Icewind Dale incorporates the award-winning gameplay elements from Baldur's Gate, offering players a chance to hone their combat skills while exploring the enormous caverns and dungeons beneath the Forgotten Realms. Players create a party of adventurers in the frigid north. They must combat monstrous cyclopses and frost giants that dwarf the player characters as they search for an evil lying deep within the Spine of the World. Icewind Dale offers character advancement from levels 1 through 15 in the most recent adaptation of AD&D rules.

* * *

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.

Features:

• Utilizes an enhanced version of the Bioware Infinity Engine as used in Baldur's Gate
• Ability to create your entire party
• 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
• Developed by Black Isle Studios, the group behind the bestselling role playing games Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment
• A completely new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure with an epic storyline in the tradition of Baldur's Gate
• Includes 3D technology developed for Baldur's Gate II that allows for incredible spell and environment effects
• New spells, equipment and abilities provide a higher level of gameplay
• Multiplayer support for up to 6 players over LAN or Internet connections

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is the first expansion pack for the role-playing game Icewind Dale. Like all expansion packs, it requires you to own the original title in order to play. Heart of Winter shares the same time frame with Icewind Dale--the year 1281, the Year of the Cold Soul--and its five new major areas are located just north of the original game's locale. Players can take their ninth level or above Icewind Dale characters to Heart of Winter via a small house in the great tree town of Kuldahar. Alternately, players who have beaten Icewind Dale can import living or deceased characters to Heart of Winter, as long as at least one character survived with the same ninth level or above restriction. Or players can simply generate a new party.

Both Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale use AD&D Second Edition rules; however some of the special powers and abilities in the third edition are available in the expansion. For example, thieves have access to sneak attack and crippling strike abilities, and the new spell progression tables for rangers and paladins have been taken from the third edition rules. In addition to new areas, powers, and abilities, Heart of Winter features: new portraits, new character sound sets, new monsters, 50 new spells, 800 x 600 resolution, drop-away interface, gem bags, potion bags, scroll cases, hot keys that highlight normal doors and ground items, and the ability to buy multiple items from stores. The biggest change is the ability for all character classes to reach 30th level, and druids can advance higher still.

Features:

• Expansion pack to role-playing game Icewind Dale
• All character classes can advance to 30th level, and Druids can advance much higher
• Uses AD&D Second Edition rules, with some special powers and abilities from third edition
• New special abilities for Paladins, Rangers, Thieves, Bards, and Druids
• Players can import their 9th-level (or higher) Icewind Dale characters

Journey deep into the Spine of the World, a harsh and unforgiving environment teaming with merciless beasts and terrible dangers. In this exclusive adventure pack developed by award-winning Black Isle Studios, you will find the following:

1. Icewind Dale (2 CD's)
2. Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Expansion (1CD)
3. Icewind Dale II (2 CD's)
4. Icewind Dale soundtrack
5. Icewind Dale II bonus disk
6. Icewind Dale strategy guides, trailer of IWD II

Features:

Icewind Dale

• Battle Ice Trolls, Giants, and hordes of terrifying Undead. Over 150 types of new monsters that will put your courage to the test in real-time combat.
• Adventure through a wide range of beautifully rendered environments, from ancient ruins to volcanic caverns and icy plains.
• Multiplayer support for up to six players over LAN or Internet connections.

• Continue your adventure in five huge new areas that add directly into the original Icewind Dale.
• Hack your way through a host of never-before-seen monsters to discover over 100 new items and 59 new spells.

• Conquer hordes of monsters in epic battles utilizing the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rule set.
• Cast over 300 powerful spells, clash with fierce new monsters, and collect hundreds of new items on your journey.
• Embark on your adventure with a pre-made party, or customize each character.
• Multiplayer support for up to six players for the ultimate gaming experience.

The worst fear of the civilized realms has come true. The Goblinoids have united into an army of outcasts and misfits and they want to call the Ten Towns their own. Massive swarms of Orcs and Worg-mounted Goblins are attempting to overrun the town of Targos, and that's just the beginning! A call has gone out to all those willing to face insurmountable odds in defense of the Ten Towns. Will you heed the call to arms and face the greatest threat to the Spine of the World?

Return to the frigid north of the Forgotten Realms in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Icewind Dale. This exciting high-fantasy action adventure unites 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, new character classes, and races. Enhancements such as auto-balancing game play and an upgraded Infinity Engine will allow for more dynamic battles than ever before. Icewind Dale II will appeal to both action-RPG fans and players new to the genre.

* * *

Icewind Dale II expands upon gameplay elements found in Icewind Dale, offering players the ability to hone their combat skills and achieve even more powerful possessions, spells, and experience. Icewind Dale II hosts a large variety of new weapons, armour and magical items and features, as well as all the spells from Icewind Dale and its expansion pack. Additionally, Icewind Dale II includes over 50 new spells such as Executioner's Eyes and Aegis, bringing the total to over 300 spells.

A generation after the events in Icewind Dale, a grave new threat has arisen in the North; a threat that seeks to cut off the Ten-Towns from the rest of Faerun in a bitter power struggle. A vicious horde of goblins, orcs and bugbears has gathered beneath the mysterious banner of the Chimera and is attacking the port town of Targos.

The town of Bremen has fallen, goblin raiders ride the plains, and a stream of refugees are fleeing southwards to Bryn Shander and beyond. Fearing that they will be overrun, Targos has sent out a call for all able-bodied adventurers, soldiers and mercenaries to sail north to stand with the town's defenders against the encroaching horde, and it's up to the players' small band of adventurers to save Targos from destruction. Yet nothing is as it appears and as the shadow of the horde falls on Targos, the players find themselves drawn into an escalating conflict that plunges the region of Icewind Dale once again, into war.

Features:

• Epic party-based Dungeons and Dragons adventure
• Full implementation of D&D 3rd Edition rules
• Same old glorious tactical gameplay as the Baldur's Gate series
• New playable races such as the sinister Dark Elf and the skull-smashing Half-Orc
• Auto-balancing game-play balances the conflict to match your skill level
• Real-time combat with the ability to pause at any moment to refine your strategy
• Improved multiplayer support for up to 6 players

Icewind Dale:
Using the award-winning BioWare Infinity Engine developed by BioWare for Baldur's Gate, players create a party of adventurers in the frigid north to combat monstrous Cyclops's and frost giants that dwarf the player characters as they search for an evil lying deep within the Spine of the World. Icewind Dale offers character advancements from levels one through 15 in the most recent adaptation of the AD&D rules under license from Wizards of the Coast.

Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter:
Continue the adventure in the Ten Towns with Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, the expansion pack for Icewind Dale. From the award-winning Black Isle Studios, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter uses Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules and is set in the Forgotten Realms universe. With additions that both increase playability, like the higher experience cap, and add the technical enhancements asked by consumers such as 800x600 screen resolution, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter will continue the success that is expected from Black Isle Studios.

Icewind Dale 2:
Return to the frigid north of the Forgotten Realms in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Icewind Dale. This exciting high-fantasy action adventure unites 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, new character classes and races. Enhancements such as auto balancing game-play and an upgraded Infinity Engine allow for more dynamic battles than ever before. Icewind Dale II delivers the depth of gameplay expected by Action-RPG fans while providing an attractive entry point for players new to the genre.

Features:

• Special 3-game DVD-ROM