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They're a relatively new invention, but it's hard to imagine how anyone survived without a microwave oven. In the same way, it's also difficult to remember what role-playing video games looked like before Baldur's Gate. Complex character advancement, tactical combat, epic story and a huge playground are some of the things that made Black Isle's RPGs legends in their own time. Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale II are the first cousins of the classic, and are now available in a collection that includes the Heart of Winter expansion pack and lots of other goodies for a ridiculously low price. If you've never played any of the aforementioned games or a traditional RPG, Icewind Dale is about the adventures of your party of up to six characters. They head off on one quest after another and you control where they go, what they do, how they advance and, of course, how they fight. Icewind Dale takes place in the Forgotten Realms of D&D fame. It's story is relatively straightforward, with less of the petty side quests than most RPGs. It is a tactical combat game, easy on the role playing. The Heart of Winter expansion pack includes five new areas.
Icewind Dale II is more of the same, with some excellent improvements. First, your party is completely customizable. Instead of looking for NPCs to join your group, you create each character at the beginning of the game. You can also hook up online with other players and play through the game together. Finally, while it's still mostly a game about combat, there is much more attention to the story in Icewind Dale II. Your reasons for hacking your way around the region are more fleshed out. The fights get bigger and bigger, more and more intense, and some are as challenging as you'll ever see in a video game. So be careful when you choose that difficulty level. The collection also includes a CD of the soundtrack, strategy guides for both games, four additional levels and several large character portraits. The soundtrack is a nice addition to anyone's instrumental/soundtrack collection, particularly if you're into background music that ranges from somber and moody to urgent and triumphant. A nice plus is that if you're reading this Web site your computer can probably play all the games in this collection without any trouble. The minimum specs are a PII-350 with 128 Mb of RAM, but the manual recommends a PII-600. Wherever the roots to Black Isle role playing games lie (I'd argue the SSI games of the 80s), these games had far too short of a life span. We'll be seeing GTA and Halo clones for years, but there are only a handful of games based on this model. The formula for RPGs like these has been pushed aside in favor of real time strategy and persistent-world online games. Icewind Dale: The Ultimate Collection is a huge installment of one of the most addicting and satisfying games ever made. If you've never tried them, you're missing out on one of the best chapters of PC gaming's history.
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