Icewind Dale Complete (2000/2001)

Genre: RPG / Hack’n’Slash |  Players: 1- 6 (via TCP IP/Lan)

Developer: Black Isle Studios

First and foremost: if you came to play Icewind Dale to delve back into the intrigue and mysteries of Faerun... forget it. While its forefather Baldur's Gate shone with enigmas, twisted puzzles and little quests that had to be solved, Icewind Dale is more or less devoid of all that making it more Diablo-like than RPG.  The story is as linear as humanly possible, the game is one long slaughter-fest from start to end.  The secondary quests are often limited to "find object A and bring it to Character B to obtain object/reward C" which is a far cry from some BG quests.  Probably because Bioware didn't develop this one, Black Isle did.  Still, as BI developed Fallout 2, which is a masterpiece in terms of storyline and accessory quests, questions could be asked as to whether they worked seriously on Icewind Dale or not.

In terms of graphics, the game uses a refined Infinity Engine and offers really beautiful sceneries, as well as very nice music by Jeremy Soule.  In terms of gameplay... well... it's the same as Baldur’s Gate but with lots of new classes, character options, and equipment (prefiguring BG 2 that would be released only a few months later).
The only originality is that you don't recruit any characters.  You create your whole party at the beginning, from 1 to 6 characters, with the classes you wish.  Don't forget the basic: one thief, one wizard, and one priest.  Then add a few tanks.  I mean warriors/rangers.

Now the add-ons.  Yes, plural.  First Heart of Winter: Well, Heart of Winter continues a bit the story of Icewind Dale but doesn't add anything like subtlety or puzzles.  The game is still a slaughter-fest, only with more experience levels and more powerful tools for your heroes to slaughter their enemies with, hear the lamentation of their women, blah, blah, blah...

And then there's the free expansion, Trials of the Luremaster.  It offers some tough enigmas, although not that hard if you compare them to the hellish difficulty of some in BG2, a series of REALLY tough dungeons and some incredible loot, all spoiled by the most annoying end boss.  Still, a good challenge for an advanced party.  I would advise people to play these dungeons when you're mid-game in Heart of Winter.  Yes, TotL is an expansion to an expansion.  And that was a decade before Inception.

All in all, a good game yet miles away from the genius that shone in Baldur's Gate and light-years away from the pearl that is Baldur's Gate 2.

Buyer's Guide:
Available on PC, Mac, and GOG.com.

3 "this game is expansionception" out of 5.

Nutted by Docrate1

Fallout 2 (1998)

Genre: RPG  |  Players: One  |  Developer: Black Isle Studios

Roughly 90 years separate the original Fallout from its sequel.  Visually, the game hasn't changed much.  One could even say it hasn't changed at all, which isn't true.
New environments (with a lot more life in them), new NPC skins, new companions (robots, cyber dogs, mutants), new weapons, a lot more secondary quests, and many, many easter eggs to find: references to Star Wars, Buck Rogers, Star Trek, Mad Max and, if you are imaginative enough... Hokuto no Ken (take the right perks, don the black leather armor, go hand to hand and bam... you'll make people explode with your bare hands, Hokuto No ken style!) etc.  Hell, even the final boss is a wink to old man Eastwood.

All in all, the game is better balanced than the first one, less buggy, and provides a compelling story with lots of adventures, gunfights, and bad mistakes to be done in the grand Fallout tradition but above all this game provides you SO much more freedom.

Fallout 2 was one of the first games to give you the opportunity to be either an angel or the worst asshole in the wastelands.  With a good management of reputation you can be considered a monster in one town, and a hero in another, which makes the game all the better.  There are lots of moral choices, each having consequences at the games end.  There is no real need to play the game in any order.  Missed a location?  A quest?  You'll have time to do it AFTER the game.  Yep, you heard me.  Fallout 2 is probably one of the first games that allow you to continue playing after the ending.

Buyer's Guide:
Available on PC, Mac, OnLive, Steam, and GOG.com.

5 War... War really never changes out of 5.

Nutted by: Docrate1 (The Wasteland Veteran)

Fallout (1997)

Genre: RPG | Players: One | Developer: Black Isle Studios

The post nuclear Role playing game.  That's what I call a tagline.  Back in 1997, most PC  RPGs  meant dragons, elves and orcs.  Fallout barged in full of gun-toting raiders, criminals exploiting the nuclear aftermath, and the shadowy force that's threatening the survivors.  Fallout was damn innovative, and not only by the fact it had a REAL RPG system backing it.  Your character is more than a skin, it's, as in  Pen and Paper  RPGs, a set of attributes, skills, and perks.

Another innovation: tired of playing a goody two shoes?  Play an asshole for a change (sadly, the game really punishes you if you do so but it'll be extra extra hard to finish it this way when every damn person tries to shoot you down).  The story is quite simple: your vaults water purification system is down, and the replacement part is missing.  Guess who has to go outside and find it?

You'll meet communities that survived and organized themselves after the war: the Junkyard, the Hub, Shady Sands, etc.  Each offer various "job" opportunities and info on where to continue your mission.  Speaking of which, the game is fairly hard, of course; you can recruit allies, from a simple dog to a hardened mercenary, but still.  One of the game's problems is that it's mostly sand and asphalt.  In other words, the backgrounds are a bit lifeless and repetitive but that would be corrected in the next opus.  Another problem is that the game suffers from a few bugs, some of which can hinder the completion of the main quest.  Still, Fallout is a damn fine game that spawned 3 sequels, and renewed interest for post apocalyptic games.

Buyer's Guide:
Available on PC, Mac, OnLive, Steam, and GOG.com.

4 War... War never changes out of 5

Nutted by: Docrate1