Following the close on the heels of Shadows of Undrentide is Hordes of the Underdark, the latest expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights. Boasting a 20 hour long single player campaign, 6 new prestige classes, and oodles of new spells and loot, it's an expansion jam packed with new goodies. The real meat of the expansion, however, is the Epic Levels, which allow your character to grow beyond level 20 and start down the path to demi-godhood. The single player campaign makes good use of the Epic levels and delivers some exciting gameplay and difficult battles that will test your character's might.

When you start Hordes of the Underdark you are given the choice of importing your character from Undrentide or creating a new character which will begin at level 15. Either way your character is assumed to be the hero of Shadows of Undrentide and characters will react to you accordingly. You don't need to play Undrentide to understand the story of Hordes of the Underdark, however, as any references can be fairly easily explained through the dialog options you are given. Additionally, the game has characters from the original Neverwinter Nights campaign that serve to give the story, which suffered from an abrupt ending, some closure.

Hordes of the Underdark is all about choices. The 6 new prestige classes round out the 6 given in Shadows of Undrentide, giving all starting characters a class they can work towards if they want to. In addition you have much more choice in how your character appears. Dye kits let you recolor your armor, and the inclusion of real robes as well as the craft armor and craft weapon skills means the end of being forced to wear embarrassing clown suits just for their good stats. The most important choices you are given are the choices between good and evil. In the original campaign the evil choices were rarely satisfying, as you generally did the same things that the good characters were doing and all that was different was that you were a jerk about it. With multiple endings and some major plot affecting choices, you finally get the feeling that your actions have impact on the plot, as well as having consequences with your henchmen.

You are allowed to recruit two henchmen this time around. While you still don't get full control over them, their menus for setting their behavior are deeper, and you can manipulate their inventory directly as well as telling them what class to level in. Character romances also make their return in Hordes of the Underdark, and while short and sometimes abrupt they are well written, as are the interactions between your henchmen. You are given more choice in how to approach character interactions as well, instead of only having only one dialog option be "right" every time you get to woo a character.

Each chapter of Hordes of the Underdark has its own distinct game style. Chapter 1 is a great dungeon crawl for fans of D&D, with traps and ambushes galore, and is the most linear of the chapters. Chapter 2 is all about character development; almost every area has multiple paths to a solution and its here where you really round out what kind of person your character is, as well as getting to know the new henchmen better. Chapter 3 is all about the puzzles, which some may find frustrating. Tying together these three distinct chapters is a tight narrative. You are rarely left wondering what to do next, and are almost always left a choice of where to start on the next stage of the game.

Probably the biggest problem in the game is the issue of balance. Not all classes are equal, and all D&D classes are really meant to be played in a group that compliments each other. While allowing 2 henchmen alleviates some of the burden when you don't have a necessary skill for one area there are still some areas where certain classes will really feel the pain. Some of the major boss battles are definitely slanted towards a one style of play or another, and the chances are you'll encounter at least one big battle that leaves you frustrated. This is just a consequence of having huge fights against Epic level bosses, and when you finally get past those areas it's incredibly satisfying and you feel like you really accomplished something.

With some new gameplay, a ton of new loot, and lots more choices for character creation and advancement, Hordes of the Underdark is a must buy for fans of the original game. Its tight story and the focused chapters serve to give a better over all experience, even if there are some very difficult encounters lurking around the corners. Nothing beats the rush you get when those evil Drow are quaking in their boots at the thought of your character finding them and you realize what it really means to be Epic.