise OS X users more titles to choose from since they are “working closely” with the premier development houses to ensure OS X is considered a first-run target operating system. While some gaming companies have chosen the Cider/Cedega Win32 API “wrapper” route, others turn to companies like Aspyr to help them port games directly to the Mac platform, which is what Atari has done with the release of Neverwinter Nights 2 for OS X (official Atari NWN2 site).

The Story So Far…

You start off the game as a simple peasant ready to take part in the harvest festival. This backdrop serves as an effective training tool to help new players become adjusted to the intricacies of the user interface and some of the subtleties of the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 rules which the game is based on. Unlike the original Neverwinter Nights where your companions were all AI-driven, you also learn how to control individual members of your party. If the thought of keeping track of every movement of three additional characters is a bit daunting for you, then you may let the game’s excellent AI do its best to keep everyone alive in the heat of battle, though you may find that the spells and potions you’ve collected along the way are gone since your companions will use every item at their disposal if you let them.

After working with the townsfolk to save West Harbor you venture out, ultimately visiting Neverwinter itself. This is where the adventure kicks into high gear. Thieves & thugs lurk in every corner, wizards launch surprise attacks and the city guards cannot all be trusted. Deciding whom to trust is no small task, especially with the secrets that you carry with you…

The Forgotten Realms Never Looked So Beautiful

Having played D&D as a lad with good ol’ pencil & paper, eventually moving to text-based adventure games and then classics such as Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, the original Neverwinter Nights was a bit of disappointment. Prior to that title, your imagination was given fodder to wander and fill in details that the games left out. NWN 1 seemed to deliberately get in your way, literally begging you to basque in the 3D world they created. Thankfully, it did set the stage for add-on adventures and this successor.

NWN2 Screenshot

The graphics are just amazing in NWN 2, even with the tweaked-down settings on my MacBook Pro (Fall 2007 edition). NPC creatures and characters are animated and engaging, fields are flowing and buildings are rendered with great detail inside and out. Spell effects – one of the hallmarks of modern fantasy RPG’s – come alive on the screen, and the cut-scenes have even caused family members to come over and watch.

Neverwinter Nights 2 screen capture

Party Rules

As previously mentioned, you are able to control the individual actions of your party members during combat (if so desired) and tune their characters as they achieve higher skill levels during the game. You can get a great feel for what it’s like being a spell-caster, healer, fighter or rogue (or more) this way and come up with some unique character configurations.

You can share items you loot with any of the NPC’s in your party provided they have the skills to use them. Be careful how you distribute thing and don’t be too surprised if your magic-aware thief makes a last-ditch effort to survive by using wide-area damage wand you gave her. It is a good idea, though, to keep your party well-stocked with healing, disease-curing and restorations potions/spells; you never know when they may be necessary.

While they may be NPC’s, your traveling companions all have stories to tell. All you need to to is talk to them and you’ll be able to discover new information about their past or what their current plans/motives may be. While no game will ever come close to replacing Minsc & Boo, the party characters in NWN 2 do manage draw you in to their stories a bit, which gives the game a more solid feel.

Can I Play The Game?

To play Neverwinter Nights 2, you’ll need an 2.0+ GHz Intel Mac running Tiger (10.4.11 min) or Leopard (10.5.1 min) with at least 1 GBM RAM and 6.5 GB hard disk space & a DVD player. While you can run with a Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 graphics card, Aspyr suggests more robust ones for the best visual experience. Complete specs are available over at Aspyr’s site. The game also supports Internet/LAN play, though I have not tested that yet.

A Great Diversion

The Neverwinter Nights 2 storyline has plenty of activity to keep you engaged for 40-60 hours and there is definitely decent replay value since you can choose a different main character and make alternate decisions which will have a real impact on where the game takes you as you progress.

Manipulating the camera took a bit more fiddling than I had expected and I was a bit disappointed that I needed to disable so many graphics options to make gameplay less choppy. Even with these compromises, NWN 2 has been engaging enough to steal my attention away from EVE ever since I purchased it (thankfully I have a long skill training going!).

You can expect to pay between $40.00 & $50.00 USD for the title which is available online at the usual suspects and also in better gaming shops. I have yet to see it at either of the two Apple Store’s I frequent in Seattle, but that may just be temporary.

If you’re playing NWN 2 or pick up a copy and try it, let me and all the other TAB readers know what you think in the comments.

loading

Comments have been disabled for this post