If Neverwinter Nights 2 was a moving-picture show, it'd be a typical summertime blockbuster. After all, concluding year's fantasy role-playing game was packed with tons of colorful characters, humorous dialogue, and, higher up all else, nonstop activity as you battled your manner through the game. On the other hand, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, the newly arrived expansion, is a much darker and more cerebral experience. At that place's not that much comic relief, and in that location's a lot more puzzle-solving than before. That's non to say that information technology doesn't feature plenty of activeness. In fact, it'due south packed with titanic battles. However, the tone is a lot more serious.

Mask of the Betrayer is a darker, much more epic follow-up to last year's Neverwinter Nights 2.
Mask of the Betrayer is a darker, much more ballsy follow-upwardly to last year'south Neverwinter Nights 2.

Information technology's nigh impossible to talk about the plot without spoiling the ending of Neverwinter Nights two. Then again, most people who pick upwards this expansion will probably accept played through that epic RPG and volition transfer their existing characters over. Nevertheless, it's yet possible to pick up the expansion, create a brand-new level 18 character, and play the game even if you've never played NWN2, though the plot will likely be confusing. And then with that out of the fashion, Mask of the Betrayer finds you on the other side of the continent from the urban center of Neverwinter. The fabled Silver Sword of Gith is gone, including the shard that was embedded in your breast. In its place is a dark and mysterious hunger, and the ensuing quest to find answers volition take you uncover a story of a failed rebellion confronting the god of expiry.

Mask of the Betrayer brings a lot of exciting new things to Neverwinter Nights. First off, at that place are new races in the class of the elemental genasi and wood elves, besides as new character and prestige classes. If you want to play the original NWN2 with these new races and classes, you can. The setting of spirit-infested Rashemen is a refreshing modify of pace from the Sword Coast, which has been the subject of countless D&D games. Rashemen makes for a much more haunted setting, particularly when you lot take into business relationship the shadow plane, an alternate mirror dimension that feels as if yous're trapped in a nightmare. Mask of the Betrayer introduces some cool new characters and companions, and even more intriguingly, the companions yous have admission to depend on central decisions you brand throughout the game. For example, if y'all spare the spirit of a bear god during a pivotal battle, he'll accompany you on your travels and open up up quests that you would have otherwise not had admission to. These decisions basically fall in skilful and evil categories, and so there's not a lot of moral grey expanse in the game.

The expansion also does a great job of diversifying the gameplay. In NWN2, there was almost no situation that couldn't be solved with a little gainsay. On the other hand, Mask of the Betrayer is packed with all sorts of devious puzzles. For instance, a trip to a magician schoolhouse will have you trying to figure out an elaborate mirror puzzle, equally well as attempting to intermission a contract with a devil. This is an expansion that volition make you lot think, and that's a expert thing.

Everything about Mask of the Betrayer feels ballsy compared to NWN2. You begin the expansion at level eighteen or higher if y'all imported your existing grapheme, and at that indicate y'all're already flirting with D&D'south "epic" character levels. To give you a challenge, the game forces y'all to battle a diverseness of ridiculously tough monsters and opponents, though you'll also take an opportunity to pick upwardly extremely rare and exotic weapons and equipment. You lot really experience like a legendary hero in this game. If there'south one result about the battles, it's that if you have a loftier-cease organisation and all the graphical effects are turned up, information technology can almost be impossible to effigy out what's going on during a fight. There are and then many massive spell effects obscuring the screen, and lightning flashes creating huge shadows on the ground, that trying to manage a fight is almost impossible. Sure, information technology looks spectacular, but it'south also completely chaotic.

Not every new feature in Mask of the Betrayer is a home run. The game'south nearly controversial addition is undoubtedly the spirit hunger that consumes your graphic symbol. This hunger acts like a drug addiction, and it can be completely frustrating at first considering the mechanics are confusing. Basically, your character has to swallow spirits (substantially souls) to stay healthy and alive. Eat too many spirits besides quickly, and y'all become more addicted and the effects of eating souls are shorter and shorter lived. The easier path is to suppress and satiate your hunger, which is basically the good path. But if y'all play an evil grapheme, you lot have to consume spirits, and then it becomes a vicious bike in which you lot spend most of your time worrying well-nigh your spirit level. It's as well bad that programmer Obsidian doesn't let players opt out of this mechanic entirely. As it is, y'all accept to advisedly manage your every move, given that acts such as resting and travel will only drain the meter more quickly. This hunger arrangement is probably a boon to hardcore function-playing fans who bask making tough decisions, merely those who enjoyed NWN2 as a fun romp are apt to exist frustrated.

Furthermore, Mask of the Betrayer introduces a new camera arrangement that lets you play the game from a third-person perspective non different the one establish in Earth of Warcraft. It's a overnice feature that potentially opens the game up to new players, but it's abrasive that it'southward the default setting. If you're a NWN2 veteran and adopt the prior camera style, yous have to tweak the options to get it back to the familiar top-down isometric view. Unfortunately, the isometric view takes a step dorsum considering it now lets you rotate the camera effectually. The problem is that the game never quite remembers your favorite orientation, so if you lot load a new department of the game or a relieve, you'll have to reorient the photographic camera most of the time.

The battles are a lot tougher, and there are also challenging puzzles to solve.
The battles are a lot tougher, and at that place are also challenging puzzles to solve.

Aside from those issues and a few small bugs, Mask of the Betrayer is a fairly polished game, and information technology'due south a lot more impressive out of the box than NWN2 was at its debut. The code has been optimized over the past year, so the frame charge per unit holds upwardly, even during graphically intense battles where spell effects are everywhere on the screen. Additionally, mod makers and dungeon masters will capeesh the new tile sets and improvements made to the born editor that lets you build your own adventures. The audio experience in Mask of the Betrayer is excellent, from the arable and solid vocalization acting to the bombastic orchestral music that swells during battles.

Mask of the Betrayer is a much more than mature expansion, both due to its content and because it demonstrates how Obsidian Entertainment is maturing as a developer. If you felt that NWN2 was a bit too activity-focused, and so y'all should definitely check out Mask of the Betrayer'due south blend of combat, puzzles, and decision-making. As it is, Mask of the Betrayer offers upward a rich function-playing experience for fans of the genre.