Written 04/05/2001
Keeping with the tradition of releasing excellent role playing games then following them up with an expansion pack is the add-on to Icewind Dale. Heart of Winter takes you back to the Spine of the World where your party may now access part of the story previously inaccessible. When you meet Hjollder, shaman of one of the Northern Tribes, he asks you to go north and initiate an agreement between the barbarians and the "civilized" societies that are on the fringe of war. Agreeing to this begins the expansion areas and quests, forming a large sub-plot that is the meat of the add-on.
Not only does the expansion include new content, the entire game has been improved. The graphics have received a complete overhaul, and while resolution up to 800x600 is "officially" supported, they may actually be set up to 2048x1536 and 32-bit color if your video card can handle it. It's as if many of the improvements from Baldur's Gate II have been moved into Icewind Dale.
Sounds are excellent, from the extremely competent voice acting to the sweeping musical score. Personally, I'd enjoy more voices in the game but you take what you can get. The key characters and conversations that are recorded are very well done, and the overall game sound is excellent.
Unlike some expansions, which add content here and there, the focus here is on a single area of the story. Once you accept Hjollder's offer, you're taken into the meat of Heart of Winter's content. Nicely enough, the expansion may also be optionally played without going into the rest of the game again. It is recommended that you play through this new content with a 9th level or higher party, and characters may be imported from the original game.
In addition to new areas to explore and plotline content, many gameplay options have been included as well. In fact, while the additional story is why most people will purchase this expansion, it's almost worth the price for the expanded options as well. Characters may now reach 30th level, the graphics have been completely overhauled, and a ton of new spells and abilities are there for your characters' use. It seems that an incredible amount of the features from Baldur's Gate II have been applied to this expansion.
In addition, AI has been tweaked somewhat; enemies are a tad bit smarter than they were in the original title. Unfortunately, pathing is still problematic. While this is fairly easily overcome, it's a bit frustrating when you're trying to do something quickly and a party member or two gets lost, takes the "long way around", or just plain gets stuck in a doorway.
The new plot content is fairly short, but keep in mind that this is an expansion, not a whole new game. If your original Icewind Dale party meets the level requirements, you may march right into the new content. If you're new to Icewind Dale, it's a great idea to get the expansion at the same time, so you may experience the interface and graphics overhaul throughout the entire game. This is a worthy expansion to what already is a great game.
