AbstractBALDUR'S GATE: Dark Alliance is the third installment in the popular BALDUR'S GATE series although this is the first game in the franchise to appear on a console. You and your family were attacked and your sister was kidnapped on the way to the city of Baldur's Gate. Now you must seek out the villains responsible for your sister's disappearance and exact your revenge. In classic RPG style, you'll interact with hundreds of NPCs, and you'll fight your share of battles in order to gain experience and level up.
ESRB rating
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Alcohol Reference, Blood, Use of Alcohol, Violence |
Full descriptionA hack-and-slash adventure set in the Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance marks the console debut of the renowned RPG series, albeit in a somewhat altered form. Experience points and character skills still play a vital role in leveling up your chosen character (of which three classes are available: a dwarven warrior, human archer, and elven sorceress), though you'll find these are the only RPG aspects retained. Spanning three acts, players will need to perform a variety of quests and sub-quests, each of which will reveal more of the game's plot or provide a good opportunity to pilfer some new weapons or items.
A large menagerie of evil beasts, mutants, monsters and undead will swarm the player at every available opportunity, and as such, armor and weapons will be needed to annihilate them. Increasingly powerful items can be found in the game's many dungeons, caves, and forests, or bought from the local town store. Your character does have a weight limit however, restricting the number of items you can carry at one time. Rudimentary puzzles occasionally block your path, though the majority of the time you'll be up to your neck in enemies. Each act also contains powerful boss characters, many of which tower high above your character.
Real-time 3D environments allow for a number of interactive elements, such as exploding barrels and movable crates. Should the need arise, the camera can be manipulated via the right analog stick in order to better ascertain your whereabouts, or more importantly, the location of your enemies. Included in the title is a cooperative mode, which allows two people to work together throughout the entire adventure, sharing not only the spoils of combat, but also the danger that goes along with acquiring such items. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance features voice talent from popular titles, such as Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Metal Gear Solid.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a third edition Dungeons & Dragon, action adventure for the PlayStation 2. This 3D isometric RPG has gameplay similar to Diablo where you can be a female elven sorceress, a male dwarven fighter or a human male arcane archer. Characters will have special abilities, known as feats, and spells. Work your ways through crypts, cellers, sewers, forests and ice caverns as you battle thirty monster types. The linear story proceeds through three acts and you can play it in cooperative mode with a friend.
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Editorial reviewSource:
AmazonThe Baldur's Gate series redefined and reinvigorated the PC role-playing scene, and now Interplay brings it to the PlayStation2. Don't be fooled, however. This isn't a traditional role-playing game, but rather a fun, wall-to-wall action hack 'n' slash adventure in the mold carved by
Gauntlet and the storied
Diablo games--one that nonetheless conforms to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition rule set.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance casts you as one of three basic characters: an elf sorceress, a human archer, or a dwarf fighter. From there, you're set free inside a huge Dungeons & Dragons world replete with dungeons, forests, ice caves, and much more. Naturally, it's all filled to the brim with horrible monsters, wicked traps, treasures, and fabled magical weapons. As you go, you're constantly rewarded with new weaponry, new monsters to fight, and experience points you can put into your character stats to grow even more powerful. You can swap equipment in an inventory "paper doll" screen; those changes will be reflected in your onscreen character, so you'll start with simple weapons and a drab appearance, and you'll end up a big, mean superhero at the conclusion.
The graphics are simply wonderful, and the controls are accurate, responsive, and fun to use--which is necessary for the constant hacking and slashing required. The game is all the more fun when you recruit a buddy and play the game in cooperative mode. --Bob Andrews
Pros:
- Fast, furious fun with great graphics
- It's even more fun with a friend!
Cons: - Might disappoint PC Baldur's Gate fans looking for something deeper
Choose from three characters - Human Archer, Elven Sorceress, or Dwarven Warrior
Lush dynamic lighting in real-time rendered 3D environments
Action-packed console combat in the Forgotten Realms city of Baldur's Gate
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