Icewind Dale II

Did You Know?

• Beamdog was unsuccessful in creating an Enhanced Edition of Icewind Dale II because the source code was lost.
• The Red Chimera Group, a team of modders and coders, rebuilt Icewind Dale II and released an Enhanced Edition on November 4, 2023.
• The Enhanced Edition by the Red Chimera Group used WeiDU to develop, distribute, and install modifications.

Gameplay

A head-up display at the screen's bottom provides access to an automap and a journal that tracks quests and events. The player uses a point-and-click interface to move characters, interact with non-player characters, and select dialogue options. The game world is divided into area maps hidden by fog of war, which are revealed through exploration. Multiplayer supports up to six players over a local area network or the Internet. A Heart of Fury mode increases difficulty and offers more powerful items. Over seven hundred items appear in the game, with a system that randomizes loot from enemies. At the start, the player can choose a pre-selected party or create up to six characters; characters from previous Icewind Dale games cannot be imported. Character creation includes choices of gender, race, class, alignment, and attributes, with some races or classes offering subvarieties such as Deep Gnome or Cleric of Ilmater. Race, alignment, and attributes influence dialogue options and NPC responses, including prejudice against certain races or limited options for low-intelligence characters. Some sub-races are more powerful than core D&D Third Edition races and require more experience points to level up. Characters can reach a maximum level of thirty. Additional characters can be added to the party at any time, even during combat.

Plot

Icewind Dale II is set thirty years after the original game in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting on the continent of Faerûn, focusing on the northern Icewind Dale region. The story begins in the harbor town of Targos, one of the Ten Towns, which is under siege by a goblin army directed by the Legion of the Chimera, an army of outcast races and religious factions including goblinoids, half-breeds, and followers of the winter goddess Auril. Targos hires mercenaries to defend against the attack. The player's group of mercenaries arrives by ship, reports to the town palisade, and fends off a goblin assault. The mayor then orders them to launch an offensive; they kill the goblin chieftain and discover he was commanded by a woman named Sherincal. After returning, the mayor sends them to rendezvous with reinforcements from Neverwinter via an airship piloted by Oswald Fiddlebender. A storm crashes the ship, and the group finds a glacier blocking the reinforcements' path. Investigating the glacier, they encounter Sherincal, a half-dragon guarding an Aurilite temple, and learn that the Legion of the Chimera's leaders are cambion twins Isair and Madae, residing in the Severed Hand. Inside the temple, they free a prisoner from Kuldahar who warns them of the Legion's threat. The group then creates a passage through the glacier and meets the reinforcements.

Development

In the summer of 2001, Black Isle Studios had three active development groups: one working on Icewind Dale, one on a project called Torn, and a third on an unannounced title. During Torn's development, several people on that team wanted to make another game using the Infinity Engine. The team that would eventually work on Icewind Dale II did not know the company had decided to make it until Torn was canceled. Lead designer J. E. Sawyer recalled learning about the decision on a Wednesday afternoon, when Feargus Urquhart asked him and Steve Bokkes to produce a story and area overview by the next afternoon. Sawyer spent that night working on the documents, turned them in on Thursday, and after a Friday division meeting, the project officially began. Interplay Entertainment was relying on Black Isle's games to ease its financial troubles, which created pressure to release titles quickly. The choice to develop Icewind Dale II came partly from the positive reception of the original Icewind Dale and the team's ability to produce a game using the Infinity Engine in a short time. Sawyer said the reasons for making the game were about reducing risk and improving the odds of creating a popular title. The concept was developed while work continued on Icewind Dale expansions, and production started in late July 2001, right after Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster was finished. After six months of development, Icewind Dale II was officially announced on February 4, 2002.

Reception

Icewind Dale II debuted at number six on The NPD Group's weekly computer game sales chart for August 25–31, 2002, at an average retail price of $45, rising to fourth place the following week and exiting the top ten in its third week. It was the 20th-best-selling computer game in North America for August 2002 and 14th-best-selling for September. By August 2006, the game had sold between 100,000 and 270,000 copies in the United States, with combined sales of the Icewind Dale franchise reaching 580,000 units in the country. Critical reception was generally positive. Game Informer called it one of the best RPGs ever released for the PC, and GameSpot described it as simply a great role-playing game. PC Format, however, said it was uninspired and uninspiring. Comparisons to Neverwinter Nights were common: IGN found Icewind Dale II's pace more varied and its balance better, while Game Informer considered its interface superior. PC Format felt that in light of Neverwinter Nights, little stood out to recommend Icewind Dale II, and PC Zone said it was not the Baldur's Gate II killer hoped for and did not stack up to Neverwinter Nights. Many reviewers praised the combat and pacing. G4 called the combat sublime and noted that no Infinity Engine game had such interesting tactical combat. GameSpot called it expertly paced. PC Zone complained about outdated mechanics but noted the only real downer was the antiquated spell system and the need to rest after every fight. The implementation of Third Edition rules and the interface were praised. Computer Gaming World stated that the game had the Third Edition rules down, especially in character development, and PC Gamer called it a dazzling implementation. GameSpot called the interface a big improvement over previous Infinity Engine games, and IGN said the customization improvements seemed natural. Game Informer called the interface absolutely inspired and its inventory system second to none.