Black Isle Studios used the famed Bioware Baldur's Gate Infinity Engine to create the first installment in this series, and returns to it in this title. I have played a few of Icewind's predecessors - most recently Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance for PS2. While that proved to be a relatively easy walkthrough of a game, Icewind Dale 2 proved to be a far more challenging romp. You'll find yourself loading the game several times in quite a few places to retool your party for an encounter that you've previously lost. In this sense, don't expect to hack and slash your way through the entire game in several sittings - it will take a good amount of your precious time to beat this game. Party strategy is integral and the choices that you make before you enter areas with potential conflicts will affect how well you can deal with your adversaries. In the same context this can be construed as a weakness because without actually traveling into an area how can you possibly know how to prepare for it? That mirrors the way it would really be were you actually there, and I look at that as a strong point to be made for the game. If you fail, try again and don't whine about it.

Unfortunately, the story takes a good while to get going, and it's somewhat disappointing even when it does. Obviously, I don't want to discourage your progress by spoiling the plot, but to my eyes it was a letdown and hardly and inspiration for playing the game. Had the developer spent a bit more time crafting the tale, it could've been quite good. However, it never came together and took too long to get started in the first place. It's further muddled by mindless go-and-fetch quests that do little to inspire and do much to distract from what's a weak story to begin with. A few of the dungeons seem to drag on for what seems like an eternity, and it just shouldn't feel like that.

The game play itself is handled rather well, using Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition rules. These include a few new classes for you to experiment with, such as the Barbarian and Sorcerer, and conversation skills. Barbarians, for example, can "rage" once a day which increases their strength and constitution by a few points and makes them that much more formidable when you're up against it. Be certain when you use this that your opponent will be vanquished relatively quickly, however, as the Barbarian class suffers from reduced stats after the rage is over. Some have likened the Infinity Engine to a glorified real-time Strategy (RTS) engine - which I can somewhat agree with. Being able to pause the battles to issue particular commands to specific members of your party is an important feature that IWD2 has, and it makes battles on a grand scale easier to manage. I've always had difficulty with RTS's due to the fact that many of them force you to control so many aspects of a particular battle that it's impossible to manage. Such games lose their realism because characters under your command are doing things that they would never otherwise do. A particular weakness of this engine is that one or more of your party always seems to wander and take the long way around for no apparent reason. This is more of a pain in the neck than a real detriment, however. That being said, the engine and gameplay function rather well and are among the strongest aspects that IWD2 brings to the table.

Graphically, Icewind Dale 2 isn't setting any new standards by any stretch of the imagination, and looks and feels older than it is. I've always been one to point out that the way a title feels and plays is much more important than how beautiful it is. There is many a title that can passed off as looking great but playing like a dog. I'd rather have it look like a dog and play well, thank you very much. If you're expecting mind blowing next generation graphics then you'd be best advised to look elsewhere. If you're expecting the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale appearance that you've become accustomed to, then this will match nicely with your expectations. Again, if it ain't broke don't fix it, and IWD2 doesn't need to be a graphic marvel.

One the other hand, the music from Inon Zur (of Baldur's Gate fame) is inspiring and really begs to be heard more often than it is. You'll find yourself replaying various sections of the game just to hear the music again. It is that good. My only complaint is the choice to end the music right after the battle is over or when entering an area - there should be a constant reminder of how well this is composed. Unbelievable. Really.

In the random thoughts department, I think the game suffers a bit from being very sparse in the money and magic departments early on. It seems to be very frugal in the beginning and overly generous late. Hard to image that a party of characters with professions are all running around nearly naked without a weapon, and penniless, to boot. This criticism can be made of many RPG's however, and Icewind Dale 2 is not alone here. The game will only have replay value for those who wish to play the entire game again for the sake of seeing different classes and how they develop. Otherwise, there isn't much to motivate one to play it again. The first trip, however, will take you many hours, and despite the weakness of the story is well worth the journey.

· · · Haohmaru