Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

As IWD 2 of course. These games are Baldur's Gate without story and quests. Just almost pure combat - which for me is fine. If you expect good story, char. depelopment, quests and such things... no, this is more Diablo than Baldur's Gate. With that in mind 5/5

I had to think a moment before buying this as I wasn't sure all the extra bells and whistles were worth it. But I had also just started my third run through of IWD, and in the end figured if it has this much lasting power for me, might as well get the definitive version, which I consider this to be. IWD is my second favorite of the IE games, because of the great boss battles and dungeon design. If you feel this way, then I'd say pull the trigger. The new classes offer enough meaningful shift in how you approach combat, that it's worth another run through with classes like a Kensai or Monk that offer enough variation compared to the sort of IWD classes you're accustomed to. (Though I think some of the classes are somewhat useless in the IWD scenario, still nice that they're there.) Also the Archer kit is insane, and possibly a bit OP, but still... fun. It also adds more items, which are typically found in certain key areas, though not enough to make the game imbalanced, but certainly more rewarding. For example Kressalack's tomb now gives the 2h, but also another Long Sword (which may be random). Also the Loot All function is freaking brilliant. Ugh. So much time saved! What a god-send. And the split second quick saves. New quests added in. And a lot of other small changes I'm probably forgetting. It's a lot of small things that come together to create a significantly more polished experience than the older version. I think it comes down to how much you love the original. If you still find yourself coming back to it from time to time, then you should really do yourself a favor and grab this version.

I've played worse CRPGs but this is a middle of the road game. It's never dull and there isn't anything to really elevate it above other genre offerings. The Infinity Engine is a super solid and player friendly offering but the game is linear and lacks variety. The gameplay loop is learn about a dungeon in town, clear out the dungeon. Return to town and learn about the next dungeon. Add to that a pretty by the numbers plot and you end up with a game mildly above average

Icewind Dale is an absolutely fantastic RPG, but you need to know what it is before going in. The game is extremely linear, with you going from one dungeon to the next while operating out of a hub area. It can also be a very difficult game, unless you know how Advanced Dungeons & Dragons works. Finally, although the writing is excellent, the plot isn't very exciting. --- If you are fine with all that, this game will give you tons of enjoyment. It has some of the greatest dungeon gameplay in any RPG out there. The dungeons range from tiny linear caves to massive nonlinear complexes with multiple goals to accomplish in any order. Every encounter is hand placed (outside of the random battles you can encounter when resting), and there are great, thrilling battles with clever enemy placement all throughout the game. One complaint I had with Baldur's Gate is that several of the tougher encounters seemed like you were meant to stumble upon them, die, reload, and then prepare based on what you learned while dying. In contrast, I felt that Icewind Dale was balanced enough that you can really react to the flow of battle as it occurs; it feels very satisfying to turn around what seems like a hopeless battle into a win through careful use of abilities and spells. Special mention must be made of the overall atmosphere of the game. The graphics, sound, and wonderful soundtrack all come together to make you feel like you are truly adventuring in the snowy north. It is probably one of the most atmospheric games out there. --- Playing on "Normal" difficulty, the game and its two expansion packs took just over 60 hours to complete, and I loved every minute. Highly recommended!

I played IWD several times, I still have the original, with CDs, manual and box. It runs on Windows 7, not very well, but it runs. There are mods, which help to use the old game, but the Enhanced Version makes this unnecessary. The game in itself is quite linear, with a gripping but fairly simple story, both expansions (Heart of Winter and the free expansion Trials of the Luremaster) are included and integrated well. You can play every of the three items alone, or all three in one pass, with the same party. Less interesting for me is the multiplayer mode, so I cannot say anything about that. But you need the multiplayer mode if you want to change your party in mid game. (Instructions how to do this are on the Beamdog forums). There is a new quest (which was cut from the original game), and this quest is really nice and works flawlessly, as the entire game does. Also there are small things like a shield, which can be significantly upgrade by talking to a NPC, which really surprised me. XP values are higher in certain places, which leads to a very high level party. Spells (which always were missing in the original game) were added, but no High Level Abilities. In the original game toward the end of the game you could have a mage - without 9th level spells. This is now much better in the Enhanced Version. I recommend a party with multiclass characters (dual class could be done, but is very hard). Multiclass characters reach high levels too, are more versatile and more fun, because after level 25 characters do not really improve any more in AD&D. My party is in the Trials after doing most of the main game, and a good part of Heart of Winter, and they are around level 25 (Mage, Fighter) and over 30 for the Cleric. Recommended buy - good value for the money!