Icewind Dale II

Summary

Icewind Dale II is an isometric party-based roleplaying game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay exclusively for the PC in 2002. It is the last game to be developed using the Infinity Engine and thus follows in the footsteps a long lineage of critically-acclaimed games: Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale. Unlike the games previously mentioned, Icewind Dale II uses a more updated Dungeons and Dragons ruleset: the 3rd Edition. As with Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, the game takes place within the Forgotten Realms' Icewind Dale region, a harsh and icy area that is dotted with small villages and numerous subterranean realms. The gameplay can be considered a “pause and play” model. The player pauses the game with the spacebar, assigns actions for his party members, and watches them be carried out in real-time. The player may also make commands in real-time like in a real-time strategy game. Character attacks and actions, while carried out and viewed in real-time, are determined behind the scenes by following stats and rules of DND 3rd Edition.

Gameplay

Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition

Icewind Dale II is the first roleplaying video game to use an adapted set of the AD&D 3rd Edition ruleset. Released in 2000, the third edition was massive alteration to the way pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons was to be played. The new set of rules revolved around a system devoted to the twenty-sided die or d20. No longer would there be THAC0 or race restrictions as found in previous ruleset editions. The game's manual is 140 pages in length and discusses the new rules in-depth but also suggest that players visit The Wizards of the Coast website to learn more about Dungeons and Dragons.

Party Creation

There are 6 possible character slots for the player within Icewind Dale II which is the same number of party members found in the Baldur's Gate series and the first Icewind Dale. The developers have created six pre-packaged parties that the player may choose from. However, most players will create their own individualized party with varying classes and races. The player is not restricted to a party of 6 and may create a smaller party of 4 or even brave the game with a solo character.

Icewind Dale II introduces numerous subraces and subclasses not found in other games such as Gold Dwarf, Grey Gnome (svirfneblin), Dark Elves (Drow), or even planar races such as Aasimar or Tiefling. Thanks to the DND 3rd Edition, races are no longer restricted to certain classes so a player may make such concoctions as a Dwarven Wizard if they please.

Players first select a gender and character portrait. Then they choose a race (or subrace), character class, alignment, ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, et al.), assign skill points (Open Lock, Use Magic Device, Wilderness Lore, etc.), assign feat points (Combat Casting, Precise Shot, Martial Weapon – Axe, etc.) and then they select any spells if applicable to their class. Finally, the player may select hair color and clothing color sets which will alter their character's paper doll and small in-game avatar. The player may lastly assign a name to their character which will appear in the game's text at various points of dialogue throughout the game.

Plot Outline

Icewind Dale II begins with a group of adventurers arriving in the port town of Targos, to find it at siege by an army of goblins. The adventuring party aids the beleaguered town and fights off the goblin horde. The heroes set out on a series of adventures leading them to a goblin fortress, an ice palace, and a maze-like dark forest infested with the undead. To cross over the Spine of the World mountains the heroes face the challenges of the Black Raven monastery and win their right to decend into the Underdark. The heroes battle their way through the underdark and its evil inhabitants to reach sunlight once more at the other side of the mountains. Oswald Fiddlebender, having repaired his ship that had crashed on an earlier adventure, takes the party to the town of Kuldahar at the foot of the world tree. The party saves Kuldahar from an invasion of yuan-ti and orogs by travelling through a portal and slaying the dragon that serves as its guardian. The portals close and further attacks are prevented. The new heroes of Kuldahar travel to a volcano known as Dragon's Eye to investigate the Cult of the Chimera that has opposed them at every turn. At last, the group is able to enter an ancient elven fortress called 'Severed Hand' where they confront Isair and Madae, the demonic leaders of the Cult of the Chimera. A large battle ensues and the heroes win through. The villains are vanquished and the threat of the Cult of the Chimera to the region of Icewind Dale is removed once and for all.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack was composed by Inon Zur, in collaboration with Adam Levenson. They tried to follow the same tone seen in the first game (composed by Jeremy Soule), while still play to the new elements in this iteration. As a result, Zur ended up rewriting the main theme several times. The music was composed in five weeks with recording & mixing taking up another three weeks. The soundtrack was nominated for 'Best Soundtrack of the Year' by Game Audio Network Guild and Game Industry News.

Tracklist

Original System Requirements

Minimum

• Pentium II 350MHz or AMD K6-III 400MHz
• 64MB RAM
• DirectX compatible Video Card
• DirectX compatible Sound Card
• 4X CD-ROM Drive
• DirectX 8.0

Recommended

• Pentium III 500MHz or AMD Duron or Athlon Processor
• 128MB RAM
• 16X CD-ROM Drive

Multi-player

• 56Kbps, Cable, or DSL Broadband Modem

Availability

On November 4th, 2010 GOG.com released Icewind Dale II Complete for their digital distribution service. This version includes the Adventure Pack along with the original game. It is being sold for the price of $9.99.