Icewind Dale

"A wonderful RPG by Black Isle"

Introduction-
After recently returning The Sims, I was at Electronics Boutique for a new game. I wanted an RPG, but I didn’t know what kind. Then suddenly, I came across Icewind Dale. The box looked cool, and drew me into looking at the game. After reading the back, and admiring the great looking graphics in the middle, I had narrowed my choice down to either Paper Mario, Ultima IX, or Icewind Dale. After about 15 minutes of consideration, I decided on Icewind. When I got home, I opened it up and discovered a gold mine of cool little things inside. First off there was a nice cloth map inside of the world of Icewind. Then there was a *HUGE*, heavyweight, monster, 160 page nov- er…I mean instruction manual inside. Next there was a “quick” reference guide inside. At least they call it quick. It’s 8 pages long. Now, shall we move onto the actual reviewing?

Graphics- 10 out of 10
To sum up the graphics in one word: AMAZING, MAGNIFICIENT, BEAUTIFUL! OK, maybe that’s more than one word, but they all describe it. From the great detail of the miniscule little things, to the wonderfully rendered landscapes, it is all great. On people you can see all kinds of little features, and on buildings, walls, mountains and other backgrounds, the graphics are truly stunning. When you cast a spell, it looks cool, and it makes you want to watch the spell, along with when you are fighting, because it is all so detailed.

Play Control- 9 out of 10
I would give this a 9.5 if we were allowed to use decimals, but Icewind Dale does have a little problem in the play control department. Mostly the play control is nice and smooth; you move the cursor to the end of the screen to move it up, down, left, right, or diagonal. You also point and click on what you want to attack, talk to, unlock, etc. The many menus can be confusing at first, but after a day or so they’ll become a second nature to you. The only problem mentioned earlier is, sometimes when you click on something, it doesn’t register, so you have to do it again.

Story- 10 out of 10
The story is very deep and unfolds as you play through the game, so I can’t tell you it because it would ruin the surprises for you. But I can tell you the little bit that the book tells you. The world of Icewind is a small part of the planet of Abeir-Torill. It is on the immense continent called Farun. You and your party are from the south, and you have gone to the north to reach the Ten Towns, which include Easthaven, and Kuldahar. The game starts out by having your little group of six or less at a local tavern in Easthaven. While you are sitting there Hroghthar comes up to you and tells you some things, and asks to see you later. That’s about all I can tell you of this great story line without ruining the game play.

Game Design- 10 out of 10
This game is so huge I don’t know where to start. There are over 150 different monsters in the game for you to fight with not including bosses. Sure the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule system is confusing, but if you read the instruction booklet well, you’ll understand it. Also, you can do different things each time through the game. Plus with the 100s of items, the ability to customize a team of characters with 6 or less guys in it, all the different spell, and the bigness of the game, it will keep you playing for hours, trying to beat it.

Replay Value- 10 out of 10
Icewind Dale will keep you busy playing for a long time. Even after you beat it, you’ll want to play it again, and you can get a different team, different items, try new strategies, get different magic, hunt for secrets, or just replay this awesome game again.

Overall- 10 out of 10
Overall, Icewind Dale is an excellent game, that is fairly new, but forgotten because it was released very shortly before Bauldur’s Gate 2, another great RPG by Black Isle. Hopefully you will buy this game, and it will get all of the recognition it deserves. It’s rated “T” for Teen, because of mild language, blood and gore, and use of alcholol. Unfortunately, that might make it so some children cannot get this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/01, Updated 01/18/02