GameBanshee Feature: Hordes of the Underdark Review
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I'm not as big into sound and graphics as some gamers are, but I found both to be of the same quality as NwN and SoU. As mentioned, the new tilesets and clothing textures look good, and great pains seem to have been taken to make sure the characters appear very lifelike (such as the Valsharess' voluptuous figure and fluid movements). The music and voice acting are still solid and much of the goofy humor that came out in the voice packs of Baldurs Gate II has returned. At one point you can actually overhear Deekin singing the theme song to Fame, which to me was one of the funniest sound bites I'd ever heard in a game.
Seeing that kind of humor, I felt like the designers had more fun making Hordes of the Underdark than they did making Shadows of Undrentide, which made Hordes much more fun to play as a result. If you have Neverwinter Nights, owning Hordes is a must as it will greatly enhance the replay value of the original title as well. Where will the franchise go from here? The end of Hordes still leaves things open for further expansions, so Torm only knows where the adventure will really end. If the designers continue to put this much effort into expanding an already great game, though, I'm not sure I want it to.
