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Here are some reports from the press
who have reviewed Neverwinter Nights.
Firing Squad
Neverwinter Nights holds its own with the sound effects but little more. General
effects and those used in combat are the most impressive, with music and
speech falling into the average categories. Hearing a mage or cleric cast
a spell can sometimes send a shiver down your spine, as that may imply a
threat as real as the axe that's clanging off your character's shield. There's
a certain, resolute crispness to all the effects, suggesting that they were
recorded at a high bitrate with little quality wasted to compression.
From: http://firingsquad.gamers.com/games/nwn/
IGN.com
Bioware's normal attention to detail is apparent in the audio portion of the
game as well. The use of positional sound is fantastic, and if you have a surround
sound system, you'll be able to locate enemies on just their sound alone.
As in all the Bioware RPGs, the voice acting is superb
in Neverwinter Nights. When the focus is on story, you better hire some good
actors to do the voice-overs, and Bioware obviously knows the right people for
the job. Although not all of the dialogue is complement by full voice accompaniment,
much of the major discourse is, and the personality of the characters really
comes out in the voice work.
Sound effects are really subtle and you hardly notice
them, but when you do perk your ears up, you'll notice that everything is represented
in the game. Characters grunt, swords clang, gold pieces rattle, and footsteps
tap across cobblestone streets. The soundtrack is subtle as well and pleasant
to listen to, but a bit repetitive. The dynamic music changes with the mood,
marking events such as a heated, challenging battle, but I found a lot of times
that the music would change just as I had killed a foul beastie rather than at
the start of battle -- either I'm too fast or the up-tempo music is keyed to
a victorious combat.
From: http://pc.ign.com/articles/363/363038p1.html
GameZone Online
This is a game that does employ some vocal characterizations, but conversations
are mostly text driven. There was some audio breaks during the story setup/introduction
that was quite irritating. The musical score foreshadows game action (the music
picks up in intensity when combat looms), and is well done. Effects also are
nicely done. Sound: 8
From: http://www.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r13354.htm
Gamespy.com
"Sound, however, is the typical superlative BioWare production. Jeremy Soule
has come up with yet another outstanding score. The voice acting is also among
the best in the business. The overall sound design parallels the single-player
game in that it's more of the excellent stuff BioWare consistently churns out."
From: http://www.gamespy.com/reviews/june02/neverwinter/
Action Trip, 93/100
overall
Great sounds:
The sound aspect has got to be on of the essential components of the fabulous
atmosphere in the game. The music has
epic-sounding-symphonic-orchestra type of tracks which increase the tension
during battle sequences. Other musical numbers offer sweet and relaxing tunes
while you're strolling through peaceful and picturesque surroundings. Many
of the characters have unique voiceovers, and on top of that, various foes
will be (quite imaginatively) crying out in anguish once you've sliced them
with an axe or struck them with an arrow.
From: http://www.actiontrip.com/reviews/neverwinternights.phtml
Gamer's Hell,
8.5/10 for audio
Keeping up the tradition of quality voice-overs and great FX, Bioware once
again outdoes themselves. The music is mostly uninstrusive. Neither annoying
or catchy, it is still high quality. The sound FX are impressive, to say the
least.
Both spells and melee sounds fit well, and are deep and rich. Creature noises
are original and unique. NPCs, when they speak, are wonderfully voiced. If
anything, the game suffers from too little of this voice acting.
From: http://www.gamershell.com/reviews/NeverwinterNightsReview.shtml
Updated: July 30, 2002
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