Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

THE GOOD:

Great Hack 'n Slash Action

Decent Storyline

Nice Weapon System

THE BAD:

Too Few Characters

Not Challenging Enough

No Replay Value

SUMMARY:
If you're looking to rent a fun game to pass a bit of time, this is right up your alley. It's full of great gameplay and an overall enjoyable game, but it just isn't worth buying. After beating it the first time there's a good chance you'll stick it back in the case and throw it on the shelf, where it will sit forever (just as mine is doing).

You choose to play as one of three characters: A Dwarven Warrior excelling in hand-to-hand combat, an Elven Sorceress that can work a bit of magic, or an Arcane Archer that uses none other than a bow as his primary weapon. What's that? You want someone different? Tough luck, you choose from those three, and only those three. Plain and simple.

Once you get to romping around...

Synopsis
Baldur's Gate is probably considered one of the most prized games for a computer gamer... how about the console gamers? Would this appeal to them the same way or is Baldur's Gate best remained on the big PC?

Interestingly enough, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance does not play at all like a Baldur's Gate, but still holds elements of the game that gives it the license. Due to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance being on the console world, it becomes a more linear game that progresses much faster than the vast and drawn out worlds of Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate holds many great qualities, and many of this will be reminiscent to gamers. However, I couldn't help but feel that Dark Alliance's Diablo-like gameplay was a bit half-baked. Mind you it holds solid qualities, amazing graphics and a game that puts D&D gaming to a tee, but the overall product just was not that satisfying. Why? Well, it's not that 'Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance' has bad qualities, it's that the good...

THE GOOD:
The graphics are absolutely remarkable. Black Isle Studios has really outdone themselves with this one. Sound is great, and has medival feel to it, which is a definite suprise.

THE BAD:
Not a lot of great weapons, can get repetitive, and there are only three characters to choose from.

SUMMARY:
Baldur's Gate has come along way since it was first released. Dark Alliance is a game that would really be a good idea to consider. The story begins when you are struck from behind by two unknown men, possibly accused for an assault earlier. Thus, what happens next, can come totally unexpected. One of the more wonderful factors about it is the fact that you can actually play a Story Mode 2-Player, which is a rarity among these kind of games. When you see the water in this game, it is exactly like reality, no wonder it has been acclaimed the best graphical game of its time. If you like medival, and love to have a...

THE GOOD:
Good hack 'n slash game
Plenty of weapons and abilities to keep you going
Fairly difficult and some bosses will take several attempts to beat
A good storyline

THE BAD:
Quite boring on 1-player mode, 2 players are better
Only 3 characters
If you don't like hacking and slashing a whole lot you won't like this
Easy final boss

SUMMARY:
Baldur's Gate surprised me as a game. I didn't really expect too much out of it and I've never played a game by this company before. After playing a few levels I got a bit bored as there didn't seem too much to do. Then I played with my brother and the game took off.

The basic storyline is that a female warrior, who was the most feared in the land, has returned to Baldur's Gate in order to get revenge on the people she feels betrayed her when she was alive. She's somehow been brought back and you have to stop her. There's a better description of the...

THE GOOD:
~The graphics
~The game play
~The length
~Co-op mode
~The characters

THE BAD:
~Dumb AI
~Sometimes repetitive
~Extremely linear

SUMMARY:
The PS2 is very lucky to get this great game, it's a fun and enjoyable D&D game, and should do well in your pile of games (if you have any).

The game starts you off with the choice of 3 different and unique characters. These characters are the Arcane Archer, Dwarven fighter and an Elvin sorceress. After completing the game with one of these characters you can go back to the start and play the game over with the same character or chose another one. This adds to the lastibility of the game.

The graphics are out standing considering how old the game is. Though the unfortunate thing is the camera angles, which really don't give you a chance to marvel at the graphics. The only time in where you get a close up of the graphics is when you are...

THE GOOD:
Almost Everything except...

THE BAD:
Only three characters, swords and weapons are pretty much the same, and the view got quite annoying(birds eye view)

SUMMARY:
When I first popped this game in I was skeptical. THe first mission was kind of shall we say wierd. You had to rid the basement of giant rats. But as you progressed the game got more and more in depth with new enemies.(some of which look very cool) SOme of the enemies like the giants werequite weak in the beginning of the game.For the characters there are dwarf, human, and elf. The dwarf is your basic axe swinging shorty. The human is not what youd expect... he is an archer. And the elf(woman)is a sorceress. Thats it and that is the problem. Every game usually has a good amount of characters to choose from, but 3 characters not good enough for me. But if your looking for a solid Rpg/hack'n'slash game pick this one up. But whatever you do do not...

THE GOOD:
variety of enemies, two-player feature, above par voice-acting, scores of weapons to choose from.

THE BAD:
too addictive to last long, no replay value, not very original in any area, no character development.

SUMMARY:
This is a decent game all around: fair graphics, good length, adequate plotline. Alone it's pretty challenging, but it also can get pretty boring due to the repetitive gameplay. Dark Alliance is best played with a friend. Each of you can choose from three races (elf, human, or dwarf) all of which possess strengths and weaknesses that compliment each other nicely on the battlefield. You're given a fair say in your character's development since you're granted a number of points for distribution after each level-up to use towards gaining new spells, abilities, or improving areas of weakness.
Despite the eerie déjà vu that the game incurs, Dark Alliance does a good job of capturing all the...