A preview of the Icewind Dale II plot

[Memnoch]

No spoilers, so don't worry. Courtesy of John Brandon at Games Domain. Thanks, John!


Icewind Dale II - Preview
Preview, written by: John Brandon
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Expected release: May 2002

In the AD&D universe, Icewind Dale is a place of mystery and intrigue. Nestled between the Spine of the World and the Sea of Moving Ice, it's a goldmine of secret lairs and goblin treasures. You can travel to the farthest northwest corner of Faerun in the Forgotten Realms, cavorting with gruff compatriots, looting from devilish hordes, and slaughtering nasty beasties. If Baldur's Gate is the shining honorable quest, then Icewind Dale is the antithetical journey through hell. For some, it's the coolest and baddest place in AD&D lore.

Just two years ago, the original game from Black Isle Studios used this setting for some intense dungeon crawls and extended battle sequences. The Heart of Winter expansion and a free downloadable add-on soon followed. Now, Interplay is readying Icewind Dale II, and the results might just be even cooler and badder than anything we've seen so far. As a kind of curtain call for the Infinity engine, the game will pull out all the stops and make the most use of every last feature in the engine.

"Our primary goal going into this project was to implement features, effects and situations that had never been done in an Infinity Engine game before," said Doug Avery, associate producer on the project. "Our designers and scripters have done a fantastic job in this regard and IWD2 will show this off very nicely."

The story, as always, will be one of the most intriguing aspects to the game. You'll start out in the port town of Targos, leading a band of mercenaries. As with the previous version, the adventurers are ones you select and configure before the game begins. As Avery explained, after the game starts, the action will heat up immediately.

"You will learn of the threat to Targos from various posts around the town of Luskan promising untold riches for those willing to risk life and limb," said Avery. "Targos is being overrun by goblins and your first priority is to secure the docks and destroy any goblins you come across."

Heading even farther north, you'll eventually visit such locales as the sinister Underdark and the Jungles of Chult. Avery promised more variety in the locations, balancing dungeon sieges with romps through the raging wilderness. Although you may revisit regions from the first game, they will be newly populated with new characters and races.

"In Icewind Dale II, you will be encountering Driders, dark elves that have the body of a spider, and Hook Horrors, which are native predators of the Underdark and Worg-riding (giant wolves) goblins. The goblin can actually separate from the Worg and go flying if you get a good hit on him. It's really cool to see."

When you're not slaughtering legions of goblins, the game will also place many NPCs in your path. Apparently, the story will lead you to both friends and villains, giving you the opportunity to make decisions about who to trust and which quests to take on.

"Characters differ mostly in the roles they play in the story," explained Avery. "Instead of just blindly heading into new areas, you will be told where to go and what doing so will mean for the good of Icewind Dale. Of course you will also be meeting some returning characters from the original game, but thirty years can make a world of difference in people's personalities and outlook on life."

A highlight of the game will be some hundreds of new objects and over 50 new spells, created specifically to match the storyline. Avery described the new Death Armor spell: "[it] surrounds the caster with crackling black energy from the negative material plane. It will damage anyone who strikes the caster in melee, dealing 1d4 + 5 magic damage. Undead are instead healed for a similar amount. Other non-living creatures such as constructs and golems are unaffected."

Another important upgrade is that the engine will allow more creatures on screen at one time. And players will once again be able to use the Heart of Fury difficulty mode, accessible only after the game has been completed, to battle even more monsters at one time, looting greater treasures, and accessing more powerful spells. One nifty addition to the core gameplay is a series of character kits, updated for the sequel.

"Each of the base character classes has been given three kits," said Avery. "We are revisiting our current kits, but right now they include the Riddlemaster, a bard kit that specializes in confusing and taunting his enemies and the Silverstar of Selune, a new cleric kit that worships the goddess Selune and receives special abilities based upon that faith. Every kit receives advantages and disadvantages to balance them out against their base class."

Along with these updates, Icewind Dale II will take advantage of several new 3rd Edition rules. "In 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, higher numbers are better and lower numbers are worse," said Avery. "This is much more intuitive for a novice player or someone unfamiliar with the D&D rules system. We have put in the 3rd Edition base attack bonus, which replaces the 2E THAC0. Armor class values now go upward from the base of ten so a higher AC is better now. Our saving throws have all been converted to 3E (reflex, will and fortitude).

"These are only a few examples of what has already been implemented and we are currently working on even more conversions. We are also using the third edition attribute bonuses and penalties, which means there is a much smaller 'dead zone' between ability scores. Bonuses are now granted for attributes above 11."

Recent titles have used a very similar interface for controlling characters, storing items, and casting spells. Avery promised a completely revised and easier-to-use interface, similar to those used in the RTS genre where menus are situated below the action, instead of on one side.

"We are still going with the character portraits and the familiar buttons," said Avery, "but their placement has been changed completely. I am in the process of laying out the inventory screen and it will be pretty different. We are also looking at including multiple weapon configurations that will allow you to change weapons on the fly."

One controversy among Forgotten Realms fans is that the recent PS2 title "dumbed-down" the rules and strategic elements of the game, focusing instead on pure combat and story. Although Icewind Dale does tend to give the player more battle situations, there's no questioning that the game will still live up to its predecessor's depth of gameplay.

"Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was intended to be a console action game with RPG elements," said Avery. "What that means in a nutshell is that it was meant to have jumping puzzles and to be a hack fest, but it also had an engaging backstory and your characters grew within the game. The Icewind Dale games have always been traditional PC dungeon crawls, but with a more involving storyline. Icewind Dale II presents the player with an even more story-oriented adventure than the original, but hasn't forgotten its roots. We are still aiming at a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl here."

Other new features include a soundtrack from Baldur's Gate alum Inon Zur, with help from Jeremy Soule who created the original music. More puzzles and intriguing dialogue that actually determines the outcome of the game will be other highlights to look forward to. Although Avery did mention that Icewind Dale II is a work in progress, many of the features mentioned here have been mostly finalized. There may be even more 3rd Edition rules implemented, but as it looks now, the sequel will follow in the steps of greatness with an interesting story, plenty of new characters, and new exotic locales to plunder.


Can't wait.

[Azred]

I'll be sure to leave my picture for my girlfriend so she'll remember what I look like after IWD2 is released.

[Memnoch]

Make sure you tape your voice on a cassett tape or something so that she remembers what you sound like, too.

[TheGrandSlayer]

All right *Dances like a sim* :cool:

[marco]

can everyone say WHOOOOOOOOOOOO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! bring'm on and make sure you bring some ketchup, because goblin stew needs it!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ 03-26-2002, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: marco ]

[Gwayne]

this should be another fun one