Back

Well, broadband took a while longer to sort out than I was hoping and moving house proved a bit more of a drain on my free time than I had hoped, but I am back in action. However, I did find time to play NX1.

My overall impressions as a player:
Better mechanics, controls, combats and polish than original, with a decent stand alone plot and EPIC levels that are not super-unbalanced. However, suffers from the classic EPIC disease of power inflation where even a regular guard or animal is level 20+. Combined with the monty-haul treasure/enchant system and a lack of companion choice this takes the gloss of an otherwise fun game. Also, being a Planescaper it is my sworn duty to hate the horribly boring and overemphasised shadow plane. It NEVER was a transitive plane, and NEVER will be!

My overall impressions as a modder:
Hmmm... I was hoping for more. On the up-side we have horse models and treants, both of which will see good use. So will the sunken city tileset and many of the building/ruin placables. Official snow and waterfalls are not unwelcome either and the new greying VFX is neato.

I was hoping for more in the way of models though. More new constructs and a couple of re-textured creatures doesn't really cut it in my book. Sure, we have an ape thing, the wyvern and a couple of new dragons too - but all of these could be simulated with scaling, VFX and tinting. I guess I was hoping for more stuff you can't simulate, Like Beholders, gelatinous cubes and some of the more unique fiends and celestial.

Overall It is still a nice expansion and certainly worth buying, but could have been more...


PS: Also, thanks to BGP Hughes for the official review of Cry Wolf. Darn that Volnburg!

Lorft