Enter a UPC code of a game you have to trade
How does it work? Join us FREE!
Already a member?

Fast Sign In using:

Google, Gmail, Youtube, OrkutFacebookTwitterYahooFoursquare

Icewind Dale

Mac Games » Role Playing Games » MacPlay

User Review: review this item | see game reviews
Date Released: Apr 10, 2002
 Add to have list
 Add to wish list

WHAT CAN I GET? (if I trade this item?)

WHAT USERS WANT? (who have this item)

Description

Icewind Dale intentionally avoids a sophisticated role-playing-game plot in favor of classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons dungeoneering. The game is set in the frigid corner of the Forgotten Realms made famous by author R.A. Salvatore's novels. Many fantasy fans will be familiar with the popular setting, but this time you get to create the heroes, and the adventures are your own.

Veterans of Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment will find BioWare's Infinity game engine instantly recognizable and usable. AD&D fans will be pleased with the interpretation of AD&D 2nd Edition rules. With a few exceptions (no kits, no Drow player characters, no two-weapon fighting), you can assume that if it's in the rule books it's in Icewind Dale.

Players can create six characters from standard AD&D 2nd Edition races and classes as they set off to find an ancient evil buried in the Spine of the World. Combat occurs in real time (no turns), but the action can be paused at any time in order to issue new orders, prepare spells, or respond to a new threat. The designers keep combat fast by allowing players to assign an artificial intelligence combat script to individual characters. Your party can encounter a minor monster, fire arrows as it approaches, attack it with fighters when it gets close, and then get healed by the cleric when the fighting is done--all without your intervention.

Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment kept players hooked with an engrossing story line, and, in the case of Planescape, excellent writing. Specifically designed as a more action-oriented "hack and slash" RPG, Icewind Dale relies on combat and character advancement as its own reward. While it lacks the random dungeons and incredible magic items of Diablo, the high experience point cap and the ability to create all six of your party members make Icewind Dale a worthy addition to any AD&D fan's game library. --Michael Fehlauer

Pros:

  • Ability to create your entire party
  • Slick computer game conversion of AD&D 2nd Edition rules
  • Faithful re-creation of the Icewind Dale region as detailed by TSR and R.A. Salvatore
  • High experience point cap lets players wield tremendous power--and face equally powerful foes

Cons:

  • Interface takes up too much of screen
  • Little replay value

Post your review:

We want to hear what you think!

User Review
  Brianna Wing, February 6, 2011

Don't buy this unless you own a very out-of-date Mac!

I received this game in good condition. It installed just fine. The main problem, is that once it is installed, it is not playable. A patch is required to get anywhere past the "party formation" page an any Mac OS X. Said patch, is no longer available for Macs and MacPlay apparently no longer even recognizes the game. It is listed no where on their website. The technical support link listed in the game instruction manual no longer exists; this just links right back to MacPlay's homesite. I'm sure the game is very fun to play; I'll just never know. But I now have two new coasters.

Please don't make my mistake; don't waste your time or money on this worthless piece of plastic.
  J. Shaddix, April 16, 2010

Great Game! But won't run on all machines...

Icewind Dale is a fun adventure...not as character-driven as the Baldur's Gate saga, but still really fun. The only note of caution I give is the game is older and won't run properly on newer computers.
  Pat, September 1, 2009

careful!

I bought this game hoping for a return to the good ol' days of Baldur's Gate 1&2, some of my favorite games of all time. I checked out system requirements, since it's an old game, but everywhere I looked said it worked on OSX. Seeing as my BG2 still works reasonably well, I thought I'd be safe.

I was wrong. My Macbook runs OS 10.5, years ahead of the original OSX Icewind Dale is designed for. If your computer runs an operating system later than 10.1, do not buy this game. It will not run. You might be able to install it, but once you try to create a new game, nothing will work. Macplay once released a patch to run the game on 10.2, but after an hour of searching online, every link to said patch I could find was inactive, a dead link. Macplay has virtually disavowed any connection to Icewind Dale, and has no record of the game anywhere on its website.

So unless you have a computer that you haven't updated in almost a decade, save yourself the disappointment of being unable to start a great adventure and buy something else.
  WGA, January 27, 2007

Fun but had glitches

Really good RPG but it seemed to have a few frustrating glitches that were not addressed with the most current patches. The game would occassionally lock my characters in place and not allow them to travel anywhere. They could melee if bad guys were next to them, and they could cast spells and use ranged weapons as well. It got a bit hairy once in a while and made for some challenging fights. To resolve, I would have to get out of the game completely and restart the session. No reboot required.

I don't know if the game would do this on older Macs - I ran it on a new iMac dual core machine.

I did enjoy the game and have now moved on to Neverwinter Nights.
  Ben Michaelson, September 3, 2004

A very good RPG

Now no offense to all you Baulders Gate 2 Freaks but i liked Icewind Dale better that baulders gate 2. In ID I like the plot better and the game requires less patience. I like the enemys in ID. The only really big downside is that you cant party up with NPCs you create your own party. At first i thought that was a great idea but when i played the game is really wasn't. i missed going into taverns and finding a guy to join my party. It gave you a sense of interaction with the game. Anyway if you like D&D games pick this one up. 4 stars.
  Ben Michaelson "$, September 3, 2004

A very good RPG

Now no offense to all you Baulders Gate 2 Freaks but i liked Icewind Dale better that baulders gate 2. In ID I like the plot better and the game requires less patience. I like the enemys in ID. The only really big downside is that you cant party up with NPCs you create your own party. At first i thought that was a great idea but when i played the game is really wasn't. i missed going into taverns and finding a guy to join my party. It gave you a sense of interaction with the game. Anyway if you like D&D games pick this one up. 4 stars.
  , August 17, 2004

This is a Sweet RPG

This game is a must have for any Mac Gamer. In my opinion better than Baulders Gate one and two and better than Dungeon Siege (not quite as good as Diablo 2). This game has a rich story, good gameplay and pretty good graphic compared to other games at its time. The only downside is poor pathfinding and NPCs don't Join your party. (also im not under 13 as it says it is i just don't have a credit card so i couldnt right a real review)
  themadbard, August 29, 2003

Would have been good... if I hadn't already played BG & BG2

Icewind Dale is a late, late comer to the Mac. If you absolutely need a novel BG/BG2 type fix, okay but as a game it takes a step back from BG2.
  bnw "spaceboy46n2", August 18, 2002

Not quite BG 2, but fun nonetheless

Not nearly as sprawling as BG 2 which leaves less gameplay, barely any side quests. I, for one, consider that to be a fault, as RPG's should be a long journey, giving you maximum time to develop your characters.

That you can create your entire party is very cool. That there are zero NPC's who will join you is a bit [uncool]. Why can't we have it both ways?

The one big thing Icewind Dale has over BG 2, that running it on my iMac (9.2 and 128 RAM) was a lot smoother. Yes, the battles could get choppy, same as BG 2, but the area to area loading screens took a lot less time.

All in all, if you get through BG 2 and are starved for more, then get this.
  choiceweb0pen0, July 1, 2002

RPG at their best

Several months since Icewind Dale showed up at my door step, I'm still hacking and slashing my way through it. I patiently followed Baldur's Gate and its uninspiring add-on 'Tales of the Sword Coast' to the amazing and complex 'Baldur's Gate II:Shadows of Amn', glad to see they're still converting games in this series to Mac. I was disappointed at first to make up a new party from scratch, since you can't import your character from Baldur's Gate, but the gameplay makes up for this flaw. Like most games in this series, it has a sharp learning curve at first, as many of your weaker characters aren't too many stabs from dying. Once you make it through an area or two, it gets better as your characters advance. Quests and areas move in a fairly straight line, unlike 'Shadows of Amn' that gave you an overwhelming number of quests to complete in nearly any order you wish. I did have occasional problems with it crashing in 9.2, but I save frequently, something you should do anyway. I hope they continue to port all the RPG's games in this series..especially when i finish this game in another month or so. Great game, especially if you like RPGs.

Additional info for Icewind Dale

Features:

Does not operate on Mac OS 10.2 or later.