This wall of text is my "preliminary" review of Mysteries of Westgate, Adventure Pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. For my usual ramblings, see other journals.


FOREWORD

Why did I decide to write a preliminary review? Because there are already many other reviews of MoW around and because commercial success is based upon the volume of sales in the first weeks after release, not long-term sales. ERGO if you want to purchase MoW, do it now.
A word about DRM: DRM is a system that "should" prevent piracy but, actually, it limits how many times you can install a game you've legally purchased. MoW can be downloaded and activated a limited number of times. Many want to boycott companies which use the DRM system and decided not to buy MoW as well, but think of this: your message is "We don't buy MoW because we don't like DRMs" but Atari will understand "They don't buy MoW
because they don't like NWN2" THEREFORE there won't be more Adventure Packs and, possibly, no plans to develop other D&D based videogames.

OVERVIEW
MoW is more like the original NWN2 campaign than Storm of Zehir. You create your main character and recruit other joinable NPCs during the adventure. The story is set in the titular city of Westgate.

QUESTS 8 /10
As you progress in the main plot you will unlock new side-quests. These missions are not related to the main story, you may skip them if you want, but I believe these quests make you feel that the city is *alive*, made of people, a city where you are *not* the centre of all things. As the title says, when you get a mission you'll never know what you're going to face because things are not what they seem in Westgate.
You'll often have two ways to solve a quest, a "good" way and an "evil" way. No matter what you do, your alignment won't shift towards goor or evil (that is a critique actually).
Unfortunately, MoW is one of those games which are a bit boring in the start, but after advancing the main plot a while things get better.

JOINABLE NPCS 7.5 / 10
You'll recruit your companions as you meet them in the game. They are a little less developed than the characters you met in the original NWN2 campaign, but are much much better than the "cohorts" of Storm of Zehir.
They have their own agenda and morals and will occasionally comment on what you do or suggest new ways to solve your mission. According to your choices you'll gain or loose influence over them. They'll occasionally argue among themselves or with the people you meet and you'll be asked to pick a side or be neutral.
SPOILER I met a warrior, a thief and a cleric (I don't think there are more) therefore you won't have a wizard.

NON JOINABLE NPCS 7 /10
The people you'll be able to interact with (therefore NOT the random "commoners" who walk aimlessly in the streets) won't have much to say but they all have a distinguishing personality. There are mad drunks, hypocrite clerics, renegade lizardfolk shamans, amnesiacs, annoying customers, egocentric Edwin-like wizards and so on.
SPOILERS those who have played the Sam & Max games will enjoy the "Do you have any..." joke when talking to a particular vendor.

SETTING 8.5 / 10
The city of Westgate offers many opportunities to learn about its story, important characters but also "lore" about other cities of Faerun. This is done through books, statues and special objects you can interact with. You'll be able to skip them if you're not interested.
The areas are detailed, unique and well built. The outdoor areas are dark and rainy, which increases the "city of mysteries" feeling. I don't think it is a flaw. Indoor areas are rich of details and dungeons will be pitch black (bring a torch!). Something I really appreciated is that Ossian used the standard "placeable" object in creative ways to make them look unique, avoiding the "generic" look which NWN2 areas usually have.
If you've ever used the toolset, you'll know what I mean.
The problem of a city-based adventure is that the NWN2 engine is not good for this kind of setting and you'll often have to manually move the camera/view because buildings will come into the way. Sometimes, while rotating the camera, it will abrutly zoom INSIDE the character because of an obstacle.

SOUNDS 6.5 / 10
A great flaw of the game is the voice acting: only few dialogue lines are voiced and, especially during cut-scenes, you may not be able to understand who's saying what you're reading. Some actors did a good job while others just seem they're reading their shopping list 9_9
The game uses a combination of music tracks from NWN1 and new, original music tracks. If you've never played NWN1, they'll all feel new to you. Music does a good job and the new pieces sound good.

DIALOGUES 6.5 /10
If you've played Ossian's previous module, "Darkness over Daggerford", you know what to expect. Dialogues are written well but are not "exceptional". You'll usually be able to choose among three replies, a "good" one, a "neutral" one and an "evil" one. Even Jade Empire (!) had more options v_v

FINAL WORD 7.5 / 10 (not an average)
MoW is a good game, better than the most modules you can download for free, and has A LOT of things to do, roughly 15 hours of extimated gameplay (MotB extimated gameplay is 25hrs). It does have flaws (i.e. DRM and lack of voice acting) but, remember, it costs only $9.90 - €9,90.

And now some screeshots I took ^_^ [link]