Icewind Dale

Did You Know?

• Icewind Dale is based on the BioWare Infinity Engine, featuring pre-rendered backgrounds and sprite-based characters with an isometric camera perspective.
• The game was released in Australia on July 7, 2000, and in Europe on July 21, 2000.
• A port for Mac OS and Mac OS X was developed by Contraband Entertainment and published by MacPlay on March 26, 2002.

Gameplay

Icewind Dale uses a modified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset, with the game automatically handling dice rolls and statistics. The user interface resembles that of Baldur's Gate with minor cosmetic changes, and the gameplay emphasizes combat, often against large groups of enemies, while dialogue drives the main story. Players can order characters to move, talk, fight, or perform actions like pickpocketing within each location. Combat is real-time but can be paused at any moment to issue orders that execute when the game resumes. The game includes a paper-doll inventory system, a chapter-based storyline, and a journal that archives quests and story information from non-player characters. At the start, players create a party of up to six characters, either new or imported from a previous game. Creating a new character requires choosing name, gender, race, class, and alignment, then determining ability scores and weapon proficiencies. A character's class restricts available alignments, weapons, combat styles, and proficiency levels. Thieves need points allocated to thieving skills, and spellcasters must select first-level spells for their spellbook and memorize one for use at the start. Characters earn experience points through quests and defeating enemies, leveling up upon earning enough. Leveling automatically increases hit points, grants spellcasters more spell slots and higher-level magic, sometimes adds weapon proficiencies, and lets thieves improve their abilities.

Plot

In Easthaven, a party of adventurers meets Hrothgar, the town's leader, who invites them to join an expedition to investigate strange happenings in Kuldahar. On the road, frost giants ambush the group, causing an avalanche that blocks the return path; only the adventurers survive. They continue to Kuldahar and meet Arundel, the village's archdruid, who explains that a mysterious evil force is kidnapping villagers, causing abnormal weather, provoking monsters, and reducing the magical warmth from the giant tree above the village. The adventurers search the Vale of Shadows, where they encounter a cursed barbarian spirit named Kresselack, who tells them the threat lies elsewhere. Arundel then instructs them to retrieve the Heartstone Gem, an ancient scrying item, so he can find the evil's source. After learning the gem was stolen from a temple, the party travels to the Dragon's Eye caverns, finding missing villagers held by lizard men. They discover the gem is used by a Marilith named Yxunomei. After killing Yxunomei and retrieving the gem, the party returns to find Kuldahar under attack by Orogs and Arundel mortally wounded by a shapeshifter disguised as the archdruid. The true Arundel advises them to take the Heartstone to Larrel at the fortress of the Severed Hand before dying.

Reception

Icewind Dale earned strong critical marks, with an 86% aggregate on GameRankings and an 87 out of 100 on Metacritic. Four outlets—Computer Gaming World, GameSpot, The Electric Playground, and CNET Gamecenter—put it forward as the best computer role-playing game of 2000, though Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn took the actual prize from all of them. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin rated it 8.6 out of 10, calling it a good fit for fans of Black Isle Studios' earlier work and classic hack-and-slash AD&D computer games, as well as anyone after a deep, action-heavy RPG. IGN gave it 8.8 out of 10, and GameZone awarded it 9.5 out of 10. GameSpy's Allen Rausch called it an enjoyable dungeon crawl that stands tall even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of its bigger siblings. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack drew widespread praise. Chris Chan of the New Straits Times ranked it among his favorite games ever and favorably compared it to Diablo II. The main complaints centered on repetitive, combat-heavy gameplay with little room for exploration or dialogue. Bob Low of the Daily Record pointed out technical flaws like poor pathfinding and occasional crashes, while PC Zone criticized how much it resembled earlier Infinity Engine titles. In 2014, IGN placed it sixth on its list of the top 11 Dungeons & Dragons games, and in 2015, Paste's Ian Williams ranked it third among the ten greatest D&D video games. Kevin Rice of Next Generation gave it four stars out of five, calling it a huge, absorbing game with the most action in the Forgotten Realms series. It was nominated for PC Role-Playing at the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, but Diablo II won.

Legacy

Due to early sales, Interplay and Black Isle Studios began developing an expansion pack, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, within two weeks of the original game's launch. Producer Darren Monahan said the team included fan feedback, especially regarding class balances, and focused on importing code and features from Baldur's Gate II. Heart of Winter was officially released on February 21, 2001, followed by a downloadable add-on, Trials of the Luremaster, in early July 2001. During development of these expansions, Black Isle developed ideas for a full sequel, Icewind Dale II, which entered production in late July 2001 after the Torn project was scrapped. Designer J. E. Sawyer said the sequel was about limiting risks and maximizing chances for a popular title. Icewind Dale II shipped on August 27, 2002. The original game and Heart of Winter were re-released in budget packages in 2002 as Icewind Dale: The Collection and Icewind Dale: Complete, and again alongside Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment in Black Isle Compilation. A collector's edition, Icewind Dale: The Ultimate Collection, including the sequel and its expansion, was released in 2003. All four games were re-released in Black Isle Compilation – Part Two in 2004, in Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons in 2006, and in Atari's Rollenspiele: Deluxe Edition in 2007. Icewind Dale was re-released on GOG.com on October 6, 2010, complete with expansion packs. A remake by Overhaul Games, Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, was published for several platforms in 2014.