Icewind Dale II is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, released on August 27, 2002. Like its 2000 predecessor Icewind Dale, the game is set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting in the Icewind Dale region. The player assumes control of a group of mercenaries in a war between the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale and a coalition of persecuted races and religions.
The game is designed as an action-oriented alternative to other Infinity Engine games, with less emphasis on exploration and story. It uses a real-time adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Third Edition ruleset. The Infinity Engine was modified to comply with the Third Edition, but the team was forced to remove certain rules because of the engine's outdated nature. It was the final game to be developed using the Infinity Engine.
The game was well received by critics, who praised its combat, pacing, and use of the Third Edition rules. However, some reviewers felt that the graphics and engine had become outdated, and could not compete with its contemporaries.
Gameplay Icewind Dale II is a real-time adaptation of the D&D Third Edition ruleset. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective, and a head-up display (HUD) occupies the bottom of the screen. Accessible from the HUD are an automap and a journal that records quests and important events. The player uses a point-and-click interface to interact with the game; for example, clicking on the ground moves the selected player character, and clicking on a passive non-player character (NPC) will initiate dialogue. When conversations occur, the game presents multiple dialogue options. The game world is separated into area maps—obscured by fog of war—that are revealed as the area is explored. A multiplayer mode is available for up to six players over a local area network or the Internet. The "Heart of Fury" mode is also available, which increases the game's difficulty and contains more powerful items. The game features over seven hundred items; the designers included a system that randomizes the items the player obtains from enemies.
When beginning the game, the player may choose to play a pre-selected party, or to create a party of up to six characters; unlike the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale II does not permit the player to import characters from previous Icewind Dale games. While creating characters, the player chooses their gender, race, class, alignment, and attributes, among other things. The player can sometimes choose a subvariety of a race or class, such as Deep Gnome or Cleric of Ilmater. Race, alignment, and attributes affect the player character's available dialogue options, as well as NPC responses. For example, some NPCs will be prejudiced against certain races, or a character of low intelligence will have limited dialogue options. Some sub-races in the game are significantly more powerful than the core races present in D&D Third Edition; these sub-races must earn more experience points than others before leveling up. Characters can reach a maximum level of thirty. It is possible to add additional characters to the party at any time, including during combat.
Icewind Dale IIs gameplay is focused on combat. The combat system is a real-time adaptation of the turn-based system used in D&D Third Edition, which caused the developers to remove certain aspects, such as "attacks of opportunity". Dice rolls are simulated by the game. In place of the turn-based rounds used in D&D, characters have independent rounds, during which they may execute one or more actions, depending on such factors as the duration of the action. The player can pause the game and issue orders to characters at any time. Each character can carry a limited amount of items.
Plot
Setting Icewind Dale II takes place in the Forgotten Realms D&D campaign setting, on the continent of Faerûn. It centers on the northern Icewind Dale region, and is set thirty years after the original game. The game begins in the harbor town of Targos, one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, which is under siege by a goblin army. The goblins are directed by the Legion of the Chimera, an army composed of outcast races and religious factions, such as goblinoids, half-breeds, and followers of winter goddess Auril. Targos hires mercenaries to defend against the attack. Areas encountered in the game include: the Black Raven Monastery, built over an entrance to the Underdark; the town of Kuldahar, constructed around a magical tree that emits heat; the Severed Hand, an ancient elven fortress that was lost during a war with goblinoids; and the Dragon's Eye, a network of volcanic caverns inhabited by yuan-ti. Other areas include the Underdark and the Jungles of Chult.
Story The game begins as the player's group of mercenaries arrives by ship to defend Targos. They report to the town palisade and fend off an assault by the goblin army. Afterward, the mayor of Targos orders them to launch an offensive against the goblin army. The group kills the army's chieftain and discovers he was under the command of a woman named Sherincal. When they return to Targos, the mayor asks them to rendezvous with reinforcements from Neverwinter. The group travels to meet them in an airship piloted by Oswald Fiddlebender.
A storm causes the ship to crash, and the group awakens to discover that a glacier blocks the reinforcements' path. While investigating the glacier, the group finds Sherincal, a half-dragon, guarding the entrance to an Aurilite temple. They learn that Sherincal leads the Legion of the Chimera's western forces and the leaders of the Legion of the Chimera, cambion twins named Isair and Madae, reside in the Severed Hand. Inside the Aurilite temple, the group finds a prisoner from Kuldahar, who asks them to warn Kuldahar of the threat posed by the Legion of the Chimera. The group then creates a passage through the glacier and meets with the reinforcements.
As the group travels to Kuldahar, they meet a drow (dark elf) named Nym, who tells them the pass to Kuldahar is guarded by the Legion of the Chimera and an alternate path through the Underdark exists. Later, Isair and Madae locate the group with information from Nym. They state their intention to attack Kuldahar and warn the group to not interfere. The group then passes through the Black Raven Monastery to enter the Underdark. After exiting the Underdark, they are flown to Kuldahar by Oswald Fiddlebender.
When the group lands in Kuldahar, they discover it has been invaded by the Legion of the Chimera. They meet the Archdruid of Kuldahar, who tells them that a portal has been opened to allow yuan-ti from the jungles of Chult to assault Kuldahar. After the group prevents the attack, the Archdruid tells them they may reach the Severed Hand through an exit on the bottom floor of the Dragon's Eye. The group travels through the Dragon's Eye and proceeds to the Severed Hand. Once inside, they learn that the war between the Ten Towns and the Legion of the Chimera was caused by the mayor of Bryn Shander, who had sent Isair and Madae poisoned food. They also discover that a mythal that was cast on the Severed Hand has been corrupted, and the structure will be transported to the plane of limbo. Eventually, the group finds Isair and Madae and kills them.
Development During summer 2001, Black Isle Studios employed three development teams. These included the Icewind Dale team, the team developing Torn, and a team working on an unannounced project. Before and during Torns development, several members of its team expressed interest in developing another game using the Infinity Engine. The development team was not made aware of Black Isle Studios' decision to develop Icewind Dale II until Torns cancellation. Lead designer J. E. Sawyer described: "I don't know when the producers decided to make the game, but I was told that we were making the game when I learned that TORN was being cancelled ... on a Wednesday afternoon, and that Feargus Urquhart asked me to work with Steve Bokkes to create a story and area overview by Thursday afternoon. Steve and I talked about it for the rest of the day. I went home that night and worked on the overviews until the next day. I came in and turned the docs in, and after the Friday division meeting, the project was in development". During this period, Interplay Entertainment relied on Black Isle Studios' games to alleviate financial trouble, which put pressure to release games quickly. The decision to develop Icewind Dale II was based partly on the original Icewind Dales reception, and the development teams' ability to create a game with the Infinity Engine relatively quickly. Sawyer said of the decision: "In all honesty, the reasons for making Icewind Dale II have to do with limiting risks and maximizing our chances for a popular title". Conceptualization of Icewind Dale II progressed during the development of the Icewind Dale expansions, and production began late July 2001, shortly after the completion of Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster. After six months of development, Icewind Dale II was officially announced on February 4, 2002.
Icewind Dale II was originally planned to be an incomplete conversion to the D&D Third Edition ruleset, with many rules omitted. The kit system (class specialization) introduced in Baldur's Gate 2 was to be used, but this idea was later abandoned. Sawyer and several other members of the team pushed for the game's conversion to Third Edition. The development team was eventually granted an extension, which allowed them to complete the change to Third Edition rules. The Infinity Engine required extensive modification to comply with Third Edition rules, as it had originally been designed for Second Edition rules; certain elements of the rules were removed due to interface and engine issues. The game's interface was redesigned, and all-new art was created. It features new item icons, with new spell icons by Brian Menze; Menze had previously created Planescape: Torments spell icons. Jason Manley, the portrait artist for the previous Icewind Dale games, left Black Isle Studios in late 2001; several new works he painted before his departure were later used in Icewind Dale II. Black Isle Studios artist Justin Sweet was asked to substitute. The game's resolution was increased to a minimum resolution of 800x600, with an unofficially supported maximum resolution of 2048x1536.
J. E. Sawyer managed rule implementation, but the areas of the game were divided between designers. For example, designer Chris Avellone created the opening sequence, designer Dave Maldonado developed the Black Raven Monastery and a large area of wilderness, and designers John Deiley and Damien Foletto created the ending areas. Partway through development, Sawyer left the team to work as the lead designer on another internal project; Dave Maldonado and Chris Avellone were given his areas to finish. The developers wanted the game to contain more breaks from combat, with character interaction and puzzle solving, than the previous Icewind Dale. The decision to include more puzzles was influenced by the positive reception to the puzzles in Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster.