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Deserving of Better than Five Stars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: December 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I honestly hope that people who read these reviews pay more attention to those praising Icewind Dale II than those that in my mind belittle a great game. Icewind Dale II is similar to the other Forgotten Realms games, but it is unique in its own right.

Icewind Dale II seems to have found the balance between the heavily quest-based Baldur's Gate II and the hack-your-way-to-fame Icewind Dale. The new third edition rules make Icewind Dale different from the other games as well, and they add a whole new challenge to the game, making the perfect characters. The vast amount of skills and feats all characters can choose from, not to mention all the new races (Drow, tieflings, deep gnomes, gray dwarves, among many others) and subclasses offered, make characters unique, and each level almost makes a player giddy when they try to decide whether they should give their rogue more hide skill for the ever useful sneak attack or maybe more to pick pocket or open locks for the always fun five-finger discount shopping. The addition of the bluff, diplomacy, and intimidate skills also make for a nice variety in NPC dialogue, and deciding whether you want to use your nice little paladin to go negotiate or an evil dreadmaster of bane to threaten an undead life to your enemies can put a player into a moral dilemma. A player's character class can affect NPC dialogue as well, the most obvious class being a cleric which has something to say whenever you run up against a different order or cult. The joys of threatening to kill half the members of a village of druids with my dreadmaster of bane, raise their corpses as undead, and then laugh as they tear into their surviving friends remains potent in my memory. The creation of characters and a well balanced party might dissuade some from this game and the lack of character interaction is disappointing, but characters are far from stale and part of the fun in my mind.

Although the graphics remain the same as all of the recent Forgotten Realms games, players should still appreciate the beauty of the artwork within the game. The one thing I've seen on most reviews, even ones by people who test games as a job, that remains constant is that the fighting in Icewind Dale II is hard, or even impossible according to some. I've played the game on the normal D&D rules throughout and I understand why people describe it as hard. Sure I've had to reload the game a few times after having a character or two die, but I remember spending a hour or two on the final battle of Baldur's Gate II and reloading on all the other games as well. Then again some reloads were just because I wanted a better-looking battle. The reason people probably complain about Icewind Dale II being too difficult in fighting is because battles need to be planned for once, and yes monsters will spawn behind you and try to surround you, a problem perhaps, realistic definitely. I won't discuss strategy in a review, but I will say it's required in most fights in Icewind Dale II and can make fights quite easy. As the makers said, the game has a feature that varies the difficulty depending on your party's skill, not the skill of the player, so plan your battles carefully or turn down the difficulty if you need (a feature all the recent Forgotten Realms games offer) because you're in for one difficult good time.

The story in Icewind Dale II is not anywhere near the level of Baldur's Gate II, but it was not intended to be. You are not a hero that has the blood of the god of murder in your veins, you're a band of mercenaries out for some coin who just happen to save the North in the process. When Icewind Dale II is looked at by itself rather than a comparison to the other Forgotten Realms games, the story will draw you in and is very well done. The big baddies of the story aren't the devilish Irenicus from Baldur's Gate II who seemed to be pulling at the very core of your character's self, but two outcasts who seek revenge. If they seem to come off as childish and vengeful but immensely powerful, then that is because of the story behind their creation which is quite sad and not for me to tell.

The one complaint I can offer about the game comes from a very common cliché, to the victor go the spoils. I find myself spending anywhere from ten minutes to an hour planning out my spending and selling. Charisma as well as some skills can affect the price of goods or the price which you can sell your goods, and in addition to that, supply and demand plays a role as well, sell all things of one type (a good example being gems) at one time from the same character or prices will go down. Although it's a complaint, it's realistic that a charismatic character could barter better prices especially if trained in that area, and besides, who can complain about coming back to town with sacks bulging with gold and gems, bags full of all sorts of potions, and characters laden with all sorts of magical means of destruction ranging from nondescript weapons of immense power to armors of such a design as to have an effect by themselves. Just remember to buy all the potion bags, scroll cases, and gem bags that you see, and always hold onto bags of holding when they're found.

Last of the dying breed

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: September 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is it. There will be no more of this type of RGP game as true 3D games are taking over. Black Isle does not contemplate an expansion to this, so I encourage folks to buy this game from Black Isle Studios.

What makes this game unique from the original Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate are the changes using AD&D 3rd edition rule. My favorite of all is the character class. Before, certain classes are restricted (clerics can't use blades and mages can't use bows or crossbows). Now, with the new 3rd edition rule, I can have my mage shoot arrows instead of throwing rocks at the enemies. Also new is the newfound flexibility in multiclassing. Now humans can be multi-class too (instead of the old dual-class).

The monk and the barbarian from Baldur's Gate 2 are here, and clerics must now have an affiliation with a diety. Gone, however, are the kits that made Baldur's Gate 2 unique. For example, rangers no longer have the archer, stalker and beastmaster kits. I really missed that. There are lots of changes in the AD&D rule-set that it's worth buying the game to try it out.

What remain are the gameplay, isometric design, and control from the Baldur's Gate series and Icewind Dale. These are tried-and-true and the interface is intuitive and easy to use. If you have played the previous Black Isle Studios games before, you should have no problem getting started.

Another thing I want to mention is the availability of mods on the internet for Icewind Dale 2 (search for weidu). These mods has the potential to improve gameplay and streamline some of the nagging issues in the game. There aren't that many though, but they are worth checking out. In summary, I will miss this cluster of games from Black Isle Studios and I hope more will come.

Sure to beat NWN hands down

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 19
Date: August 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Black Isle gives you once last chance to take a romp through the Dale using the Infinity Engine. I bought NWN with high expectations that were soon superceded by the amazing mediocrity of NWN's single player campaign. Where I looked for a detailed and enthralling story I found none. Instead I got a Diablo hack-fest that wasn't even as fun as Diablo. But with Icewind Dale 2, I know that story and combat are going to have their day in the sun. Do yourself a favor and order Icewind Dale 2. It's like snuggling up with a good book, or chatting with an old friend, and is sure to bring back fond memories.

Difficult, but well worth it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: December 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Icewind Dale 2 is a computer RPG, and the last one to use the Infinity Engine popularized by the Baldur's Gate series. Icewind Dale 2 is a much more linear game, which is often for the best. There's no wandering around for 4 hours trying to figure out what you should do next. The combat system should be familiar to anyone who's played Baldur's Gate or Knights of the Old Republic on XBox. It's basically turn-based real-time. The 3rd edition D&D rules it uses allow for a lot of customization for your party, and it's never too overwhelming. The plot is a little weak, but well-written, and the puzzles and battles are challenging but not impossible. This is probably one of the best RPG's available today.

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.

From a huge fan of the original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 52
Date: April 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If Icewind Dale 2 is as good as the original game, then we have a lot to look forward too. I spent many hours of my life on the original game, the expansion: Heart of Winter, and the downloadable expansion: Trials of the Luremaster.

Icewind Dale 2 is looking to be a really good game because the graphics have been improved and they have switched to the third edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. I just recently finished Pool of Radiance (which isn't that great if you haven't played it) and hope Icewind Dale 2 can way up and above what Pool of Radiance did.

Overall, this game is going to be great and I'll be one of the first ones with a copy!

I'm Not Complaining

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: September 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I really like this game. I've been waiting for a nice RPG that used the 3rd edition rules(that my computer could handle) and this game filled that hole quite nicely. Unlike the Pool of Radiance disaster, this game is worth the at least the box they put it in. It converts the new rules rather well even with a few suprizes to the experienced player. The Balders Gate Engine is the platinum in the pile of silver of RPGing, I wouldn't change a thing. The story starts out a little slow but thats probably to allow you to get the gist of the new style and catch your breath from the incredible character generation system. I made a Drow Wizard! No, really, he's a Drow elf, a subrace of the Moon Elf. That is not where the suprizes end though, oh no. Most of the races have their Forgotten Realms subraces straight from the Setting and some of the classes offer focused sub-choices (for lack of a better name), such as clerics from different patron deities or monks of different orders, like BG2. The side bar is rotated to the bottom of the screen and reorganized, but works the same. All in all, I consider this a great selection for any RPGer's repitiore as it's a solid game with some new twists. And it's fun!

A great sequel of a sequel!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: August 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Icewind Dale II is in essence a sequel of a sequel. I held off on getting this thinking it'd be overkill on a genre I love - but once we got it, we were hooked!

Graphics are really good, in the Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale style. The stone and mosaic templates around the screen, the character portraits, the books on the shelves, the trees in the snow.

You're playing with the 3rd Edition of the D&D rules now, so you get skills, feats, and other great enhancements. You also get some new character types, including half orcs and dark elves (Drizzt!!). There are pre-made parties or you can create your own with up to 6 characters.

Playing the other games helps get you settled in this world, but it isn't necessary. ID2 is 30 years after the original Icewind Dale, when a demon has come to wreak havoc on the land. You run into various characters from the first game, which is great fun.

AI is great, and the quests are challenging and fun. You really get a sense that you're progressing through the world, meeting real, thinking opponents and having to struggle to overcome them. This isn't just a hack-and-slash, it's a game that involves you fully.

Highly recommended!

a masterpiece.....with a few minor flaws...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: November 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is beutiful. it is extremely challenging(perhaps to a fault... nah), but very fun to play. tons of short cuts so you dont have to go clicking 500 different buttons to cast magic missle. semi-humorous levels of gore (its all the same. no matter what. i shot a goblin with an arrow and he exploded...). the only part i found annoying is the thing where you gain experiance far too slowly... after level 2. it took maybe 45 minutes to get from level 1 to level 2. then it took another 5-some hours to get to level 3.
bottom line: GET THIS GAME

IT WILL BE THE BEST

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 23
Date: August 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game will be the best RPG ever made for PC, with tons of spells, hours and hours of game play, and the coolest character portraits.
The gamers will not have much problems with system requeriments, and the visual is just GREAT!!!!!!
It will have much options to construct your 6 characters, a lot of skills and other improvements to kill any red dragon in the way. The game will also feature an hard dificulty level for those who want some challenge with some prizes, like rare objects.
So like I say before IT WILL BE THE BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!

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