Icewind Dale is self-consciously similar to Baldur's Gate: Both games take place in the Forgotten Realms, and Icewind Dale recycles not only Baldur's Gate's engine but also a good deal of the older game's graphics. Specifically, your six player characters are represented with the same small, animated sprites from BioWare's older game, and you might quickly recognize a lot of the equipment that was carried over. The highly anticipated sequel to BioWare's hit role-playing game Baldur's Gate is just a few months away, and its publisher, Interplay, released Icewind Dale to tide over role-playing game fans while they wait. But Icewind Dale isn't just a pastime; it's an excellent game in its own right. Though it's based on the Baldur's Gate engine and is also set in the same Advanced Dungeons & Dragons universe, Icewind Dale's originality and fast pacing make the game uniquely satisfying.







Otherwise, Icewind Dale is a good-looking game that has an especially noteworthy original symphonic soundtrack by composer Jeremy Soule. The sweeping score seems to lend purpose to everything that goes on in the game. Icewind Dale also uses an effective storytelling technique in which the game's six chapters are broken down into narrated cinematic sequences detailing the game's events as chapters in a beautifully illustrated tome. Unfortunately, some of the player-character voices sound really bad, especially compared with the rest of the spoken dialogue in the game: Icewind Dale features many exceptional voice-acting performances for the game's major nonplayer characters. The game's main villain is especially memorable.

Icewind Dale Tech Info
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Genre: Role-Playing
ESRB: TEEN
ESRB Descriptors: Mild Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Animated Blood

Minimum System Requirements
System: PII 233 or equivalent
RAM: 128 MB
Video Memory:15 MB
Hard Drive Space: 1000 MB

GameSpot Score: 8.6 great