by Jody - July 23, 2003

The 'Infinity Age' is over. With Icewind Dale II, the book is closed on one of the most important engines in PC gaming. It can be said that Bioware's Neverwinter Nights has ushered us into the future of PC RPGs, but after playing Black Isle's latest offering, they are going to have to drag me away, kicking and screaming. It's just that good. Black Isle has once again provided PC gamers with a role-playing title that shows a level of polish and thought far above what most developers could even hope of offering. This game manages to stick to what made the original such an amazing dungeon crawls while carefully addressing any minor gameplay issues.

For what it's worth, Icewind Dale II is really fun.

Icewind Dale II is about combat. I won't candy coat it for the Baldur's Gate II fans looking for an outlet for their lingering desires. This is a tactical combat series and always has been. The RPG elements in the original were extremely limited and completely tapered off near the end. This has changed for the better, as a lot more stories have been added. The characters are far more interesting to talk to. The quests are a lot more believable. A lot of this is thanks to the new writer, whom some of you may know from the fondly remembered Planetscape Torment. Black Isle also made sure that character alignment and the bluff/intimidate/diplomacy skills actually provided an effect during conversations with NPCs. For example my leader has high bluff/intimidate skills, so his responses are vastly different from conversations my thief would have since she lacks both of those skills.

While the Infinity Engine is an extremely functional piece of work, it isn't really packed with extras. Any visual splendor you do see comes from the effort of the developers to put as much detail and believable activity in each area and item. The game's areas are extremely nice to look at and very clean. All of the spell icons have been redone and are not only visually appealing, but they accurately represent the spell. All items found in the game have also received a boost from the eye candy department. Each piece of armor, each weapon, each potion, each scroll, is not only unique, but also very detailed. Icewind Dale 2 employs the Infinity Engine version used for Baldur's Gate II, and while 3D Acceleration for spell and light effects are no longer offered, Icewind Dale 2's visuals are noticeably sharper than anything I have seen on this engine before. It makes it a hell of a lot easier to spot my units in a thick fight.

Black Isle has also added more opportunities to interact with your environment and affect your current situation. Broken bridge? Find some wood and fix it. The layout of these areas also appears to have a lot of thought put into it. Placement of key items, monsters, or other placements are often there to provide an obstacle or advantage to the player's strategy. For example in one area there is five defensive placements, each with a war drum. As an enemy NPC bangs the drum reinforcements will appear. These drums are usually placed in different spots, so should the player take the drum out first, or the enemy NPCS around it.

Now to get deeper into the gameplay. For those who haven't played Icewind Dale II, again, it's almost nothing like Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 in terms of gameplay. While the Baldur's Gate series relies heavily on story and a handful of key battles, Icewind Dale II is nothing but key battles. As a tactical RPG Icewind Dale II excels at proving a lot of battles that provide a scaling difficulty that wont make you cry out �mercy�, but rather leave the desire to overcome the odds. Icewind Dale II is more difficult than the original. Black Isle obviously put a lot of time into making the enemy NPCs attack and defend in a manner that is not only far more sensible, but provide challenge to the veterans of the series. There are essentially three types of enemy NPCs you will encounter; melee, spell-casters, boss characters.

In the original Icewind Dale melee characters depended mostly on numbers or pure strength for most of the game. The easiest thing to do to combat them would be to place a tank out and have it draw the enemy NPCs to it like idiot moths to a flame. In this installment you will find the melee characters actually prioritize members of your party from time to time. This results in large-scale battles that actually keep all of your characters busy not only supporting other team members, but themselves as well. Battles now seem much larger, but in reality the number of enemies is about the same as what you would find in the original. The retreating behavior of enemies also seems a bit more prevalent, as outnumbered weaker enemies will run when the going gets tough, searching for 'pockets of help, as I like to call them. If a player isn�t careful the enemy NPC could lead them into a whole new group of enemies that will attack your entire party on sight.

Handling spell-casters is a different set of tactics entirely. I have always loved the mage duels in the Baldur's Gate games and the original Icewind Dale, but it was pretty obvious that the AI wasn't really being upgraded. The standard protocol would involve the enemy NPC casting buff spells on itself and then casting whatever offensive spells it has, even when in a group. In Icewind Dale II, spell-casters vary quite a bit. I've seen some go through the traditional behaviors mentioned above. I have also seen them buff their allies, then de-buff my party, and then cast offensive spells. I've also seen them just go all out defensive and then attacking with a ranged weapon. The idea I am trying to put forth here is that dealing with spell-casters in Icewind Dale II is a new experience every time. I will admit that the spell-casters with fewer spells will be easier to predict, but the amount of spells these enemies get rises early on in the game. Around the middle of chapter one there are some really tough spots if you don't take care of these NPCs quickly. I would suggest missile weapons or of course a well-placed area affect spell that does a little damage rapidly to break through the enemy NPCs concentration checks. Also take note that Black Isle added a new feature, which has the name of the spell being cast by an enemy spell-caster, appear above its head. This offers a greater opportunity for quick spell-casters in your party to counter it.

Bosses are still sort of what they have always been. Giant powerhouses. Early game boss fights in Icewind Dale 2 usually have the bosses depending on a small army of lesser enemy NPCs to provide support as distractions and just extra damage potential. But as you move on you will encounter characters that do far more damage on their own than any small army could do. As always the essential tactic is to just maximize damage after tearing down any defenses they might have.

As far as all of the tactics in between, Icewind Dale II has a lot of areas that are actually a part of the action. The confrontations in the original probably could have taken place anywhere at any point in time due to the lack of interaction with the environment and utilities at the disposal of NPCs and the player. In the sequel your surroundings matter. An easy example would be the drum situation I mentioned earlier in the review. There are also more opportunities to take advantage of the high ground. Placing an archer on the high ground is extremely effective. There are also switches and quest points in each area that demand the player�s attention. Black Isle made sure not to use the same gimmick twice. One area has the war drums, the other has broken bridges that need repairing, and another has beetle nests that continuously spawn beetles until destroyed. These kinds of things always keep a person doing something new and different in and out of battle.

Can we at least revamp the engine?

Did I mention that the Infinity Engine is two years old? The graphics are dated and ugly by today's standards. Everything seems to be brown yellow or green. Spell effects are the only stand-out feature. Spells are bright and good looking, but definitely not enough to carry the game. I'm glad I don't judge the game purely on this though!

Umm, is that the same voice?

Where to start... Do you remember the voices from Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate? Its the same ones. I couldn't believe it. Admittedly, I used one of the pre-rolled parties, but I can't believe they could not find new voice talent after two years! From what I can tell, all the sounds are the same. The exact same. No improved quality, even. The good news is that these sounds were great quality and wonderful. The bad news is that was two years ago. I've gotten so used to depth and distance, thuds and amazing new compression rates that I thought something was wrong with my computer.

PvP!

Of course I couldn't forget about the big switch to 3rd Edition rules. Those who have spent time with Neverwinter Nights or with the actual D&D games should be reasonably familiar with this new character creation and rule set system. I am not a 'Dungeon Master' or whatever and I am eternally grateful all of this runs in the background so I don't have to focus on it, but I will say this: 3rd Edition is fun and rewarding. Feats, Skills, and Stats all raise at the right levels, with new ones opened up at the higher levels. The big difference between Icewind Dale 2 and Neverwinter Nights' utilization of this rule set is that Icewind Dale II actually scales the difficulty of the game accordingly. It�s not hard to argue that Neverwinter Nights became disturbingly easy, and most of this can be credited to a difficulty scale that just doesn't scale. Icewind Dale 2 is always providing new challenges not only from the skillfully created and placed NPCs, but also from the tools they are given and the environments you encounter them in.

Pretty sad when you get lost in a D&D game.

Here are my nags and they are extremely minor. Path finding is still off. To be fair it has ALWAYS been off. Anyone who tells you the path finding in BG2 was better is wrong. It isn't that it was better, it's just that BG2's environments have a different flow entirely, offering more open spaces for combat and less twisty turns and crowded close quarter combat dungeons that can be found in the Icewind Dale titles. Then there's the multiplayer, which still isn't as friendly as most would like. As this kind of RPG is designed, I don't think it would ever really be suited for online play. In a controlled environment like a LAN maybe, but anything else really just requires too much effort for each player. I will also mention that I wish they had added a few more voice samples. The new Drow voice sample is awesome and just makes me wish they replaced all the holdovers from the previous Icewind Dale.

It's a lot better than the original.

These negatives do very little to bring down the overall presence Icewind Dale II has while you play it. Icewind Dale is how a tactical RPG is done. It succeeds in presenting a believable story with likeable characters in a world that is far more detailed than the original.