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These are heady days for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
franchise. After a slump in sales and interest occasioned mostly by TSRs wretched
stewardship, AD&D was sold to Wizards of the Coast. In the last year or so, good
things have started to happen again. The games nifty third edition just came out
(look for a review in these pages soon), and the franchises PC presencenearly
nil since the gold box gameshas been reinvigorated by the overwhelming success of
Baldurs Gate. At least three of this years most-anticipated games
(Baldurs Gate 2, Pool of Radiance, and Neverwinter Nights) are based upon the
AD&D engine. For the first time in a long time, Im seeing kids at local game
stores playing D&D instead of Pokemon. Looks like the Forgotten Realms are rising to
memory once again. The PC
D&D comeback spearheaded by Baldurs Gate continues with Icewind Dale. Though
Icewind Dales engine and interface are very similar to Baldurs Gate, there are
some significant differences between the games. First of all, Icewind Dale takes place not
on the balmy Sword Coast, but rather in Icewind Dale, the frigid setting of R.A.
Salvatores classic trilogy (though theres no sign of that popular and
enigmatic dark elf Drizzt). When youre not fighting in a cave (which is most of the
time) youll braving the snowy wastes of the Ten Towns region and the Spine of the
World Mountains. Its a different world, with a nice new spread of monsters
(including 70 new ones) and environments. Another big difference is the games
emphasis on playing as a party, rather than a single player. In Icewind Dale, youll
be able to create up six characters for your party when the game begins, and its a
good idea to go with all six. Icewind Dale is populated with swarms of monsters, and
smaller parties will quickly be overrun. Believe me, that extra tank will come in handy.
Finally, Icewind Dale allows for higher-level characters.
Though youll probably only need to get to level 12 to finish the game, you
can ramp fighters up to around level 15. In homage to the recent release of
third edition, Ive decided to grade out Icewind Dale by converting the standard
abilities used for character generation in AD&D (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) to game values. For those of you not familiar with the
system, the highest score possible for each ability is 18, the lowest 3. STR18 Theres nothing but action and combat in Icewind
Dale. In fact, Ive never seen quite such an emphasis on hacking and slashing in a
D&D PC game. Theres scarcely such a thing as an empty room in Icewind
Daletheyre almost all full to the ceiling with monsters. And remember those
leisurely, often uninterrupted strolls you could take across maps in Baldurs Gate?
Forget it. In some ways, the monster wave attacks youll experience in
Icewind Dale make the game feel almost more like Diablo II than BG. While this is great for gaining experience, it can
wear down a party in a hurry. Fortunately, its very easy to rest in Icewind Dale. If
youre not in the immediate vicinity of a monster, you can usually get some rest
(which replenishes spells and health) before sallying into the next room. The down side to
this constant fight/rest/fight/rest/fight cycle is that it can get tiresome after a while,
especially since the story is so thin. (More on that later). But if youve got that barbarian
mentalityif you find talk cheap and combat the be-all and end-allthen this
games for you. DEX15 The bad news is that if youre not familiar with the
AD&D system, Icewind Dale can take a while to get used to. Even if you are, the
interface can be a little arcane and daunting at first. The good news is that once you do
figure it out, this is a very slick interface and game system. It helps that the manual,
like the manual for Baldurs Gate, is big (150+ pages), detailed, and helpful, though
points must be taken away for its small print on eye-killing gray background. As with
Baldurs Gate, Biowares combat interface is a love-it-or-hate-it-proposition. While ostensibly a real-time combat engine, you
have the ability to pause anytime during a fight and rummage through your backpack for a
new weapon. Since its so easy to micromanage, combat tends to play out more like a
turn-based game than a realtime one. This
blurring of genres causes no end of aggravation to some, but I find the engines
combination of thoughtful planning and frantic action to be just about perfect.
Usually Icewind Dales enemy AI is pretty good; close
combat monsters will attempt to get into hand-to-hand while casters stand back and nuke
you. But sometimes they can be pretty stupid. The worst and most ubiquitous example of
this is how easily monsters can be lured one at a time from a room and to their doom. Most players will use this to their advantage,
especially when confronted with one of the nastier rooms in the game. Indeed, it may be
the only way to get past some rooms, where monster numbers are initially overwhelming. But
theres something dissatisfying about the strategy of luring a few powerful monsters
from a room, dispatching them, resting up, and repeating the above sequence until the room
is nice and shiny. Friendly AI is just
OK--make sure you control all your party members in combat. And as in Baldurs Gate,
there are still pathfinding problems. For instance, when trying to move your party from
one shop to another in Kuldahar, a few of them will invariably be delayed or hung up.
Dont try to move across big or complicated maps in one clickoften party
members will run off by themselves, become isolated, and stumble across a really nasty
denizen of the North. Please. While you could make an argument for a high WIS
score for Black Isles Planescape: Torment, which had a compelling and interesting
story, or maybe even Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale is about nothing but killin
monsters. This makes it a lot of things, but
wise is not one of them. CHA13 Icewind Dales graphics use an improved version of the
Baldurs Gate engine, but its not that improved. While spell effects
look better, the game still runs in 640x480 resolution, and the character sprites can look
very pixelly. The games backgrounds, however, look great, as does the interface.
Overall graphic verdict: good, but I sure wish theyd have used the Torment:
Planescape engine. Sound is mostly excellent, especially the music and voice acting for
NPCs. Your party members, on the other hand, endlessly repeat smartass remarks that
werent even very witty the first time. This needs some work. Finally, the most
damning thing about the games presentation is its narrative, which is lame. The
story throughout the games first chapter, for example, is ponderous and advances the
narrative scarcely at all. While things get a little better, its clear that the
story here was an afterthought. And there's virtually nothing to match the wit and humor
one found in BG (remember that hamster?) or Torment (remember Morte?). Thats
unfortunate, especially given the strong background that Icewind Dale brings to the table
through Salvatores novels. While there are some gestures towards the novels, the
most disappointing thing about the game is its lack of a coherent and compelling story.
Without one, the repetitive hack-and-slash can get boring. Final CallIf youre into RPGs or D&D,
youll definitely want to pick up Icewind Dale, especially if your tastes run towards
unbridled combat. On the other hand, if youre the type who enjoyed all the talking
in Planescape: Torment, you might want to take a pass. |