ICEWIND DALE

            A review/introduction by Brian Burke

If you're an RPG fan then you are likely to have played Baldur's
Gate and probably the 'bolt on' Tales of the Sword Coast too. If
you enjoyed playing those games then you're not going to be
disappointed with Icewind Dale as it is more of the same. Imagine
the Might and Magic series; in essence the gameplay engine was
established with the first game, future games merely enhancing the
'eye-candy' element. Same here with Icewind Dale.  Graphically
it's an improvement, with the monsters really well defined. I also
liked the feature where you can track your characters movement in
the 'overview' screen mode. There's always one who lags behind!

It may be that I've now become totally familiar with the game
engine but I find Icewind Dale slightly easier to play than
Baldur's Gate. At the start of the game you have the option to
take a pre- rolled party of six, or to create your own. I always
prefer the latter, as time spent here gives you payback later in
the game. By the same token I always save the game prior to level
promotion attempts. At early levels you can achieve 13 Hit Points
for warrior class characters, around 10 for a Thief and Cleric,
and up to 8 for a Mage. At higher levels (8/9 upwards) it becomes
very difficult to achieve a higher points allocation and restoring
games will severely test your patience level.

As ever, in a Dungeons and Dragons game, there are a multiple of
character classes and races to choose from. The manual details
their various strengths. Mages learn their spells from scrolls
(again save the game prior to learning a scroll, just in case it
fails) but Clerics are awarded their spells once they have
'Levelled Up'. Rangers are able to cast the Cure Light Wounds
spell at Level 8.

As I write I have entered Chapter 5 of the game. In all there are
seven phases with each Chapter, save for the link from Chapter 5
to 6 clearly defined. You are led by the nose through the
Prologue, set in Easthaven, to the next part of the game, the
Prologue serving as a training phase. Your party will find the
armour it requires throughout the game. I only found it necessary
to buy potions and missiles (arrows, bolts and stones). You'll
need to keep returning to Kuldahar to stock up on these in the
earlier Chapters. Later in the game you can buy arrows etc. from
the Severed Hand area. Potions are available back in Kuldahar and
in the Dorn's Deep area. You should note that certain potions and
arrows are in short supply. For example any arrow above the
standard one soon sells out, and these are only available in the
Severed Hand area. So do certain potions beyond the normal blue
healing potions and the mauve healing/poison relief potions.

Just like the Might and Magic series, arrows play an essential
part in winning the game. If you choose hand-to-hand combat you'll
find it quite tough to escape unharmed. I make frequent use of a
Shadowed Thief to expose the location of the baddies, and frequent
use of the spacebar to pause the game and concentrate firepower on
a single enemy before repeating the process on the next one.

Some battles are very challenging and you'll need use the Summon
Monsters spells (available to both your Mage and Cleric in various
forms) to aid you. Use protection Potions to raise your AC and so
on. Trolls need to be taken out with Fire before they finally keel
over, Agganazar's Scorcher works well for this, although the
Fireball spell doesn't - go figure! You can also buy 'fire bombs'
to hurl and these take out the Troll once they've been beaten to
the ground.

Inventory management is an ever present feature of D&D games and
Icewind Dale is no exception. When first selling an item you
should lump all one item type onto one character. This way you
maximise your returns as the price drops considerably when a
second character sells the same item.  Once you have built up your
money I suggest you leave low cost swords and axes behind, just
take the higher value stuff. The exception is arrows as indicated
earlier.

Unlike Baldur's Gate regular promotions come along at frequent
intervals. A good trick to earn experience is to rest frequently
to generate baddies. Entering the Dorns's Deep cave also works

well. Each time the Ettins (3000 exp pts) and Blue Myconids (750
exp pts) respawn.

I'd estimate that the game has a good sixty hours gameplay in it
which makes it good value for money. So if you're at a loose end
waiting for Baldur's Gate 2 or Pools of Radiance 2, have a crack
at Icewind Dale - it'll keep you busy for a while.












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