Icewind Dale Official Strategies & Secrets

Rating:
Summary: Useful, but the Net has lots of free tips and guides
Review: Although "Icewind Dale" comes complete with a 100+ page spiral bound book that explains everything from character stats to combat to spells, there are enough little side quests in the game that most players will need to turn somewhere for hints or help at some point.

Strategy guides such as this one fill that role by providing detailed tables on, for example, magic items that you might encounter in the game, monster stats, and "walkthroughs" that tell you how to complete a level.

Before you decide to buy this book, however, check out the free offerings on the Net. www.bgdungeon.com has an "Icewind Dale" section that provides you with lots of goodies, ranging from lists of magic items to walkthroughs to detailed maps of the levels. There are message boards where you can find solutions to particular problems, or get advice on dealing with monsters, or -- as will become necessary due to the numerous bugs in the game -- technical support.

Rating:
Summary: Useful, but the Net has lots of free tips and guides
Review: Although "Icewind Dale" comes complete with a 100+ page spiral bound book that explains everything from character stats to combat to spells, there are enough little side quests in the game that most players will need to turn somewhere for hints or help at some point.

Strategy guides such as this one fill that role by providing detailed tables on, for example, magic items that you might encounter in the game, monster stats, and "walkthroughs" that tell you how to complete a level.

Before you decide to buy this book, however, check out the free offerings on the Net. www.bgdungeon.com has an "Icewind Dale" section that provides you with lots of goodies, ranging from lists of magic items to walkthroughs to detailed maps of the levels. There are message boards where you can find solutions to particular problems, or get advice on dealing with monsters, or -- as will become necessary due to the numerous bugs in the game -- technical support.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful, but still...
Review: I, much to my disgust, have used more than one or two hint books, and this one was an above average one. It had very detailed walk-through, but it's lacking a certain in-depth analysis into the side quests. It focuses on the linear story of the game instead of the much more challenging and entertaining side quests. It does, however, give a detailed description of artifacts and spells and the like and advice on how to use them. It's definitely helpful, and it will get you through the very linear story in a hurry. However, it does leave the side quests to the reader.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful, but still...
Review: I, much to my disgust, have used more than one or two hint books, and this one was an above average one. It had very detailed walk-through, but it's lacking a certain in-depth analysis into the side quests. It focuses on the linear story of the game instead of the much more challenging and entertaining side quests. It does, however, give a detailed description of artifacts and spells and the like and advice on how to use them. It's definitely helpful, and it will get you through the very linear story in a hurry. However, it does leave the side quests to the reader.

Rating:
Summary: For casual tourists and the parents of frantic kids
Review: Icewind Dale will keep kids busy for a long time, and this guide is written at their level. Parents can use it to save themselves a good deal of grief when kids get stuck somewhere in the game. As a casual "tourist" player of these games, I like to be sure I've gotten EVERYTHING there is to get out of each level of play. This book did it without breaking my budget.

Rating:
Summary: Sybex gets it right.
Review: This represents very good value. Walkthroughs are clear and very detailed. No overly cute asides or bad attempts at humor. NPC/monster descriptions are loaded with useful info. Extensive lists of magic items, etc. ... it's just all done very well.

A special Bonus Star for bothering to spell words correctly and write as if English was their first language instead of their 41st -- way above the abysmal quality you get with most PC game hack jobs.

Very nice job; don't hestitate to pick it up.

Rating:
Summary: Sybex gets it right.
Review: This represents very good value. Walkthroughs are clear and very detailed. No overly cute asides or bad attempts at humor. NPC/monster descriptions are loaded with useful info. Extensive lists of magic items, etc. ... it's just all done very well.

A special Bonus Star for bothering to spell words correctly and write as if English was their first language instead of their 41st -- way above the abysmal quality you get with most PC game hack jobs.

Very nice job; don't hestitate to pick it up.

Rating:
Summary: Icewind Dale Updates available on Web
Review: When printing a game strategy book, we aim to print the book on day & date of game release, so one can get both game and strategy guide at the same time. To meet this publishing date, some last minute changes in the game cannot be included in the original strategy guide. Chris Avellone, author of the original Strategy Guide, has given us updates for the book, including new character & weapon stats and other situations that have been changed in the game. Check out... for the update (up really soon, we promise!). Thanks, by the way, for purchasing the Official Icewind Dale Strategies and Secrets Guide by Sybex and for your comments and feedback.

For an added bonus, go to .. and check out our exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Black Isle studios and the making of Icewind Dale - through the eyes of author and IWD developer Chris Avellone.