Baldur's Gate with snow.
That, in a nutshell, is what Icewind Dale is all about. So if you loved messing about with Sarevok and his minions on the Sword Coast of Dungeons and Dragons fame, you're almost guaranteed to love battling even bigger nasties further north. Likewise, if you hated the prototype, you likely won't find anything here to change your mind. While there are a few changes, there are no significant alterations to the formula that made Baldur's Gate a million-seller for Interplay and development house Bioware almost two years ago. Can you blame them?

Well, actually you can. At least sort of. Although Icewind Dale is a compelling play at times, it radiates a disturbing sense of déją vu. My holiday in the frozen wastelands of Faerūn was enjoyable on the surface, but somehow lacking beneath. While Baldur's Gate was a new and exotic experience in a foreign land, this game is the equivalent of going to Cairo just to order from the McDonald's menu in Arabic. It's all very pleasant and interesting in a conversation piece sort of way, but that's all. Too much of the game is workmanlike and repetitive to be truly engaging. The designers at Black Isle Studios merely did a good job following the prescription written down by their forerunners at Bioware. So while I have to congratulate them on their skills at mimicry, I'm not altogether sure that I should be extending any kudos for the game itself.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale is the feel. While the former attempted to tell the epic story of an mysterious orphan who was the focus of dark forces, the latter is a straightforward dungeon crawl reminiscent of classic Advanced Dungeons and Dragons pen-and-paper module series such as Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Instead of venturing into the unknown alone, here you create a full party of six adventurers (or join up online with as many as five friends and play through the same story in cooperative multiplayer mode) and dive into the deep end as soon as you step out of a pub in the frigid northern hamlet of Easthaven. Assassins aren't trying to murder you for unknown reasons, you couldn't care less who your father was, and, most importantly, you don't have to scour every last inch of the countryside searching for clues to the enduring mystery that is your life. You do have to discover the reason why goblins, yeti, frost giants, undead, and all manner of hideous creatures are suddenly gathering around the Spine of the World mountain chain. This is preferably done by killing lots of them and completing a series of focused "kill Foozle, get key" quests until you discover the horrific Evil Plan Behind Everything.