Neverwinter Nights: Doom of Icewind Dale is the surprise new DLC for a 20-something-year-old D&D game. The announcement comes just days after Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2 Enhanced Edition update is spotted on Steam, and it's yet another reminder that this classic CRPG has not been forsaken.
Coming from Bioware's Beamdog – the same company that brought us the prequels to Baldur's Gate 3 – Doom of Icewind Dale DLC is an official sequel to Neverwinter Nights that follows on from the adventures of the original game. The new DLC also ties in with the Shadows of Undrentide, Hordes of the Underdark, and Ossian Studios’ campaigns.
Players are looking at 10-15+ hours of gameplay spanning 14 areas that include Icewind Pass, the Dwarven Valley, and the Reghed Glacier. There’s also new monsters, music and even companions that include characters from the Wailing Death campaign and Tyrants of the Moonsea.
For a little context, the original, 2006 Neverwinter Nights game included something called the Aurora toolset, which allowed players to easily create their own custom and even multiplayer modules for the game. Doom of Icewind Dale was designed by prolific premium module creator Luke Scull, whose work is praised throughout the fandom and has been picked up by Ossian Studios to create vastly expansive versions of his work. Scull actually works with Ossian Studios to create modules, with the fantasy author acting as lead designer for the Tyrants of the Moonsea DLC, though the new Doom of Icewind Dale DLC was entirely his own work.
Only recently, Neverwinter Nights received a massive patch made entirely by community members and held together with "copious amounts of adhesive." It's clear that this is a game still well loved by fans world-round, and with a legacy that puts Neverwinter Nights as the first ever video game to bring D&D to the 3D world, and to use 3rd Edition D&D rules, it's no wonder players are still clinging onto it.
Doom of Icewind Dale is available on Steam for $8.99/£7.65, which is currently an introductory offer, down from $9.99/£8.50.
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