Icewind Dale

"The game that introduced me to PC RPGs"

I'm not interested in Dungeons and Dragons, I know about the RPG and the video games but I'm not interested in it. Baldur's gate was one of the PC RPGs, praised by video game magazines, I wasn't interested thinking it was just another hyped game. Then there was a time when I've got nothing to play, most PC games don't interest me and have nothing to buy. Then I saw a video clip of Icewind Dale, it looks good and fun, I know it's the same gameplay and graphics engines as Baldur's gate but what the hell, I'll give it a try.

IceWind Dale is an action RPG(Role-Playing Game) developed by Black Isle based on Dungeons and Dragons' Forgotten Realms series. It is your typical real-time RPG in an isometric view with the Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition rules. I don't know much about the D&D board games and their rules, I don't play it but the game gives you an idea on how it works. I don't know much about the forgotten realms either, I know they are novels, saw some books at my local bookstore, but there are books you can read in the game that are references to the forgotten realms which also have connections on other AD&D games like Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, and Planescape Torment.

Graphically the game presents itself well although simplistic with nice lighting on dungeon torches, chimney fires, using spells, etc. they really are amazing you should see it for yourself. Good animation on NPCs(Non-Player characters), enemies/monsters, and your characters as well although it lack some fighting animations found on Baldur's Gate 2, it's not bad just lacking. Superb color palette on the environment, the color of the trees look real so are the dungeon walls, fire on torches and chimneys, the ground with nicely colored grass, houses, stones/rocks, etc. kudos to the artist. The game uses an enhanced version of Bioware's Infinity Engine used in Bladur's gate and it includes 3D technology developed for Baldur's Gate 2 to make all those graphics look good. The game's music is amazing, it's orchestrated very well, with the right theme presented depending on the in-game situation like a sad event, heavy battles/fight, plot twist, and the boss battles, it really sets the mood while you play. Sound is also good with very convincing effects like when swords clashes or hits an armor, the growl and squel of monsters, that crispy sound you hear when wood burns in chimneys, and the voices of NPCs, enemies and your characters. I really like the voices with different accents especially Poquelin's which is voiced by John Kassir, the voice of Tales from the Crypt's Crypt Keeper, he really did a great job and fits the character he represents. There is also a lot of variety in the game, you can customize your characters from their appearance, gender, race, class, and to their voices like Baldur's gate and also finding random rare weapons and with hundreds of spells at your disposal will keep you playing. How about gameplay? well it's fun to play with easy to use controls and real time battle system. You can also pause the game to think of a strategy, I.E. you're in a heavy battle with many enemies, pause the game and think of a strategy like maybe move your wizards back, forward your fighters to engage in close combat and have one wizard cast a spell that can take out multiple enemies. It's a thinking man's game kinda like chess so you have to have a lot of patience. The AD&D(Advance Dungeons and Dragons) 2nd edition rules might be hard to understand at first especially if you're not into D&D but as you progress into the game, you'll learn how it works especially the spells. A simple explanation on some of the rules is like playing pokemon, fire is weak against water, electricity is weak against stone, that kind of thing, you get the idea. What about Replay Value? You can also play a multiplayer game with up to six people with full LAN if you got tired of playing alone. And you might want to play the game a second and third time to collect those rare weapons or play a much more harder difficulty to boost your character's experience.

Overall, IceWind Dale is a very good game, it helped me get into PC RPGs especially the AD&D games. It's fun to play and can get addictive, sometimes I even played 3-4 hours straight. I recommend it even if you're not into PC RPGs or Dungeons and Dragons, give it a whirl, you might like it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/03, Updated 05/26/03