Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale

This game is unlike it's counterpart, Baldur's Gate which relies heavily on a story driven plot line and a feeling of freedom to explore surrounding environments. This is a well laid out hack and slash spanning a direct path through some well crafted settings. It's not quite the game of the Baldur's Gate series, but it is fun in it's own right.

The choice to create all six of your characters is a great development. I wished the Baldur's Gate series had followed this direction. Once you have created your party, you explore a town in the Icewind Dale region of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons setting. You are encouraged to join a fateful expedition that leads into the main quest of your party. What unravels is a sheer joy in plot development.

You will explore lost temples, ice land settings, a fallen elven city, dwarven caverns and huge lairs. Gameplay is kept competitive with the sheer number of monsters, but it gets frustrating later on in the elven city and the dwarven caverns. The artwork is beautiful and some real imagination went into the sets. There is plenty of original equipment, evil bosses and different environments to explore. Any fan of Bioware's RPG's( Baldur's Gate, Planescape:Torment, Fallout) will enjoy this chapter in the series as well.

Icewind Dale (or IWD) is a much different game than its predecessor, Planescape Torment, which was in turn much different from its predecessor, Baldur's Gate. Icewind Dale recalls fondly of "treasure hunts" from the pen & paper Dungeons & Dragons game. IWD itself has a very simple and flimsy plot, which is only there to move the game from one massive battle area to another. High powered monsters and high powered magical treasure is boundless. This is definitely a "Hack-n-Slash" game, and it doesn't try to be more than that. The graphics and music are (as with all Black Isle games) top notch. Not nearly as involving as Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment, this game still can provide many hours of entertainment with almost non-stop combat. Ending is abrupt and pathetic compared with Baldur's Gate, as is the replay value. Still, highly recommended.

Utilises the Infinity Engine used for Baldur's Gate. This game has a good atmosphere and a lot of action, but doesn't take that long to complete (about 20 hours).

It's musical score and graphics are of high quality, but the game is more action based than BG or Planescape Torment, so there isn't much scope for character development.

However if you enjoyed BG, then I recommend it.

Great game for those looking for a deeper, truer RPG than the Diablo franchise. Highly customizable character parties allow for excellent replay value. Check this game out if you are in search of AD&D on the pixelated screen!