Ok so I’m about 8 hours or so into MoW so far and I have some observations:
First, the atmosphere of Westgate is palpable and immersive, and Sound has a lot to do with that. From the music (and MoW includes a long list of new tracks) to the ambient sound effects (the cheer of the crowd in the arena district, the busy chatter of the market place, the distant screams of yet another poor soul on the Docs who the city has swallowed up) it all just fits into place like pieces of a puzzle. Also contributing is the commentary of the NPC’s on the streets of Westgate, all NPC’s have chatter appropriate to their location and station in life. They move about, stand near shops, some of them even have small background roles to play, such as the performing mage in the market square. Descriptions on curious locales, city statues, items and other objects provide a window into the city’s history. The whole city just feels alive, a stark contrast to Neverwinter in the original campaign which felt like an empty staged up prop.
Quests are never about playing delivery boy. They require various steps to completion, feature different possible endings, and allow the player different ways in which to resolve the plot.
Encounters vary from easy to medium to VERY hard, with most falling in the medium to very hard category. I’ve had to retreat from several encounters so far only returning later after a level up and some better gear becomes available. The most challenging encounters give you clues as to their nature however, so there is usually a way to be prepared and fare better.
The NPC’s have a lot to say to each other and to you as their personality’s clash. These moments where I interact with them and they interact with each other are some of my favorite as they always make me think about how my character is going to react.
Overall I’m loving this DLC so far and I’m already planning another outing with an evil wizard (need to see the evil path) after I’m done with this playthrough.
If you do pick it up, make sure the ONLY thing in your override directory is Tony K’s AI mod. I’ve been pklaying with it and have not encountered any bugs with it so far, but I ehar other mods (specially ones that modify the .2da files) do have issues.
NWN 2 just plays much better with Tony K’s mod. Believe me, you’ll need the improved AI in some of these encounters!
