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A mixed bag

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: November 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is probably the last computer roleplaying game I'll play and it's a bittersweet ending for me. I'm simply tired of the huge amount of TIME it takes to play the average RPG game these days. The hours and hours and HOURS of time it takes to slowly develop your characters, gather magic items, battle from location to location and so on.

This game does have some stuff going for it. An elegant, customizable interface. Good graphics, even on relatively low-performance computers. The spell effects are especially fun to watch and the "battle sounds" are nice: Satisfying metallic slicing and clanking sounds, the sickening crunch of skulls being crushed, etc.

But what other reviewers have said about this game's TEDIOUS "puzzle dungeons" is exactly on the money: I had to refer to gamefaqs so many times I started to wonder if I shouldn't just quit. I would likely be an old, old man if I had to rely on my own feeble wits to solve some of these puzzles. There are NO clues, or the clues are incredibly roundabout. And more to the point, the puzzles seem like filler; something added to make the game longer or more "challenging".

Frankly, my message to the people at Black Isle is that they need to understand the distinction between "This game sure is difficult" and "This game sure is fun."

More fun than it has any right to be!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

By all rights, ICEWIND DALE II should not be nearly as addictive, as compelling, and as all-out entertaining as it is. Consider: in an era where no game seems to have any hope of selling well unless it takes advantage of the most up-to-date 3D rendering technology, IDII employs old-fashioned handdrawn backgrounds and 2D animation. While the market is dominated by flashy console RPGs with unsurpassed production values, IDII has nary a movie-like cutscene or in-game cinematic to be found. And while the gaming zeitgeist is heavily slanted towards Japan, with exaggerated manga-style characters and a frenetic J-pop aesthetic, IDII soldiers on with the decades-old Dungeons & Dragons motif of dudes in fur hats and chainmail fighting monsters straight out of Tolkien.

On paper, ICEWIND DALE II had no right to be so good - but it is.

The reason for this is that game has a number of secret weapons at its disposal. First among these is BioWare's venerable Infinity Engine, which has powered game after brilliant game from BioWare and their prestigious licensee, Black Isle. While showing its age in spots, especially in the lack of graphical flash, the engine has been polished and improved upon for over four years now (!), and in its last outing it has been honed into an almost perfectly intuitive interface for allowing players to guide their heroes through battle after battle while efficiently fielding the vast reams of statistical information that are part and parcel of anything having to do with D&D. The interface takes up less of the game screen than ever before, and this, combined with the game's higher resolutions, allows players to see vast amounts of territory with a God's-eye-view and plan their strategies accordingly.

The game features a host of new painted character portraits, all of which, with their brooding faces and evocative clothing, do a fabulous job of personalizing and humanizing the heroes you create, and most of which are simply excellent paintings in their own right. (One quibble: it would have been nice, in the final Infinity Engine game, to have access to the by-now-vast gallery of portraits that have been created for the BALDUR'S GATE, ICEWIND DALE, and NEVERWINTER NIGHTS games - though, in truth, nothing is stopping the industrious player from importing those portraits into IDII himself.)

The other major weapon in IDII's arsenal is the new and incalculably improved Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition ruleset, which is both more intuitive (having more armor gives you a bigger armor number, not a confusingly smaller one) and allows for infinitely more possibilities for character advancement: in D&D 2nd edition, the only truly significant choice you made was what class to start a character out as, and afterwards your party was more-or-less set in stone; whereas with the 3rd edition, you get so many options for skills and 'feats' (superpowers or extra abilities granted to characters) that, hypothetically, you can roll up six fighters who start out with not much in common with one another and end up with even less as they branch out into different specialties as the game progresses. This diversity is the heart of the game's surprising replayability: it is highly unlikely, perhaps even impossible, for even the same player to generate heroes that have too much in common.

Like the original ICEWIND DALE, this game is purely linear and almost strictly focused on combat, forsaking both the vast gameworld and indepth roleplaying of BALDUR'S GATE II and the intricate, puzzle-box story of PLANESCAPE TORMENT. But ICEWIND DALE II does have a story, and it's a good one - taking you from the hoariest of cliched beginnings (monsters are menacing a town and six would-be heroes arrive Just In the Nick Of Time) to an epic and surprisingly emotional confrontation with a pair of villains who are far more interesting and complex than the usual run of mad wizards and homicidal warlords that litter the pages and screens of fantasy novels and video games. Along the way, your characters solve old murders, bring peace to the unquiet dead, defend the defenseless, and right ancient wrongs...or not. Whatever you do, the game shows you the consequences of your actions in ways both gratifying and surprising. Dialogue is well-written, often sharply humorous, and occasionally even moving. There's a lot of depth here for what many will dismiss as merely a 'hack and slash' game.

Lastly, I want to give special commendation to the music, composed by Israeli musician Inon Zur. Those who played THRONE OF BHAAL will recognize Zur's more exotic sound, which perfectly fit that game's more eastern-oriented setting, and although the soundtrack is a large departure from Jeremy Soule's more traditional Celtic-styled music from the first game, the new pieces do a superb job of getting you fired up to kill monsters. (Although Soule's much-heralded theme music from the original game is back, though unfortunately minus the stirring horn section midway through.)

Found this preview...seems more helpful than what I saw...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 36
Date: August 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Icewind Dale II is the sequel to the award-winning computer role-playing game Icewind Dale and features the BioWare Infinity Engine(TM) that was used to develop the award-winning games Baldur's Gate™ and Baldur's Gate II (developed by BioWare Corp.), and Planescape®: Torment™" (developed by Black Isle Studios). Icewind Dale II uses the third edition core rules for the classic Dungeons & Dragons® tabletop roleplaying game within the popular Forgotten Realms® adventure campaign setting under licenses by Wizards of the Coast. The game hosts a large variety of new weapons, armor and magical items, and expands upon the gameplay elements found in the original Icewind Dale. Icewind Dale II offers feats and skills such as Power Attack and Diplomacy, further extending the character customization options available to players. Also introduced in Icewind Dale II are new character classes such as the Barbarian and Sorcerer and new playable races including the Drow, the famous dark elves of the nderdark, and the celestial hybrid Aasimar. "Icewind Dale II" includes over 50 new spells such as Executioner's Eyes and Aegis, bringing the total to over 300 spells, almost all of which have been revamped for the new rule set.

Lots of fun, not a bad story either.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: February 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Anyone who's a fan of the Black Isle games based on the infinity engine should enjoy this game. They changed up the character creation a little, so you seemingly have more control over your character's strengths and weaknesses. While IWDII doesn't have the depth of Torment or the NPC interaction of the Baldur's Gate series, it still has a good story and a nice interface. Graphically it's subpar to the NWN series, but I think that might actually be a benefit, as I found the 3D aspect of NWN to be a hinderence at times. Some tips for those interested:

1. Make a party of 4 characters. They will level up faster and have less hang ups with the AI. With 6 members, I found I needed to start over and import them into a new game after the prologue because they were under powered, and 2 of them always end up wandering off on me. Those problems are abated with only 4 characters.
2. Multiclassing is key. Having thief abilities is nice, but you don't really need more than 3 or 4 levels as rogue. Sink all the points into picking locks, and traps. Multiclass into a ranger or mage. You won't have to worry about armor hindering thief skills. Adding a few levels of fighter to cleric or barbarian helps learn more weapon skills, and in the case of a cleric, a boost to HP. These are just a few ideas...
3. For the warriors, focus on only a couple differnt weapons. Make sure you have at least one of them blunt weapons, as some foes aren't as vulnerable to the bladed variety. Also, have at least 2 members competent with ranged weapons.

Icewind Dale II - Great Addition to the Baldur's Gate Series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a 3rd person RPG, well written, long, and detailed. You are not saving the multi-verse from the Prince of Darkness (again), you are a band of mercenaries, hopefully doing some good, while helping out some regular folks with some regular bad guys, and making a living at it. I found it easy to buy in and connect with them. The character pic's and backgrounds make this game feel more like the middle ages than other games of this type do. The fight system is mature and works well in either turn-based or real-time mode. I found no bugs worth mentioning in the code, but I always recommend loading an existing patch before playing. I'm a D&D fan, and this game is a good addition to games of the genre. 5 stars. I'll play this game again.

A Bit of a Disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: November 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game may be made by most of the creators of the Baldur's Gate series, however, while the game interface may appear to be much the same, the story level certainly isn't.

You completely create your full party (up to six characters), adding all of their feats and voices. Although it is possible that in Baldur's Gate you couldn't really fit your NPCs into your dream party, their vivid personalities clearly shone through and they bantered frequently. The player, in Baldur's Gate, was able to develop one character through a set of choices and actions. In IWD2, however, your characters seem to have as much depth as the goblins that they are killing. A handful of the NPCs have some interesting personalities, yet the ratio of hostile creatures/people to unhostile creatures/people is at least 10:1, meaning that you'll be engaged in a lot more killing and violence than dialogue and intrigue. The combat system is the same as in the BG series, which may come as a relief to some. However, the battles are much more difficult to the point of the game losing its fun. The experience, I felt, was slightly screwed up, as at times you would be fighting creatures that give perhaps 75 XP each. Then suddenly a crystal golem (uses the ice golem model) runs along and (eventually) gets killed by your party members, giving 4000 XP. The plotline itself seems to be lacking the depth of the Baldur's Gate series, with any other serious plot than a horde of goblins attempting to destroy the Ten Towns only appearing in the second to last chapter. Even then I felt the plot still had several holes even at the end.
I have to say that the new races and spells gave flavor that even Baldur's Gate did not have, and yet there is not one area, interior or exterior, that was designed so that the character would not have to travel through it. In other words, the creators did not create any more areas than they had to. In Baldur's Gate there were such areas as Durlag's Tower, the D'Arnise Castle, and Watcher's keep, each with a great deal of flavor and subplot. The only quests that do not directly pertain to the plotline can usually be solved in about five minutes or less.
It seems to me that the Baldur's Gate series was directed to be more like a book, such as The Lord of the Rings (except for the novelazations.... ugh) while Icewind Dale 2 was geared to be more like Diablo 2. If you enjoyed that game, then perhaps you shall enjoy IWD2. I, for one, would not reccomend it, however.

More fun than a game of fetch

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 24
Date: September 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Lots of people like to sing the praise of IWD2 and compare it to the BG series by the same company. In this gamers opinion they are right, except that comparison consists mainly of what was WORST about BG. Gone is the epic story. Gone is the interesting interactions with NPCs in your party because the whole party is you (many enjoy this, I think it just promits the worst of hack-and-slash while destroying the fun interaction and saving the programers lots of time).

What the game most has in comon with BG is the old unfortunate notion of the go fetch adventure that was BG's major shortcoming, to a large extent replaced in BG II. What do I mean by fetch adeventure? NPC: I need some wood, can you get it?, NPC: I can't live without those bones, can you go find them?, NPC: Some toilet paper would really come in handy right now. I am all out. Be a dear and run to the store etc. You get the idea. The result is a game that is slow, two dimensinal, and a lot of time just walking between areas (another problem, that you cannot always walk right from one area to another and are left pacing through empty screens while your mind goes numb.)

Clearly some people really love this game. I don't get it and I am sorry that I did, buy it that is.

The Adventure Begins... Again (PC Version)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: October 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

IceWind Dale II (IWD2), by Black Ilse Studios, is a worthy sequel to one of the best RPG games in recent memory. But while the original is a solid five stars plus, IWD2 pulls up a little short. Although for people with an imagination, it is still a very fun game -- and that's what RPG games are all about: IMAGINATION and FUN!

Importantly, like the original IWD, IWD2 will enable you to effectively disconnect from the tedium and minutiae that can sometimes attend the work-a-day world, and allow you to find a place where Caesur-like, you can create a small band of mercenaries that can either 1) set right all that is wrong with the world or, 2) allow you to make your world more interesting through chaos and pandemonium. The choice is yours.

Unlike the original though, the path to serious life on the razor's edge, laugh in the face of death battle, for good, neutral or evil characters, is lengthy -- realistically, almost two hours of real-time game-play. This is because IWD2 requires that you complete (sometimes onerous) tasks to level up to where you can actually be able to inflict some serious damage on the ne'er do wells within the game space. Once you get past these -- seriously unecessary -- tasks, the game takes off and the battles rage. Then again, that's why god created cheat codes -- use these effectively and this is not an issue.

Net/net:
1) Serious escape value
2) Awesome ability to define character attributes and abilities
3) Programer's too prescriptive in designing the path to success
4) Highly imiginative spells, weapons and monsters/opponents
5) Give it a whirl and have some serious fun

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First, the character customization is excellent. I've created about 30 characters so far, though I'm only playing with 6 of them. The dungeons are fun. The items are awesome. The graphics are extremely good, and the music is phenomenal. The two main enemies are not cheesy; they certainly aren't up to the level of Jon Irenicus, but they don't have to be. This is hack n'slash, not "child of Bhaal's crisis". The voice acting is great.

Warning: the battles get HARD around Chapter 3-4. They're tougher than any other Infinity engine game -- maybe any other CRPG, period -- nearly the whole way through, actually. But you'll get used to it. You really have to strategize, and winning is that much sweeter. Sure enemies occasionally pop up behind you, and you sometimes find yourself fighting 20 instead of 5. That's why you save. And in "real" life you wouldn't know exactly what was in that dangerous cave, no matter how much you explored it. (Would you walk around in platemail with an ambidextrous half-orc, a half-demon woman who could throw fireballs, and a moon worshiper who could RAISE THE DEAD in real life? If your answer is "yes", your life is more interesting than mine.)

There are more towns than in the first Icewind Dale, but plan on spending your time fighting meanies in their horrible lairs. Your characters are as good as your imagination can make them. Balance your party carefully and you will win. If you're like me, and can't afford a new computer every year, a wonderful new game like this that doesn't need a[n expensive]video card and a gagillion MB of RAM is a godsend. If you're lucky enough to have that fancy new computer, you'll be able to run Icewind Dale II with lots of flash and dazzle.

If you're not afraid of a challenge, get this game. When you win, you'll feel you've really accomplished something. Also, there are a lot of fan-created patches out there already that make the game a bit easier if you want to go that route.

One heck of a game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I looked at this game for quite a while (over the period of several weeks) trying to decide whether to buy it or not. Finally, I needed something new to play (waiting for NWN:HotU to come out) and caved in. Why not?

I enjoyed the freedom to totally and completely create my characters. From selecting genders and races to deciding on stats to balance my class choices (keeping in mind the multi-classing that I was going to be doing), the creation process took me about 45 minutes. I was finally ready to begin.

And boy, is this game hard!!! All the enemies seemed to target my extremely low hit point druid (even though he was in the back), so I had to revive him a few times (financially a burden). Then, at the higher chapters, everyone, even my whoop-butt barbarian, was dying. Had to reload quite often to change my strategy.

The only real problem I had with this game (difficulty issues aside) was that your spellcasters affect both your own party members and the bad guys with their spells. So, a fireball blasts not only the frost salamander, but the three fighters up there meleeing with it. Bummer. No wonder the barbarian kept dying!

Watch out for the bugs. See the official website for a listing; they can be pretty nasty, especially when you haven't saved for a while and the game crashes to the desktop (only happened once for me). Advice: SAVE OFTEN.

I recommend this game to anyone with the time to play it. Be warned, it will eat up your free time (not to mention your sleep time--it's how late? And I'm not done yet?). Buy it and have fun!

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