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Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

Shades of Grey

The Mask of the Betrayer campaign has everything you'd expect from an epic-level adventure: powerful magic, treacherous villains, war, supernatural beings - you name it! While I don't want to spoil anything, I suggest you bring your best dimension-travelling boots and say good-bye to your soul, at least for now. There's no lack of mythical creatures, monsters or climactic pitched battles. What's different from the original NWN2 campaign is Mask of the Betrayer's dark, twisted undertone.

Prospective allies turn up in the most unusual places. Kaelyn the Dove is a sight for sore eyes after a crypt full of Wraiths and Death Knights

Once you've convinced them to join your cause, you'll have another character to level up, equip and babysit

While the original campaign told a story written and paced for teenage gamers, Mask of the Betrayer is better suited to more mature gamers: there are many disturbing themes, and the player is faced with tough decisions. A world of shadow hides unspeakable secrets, and the player will have to make choices between corrupting power and personal integrity. In some ways the story reads out like a drug addict's: after a certain point in the story, the player will constantly fight an urgent, consuming desire, and giving into it is destructive to both the player and whoever they face. This can get pretty creepy, and at times frustrating; Mask of the Betrayer is much more of an adult's game than the original campaign was [odd, considering ESRB gave it a teen rating - Ed]

The story is told mostly through interaction with Rashemen's various inhabitants, living and incorporeal. The writing is of high quality throughout, although I have to say it's somewhat wordy. To really get into the plot, you'll have to read page after page of dialogue, books, notes, and so on with a fair bit of focus. Perhaps then you get the satisfaction of guessing the various possible outcomes behind dialogue options, and make informed rather than random or alignment-dictated decisions. As in the earlier Neverwinter Nights campaigns, your actions affect your alignment, as well as the influence you have over NPC companions. Active and finished quests are marked in your quest journal, and you can always check there if you happened to miss an important bit of conversation.

"Sorry about the smell, but this is your cave - and I haven't seen a single bathroom down here!"

Having to wade through a pool of blood is just not cool

A Ventriloquist's Dream

Although most of the dialogue is in writing only, every now and then you're treated to some pretty good voice acting. When you trigger a cutscene with voice acting, you know you've just moved the plot forward. My only complaint is that although the vast majority of the game's cutscenes feature dialogue between the player and other characters or creatures, the protagonist never opens his or her mouth.

Redoing all the dialogue with NWN2's various male and female character voices was too much to ask from Obsidian Entertainment, but cutscene direction should have taken this to account. The camera jumps back and forth between the protagonist and whoever they're talking to, never letting you forget that your character is just standing there dumb. If you're into acting, or just really into the game, I guess you can read the lines out aloud - but don't let anyone catch you mumbling to yourself about lost souls, dark secrets and terrible afflictions!

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: GameplayPage 3: Single-player CampaignPage 4: GraphicsPage 5: Tech AnalysisPage 6: MultiplayerPage 7: Conclusion and Final ScoresPage 8: NWN2 Retrospective

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