<< PREV 2. Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition NEXT >>
With its (then) high-end graphics, deep party-based gameplay, and adherence to D&D’s Second Edition rules, Baldur’s Gate reinvented the PC RPG way back in 1998. Two years later, Black Isles’ Studios released Baldur’s Gate spinoff, Icewind Dale. Built using the same infinity engine Bioware developed to build BG, Icewind Dale looked and played very much like its elder brother. While it was roundly well received by critics and fans alike, some hardcore RPG fans found it little more than a watered down version of the more story-oriented Baldur’s Gate. The larger camp, however, (the one where we are presently roasting our marshmallows) found its more action-oriented ways to be a barrel full of monkeys. Flash forward to October 2014: Beamdog Entertainment, the developer responsible for the recent rehab job par excellence that is Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition releases Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition for the PC, Mac, Linux, iOS 8 and—yes!—Android. Upon hearing the news several Hardcore Droid staff members are hospitalized due to losing their F*&$ing minds. I’d played Icewind years ago but I didn’t remember exactly how it played in relation to its older sibling. Turns out that it’s a more action-oriented, streamlined version of Baldur’s Gate, something like a party-based Divine Divinity, only with a more satisfyingly complex role-playing system at the heart of all of its combat. Turns out that the game offers up a moody, chiaroscuro aesthetic, exemplary tactical gameplay, Yeti-bashing, and loot gathering galore. Turns out that, while the mobile port’s swipe controls don’t work so great on a phone, tablet owners are liable to find themselves in D&D-geek heaven; because as it turns out the game’s party-based combat is as satisfying as it is deep and without a shred of doubt earns Icewind Dale its spot on this list in spades.
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