First Look: Neverwinter In-Depth Hands On Part 1
By Date: Mar 01 2013 Views:
AWESOME
Responses
Your Reaction?
Fans everywhere have a reason to rejoice, and the strongest of orcs to the tiniest of halflings have a reason to step into a time machine and travel back to a time before fast-paced shooters and mindless action games. Cryptic Studios, along with Perfect World Entertainment, have reached down into the depths of 2002 (or 1991 if you're REALLY old school) and have pulled from the rubble one of the most beloved RPG franchises of all time -- and they brought along a cleric to bring it back to life. Neverwinter returns players to the legendary city, 400 years after the events of Neverwinter Nights 2, for a monster-busting action MMO adventure assisted and blessed by Wizards of the Coast. But did Cryptic's cleric have a level 7 spell that day, or are they only rolling with a level 5 class caster?
Neverwinter, or The Winter of our Discontent?
When first entering Neverwinter, players are going to need to get informed. This isn't your father's Neverwinter - mostly because your father probably died a gruesome death and may or may not have been reanimated during his Neverwinter.
Neverwinter the game takes place 400 years after the events of Neverwinter Nights 2, and the backstory of the game follows the events described in several official D&D books about the city and Faerun in general. It all starts with the Spellplague hitting the Forgotten Realms, transforming many into deformed, giant, mindless killing beasts. While Neverwinter manages to come out of it looking nearly as pretty as Ali, they don't fare as well when the nearby Mt. Hotenow, a giant volcano, spawns a Primordial Fire Elemental - which erupts and nearly destroys the city. Amidst all of this, the last Lord of Neverwinter disappears; and in the chaos and confusion, groups of Orcs, rebels, and bandits begin to form factions in the city's remains -- all looking to take a piece of the former "Jewel of the North" for themselves. Moreover, the Red Wizards of Thay have mobilized to try to terrorize the city, and the dread pirate Traven Blackdagger has been brought back from the dead, putting together a new band of sea dogs to raise fear and plunder and death all along the Sword Coast.
