Icewind Dale: EE - Announced at PAX

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Beamdog announce their next remastered game is Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition.



Beamdog and Wizards of The Coast announced at PAX today that pre-orders have begun for Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition ahead of its upcoming release.

Originally released in 2000, Icewind Dale is hailed as a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure based in Wizards of The Coast's legendary Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The Enhanced Edition will allow new and experienced gamers alike to enjoy this epic adventure as never before. Available on PC, Mac, iPad, and Android tablets and phones, the game will retail for $19.99 on desktop and is available for pre-order now.

Icewind Dale has been enhanced with new kits and character classes, dozens of new items and spells, and restored quest material cut from the original game. The redesigned user interface features Zoom capabilities and a Quickloot Bar, among numerous other improvements. Up to six players can simultaneously enjoy Icewind Dale with the new cross-platform multiplayer mode.
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They also have a new FAQ with some answers about the game.
Q: When will Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition release?

A: Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition has entered beta and will release "when it's ready" to ensure the best experience for players, likely within a month.

Q: What specific enhancements does Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition offer over the original game?

A: Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition features the following enhancements:

  • Six expanded quests, featuring content cut from the original game
  • 60 new items
  • Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster expansions
  • 31 new class and kit combinations from Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, well as the half-orc playable race
  • 122 new spells carried over from Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
  • Cross-platform multiplayer
  • A new "Story Mode" difficulty setting to allow players to experience all of the story with none of the Game Over screens
  • Available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
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More information.
 
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That´s wonderful news! I really liked the ID games back in the days (particularly the second). So this is an immediate purchase for me.

Still, I *did* miss (and will miss) the "living" companions from the BG-games. Icewind Dale would be a great deal more entertaining with Minsc, Viconia and other entertaining characters in the party…

Also, a bit dissapointed that they don´t announce a Linux-release. I would really like to have all the "infinity engine games" working natively in linux. While having a windows version works fine for me, I have been migrating more and more to the linux environment and the games are really the only things left that keeps me tied to dual-booting windows.
 
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Amazing news. IWD was one of my most favorite IE games. Many people look down on it as being just a dungeon-crawler, but it was amazing. The atmosphere, look and feel of it was beyond anything BG could conjure up imo. Amazing music. Amazing locations. Kuldahar is by far my most favorite town in any video game. And a great component to that is the theme song which Jeremy Soule masterfully crafted. Then, I've got great memories of the Vale of Shadows and Kresellack at the end of his tomb. (Tony Jay, who also played The Elder God in Legacy of Kain, voiced him). Man, what great memories.
 
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Great news. I was starting to wonder if this was going to happen, since I hadn't heard anything prior to this announcement. Hopefully this indicates that Beamdog will eventually do EE versions of IWD 2 and PS:T as well.
 
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That is good news. I'm currenty enjoying the Android version of BG1 very much. The last update was very nice and prompted me to start playing it for real on Android.

I'm looking forward to IWD (although I prefer the BG series), bu ti also wonder when BG2:EE will be released on Android.
 
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Great news. That brings hopes for an EE version of PST in the future.
 
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Myrthos said:
Great news. That brings hopes for an EE version of PST in the future.
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Yeah... Just slightly improved graphics and animation and that's all you need to ake this game bestseller again!
 
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I haven't played iwd yet. I was hoping for something like this. for this the original art source is available yes ? So they can spice it up a bit.
 
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Back in the day I somewhat enjoyed IWD but in my view it didn't have nearly the personality (good writing) of the BG games or PST, and IWD2 was not enjoyable to me with its begin-by-setting-you-in-the-middle-of-the-fight battles.
 
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Obviously with the create your own party, Icewind Dale 1 & 2 lacked in the personality field, but gave a lot more party creation options. I also personally prefer Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, but also recently replayed Icewind Dale I and enjoyed it. It does get a little tedious in the middle, but the end is cool.
 
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A new "Story Mode" difficulty setting to allow players to experience all of the story with none of the Game Over screens
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:lol: This one made me laugh - a dungeon crawler combat game with a story mode...
 
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Feist said:
Still, I *did* miss (and will miss) the "living" companions from the BG-games. Icewind Dale would be a great deal more entertaining with Minsc, Viconia and other entertaining characters in the party…
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IWD NPC Mod is fantastic. That's one thing though I'd like to see them do in the rebuilt engine - make it more compatible for joinable NPC's. Due to engine limitations, there are some bugs that can happen with the mod. (Though the IWD2BG2 mod eliminates those).
 
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booboo said:
I replayed IWD1/2 earlier this year (along with BG1/2), still enjoyable! I haven't picked up any of the EE versions…re-purchased everything on GOG recently, so not sure it's worth it?
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Lots of discussion back and forth on that. Really, it depends on how much you like/dislike modding and how much some of the enhancements are worth to you. For me, its been definitely worth it (and I have disc versions, GOG and EE of all of them).
 
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This is awesome news! I haven't had the chance to play any ID games yet, but they are on my short list of classic RPGs to try. By the time I get around to checking them out, the EE version should be released, so that will be a good opportunity to get into it!

Long live Beamdog :)
 
And yet another game purchase for me next year...*sigh* Though I don't think I'll be able to resist. This remake looks awesome.
 
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I just finished playing both Icewind games last year, and I'll be sure to pick this one up to play at some point. Honestly, I was hoping they'd make a new game, they do seem to have some talent on the team, but if you're going to revive old games and update them, at least they're picking great ones to do.
 
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If your on a PC I don't see the point of this over just using free mods, more options that way too.
 
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