Give us an Icewind Dale II Review!

[WinnipegDragon]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the one thing that really took me aback with IWD:

No Attacks of Opportunity

I have to say, I still love the game, but spellcasters are as deadly as they were in BG2. You can't park a fighter nearby and cut them to shreds as they try to cast, a la NWN.

I also have to say that anyone who dwells on the graphics has totally missed the point. Long live the Infinity Engine!

 

[MJEggertson]

Winnipeg! A hometown boy! And I thought I was the only one...

Yeah, the lack of attacks of opportunity was the most annoying part of the game. They implemented most of the 3E rules, even for casters, but without the AoOs, they're perhaps even more overpowered. Add to that, spell disruption almost never seems to work, and you literally have some heavy artillery.

 

[Simplicity]

IWD2 is a GREAT game, and I HIGHLY recommend it.
I've played all of the Infinity engine games as well as
NWN. I like them all, and IWD2 is at the upper end of
that list for me.

Sure, it's graphics are a little dated (it's using an old
engine, no big surprise). However, IWD2's gameplay
is an order of magnitude better than its predecessors.
The battles (and I mean almost EVERY battle) requires
careful thinking and is highly strategic.

In NWN, combat strategy boiled down to: You
occasionally can't kill the bad guy until you've
destroyed some nearby objects/other bad guys.
Not in IWD2. IWD2 has some of the best RPG battles
I've ever seen, and they begin at fairly low levels.
Fighting goblins is NOT a boring chore in this game.
It's a life threatening, difficult quest.

(*****Minor spoilers*****)
In IWD2, you might have to decide: go for the spellcaster
who is about to launch a hold person on your main fighter,
or kill the fire archer before he decides its time to hit a nearby powder keg.

Someone else mentioned the wardrums that
are used as alarms. Again, you gotta chose... You might kill
the guy who's running for the alarm by sneaking a rogue in
there, but then your rogue winds up on the front lines surrounded by nasty goblins...
(*****Spoilers end*****)

The dialog is great (some of it is very funny stuff especially for frequent CRPG players). The voice overs are pretty good as well.

PLAY THIS GAME.