"The
action also benefits greatly from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons license."
Baldur’s
Gate: Dark Alliance (BG:DA) is a far cry from the Baldur’s Gate games
on the PC.Where those
games offer epic quests and deep, involving stories, BG:DA is far
smaller and more intimate.Luckily,
it is also far more action packed.Instead of being a true RPG, BG:DA is a real-time action game in
the mode of Diablo, but without the mouse clicks, and is a direct
offspring of the classic, ASCII-based game Rogue.As a RPG, BG:DA is too short and too light, but for a Rouge-like
game, it is a fairly deep and rewarding experience.
Like
its PS2 counterpart, the first thing most players will notice about
BG:DA are the smooth graphics.As
a PS2 game BG:DA was remarkable—an anti-aliased wonder amidst a sea of
jaggie-filled games.The
Xbox doesn’t suffer from the same problems, but BG:DA still looks
wonderful.I would have
liked to have seen this version do a little more than maintain the
status quo, however.As
good as the graphics are, they could have been improved with better and
more regular bump-mapping.The
occasional frame rate stutters from the PS2 version are still here also.Regardless, BG:DA is still gorgeous and, even on the Xbox, has
little competition in its own category (I’d say Hunter is slightly
better looking than BG:DA, but that’s it).
Also
mimicking the PS2 version, the sound remains excellent here.The clash of blades, thrum of bow-strings and pain cries of
creatures and man alike are well done and involving.I always felt the sound in the game was underrated.Hopefully it will garner more notice this time around.
One
of the places that this game lags far behind the Baldur’s Gate RPG’s
is in character selection.Here,
players can only choose between three character classes.The game is, however, a distinctly different experience when
playing with each of the characters.Regardless of which character is chosen, the plot starts our hero
out in the town of Baldur’s Gate having just been robbed by members of
a Thieves Guild.From
there, though there are some minor side quests, the game is completely
linear.It is required that
each mission be completed before the next can be taken.Even the side-quests don’t help the payer feel less confined as
most of them can be completed without even trying.Killing everything in an area and busting up all the crates and
barrels will pretty much solve every quest.What puzzles exist are simple and obvious.
In
case you couldn’t tell from the paragraph above, BG:DA’s focus is
firmly on action.The game
throws hundreds of creature at you at a rapid pace.Gameplay basically consists of slaughtering wave after wave of
critters.It is here that
the game’s great graphics really pay off.Monsters are well-modeled and animated.Even early XP builders like rats and kobolds are given hundreds
of polygons and a large number of frames of animation.
The
action also benefits greatly from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons license.These are not generic monsters that our heroes encounter, but
detailed monstrosities with rich histories.An early encounter with a huge Beholder is, for me at least,
worth the price of admission.The
first time I played the game, I played that boss encounter ten times in
one night.Very good stuff.Dozens of other D&D staples make an appearance and each one
is like meeting a dear old friend.
Though
the main quest is short, BG:DA does provide some replay value in the
form of the Gauntlet and Extreme modes than open up after you have
beaten the game.These
amount to little more than timed dungeon crawls, but they are
challenging and may keep the game from going onto the shelf permanently
after it has been beaten using all three character classes.
In
the end, BG:DA is a great game.It
is a bit too short and a lot too linear, but the combination of great
graphics, sound, and theme make for a fun experience.Still, if you have already played the game on the PS2, there is
no reason to buy it for the Xbox.This
is the same game through and through.