Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter - PC

This was a hugely disappointing game. Extremely linear, and ridiculously short. Not, repeat, not worth the money! If you've played Baldurs Gate II, basically this was the equivalent of a single quest. If you haven't played Baldurs Gate II, buy that game instead. You definitely won't be disappointed.

This was one of the more expensive expansion packs I've ever seen, but sadly, it was also one of the shortest. Though the story of the game is okay, there is really not much new for this, other then the graphical enhancements made in Baldur's Gate 2 that they back ported to IWD. The new monsters (actually new, not old ones with a new skin) can be counted on one hand, and other then one of them - the final boss, they are kind of boring. Unless you have money to burn, this game should be passed on...

Ok

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter takes place in a frosty climate, in a harsh terrain separated from the rest of the world by the mountain range known as the Spine of the World. The slowly unraveling plot revolves around the resurrected corpse of an ancient king, possessed by some unseen force that gathers the barbarian tribes into a fearsome army. Interaction with a wide variety of NPCs, each with unique motivations, keeps the story flowing. The game starts slowly with creation of six characters from scratch, using standard second-edition AD&D race and class combinations. It's a laborious process, requiring attribute assignment as well as redistribution of points. While the customization possibilities are varied, character creation is six times longer for six distinct characters. Further customization includes a choice of weapon skills, portraits, and even character voices. The assumption is made that you're familiar with the AD&D game, and it's a trade-off of customization versus playability. The character customization feature can't be underestimated in terms of enjoyment for players who take care with their character's biography, portrait, and color scheme. Combat is not the first action your characters perform, a welcome relief from similar games. Heart of Winter's plot advancement requires taking the time to talk to a wide variety of NPCs. The interaction is rewarding in its own right, as characters can actually gain experience through successfully uniting a family, uncovering a lie, or finding out a bit of lore. The party wanders around for quite some time before traveling off to the barbarian lands, where the action really heats up. Heart of Winter, like Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, is Dungeons & Dragons with all the irritating flaws removed. Bards have actual songs they can use, spells are represented by easily recognizable icons, memorization and spell casting are a snap, thieves pick pockets, clerics cast spells, and wizards even specialize. Dual-class, multi-class, and weapon specialization are all included in the game to good effect. Exploration in Heart of Winter uses an interface that seems better suited to real-time strategy games. Each area lies shrouded in a "fog of war" until characters pass through and reveal the terrain. Even though the game still runs in 640x480 resolution, the large prerendered backgrounds have exceptional detail. Random weather effects add to the impressive and engaging environment. Alignment and attributes matter, too. Characters with various charisma attributes and distinct alignments garner different responses from NPCs, while some actions reinforce a good character's nature. Killing townspeople is an abominable act, which speaks for itself and has serious repercussions on character interaction. As for characters, you pick a voice for each and they all recite their lines on cue. It's very entertaining, for example, when a surly female gets annoyed and husks: "Yes, what IS it?" or a snickering thief mutters "What now?" Even more amusing are the phrases the characters utter when they die. Combat is positively lethal, if not impossible, without intermittent pausing. Trying to distinguish a character from the enemy can be extremely difficult, especially in the chaos of combat. Nevertheless, the spell effects are magnificent as characters chant ancient spells with magical effects blasting across the screen. Other flaws include a miserable path finding function, often requiring repeated clicks to enter a dwelling, or when the party grinds to a halt if the leader gets stuck behind a stool. A potentially fatal flaw is the possibility of accidentally killing a character that is integral to the plot, which can effectively ruin the game. Ultimately, the story makes the game, albeit with interspersed and occasionally annoying action sequences. But each combat has a purpose, which makes gameplay challenging and rewarding.

I did get what I asked for this time. Was a little disappointed that the second disk didn't come with it, but overall I am happy with the purchase.

Yes, as most reviewers have noted, Heart of Winter isn't a very long game (though it's not as brief as some would make it out to be). And, yes, for those who bought this title when it first came out and paid the full sticker price (30+ bucks), I can understand the frustration voiced by so many gamers. Now, however, about a year after Heart of Winter first appeared, the price has dropped to bargain bin status: I bought HoW at my local mall for ten bucks! For this price, HoW doesn't disappoint. The game is on the shorter side, but I'd say it's the equivalent of 1 1/2 levels from the original Icewind Dale. Or, for those who prefer to measure their games in hours, HoW took me exactly one week to finish, approximately 20 hours. Those who have already played Baldur's Gate II will be familiar to the additions found in HoW: higher resolution, drop-away interface, gem bags, potion bags, scroll cases. There are some new enemies, new spells, and a final battle that is fairly challenging. Lastly, most Icewind Dale fans know that for those who own Heart of Winter there is a free downloadable expansion, Trials of the Luremaster, which adds another 15+ hours of gameplay. In other words, the time to buy the Icewind Dale expansion is now: you'll essentially receive 30-40 hours of gameplay for (in my case) ten dollars or so. You can't beat that! As for the game itself, HoW is mostly enjoyable. The enemies, overall, are much tougher, so you won't be able to mow through them like you did throughout Icewind Dale. Also, although you need 9th level characters or higher to play the expansion, I recommend not playing HoW until your characters have hit the maximum hit point level allowed by the original (1,800,000). My only complaint about HoW is that it's really linear. Sure, Icewind Dale was linear, too, but HoW forces you to literally trudge forward along, say, an icy cave path and smite the hordes of baddies that pop up (and there are a lot of them). And because the enemies are significantly tougher than most of the creatures in ID, the expansion at times can seem tedious: you feel as if you're logging in tiresome hours at the keyboard rather than enjoyable hours. Still, for those who didn't satisfy their crave at the end of Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster should provide a decent fix.

As a diehard fan of CRPGs, and especially of BG1, BG2, and Icewind Dale I was sorely disappointed in this expansion pack. Unlike Tales of the Sword Coast, which proved to be a challenge, my "final save" party from IWD breezed through this easily. I finished this expansion pack on the second day. Sure there were some graphic improvements and higher experience levels, but this thing was nowhere near worth..., not for just the few quests that you get for it. The boss, or "foozle," or whatever you might call him, was a disappointment, too, much less difficult than similar monsters in BG2. If you have unlimited funds, go for it, but I would say that you should wait for it to show up in the bargain bin.

Excellent!