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| From: Atari
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $7.00
You Save: $12.99 (65%)
New (29) Used (2) from $7.00
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 1476
Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows Xp, Windows 98
Genre: Role Playing Games
ESRB: Teen
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 27559
UPC: 742725275591
EAN: 0742725275591
ASIN: B000R2WIE2
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Factory sealed excellent condition. Ships usually within 1-2 business days. E-mail Confirmation.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 30
 Great expansion, somewhat annoying gameplay... October 21, 2007
Acoma
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Firstly, I played this on a dual-core 2.13ghz pentium, 2gb ram with a Nvidia 8600 GTS on Vista 32-bit.
Okay, I loved the vanilla Neverwinter Nights 2 and the expansion is great in terms of storylines and the involvement with your new buddies is superb. Rather than have a variety of NPCs that travel with you following traditional race/class lines you will gain very distinct and original companions, I'd say more but I wouldn't want to spoil anything!
One of the bad things mentioned countless places is the Soul-Eater "feature" that rears its ugly head at the end of ACT I. I have mixed feelings, in that it makes the game more challenging but really detracts from your ability to explore freely, talk to NPCs because you are constantly watching your soul meter. Also, if you deviate from any extreme alignment like Chaotic Evil or Lawful Good, you are going to have a heck of a time.
The gameplay overall is fun and challenging, with a big increase in difficulty level for the fights you will have. Unless you are a melee fighter type its going to be pretty rough for you initially, especially if you don't import your 20ish level character from the original Neverwinter Nights 2 as you only start at level 18. Granted that's not a huge leap, but its enough to feel it at the beginning especially if you are a caster type character.
There isn't much of a frivolous atmosphere in Mask of the Betrayer, from the areas you visit, the NPCs you encounter and the story you traverse...everything has a sinister and dark nature to it. There are some good fights and action in this, but expect lots of dialogue, reading and choices in terms of Good and Evil.
Pros:
- Everything that was good about NWN2 and removed some of the bad!
- Great Music
- Good storyline
- Wide variety of class/race combinations
Cons:
- Spirit Eater Meter sucks
- Might be annoyingly challenging for non-imported characters/casters.
 Say it isn't so! October 18, 2007
T. Bailey (Lincoln, NE United States)
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
First off, let me say I was really pulling for this game. Despite the bugs that the original had, I have a solidly entertaining run through, both times I played it from start to finish. I was really looking foward to picking up my old character and making a new run through the NWN universe.
That hope quickly died as I started my first run through. I opted to create a new character, as I was anxious to take the new genasi out for a spin. A few min later my fighter/duelist walked out onto the scene. Over the next few hours I found my anger and frustration growing. First to rear it's head was AI issues, which had supposedly been worked on. My wizard buddy still loves to both overspell, and cast spell types inappropriate for the situation (ex, spell resistance in a fight with all melee types).
I also seem to be having some issues with the scaling of combat. Now, it's possible that it's because I made a new character (18) instead of importing my old one (20). I'm starting over with the import, but even so, the fights seem incredibly difficult in places. This almost makes the game unplayable.
So, I am going 3 stars because it's a blend of a 5 star plot (so far), and a 1 star implimentation.
Good but not perfect November 9, 2007
Bookphile (USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Overall, I really like this game. The writing has improved from the OC and I was very glad to see that because I felt the OC had potential that wasn't fully realized. I don't know if I'd say that it's fully realized with this expansion either but it's stronger than before and leaves me anticipating the next expansion. I just really liked the overall story and how it looped back to the OC. I also really enjoyed my companions and found them all very interesting. It was nice for my character to have a friend in Safiya and I give a big thumbs up to the Influence-based feats--what a great idea!
The music was really nice in this game. It contributes a great deal to the ambiance and I actually enjoyed listening to it. This was an extremely pleasant change from my usual habit of turning the background music down so that it will annoy me less.
I give the voice acting high marks. All of the characters had nice voices and I really liked the rumbling tone to Okku's voice. The characters sounded more natural in this expansion, as if they were real people talking and that's definitely a plus. The lack of hysteria and grating voices was most welcome.
I do have some gripes, though. For one, I ran into a very major bug in the Academy of Shapers and Binders, one that would have ruined my game if not for the console cheats. Frankly, I think this is unforgivable. All games have bugs but it's unacceptable for there to be one that would result in a player reaching a total impasse in the game. Because I could not get one of the conversation options, I ended up having to cheat an item into my inventory in order to progress in the game. There's no way this should have been allowed to happen and if the story wasn't so strong I would have been very angry about spending the money on a game that is basically rendered useless by this bug.
The romance in the game was okay but could definitely use some work. If there's one thing that most developers could learn it is how to dole such plot points out over time. Instead, I spent the whole game building Gann's trust up in my character to finally have the whole romance played out over two dialogs at the end of the game. That's less than impressive. I would have liked for there to have been at least a hint of romantic tension there. On the plus side, though, was the romance feat. I thought this was a very nice touch. Still, in the epilogue it basically becomes apparent that despite all the passionate vows of happiness and love the romance doesn't work out at all in the end. My impression is that this is a stock ending so regardless of which sex you play as a PC you get the same ending. Why couldn't Obsidian have created separate endings? It would only have required changing a few lines of text and having the voice actor read some additional lines. What's the point of even having this plot point if there won't be any continuity to it?
Last but not least, I really hate the way the camera works in this game. I'm not sure which mode is which but both had major downfalls that I found extremely annoying. I hated how the one view did not allow you to turn the screen by scrolling to the corners and I hated how the other forced you to be so zoomed in that you could barely make your way through the dungeons.
All in all, though, I had fun and feel that the expansion was worth the money I paid for it. I'm certainly interested in another expansion.
Some differences between the original October 22, 2007
C. Sayre (Atlanta, GA USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Let me start off by saying that I was... am a big fan of Neverwinter Nights 2. Great storyline, cliffhanger ending. I looked forward to this expansion.
The storyline here continues on where the NWN2 left off. You wake up in a strange land on the other side of the continent from where you ended NWN2. There is no trace of your allies from that game, and you have a gaping wound in your chest...
The story takes off from there.
The allies/friends you gain in this new realm are intriguing. Each has their own reason for wanting to help you as well as some pretty strong powers. It's up to you to figure out how to get them to trust you enough to help them. And when they do begin to trust you, they'll share their power with you.
OK, pros and cons of the game, the stuff everyone wants to know about:
Pros - Story. Graphics.
Cons - Camera angles. They've changed the camera controls from the original NWN2. In this game there are only two camera controls that equate to "chasing camera" and "free camera" in the original NWN2. Personally, I can't really stand either. I wish they had kept the camera styles/choices from the original game.
Another con is the "plot device" that they've added. Yes, I get it. This game is for characters 18+ levels, so things are needed to balance gameplay so that you're not a god among mortals. But this... affliction they've chosen to add to the character is annoying. I know character development/stories are best when the main character is twisting on the horns of a dilemma, but this just seems contrived, as if it was added at the 11th hour. The affliction is not unlike a drug addiction. The story unfolds as you figure out what's happened to you and why.
But, all things aside, I'm enjoying this game. The story slowly unfolds where you find out little snippets of what happened to your past allies (who survived, who didn't...) as you deal with you affliction. You help your new allies with their problems and receiving their help with yours.
Much like the first game, this one starts off slowly, allowing you to get a feel for the game before things take off.
If only they'd fix the camera controls...
What NWN2 should have been to start with October 14, 2007
Braden Holstege
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Many new things are added in this expansion. The plot for the new campaign is interesting, but seems a bit forced. The new races, which consist primarily of the various types of genesai, are absolutley terrible, as is the half drow. The epic levels are good and seem well thought out, although it only goes to level 30, rather than 40, like it was in the original NWN. The new prestige classes are average to poor, but the new primary class, the favored soul, is a good option for people wanting both melee skill and the versatility of a sorcerer.
In addition, several tweaks seem to have been made to the game engine. The game runs much more smoothly, and cut scenes no longer suffer from glitches. This greatly improves the experience.
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