Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Preview
We've got detailed on information about this upcoming expansion of Icewind Dale.
The odds didn't look good for the original Icewind Dale when it was released by Interplay: For one thing, it shipped to stores at exactly the same time as Diablo II, which was one of the most highly anticipated games in years. Since both Icewind Dale and Diablo II were apparently the same type of game - both were touted as action-packed isometric role-playing games suitable for all types of players - you'd think most players would instinctively overlook the former in favor of the much more well-established latter. As if going head-to-head against Diablo II weren't enough, another serious threat that faced Icewind Dale was the imminent release of yet another important sequel: Interplay's own Baldur's Gate II. Since the release dates of these two games were only a few months apart, presumably some players planned to wait until the higher-profile game was released. After all, if you didn't know any better, you might have mistaken Icewind Dale as merely a feeble effort by its publisher to milk the Dungeons & Dragons license for all it's worth. But despite all these potential problems, Icewind Dale actually turned out to be quite successful, and an excellent role-playing game in its own right - as well as a viable or even a preferable alternative to Diablo II and a perfect antecedent to Baldur's Gate II.
Icewind Dale turned out so well for a number of reasons, most notably because it succeeded in its intention to be a sort of throwback to classic Dungeons & Dragons-based computer role-playing games that emphasized combat. Unlike previous Black Isle Studios fantasy RPGs, including the superb Planescape: Torment and the original Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale didn't focus too heavily on plot and character interaction, though it by no means overlooked these elements. Instead, the game relied heavily on lots of action-packed, epic battles. Using the Infinity engine as seen in the previous two Black Isle D&D-licensed games, Icewind Dale's combat sequences often played out like highly tactical squad-level skirmishes. You controlled six different characters, which you'd have to use to support one another in the game's bloody clashes with dozens of types of evil forces. The pacing of the combat in Icewind Dale was just right; the challenge of the battles would escalate slowly but surely, just as the story would unfold and finally fit together, piece by piece. Other factors that contributed to Icewind Dale's success included its fantastic orchestral music score by composer Jeremy Soule, as well as the game's outstanding hand-drawn character graphics and cutscenes by Jason Manley. These talented artists gave Icewind Dale's presentation a high level of polish that's unsurpassed by any other Black Isle Studios game to date.
Players apparently took notice of the critical acclaim that Icewind Dale received, and positive word-of-mouth reviews also probably contributed to the game's success. Indeed, perhaps some of the initial backlash against Diablo II, which suffered from network stability issues and short supply in its first few weeks, also helped Icewind Dale. Regardless, the game sold enough copies to justify the publisher's and designers' decision to create the forthcoming expansion, Heart of Winter. And this expansion promises to be every bit as satisfying as the original game turned out to be. Read on to find out what to expect from this second volume.
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Quick Links
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- Interplay
- Black Isle Studios
- Role-Playing
- Release: Feb 19, 2001
- ESRB: Teen
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