Icewind Dale II is being created internally at Black Isle Studios and offers more of the classic dungeon crawl experience, using the Dungeons & Dragons(R) license from Wizards of the Coast. Based in part on the series of books by New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore, Icewind Dale II will amaze players with new monsters, spells, and areas to explore within the popular FORGOTTEN REALMS(R) campaign setting.
Icewind Dale II expands upon gameplay elements found in Icewind Dale, offering players the ability to hone their combat skills and achieve even more powerful possessions, spells, and experience. Icewind Dale II hosts a large variety of new weapons, armor and magical items and features all the spells from Icewind Dale and its expansion Icewind Dale(TM): Heart of Winter(TM). Additionally, Icewind Dale II includes over 50 new spells such as Executioner's Eyes and Aegis, bringing the total to over 300 spells.
In addition, over 100 new special items can be found in Icewind Dale II's elevated "Heart of Fury" mode, first introduced in Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. This challenging mode enhances the game's replayability by allowing players to face intensely difficult and strategic battles with their high level, battle-hardened characters.
A generation after the events in Icewind Dale, a grave new threat has arisen in the North; a threat that seeks to cut off the Ten-Towns from the rest of Faerun in a bitter power struggle. A vicious horde of goblins, orcs, and bugbears have gathered beneath the mysterious banner of the Chimera and are attacking the port town of Targos. The town of Bremen has fallen, goblin raiders ride the plains, and a stream of refugees are fleeing southwards to Bryn Shander and beyond. Fearing that they will be overrun, Targos has sent out a call for all able-bodied adventurers, soldiers, and mercenaries to sail north to stand with the town's defenders against the encroaching horde, and it's up to the players' small band of adventurers to save Targos from destruction. Yet nothing is as it appears and as the shadow of the horde falls on Targos, the players find themselves drawn into an escalating conflict that plunges the region of Icewind Dale once again, into war.
Icewind Dale II makes use of a heavily modified version of the award- winning BioWare(TM) Infinity Engine, originally developed for the Baldur's Gate(TM) series. Modifications to the engine include a variety of features originally developed for Baldur's Gate(TM) II: Shadows of Amn(TM), including dual-wielding, class kits, new classes such as the Sorcerer and Monk as well as 3D technology developed by BioWare. Icewind Dale II introduces new class kits like the Mercenary, Giant Killer and the Dreadmaster of Bane among others, plus new sub-races including the Drow and Tiefling.
Black Isle Studios, the creators of the Fallout(TM) series, Planescape(R): Torment(TM) and the Icewind Dale saga, is proud to bring Icewind Dale II to Windows(R) 95/98/ME/2000/XP-based computers. More information on Icewind Dale II can be found HERE.
Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro and the worldwide market share leader in the trading card game and tabletop role playing game categories, is a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products as well as the owner and operator of one of the nation's largest specialty game retail chains. Producing both the Pokemon(TM) and world's best-selling Magic: The Gathering(R) trading card games, the company holds an exclusive patent on the play mechanic of trading card games. Publisher of adventure games such as the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, family card and board games and electronic media products, Wizards of the Coast is also one of the world's leading fantasy and science fiction book publishers. Headquartered near Seattle, Washington, Wizards of the Coast has international offices in Antwerp, Paris, Milan, London, Beijing and Sydney. For more information on Wizards of the Coast, visit the company's web site and electronic retail store.
Black Isle Studios is a division of Interplay Entertainment Corp., a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for both core gamers and the mass market. Interplay currently balances its development efforts by publishing for personal computers as well as current and next generation video game consoles. Interplay releases products through Interplay, Shiny Entertainment, Digital Mayhem, Black Isle Studios, its distribution partners and its wholly owned subsidiary Interplay OEM, Inc. More comprehensive information on Interplay and its products is available through its worldwide web site.