Icewind Dale

                 Reviewed by Julian Gregory

This is another RPG which uses the same engine as Baldur's Gate.
This means that anyone familiar with BG will feel at home with IWD
and will be able to get up and running very quickly.

So how does it compare?

Well, when IWD first came out it was supposed to be on much the
same lines, but somewhat easier. Certainly the game only comes on
2 disks, rather than the 5 for BG.

Character generation is very straight forward and intuitive. No
doubt everyone has their own favourite party makeup. It seems that
Magic has a much bigger role to play than in BG. I have only
played the first few scenarios and it is not possible to get very
far just by combat alone.

The storyline is the usual one of going to a particular area,
clearing it of monsters and returning for more instructions.
Although the game appears to be very large, in fact it is very
linear if you want to progress very far. I believe that this was
the intention of the game writers.

The character creation gives you the same types as usual;
Fighters, Priests, Bards, Mages and Thieves. One interesting new,
to me, point is that it is possible for humans to be dual-class.
This means that advancement can be made in one class, which is
then abandoned to start again in another. When the level of the
second class reaches the level of the first class, the character
gains the abilities of both.

When you have selected your character you are given points to
allocate to proficiency slots. These will determine how good your
character will be at say, using a sword, a bow or casting spells.

As I have not got very far into IWD this is just a brief outline
of the beginning. Possibly a fuller review may follow later on
when I have really got to grips with the game.  As you would
expect the first few excursions are really quite simple. If you
cannot defeat all the monsters first time, you can always find
somewhere to retreat to and rest before going back for another
attempt.

The list of enemies in the game is the most varied and unusual I
have come across in this type of game. Most of them I had never
heard of before. It is well worth looking closely at the Bestiary
which comes with the game. This will give you some idea of any
strengths or weaknesses you should be looking for.

Overall, my first impressions were that it seemed to be quite easy
with none of the wandering around trying to decide where to go
next which I seem to do a lot in this type of game. However I have
now come up against my first really serious battle and it is
causing me a great deal of anguish. But I will persevere and hope
to be able to get through without losing 4 of my party, which is
the best I have managed to do so far.

I can recommend the game to the serious role-player from what I
have seen.

















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