I’ve completed the second chapter of Hordes of the Underdark and I dare say HotU is (thus far) equal to — if not better than — anything in Baldur’s Gate II.

I had a low opinion of NWN’s Aurora engine but it appears Bioware didn’t take full advantage of its capabilities until HotU. I was particularly impressed with the final setpieces of the chapter which featured some outstanding large battles. I don’t think there has been anything like it in CRPGs prior to this one. And some of the quests had some delightful (and often wicked!) twists.

Could the chapter have been any better? Well, sure. The writing wasn’t bad — I actually enjoyed some of the conversations with the NPCs — but it wasn’t particularly memorable either. (To be fair to Bioware, though, I can’t think of any other recent game that had me raving about the text.)

Furthermore, the difficulty could have been scaled better. Most battles were a breeze for my character (a Druid 20/Shifter 4 at the end of the chapter) with one battle of infuriating difficulty early in the chapter.

I also wish Bioware had taken inspiration from fan-written programming scripts which increase player immersion. For instance, Vendalus’s Personal Reputation and Reaction (PRR) system keeps tab on player actions and NPC reactions. Do something deplorable like rifle through an NPC’s belongings and he will take offence.

But on the whole, this game is enjoyable and I’m looking forward to Chapter Three.