Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter

Did You Know?

• The expansion introduced a special 'Heart of Fury' difficulty setting for increased enemy power and higher experience point gain.
• The maximum resolution was raised to 800x600.
• The game is still based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset.

Plot

In Kuldahar, a barbarian shaman named Hjollder approaches the player's party, telling them he has visions of a great conflict and that they are key to stopping it. The party is magically transported to Lonelywood, where they learn a large barbarian force is gathering nearby, threatening the Ten Towns. The force has rallied behind Wylfdene, a barbarian warlord killed in battle the previous season, who claims to be possessed by the spirit of the ancient hero Jerrod and eager to strike the Ten Towns in the name of the war-god Tempus.

The party goes to the barbarian camp and meets the resurrected chief. Hjollder suspects something is wrong with Wylfdene and is exiled. The party later finds Hjollder in the barbarian burial grounds, now plagued by undead. On his advice, they travel to the Gloomfrost to consult the Seer, an old woman with vast mystical powers.

She reveals that the soul inhabiting Wylfdene is not Jerrod but that of the great white dragon Icasaracht. The party returns to the camp, where the Seer confronts Wylfdene and is killed, but tricks the dragon spirit into leaving his body, exposing the deception. The party then journeys to the Sea of Moving Ice to Icasaracht's Lair, battling her minions. They find the white dragon, who explains she sought vengeance on the Ten Towns for seizing dragon lands and for her own death a century ago.

She saw a kindred spirit in Wylfdene and sympathized with the barbarians, whom she believed faced extinction. The party kills her and shatters the Soul Stone that had preserved her life, ensuring her final death.

Development

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter was announced on September 25, 2000, shortly before the release of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and had been in full production for one to two months. Designer Josh Sawyer stated that the project was driven by the strong retail performance of Icewind Dale; Interplay greenlit the expansion about two weeks after the original game launched. The team began work immediately due to a limited timeframe and the need to sharply define their goals.

Producer Darren Monahan noted that the team incorporated a great deal of fan feedback, especially regarding class balance in the original game. Another focus was importing code and features from Baldur's Gate II. A development challenge was the linear structure of Icewind Dale, which left little room for additional content; the solution was to use the barbarian Hjollder as a catalyst character to transport players to a separate region. John Deiley and Steve Bokkes handled most of the area and quest work.

The expansion went gold on February 12, 2001, shipped to retailers on February 20, and was released in Europe on March 23, 2001.

Reception

Critics generally liked Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, with many praising the new content and locations it added. However, reviewers from the Dallas Morning News and GameSpot took issue with its campaign, which they felt was far too brief compared to the original game. Another critic pointed out several small technical issues, including problems with pathfinding and occasional system crashes.

Trials of the Luremaster

In March 2001, Black Isle Studios began work on Trials of the Luremaster, a free downloadable add-on for Heart of Winter. Designer Steve Bokkes said it was planned as a small stopgap project to keep the Heart of Winter team occupied while Black Isle worked on several other games and could not commit to another full production. Another inspiration was criticism that Heart of Winter had been too short. Journalist Mark Asher reported that Black Isle Director Feargus Urquhart mentioned the team felt they should have done more with the expansion, so this add-on was their response.

The add-on was released in early July 2001, with a download size of 72 megabytes. It contains a large dungeon-like location with new areas to explore, new enemies, and new items. It also serves as the game's final patch, fixing bugs and updating the version to v1.42. Trials of the Luremaster received a positive review from Brett Todd of Games Domain, who called it some of the finest design seen across the Infinity Engine series, though he noted some sections felt padded.

In the add-on, the player meets a halfling named Hobart Stubbletoes at the Whistling Gallows Inn in Lonelywood. He seeks heroes for a quest to a place of great wonder with treasures beyond imagination. If the party accepts, they are transported to a ruined castle in the Anauroch desert, where a mad spirit called the Luremaster challenges adventurers with traps and monsters. The only way out is to defeat all monsters, avoid traps, find loot, and defeat the Luremaster.