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MANY HAVE TRIED BUT only one game has ever really captured the depth and richness of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game. Neverwinter Nights when released last year took the role-playing arena by storm. All the accolades Bioware received were well deserved and as a testament to the games continuing popularity you only have to search the net for player created scenarios.

What made the game so special was how close the game was to the Third Edition rules of the game and how faithfully the game had stuck to the game concept as whole. Players created characters, determined their traits and skills and then nursed them as they leveled up and delved deeper into the dungeons. What dungeons they were too. The fantastic graphics, spell effects and 3D environments captured the hearts of many an RPG player.

It was only natural then that we would see an expansion pack to this excellent game. Due for release in Late June, NWN: The Shadows of Undrentide promises more of everything that everyone loved - more spells, more character options, more skills and a whole new scenario to play through.

Here is a list of all the features:

• New 20+ hour Neverwinter Nights adventure

• Three new tilesets: Desert , Ruins , Snowy Rural

• New Prestige classes including Arcane Archer , Assassin, Blackguard, Harper Scout, Shadowdancer

• Over a dozen new monsters

• New scripting commands

• Over 50 New spells including five Bigby spells

• Over 30 new Feats including: Great Cleave, Divine Might, Zen Archery, Circle kick, Greater spell penetration

• Grenade-like weapons

• New Voice sets

The new game module although set in the same world is undertaken concurrently with the original NWN module. Again you begin your adventure at first level and are limited to a maximum of 20^th level. The new background story is as follows:

"In the Forgotten Realms there was once a nation of powerful wizards called Netheril. So great was Netherese magic that they lived in massive cities that would float through the air. Unchecked ambition destroyed their civilization and sent their cities crashing into the ground (doesn't it always?). Generations later the ruined cities are still filled with powerful magics and fell beasts. Undrentide is one of these cities"

Included with the new creatures will be the Pseudodragon monster.

"These tiny members of the dragon family are described as playful and curious. In contrast to this they have also been described as having a personality of a common house cat which, in my book, makes them cold, aloof, merciless killers who will randomly scratch a welty scar across your hand just because they're peevish about the color blue or maybe they thought wood should smell different on Wednesdays or something. Not to say I'm bitter about cats, no sir that would get me in trouble. These flying vermin are also immune to sleep... which really doesn't sound any of the cats I've met."

The additional characters and skill sets will be backward compatible with the original game with you being able to take the new classes through the original modules.

From all the info and screenshots that Bioware have release so far we'd have to say that Shadows of Undrentide is shaping up to be a 'must have' for those of you who own Neverwinter Nights. Be sure to check back in late June/early July for our full review!

Show me the screenshots!