How much use can you get out of a single gaming graphics engine?

Well, if you're Black Isle Studios, the answer is about 6 years.

Icewind Dale II is probably the last game to use the fabled Infinity Engine developed by Bioware Studios for Baldur's Gate in 1998. Across five games, three expansion packs, and six years, the Infinity Engine is the RPG equivalent to the Doom engine. A mix of real-time with the ability to pause and issue orders to your party made the engine's controls stand out and made for brillantly crafted combat. Upgrades have been made to the engine's graphics (from 640x480 256 colors  to 800x600+ with 32-bit color and accelerator support), sound, and core rules (3rd edition in IWD2). However, most of the engine is the same. But I digress. You don't buy a game for it's engine. You buy it for the game.

Icewind Dale II starts with your party answering the call for adventures to come to the aid of the Ten Towns. It seems that the Goblin Hordes have been attacking and every hand is needed to drive them back. You leave the boat that has brought you to Targos only to find the Docks under siege by Goblin Raiders. From there, your adventure begins.

Ok, so it's not the most plot-heavy D&D Computer game out there. However, the combat is a delight. Through careful use of tactics, you can find a solution to every combat encounter. Yes, there are some very hard battles, and there are times you will need to retreat and rest before defeating all the enemies. Unlike Icewind Dale 1, however, this is not required in EVERY battle. Maybe I've just gotten better at these games, or maybe I've made a better party, but this game seems much more even (although I've heard many people make the opposite claim). The scale at which the difficulty is set seems very well crafted, save for the occasional run in with Crystal Golems and the like.

Personally, I feel that Icewind Dale II (and many other Infinity Engine games) are about tactics, and in this respect the game performs well. The Infinity Engine 'pause-order-unpause' system works well, as it always has. The new toolbar that controls the game is well laid out and is very customizable for each character.

The game, although graphically dated at times, is very atmospheric. The dialog is well-written and gives you a sense of accomplishment as word of your achievements is carried through the town. There are many text-descriptions of objects and the environments are put together nicely. The spell effects are good, upgraded slightly from the last Baldur's Gate. Sound is decent, although a fair amount of the character voices are recycled from earlier games. There also is a problem with the music cutting out, and by cutting out, I mean cutting out. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to do a fade out and it would sound worlds better.

Other than that, there's not much I can say about this game that most people don't know. It's a typical D&D adventure from Black Isle, and for many people, including me, that's all we needed to bring us back into the fold. A very enjoyable dungeon romp.
 
 

84% of the llamas enjoy watching Goblins fall at their hands