Mac Gaming

I picked up the Dungeons & Dragons-based Neverwinter Nights 2 and its expansion Mask of the Betrayer last summer in a desperate bid to quell my hunger for an RPG. I didn’t finish NWN2, but I mostly enjoyed what I played of it, slowly learning the D&D ruleset. In March, I was totally engrossed by MotB when my internal hard drive died, wiping out Windows and my saved games. I haven’t gone back to MotB, but I recently reinstalled NWN2 and the newly released $10 adventure pack Mysteries of Westgate. As they all use the same engine, the main game and add-ons run about the same on my iMac.

My Settings

The Verdict

At 1440×900, frame rates only become an issue in NWN2 when a lot of spells are being cast and there are many different lighting effects taking place on the screen at the same time. Other than that, my average fps was above 30. I also tend to play with the camera set up quite high (Exploration Mode rather than Character Mode), which may account for the higher frame rates.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like NWN2. I had played Knights of the Old Republic and hadn’t really cared for the combat style compared to games like The Witcher, Oblivion, or the newer Fable 2. However, NWN2 won me over. The main game is ok, but Mask of the Betrayer is superb. I love the companions and what I played of the story. So far, Mysteries of Westgate is slow-paced, but fun — more like the original than the MotB expansion. For about $50 USD, there’s a ton of gameplay here (or for $63 you could get the complete pack with Storm of Zehir, as well).

Also, for those new to this style of game, an add-on I highly recommend is Tony K’s Companion and Monster AI. I was getting crushed in some of the MotB battles and this add-on really helped me out, making combat less frustrating.

Metacritic.com User Score

5.6/10