Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition – Review
If you’re a fan of old school RPG’s like D&D, chances are you’ve heard of Icewind Dale. Back then, it was one of the best games in its genre. The developers have allowed us a second chance to relive the nostalgia in this game with the Enhanced Edition! Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition brings all goodies of the original game and its expansion and well, enhances it!
Story
Before starting the game, you get a very pleasant and entertaining story teller who situates the game into the story. The game takes place in a desolate and frozen wasteland called Icewind Dale. It’s separated from the rest of the world by a huge mountain, called The Spine of the World. The wasteland of Icewind Dale has been home to the barbarian people of the Utgarde for centuries. They lived simple lives, huddled together in small tribes. Free, proud and independent from the rest of the world. One day, an archmage named Arakon came to Icewind Dale and attacked the barbarian tribes. A barbarian shaman tried to rally the remaining barbarian tribes to unite against Arakon, but alas, in his final stand he summoned an army of undead through a portal. The shaman saw his army being slaughtered but suddenly, out of nowhere, he saw a sign that it was his time to strike. He destroyed the portal but died doing so. This is where the story begins.
Icewind Dale’s story starts in Easthaven, where you and your party are resting in a bar. You hear rumors that something is wrong down south and you should investigate it by going to the town of Kuldahar. On the way there, you are ambushed by frost giants who cause an avalanche, splitting you and your reinforcements from each other. It’s very weird for frost giants to attack travelers, so something must be wrong… You and your party then continue to the town just to find out an evil and mysterious force has been causing abnormal weather patterns and monster behavior. As with most games, you then decide to delve further into this mystery and try to solve it.
Heart of Winter, the original expansion for the game is also included in the Enhanced Edition. The story here focuses more on the shaman who tries to bond the tribes together and the future battles that come.
The story in the game is extremely long and will take at least 40 hours to complete on normal difficulty. The story is pretty good though so it’s fun to go through, but people not familiar with the game might get annoyed because it’s so long and difficult.
Graphics
The graphics aren’t modern in any way, but do feature some improvement over the original game. It’s an extremely light weight game and even a toaster should be able to run it, seeing as it will also release on mobile devices. The game feels and looks like a very old game but that doesn’t really matter in a D&D style of game because you mainly play it for the story. It has also been adjusted to fit on wide displays and it runs well on high resolutions due to the scaling UI which can be toggled in the options.
Sound
Sound wise the game is pretty enjoyable. The cutscenes have very pleasant voices for storytelling and it feels like you’re listening to an old audio book. Of course, not all dialogue has a voice actor to it, only the main quest line features audio dialogues, which are pretty neat.
Furthermore, the music is amazing and the sound effects fit together nicely with the rest of the game. The music is one of the best I’ve ever heard for RPG games. Cities feel very peaceful and even though it’s an old game with old soundtracks, they still sound very nice! They immerse you into the peaceful cities, barren landscapes and brutal battles!
Gameplay
If you’re new to the game, it might be best to look at the tutorial videos in the home screen before starting a new game. Icewind Dale is a very difficult game which ramps up really quickly so it’s worth to take a look. You won’t get there with the tutorial videos only though, be prepared to quick save before every battle and re-loading your last quick save in order to get the best value out of a fight. Even your first fight could be your last!
The first thing that comes to mind when starting a new game is whether to create your own party or select the pre-generated one. Veteran players might feel comfortable with creating a party that fits with their play style, but since there are so many options, you’re better off using the one provided to you if you’re new to the genre. With that being said, on to the gameplay!
Basically the whole game is point and click, but some actions can also be controlled with your keyboard. You can select party members with numbers 1-6 and buttons on your main bar can be used with the function keys. Another really important button is the one in the lower left corner, which pauses the game. You’ll be pressing this button a lot since pausing the game allows you to position your party, queue up abilities and get a better view of the battlefield when you’re outnumbered.
Fighting mainly revolves around positioning your units, pausing the game a lot and knowing when and where to use your abilities and spells. Abilities and spells have a fairly long cooldown so you’ll have to think twice before activating them. Usually, you should place your units so your tanks are in the front and casters and ranged units are in the back. It’s also worth it to retreat if you can make a better defense in a small corridor by doing so!
Winning battles awards you experience and gold. Gold can of course be used to purchase armor, spells, buff scrolls, potions and much more! Always be sure to keep a bit of spare gold in your pouch though because reviving fallen party members costs gold! Leveling up your party members sometimes awards them experience points, which can be spent in the level up menu. Here you can specialize in every skill your character has to offer. You can increase their effectiveness with spells, heavy armor, stealthiness and much more. If you’re playing on normal difficulty, leveling up characters that can use spells also opens up new opportunities. You don’t get spells that easily though. You’ll have to find, buy, scavenge or loot them from fallen enemies!
Of course, the game wouldn’t be called the “Enhanced Edition” if it didn’t have some new features, and it has some! The game features 6 expanded quests, 60 new items, 31 new class and kit combinations, 122 new spells, cross-platform multiplayer and a new “Story mode” difficulty. This Story Mode allows you to enjoy the game’s story without having to go through the hassle of re-loading 20 times to win 1 difficult battle, so it’s definitely a plus to help out new players once in a while!
Conclusion
Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition is a game that will appeal to many veteran players. It has all the goodies it used to have and adds even more. Now you can even share the fun online with friends! The game is extremely long (maybe too long?) and has big replay value, so people who love the game might kill more hours on it than they’re comfortable with.
Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition - Review,
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