GRAPHICS
99 % |
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Every bit as good as Baldur's Gate2 (ok, so Bioware's art teams are a bit better), and far better than the original Icewind Dale, the graphics are stunning. It would have been even better if something were added to the spell effects, though. BG2 has it beat tenfold with it's fully OpenGL spell effects, but all-in-all it's definitely worth it.
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SOUND
95 % |
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Same as Icewind Dale. There isn't much more that could have been done with the sound. The EAX is excellent, and the effects sound just fine.
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GAMEPLAY
96 % |
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The gameplay in the new areas is incredible, though short-lived. The additional play value added through new items (potion bags, gem bags, and scroll cases!) and the various weapons and spells certainly boosts the gameplay a bit!
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DEPTH
97 % |
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It's a D&D game. What was the last one that wasn't one of the deepest games that could be played?
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MULTIPLAYER
97 % |
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The new items, new areas, and most importantly, new monsters, turns out excellently for multiplayer. Also, a few of the multiplayer tweaks from Baldur's Gate II seem to be included as well. All-in-all it's a pretty good D&D multiplayer experience.
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Black Isle did a bang-up job with this expansion. It seems fairly certain that this game has been brought to a high enough tech level that it won't be dying off any time soon. It makes me look forward to the forthcoming Baldur's Gate II expansion. As the final installment of the Baldur's Gate series, the BG2 expansion is going to be a "gift", nearly an entirely new game using the same old engine (the one that HoW adds to Icewind, essentially.) You just have to love D&D RPGs!
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