retail price of $45. The game rose to fourth place the following week, and exited the weekly top 10 in its third week. It was North America's 20th-best-selling computer game of August 2002 and 14th-best-selling of September. Icewind Dale II sold between 100,000 and 270,000 copies in the United States alone by August 2006. Combined sales of the Icewind Dale franchise reached 580,000 units in the country by that date. Critical reviews Icewind Dale II reception was generally positive. Game Informer hailed it as, "one of the best RPGs ever released for the PC", and GameSpot called it, "simply a great role-playing game". However, PC Format said, "it's uninspired and uninspiring, giving itself a narrow remit and fulfilling that unspectacularly". Certain reviewers compared Icewind Dale II to Neverwinter Nights. IGN said: "[Compared to Neverwinter Nights] the pace of [Icewind Dale II] is more varied, its balance better, the gameplay more interesting", and Game Informer considered the interface superior to that of Neverwinter Nights. PC Format said, "in the light of Neverwinter Nights in particular, there's little that stands out in Icewind Dale II to recommend it", and PC Zone concurred "it's not the [Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn] killer we had all hoped for and neither does it stack up to Neverwinter Nights". Many reviewers praised the game's combat and pacing. G4 called the game's combat "sublime", and said that "no Infinity Engine game thus far has had such interesting and intricate tactical combat". GameSpot called it "expertly paced." PC Zone complained that certain gameplay mechanics had become outdated, but that "the only real downer is the antiquated spell system and the inexplicable necessity to rest after every fight". The game was also praised for its implementation of the Third Edition rules and interface. Computer Gaming World said that "[Icewind Dale II] has the Third Edition rules down, and in no other place in the game is it more apparent than with character development", and PC Gamer said it had "a dazzling implementation of the D&D 3rd Edition rules". GameSpot called the interface "a big improvement on the spread-out interface of all previous Infinity Engine games", and IGN said that "the customization improvements to the interface that seem so natural, they make you wonder why they weren't thought of before". Game Informer called the interface "absolutely inspired" and its inventory system "second to none". The game was criticized for