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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Its Cold Again!!!, February 27, 2001
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is a wonderful add-on to Icewind Dale (see my review of Icewind Dale dated January 13, 2001 for further information). You must have the original game to play this add-on. Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter begins in the town of Lonelywood. It is a town in fear of invasion with little in the way of amenities. The story builds from there. The following features of ID:HOW are great: 1) New Area's to adventure in. 2) Requires 9th level or higher characters to play in the expansion. These can be imported from a completed game of ID. Alternatively, you can move in to the expansion from Kuldahar if you have not completed ID. Finally, you can create a brand new party of characters to adventure in ID:HOW. 3) You get to create all the members of your party to give you exactly the kind of party you want. 4) Capability to advance to 30th level (though you will probably need to adjust the difficulty of the game to do this). 5) Wonderful graphics that make you feel like you are in a very cold painting. 6) Partial use of D&D 3rd Edition Rules. 6) Special Abilities as follows: a) Paladin (Smite Evil, Divine Courage, Immunity to Disease, Spell access at 6th level). b) Ranger (Tracking, Spell access at 6th level). c) Druid (Shape change at 5th level, Elemental form at 11th level, Immunity to poison at 9th level, Immunity to fatigue, New experience table allowing progression past 14th level). d) Thief (Sneak Attack, Evasion at 7th level, Crippling Strike at 5th level). e) Bard (New songs that affect the party in different ways. New songs appear at the following levels-3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th). 7) Transport items such as gem bag (holds 20 gems or jewelry), potion bag (20 potions) and scroll cases (20 scrolls). 8) Hot key to illuminate doors (does not show you secret doors) and any items on the ground. 9) New spells for Mage and Cleric. The mage has 17 new spells of the following levels (Level 2: 1 spell, Level 3: 1 spell, Level 4: 3 spells, Level 5: 3 spells, Level 6: 3 spells, Level 7: 2 spells, Level 8: 4 spells). A Priest has 42 new spells of the following levels (Level 1: 2 spells, Level 2: 3 spells, Level 3: 10 spells, Level 4: 9 spells, Level 5: 7 spells, Level 6: 4 spells, Level 7: 7 spells). 10) New high level monsters. 11) Improved screen resolution for computers that can support it. I believe you will enjoy this add-on to Icewind Dale. Be prepared to sleep at the computer. Make sure you have a wife who is understanding (and forgiving).
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not As Bad as Most People Think, November 12, 2001
Yes, as most reviewers have noted, Heart of Winter isn't a very long game (though it's not as brief as some would make it out to be). And, yes, for those who bought this title when it first came out and paid the full sticker price (30+ bucks), I can understand the frustration voiced by so many gamers.Now, however, about a year after Heart of Winter first appeared, the price has dropped to bargain bin status: I bought HoW at my local mall for ten bucks! For this price, HoW doesn't disappoint. The game is on the shorter side, but I'd say it's the equivalent of 1 1/2 levels from the original Icewind Dale. Or, for those who prefer to measure their games in hours, HoW took me exactly one week to finish, approximately 20 hours. Those who have already played Baldur's Gate II will be familiar to the additions found in HoW: higher resolution, drop-away interface, gem bags, potion bags, scroll cases. There are some new enemies, new spells, and a final battle that is fairly challenging. Lastly, most Icewind Dale fans know that for those who own Heart of Winter there is a free downloadable expansion, Trials of the Luremaster, which adds another 15+ hours of gameplay. In other words, the time to buy the Icewind Dale expansion is now: you'll essentially receive 30-40 hours of gameplay for (in my case) ten dollars or so. You can't beat that! As for the game itself, HoW is mostly enjoyable. The enemies, overall, are much tougher, so you won't be able to mow through them like you did throughout Icewind Dale. Also, although you need 9th level characters or higher to play the expansion, I recommend not playing HoW until your characters have hit the maximum hit point level allowed by the original (1,800,000). My only complaint about HoW is that it's really linear. Sure, Icewind Dale was linear, too, but HoW forces you to literally trudge forward along, say, an icy cave path and smite the hordes of baddies that pop up (and there are a lot of them). And because the enemies are significantly tougher than most of the creatures in ID, the expansion at times can seem tedious: you feel as if you're logging in tiresome hours at the keyboard rather than enjoyable hours. Still, for those who didn't satisfy their crave at the end of Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster should provide a decent fix.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another "too short" review, March 8, 2001
If this expansion were ... cheaper I would go up a star. The fixes to the original engine were outstanding. If you haven't already played Icewind Dale and are playing it for the first time with the expansion, you'll get a lot more for your money. For those who already completed I.D. and are hungry for more, I don't think this will calm your hunger. It's more like a snack than a meal. The bonus missions were a lot of fun, but were brief and simple. At least one extra long term quest would have been appreciated after shelling out "my money". My advice: wait for the price to go down.
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