Nethergate

Nethergate's gameplay uses an isometric view, and is somewhat intermediate between that of Blades of Exile and Avernum, as it combines the pseudo-3D of Avernum with a battle and conversation system resembling Blades of Exile. Romans and Celts have unique traits for their statistics. Romans have better armour and weapons than Celts, but Celts have better magic, potion-making, and general skills for the wilderness.

Nethergate is unique among Spiderweb Software games in being the only game to use a spell system consisting of Spell Circles, instead of the "Mage" and "Priest" spell system featured in the Blades of Exile and Avernum series. Certain Circles have skill restrictions on them based on the character's level of Druidism, skill in other circles, and Faction. These are:

The player begins with a party of four characters, who are either "A small band of Roman Soldiers sent to the Shadowvale to complete a mysterious mission", or a "Band of Celtic warriors told by your chief to go to the village of Nethergate for mysterious reasons". Shadowvale is an isolated valley controlled by the Brigantes, and the game's events take place during the time of Boudica's rebellion in AD 60/61. The linear missions of the Romans and the Celts complement each other to a certain extent. The Romans are first faced with retrieving a satchel with vital information for Shadow Valley Fort from a nearby mine infested with Goblins, while the Celts' first mission is to acquire a bronze token from a nearby pit in which Goblins have made their fortification.

From there, both sides make their way to the house of the Three Crones, who are very similar to the Three Fates of Greek mythology. The Crones aid the player if they have a Roman party and give tasks to accomplish, but imprison them if the player has a Celtic party.

Nethergate was reviewed in 2000 in Dragon #273 in the "Silicon Sorcery" column. The review said that while Nethergate lacks the "bells and whistles" of bigger releases, it offers both "a fascinating little romp through a mythic era of history" rarely explored in role-playing games, and "terrific price-to-performance ratio", with a single playthrough lasting over 50 hours. For Dragon, the game's biggest weakness is mission design that too often revolves around recovering MacGuffins, and its greatest strength is the Celtic influence apparent in the Seelie Court, the Wicker Man, and the Wild Hunt.

The editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus nominated Nethergate for their 1999 "Role-Playing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Planescape: Torment. They wrote of Nethergate: "Take an old-fashioned role-playing game and add a full-blown editor and voila, instant gameplay. And it gives you more gameplay for your gaming dollar than most commercial games".