Icewind Dale

Dale received positive reviews, being praised for its musical score and gameplay. It was a commercial success, with sales above 400,000 units worldwide by early 2001. An expansion, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, was released in 2001, and a sequel, Icewind Dale II, followed in 2002. A remake by Overhaul Games, entitled Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, was published for several platforms in 2014.

• Title — Icewind Dale • Developer — Black Isle Studios • Publisher — Interplay Entertainment • Director — Feargus Urquhart • Producer — * Chris Parker • Darren L. Monahan • Designer — * Steve Bokkes • Josh Sawyer • John Deily • Reginald Arnedo • Scott Warner • Chris Avellone • Artist — * Timothy Donley • Brian Menze • Aaron Meyers • Programmer — * Jacob Devore • Thomas French • David Ray • Composer — Jeremy Soule • Series — Icewind Dale • Engine — Infinity Engine • Released — Microsoft Windows'Mac OS, Mac OS XMarch 26, 2002 • Genre — Role-playing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X

• Illustration — Party in battle Icewind Dales gameplay operates on a similar basis to that of Baldur's Gate in that it incorporates a modified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset in which the rules' intricacies are automatically computed; the game keeps track of statistics and controls dice rolling. It has a similar user interface with minor cosmetic changes, and focuses mainly on combat, often against large groups of enemies, with dialogue driving the main story. The player is able to order a character(s) to engage in movement, dialogue, combat, or other actions such as pickpocketing within each game location. Combat has a real-time as opposed to a turn-based system, though with the option of pausing at any time so the player can give the party orders which are carried out when the game is resumed. Like other D&D-based games developed and/or published by Black Isle, Icewind Dale employs a paper-doll style inventory system, the storyline is divided into chapters, and there is a journal system archiving quests and notable entries on specific story-related information from non-player characters. Players begin the game by creating an adventuring party of up to six characters, either by creating new characters or importing those from a previous game. Each new character created requires the player to provide them with their name, gender, race, class, and alignment, and then determine their ability scores and weapon proficiencies. The class of a character affects what alignments are available to them, what weapons and combat styles they can use, and how proficient they can be in them. Characters designated as thieves require the player to allocate points to the various thieving skills, and spellcasters need a few 1st level spells selected for their spellbook and then one memorised for use at the start of the game. Once a party is created, characters earn experience points in the game through completing quests and defeating enemies, and level up upon earning enough. Leveling up will automatically increase a character's hit points, grants spellcasters access to more spell slots including higher levels of magic, sometimes allows additional weapon proficiencies, and allows thieves to improve their thieving abilities.

In the town of Easthaven, a party of adventurers are met in the tavern by the town's leader, Hrothgar (voiced by Jim Cummings), who invites them to join him on an expedition to investigate the town of Kuldahar, after reports of strange happenings there. On the road to Kuldahar, the expedition is ambushed by frost giants, who cause an avalanche that blocks the path back to Easthaven. With only the adventurers surviving, they continue to Kuldahar and meet with Arundel (also voiced by Cummings), the village's archdruid, who explains that a mysterious evil force has been kidnapping villagers, causing abnormal weather patterns, provoking monsters, and reducing the magical warmth provided by the giant tree that towers over the village. Asked for their help to discover the source of the evil, the adventurers begin by searching the Vale of Shadows, an area containing Kuldahar's crypts, due to rumours of undead creature sightings. They encounter a cursed barbarian spirit named Kresselack (Tony Jay) who tells them that the threat lies elsewhere. Reporting this back to the druid, Arundel instructs the group to retrieve an ancient scrying item called the Heartstone Gem so he may discover the source of the evil more quickly. After finding the gem was stolen from its original resting place within a temple, the party travel to the caverns of Dragon's Eye, finding a number of the missing villagers being held there by lizard men. They eventually find the gem being used by a powerful Marilith named Yxunomei (Tara Strong). After killing Yxunomei and retrieving the gem, the party return to find Kuldahar under attack by Orogs, and Arundel mortally wounded by a shapeshifter disguised as the archdruid, who taunts them before vanishing. The true Arundel advises the party to take the Heartstone to Larrel (Michael Bell) at the fortress of the Severed Hand, the only one capable of using it now, before dying from his wounds. Arriving at the fortress, the party discover that Larrel is insane, and complete a task to help him regain his sanity. Using the gem, Larrel discovers the source of the evil to reside in the former dwarven city of Dorn's Deep. Fighting their way through the city, the group eventually come across the source of the evil – a priest named Brother Poquelin (John Kassir). Poquelin reveals himself to be a demon who was exiled from his home realm by his superiors, and that both he and Yxunomei maintained a vendetta against each other that was getting out of control. Predicting she would follow him to the material plane, the demon sought a base of operation in the region to form a military force that could crush her. While doing so, he stumbled upon the ancient artifact Crenshinibon, which he claims had been "calling" to him. Poquelin immediately used its power to help him amass an army to conquer the lands of Icewind Dale, until Yxunomei's activities around Kuldahar led to the formation of Hrothgar's expedition. Seeking to stop it, the demon had his frost giant minions crush the expedition, but did not count on the adventurers' survival being a problem until they recovered the Heartstone Gem, forcing him to eliminate Arundel. Despite the party having found someone else to use it, Poquelin had managed to build up his forces, which he soon sent to Easthaven. After a brief battle with Poquelin, the party finds itself transported back to Easthaven, which is now in ruins. The adventurers free the surviving villagers, after which the local cleric of Tempus, Everard, informs them that Poquelin is going after Jerrod's Stone, a mystical object housed under the town's temple, which acts as a seal on a portal to the Nine Hells of Baator. Originally opened during a major historic battle between the combined might of the barbarian tribes and an army of a powerful mage, it was sealed shut by the sacrifice of the shaman Jerrod who led the barbarians in the conflict. Gaining entry into the demon's crystal tower that enveloped the temple, the group discover that Poquelin's true intention was to reopen the portal contained within the Stone, allowing him to conquer the North with an army of devils at his command. Although he successfully opens the portal, Everard, having shunned the tale of Jerrod's sacrifice until finally understanding what he did, throws himself into the portal and seals it off at the cost of his life. The party then fights Poquelin in his true form as the devil Belhifet and manages to defeat him, banishing him to the Nine Hells and escaping the tower as it collapses. In time, Easthaven recovers, and the town is reconstructed. In a twist ending, it is revealed the game's narrator (David Ogden Stiers) was really Belhifet, who spent a century imprisoned thanks to the adventurers, and he will soon walk the Prime Material once more to seek his revenge. (See Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear.)

Icewind Dale is based on the BioWare Infinity Engine, featuring pre-rendered backgrounds and sprite-based characters displayed with an isometric camera perspective. This engine was used to power Black Isle Studios' previous games Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, and others. Icewind Dale was released in 2000 in North America on June 29, Australia on July 7, and Europe on July 21 for Windows by Interplay Entertainment. Developed by Contraband Entertainment and published by MacPlay, a port for Mac OS and Mac OS X was released on March 26, 2002.

In the United States, Icewind Dale debuted at #4 on PC Data's weekly computer game sales rankings for June 25–July 1, 2000, following the title's release on the 30th. Domestic sales for the period totaled 39,285 copies, which drew revenues of $1.71 million. Mark Asher of CNET Gamecenter called this performance a "mild surprise" and noted that the game was "doing well". It was the country's 16th-best-selling computer game for the month of June. After retaining position 4 in its second week, it dropped to sixth place in its third week. Computer Games Magazine reported that Icewind Dale was among the titles that "dominated the retail charts in the U.S. for the month of July". It was the United States' sixth-highest computer game seller of July and 16th-highest of August, moving 21,923 units and earning $1.05 million during the latter month alone. The game remained in PC Data's weekly top 10 until the week ending August 5. Three days later, Interplay's Brian Fargo noted that Icewind Dale was "selling beyond our forecasts and in number one position[s] in certain European territories". According to Chart-Track, Icewind Dale was the United Kingdom's best-selling computer game for its debut week, breaking Diablo IIs three-week streak in the region. It dropped to third place the following week, before falling to seventh. Discussing Icewind Dales chart performance, a writer for PC Zone mentioned being "a little surprised at seeing Diablo II capitulate so easily, especially to Icewind Dale, despite the success of Baldur's Gate". Icewind Dale was the United Kingdom's third-best-selling computer title in August, placing above Diablo II for the month. According to PC Gamer US, it also achieved "high sales" in Germany, where it debuted in 17th place on the computer game sales charts in July. After peaking at #5 the following month, it claimed places 16 and 29 in September and October before exiting Germany's top 30. By the end of 2000, Icewind Dale had sold 145,564 copies and earned $6.8 million in the United States, according to PC Data. Its sales by early 2001 totaled more than 350,000 units worldwide, including 45,000 units in Germany. Global sales had surpassed 400,000 units by April 2001. As of 2006, the lifetime domestic sales of Icewind Dale had reached 270,000 copies ($9.5 million), while the Icewind Dale franchise together had sold 580,000 units domestically. In August 2006, Edge ranked the original Icewind Dale as the United States' 74th-best-selling computer game, and best-selling Icewind Dale title, released since January 2000.

A remake of Icewind Dale was developed by Beamdog's Overhaul Games and published by Atari for Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, and iOS in 2014.