Icewind Dale

List Price: $54.95 Discount Price: $9.91

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PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

TOTALLY AMAZING GAME!!! [Posted on 2005-05-02]
Icewind Dale has to be one of the BEST computer RPG games of all time! It has everything one looks for in such a game; from an incredible setting, to a highly original plot, to excellent multiple roleplaying options, to outstanding graphics, to extraordinary accuracy in relation to Dungeons & Dragons, and much, much more!
There is something here for everyone as the variety of challenges is large indeed, including battles, puzzle solving, and dialogue among others.

The game is set on Toril and specifically in Faerun. It deals with a great evil that has arisen and descended upon the region bringing the people misery and despair.
The story as a whole is excellent! The plot is so incredibly well written and presented that the gamer feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. Moreover, the game does a great job of presenting the distinct cultures and civilizations of the inhabitants/peoples of Fearun, and Icewind Dale in particular. This has, without a doubt, been achieved as a result of a great deal of research that has gone into learning and understanding the numerous and often complex characteristics of the Forgotten Realms world.

Strongly recommended along with the Baldur's Gate series and Planescape: Torment.
Trust me, you will not regret it!

Riveting story and non-stop action [Posted on 2005-08-22]
I've not played Icewind Dale in a few years, but since I never finished Heart of Winter, nor Icewind Dale II, I just decided to go back and reload them. The first game is 2D, using sprites to represent creatures and PCs with painted backgrounds. While this may sound primitive compared to the full-on 3D games out today, the artwork is beautiful (as are the character portraits), the story is truly engaging, and the action really doesn't let up from start to end. My favorite game genre is RPG, and even though this one puts more emphasis on action over role-playing, it's still up there with the Baldur's Gate series and Planescape: Torment as one of the best fantasy RPGs made.

A bi too linear and short- but great atmsopherics [Posted on 2006-02-12]
I've just completed Icewind Dale after over a week of intensive gaming, and I have to say I greatly enjoyed it. But looking back on it and trying to be objective I have to admit there were a few things that were disappointing.

Firstly as my title suggest, the game is alsmot totally linear. Areas and quests can only be accessesed after you complete the previous ones.

Some monsters are nearly impossible to beat the first time you meet them and require knowledge that you gain from the first meeting to beat them later. For example it was unknown to me the first time I met them that Umber Hulks could confuse a party member. The fist time I met a group my entire party got confused and often starting attacking each other. But with such forwearning it's possible to take preventinve measures beforehand. Thus many encounters become a kind of puzzle that you have to figure out. Which may be rewarding in a way but is not really in the spirit of true roleplaying games, where you're expected to play through an encounter there and then, not replay it until you've completed it.

Quests can be completed before you actually meet the person who wants you to complete it. Best example is in the Frost Giants cave where in the middle of the map is a pen full of slaves. To get there you'll probably have slain all the trolls and Frost Giants and when you meet their leader he'll ask you to clear a path so that he can escape. It would have been much more sensible if you met him at the start of the level.

Combat can become a bit repetitive.

The actual gameplay area isn't all that big, despite what it might seem at first.


On the positive side though character advancement can be very rewarding, and you'll be almsot drooling in anticpation when you can learn some higher level spells.
Tne voice acting is of high quality an dis actually genuinely intentionally funny at times (why not try the fighter voice who's vocabulary consists of "Waaaaarrrghhh!!" , "Unngg" , "Huh?", and "Yeeaargghh!!")
But perhaps above all it's the atmospherics I loved about the game. The music by Jeremy Soule is possibly the best soundtrack I've heard for game, complementing the visuals pefectly. Whether it's a quietly epic sweeping theme signifying a quest about to begin in Easthaven, or a restrained yet sinister theme in the ettin caves or the heroic yet frightening them in Lower Dorn's Deep, the music can rouse your emotions.


I can recommend Icewind Dale, but just be aware that it has a few flaws.

Baldur's Gate minus the charm [Posted on 2006-12-26]
As a fan of the Baldur's Gate series, I decided to give Icewind Dale (IWD) a try. Unfortunately, Black Isles did not strike gold twice. While Icewind Dale is a carbon copy of their excellent Baldur's Gate games in many ways, it lacks the personality that make the BG series great.

IWD actually has a number of things in its favor. The character creation system is very rich, allowing you to customize your party of six in true D&D fashion. Also, there is a long list of abilities, spells, and equipment that you'll run across, as well as visually appealing environments, solid voice acting, and compelling music. Some of the dungeons can be genuinely creepy, and there's a sense of accomplishment once you clear one out.

Unfortunately, the game is deeply flawed. IWD is a bit too hard, even for a person who has some experience with RPG dungeon-crawling. Even worse, it's an artificial toughness designed to lengthen the game by requiring you to repeatly reload saved games. Your characters will die countless times, and this simply can't be avoided. And since your cleric will not be able to resurrect dead party members until late in the game (Raise Dead scrolls are expensive too), you will not be able to continue the game with dead characters. It's really a shame that the developer did not pace the game better, since it's going to turn off a lot of people from the very beginning.

If you can get beyond the tedium and frustration of having to save the game every 2 minutes (and reload it almost as often), the gaming experience is still rather uninspired. The story is lackluster and cliche. There is none of the banter between party members that made Baldur's Gate so fun. All of this together becomes mind-numbing after a while, since the game profoundly lacks a sense of purpose or narrative power. It's all really unfortunate since some effort obviously went into creating the game.

Ultimately, if you haven't played Baldur's Gate, by all means play it (both BG1 & BG2). If you've already tasted the glory of the Baldur's Gate series, then IWD will probably be a disappointment.


Pros:
+rich D&D character creation
+good voice acting and music
+wide range of spells, items, etc.

Cons:
-unnecessarily tedious and difficult
-lackluster story
-Baldur's Gate clone without the personality

Overall good plot info... [Posted on 2007-03-16]
Any game requiring cheats is flawed! There are some essential plot developements provided. If you enjoy reading the novels, especially the North of Faerun, this game is good. I like the pronunciation of elven words but found the Elven civiliztion out of context in the frozen North. Make sure you create strong characters as well as enable your cheats, or the game is impossible!!!

The design is great. Music, special effects, and the voice over hooks you from the beginning. The role playing is minimal, unlike Baldurs Gate. Hack and slash for those who like that style of play. The final scene is unbeateable, thus if you want to continue with the expantion, you must finish the original. Neverwinter Nights is much better in my opinion.

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