Baldur's Gate

Rating:
Summary: At Long Last
Review: At long last there is an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game made for the PC that has the same feel as the tabletop addition. Role Playing gamers have been searching for the holy grail of Dungeons and Dragons for many a year, usually coming up short. Baldur's Gate has all the features of the classic tabletop version, combined with the effects offered by computers! The game starts off by letting you create a character. You can a character of a variety of classes and races. There is also the scenario of rolling for attributes. A click of the mouse simulates the role. Luckily, you may role until you have attributes that are suited for the character you are building. You also have the ability to assign weapons skills and choose the characters alignment. Alignment does factor into the way other Non player characters treat you and the way you should treat others.

After you finish creating your character you are thrust into an involved storyline where your father is killed, so you must adventure to find out why and avoid the same fate. The world you travel is vast. The game includes five compact discs, with the option of purchasing a sixth for expansion. If you have the drive space, a full installation is recommended; otherwise you will be swapping compact discs like swapping floppies in the old days. I love the fact that the playing realm is so big. It allows for travel to many intriguing environments like forests, towns, and keeps. The game play is also remarkably like Dungeons and Dragons. You must stay awake while adventuring, or monster that surprise can and will do serious damage. An advantage with this game is that you can have NPC's join your party (up to 5), and set one of several action scripts that tells them how to react during confrontation. Real time spell casting and fighting makes each battle a challenge in its own right. Experienced role players will appreciate the many choices of weapons and spells available, and know which ones work best tactically. The designers of this game did not miss much authenticity. Another game playing feature I like is the ability act your own free will. Townspeople and others NPC's are not off limits to attack if you do not like them, or just plain evil. Thieves can pick pockets, so stealing is an option. This does not help your reputation, but it can be tempting. Baldur's Gate features a brilliant array of dazzling graphics rendered in 32 bit color and isometric form, if you have a 4MB video card. Each area of the game you explore is a unique adventure into an unknown world. There are many character portraits to choose from, and lots of sites to download additional portraits if you get bored the existing ones. The details of buildings like castles and cabins give detailed craftsmanship. The sounds generated by Baldur's gate are also well put together. One of the more amusing events you will find is the non-playing characters chiming in during you adventure. Characters with different alignments and agendas will bicker with one another, including you! Sound effects like weather events, and birds chirping in the background do a great job of setting the tone. The musical scores match the game fairly well, standard adventure music. The artificial intelligence of the game is above average. Panic is a built in feature that has characters and monsters fleeing when over matched. Other monsters will not run regardless of the odds. Towns people run from you when your reputation stinks, and embrace you when is good. Baldur's Gate is a great adaptation of the classic tabletop game. It has all the features many have craved, and is satisfying in many ways. I must caution players who may think this is Diablo with many updated features. Baldur's Gate is not fast paced at all times like Diablo. If you like slice and dice, Diablo is it. If you like a thought processing adventure, this is you game.

Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: Graphics are great, gameplay is excellent, wide variety of character types to choose from, lots of different kinds of weapons and armor, lots of sidequests, great replay value. That said, like any game, it has a couple of problems. Bad computer intelligence. You can be fighting a strong warrior, and have one guy run in circles while the other five hit him with arrows and missile weapons, and the guy you're fighting won't ever stop chasing that one dude. That makes parts of the game a little too easy. The other problem i've noticed is that sometimes it gets to where you can't do something without worrying about messing up. When you talk to guys, you have to be careful or the flaming fist (law enforcement) will come and kill you, or you might accidently miss a powerful item. The last problem with the game is the leveling up. The exp. cap only lets you get to around level 8 or 9 by the end of the game. All in all, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. This game is one of the best I've played. It's definitely worth buying for a true rpg fan.

Rating:
Summary: BEST FRIGGIN' GAME IN THE WORLD!
Review: I've had this game for around four years now, and I've yet to come upon anything as great as this. This is a giagantic world of the fantasy-tinted middle ages that I've yet to learn all the secrets of. I've played through it nearly seven times, and it never seems to get old what with the six racial options including elf, dwarf, human, half-elf, gnome, and halfling, the many, many unique characters that you may choose to adopt throughout the game, and the INCREDIBLY engrossing plotline. Get this game, if you don't like it... then there must be something wrong with you.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a faithful yet fun adaptation of AD&D
Review: Baldur's Gate is the first great AD&D game for the computer to come along since the Gold Box games from SSI. (I didn't really enjoy the Eye of the Beholder series.) This translation to the world of computer gaming is the most faithful yet, disallowing such Gold Box quirks as spellcasting while armored. Fortunately, Bioware did make some changes in the interest of gameplay balance. For example, Cure Light Wounds always heals 8 hp, not just d8 -- a boon since you begin at level 1 and have many battles to get through.

The emphasis is definitely on adventuring and combat; the story is acceptable at best. (The ending is particularly non-spectacular.) With respect to combat, some abilities do seem overpowered. In particular, Baldur's Gate imposes none of the penalties on archery that a good DM would: you can continue to rain arrows upon an enemy engaged in melee with you, and you can fire into melees without ever hitting anyone besides your intended target. A friend of mine used the Sanctuary spell to disgusting effect: while the enemies stand around pointedly "ignoring" the enchanted priest, the other party members rain death upon them. Also somewhat jarring are the NPCs who initiate conversations with you even while invisible or hidden (to prevent the player from "breaking" the plot).

But playing Baldur's Gate can be an immensely fun experience. Frankly, this is what AD&D is meant to be, translated on to your computer screen. You explore, meet deadly monsters and quirky NPCs, gain in power and magic, find neat magical weaponry and people to join your party.

Some advice: - Don't get hung up on "maxing" out your characters. Unless you enjoy being a munchkin, just have fun and do what your character would do. I found myself trying too hard to win battles without using any of my wand charges or potions, adding to my frustration and leaving me with unused wands and potions at the end of the game. - You don't need to keep all the letters and notes you find. The important ones end with, "(This looks important. You should hang on to it.)" This is important because a single letter or gem takes the same amount of space as a suit of plate mail or an Ankheg carcass. - Summoned monsters are very useful, and don't feel as cheap as exploiting Sanctuary or archery. - If you're having trouble with the Warrior Skeletons (heh), the newest patch purports to weaken them a bit.

Rating:
Summary: The Mother of all D&D Video Games
Review: As one of the few people who fondly remembers the old SSI "gold box" games, I have been looking forward to Baldur's Gate for almost 2 years. The game ended up surpassing even my ultra-high expectations. The graphics, music, sound effects, storyline, and dialogue are all top notch, and the game has even addicted my non-RPG fanatic fiancee. The game is tough, but not impossible. I end up having to reload certain fights 4-5 times to win, trying different strategies each time. The game is also more faithful to the "true" D&D rules than any other. (ie, magic items are carefully meted out, not just found in bushes beside the road.)

One minor complaint: Drizzt Du'orden and Elminster are humonga-chodes, two of the silliest, stupidest, most ill-conceived and contrived characters in the history of Role-Playing, and I was not amused to find them in the game. No biggie. I killed Drizzt and took his magical chain mail and sword. :)

I have not been this wrapped up and involved in a game since I bought Civilization II.

Kiss your family and friends good-bye, stock the fridge, and enjoy Baldur's Gate.

Rating:
Summary: Well done game, but not perfect.
Review: I bought Baldur's Gate after 2 friends kept telling me how great it was. I'm not a big RPG player, however I did find this to be a truly great game.

Positive features of the game: Visually, the game is quite well done, especially the scenary and spell effects. The atmosphere can get quite spooky in underground caverns and during thunderstorms. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to character creation, and one is even allowed to double-class and choose their character's appearance. The NPCs can be quite engaging, and party members (you can have up to 6) actually interact with each other verbally in often humorous dialogue. The storyline is interesting and generally linear, though there are many sub-quests that one can choose to pursue.

Regarding the down side of the game: By the time the game got to chapter 6 (there are 7), I was ready for it to end. And the ending itself is a bit anticlimactic. My party got up to only 7th level, and thus had rather limited abilities. Comparing this game to Morrowind (which I am now playing), BG could have been a bit more open-ended and expansive in size, which would have enhanced its replayability. After 12 intense days of playing to the end, I promptly auctioned it on Ebay.

For those interested in a well-told, gorgeously rendered D&D-style adventure, with a well-defined main plot and credible monsters and NPCs, BG is a good buy.

Rating:
Summary: Must Be True Blue RPGer
Review: I enjoy RPG games. Really, I do. But for some reason, I couldn't get into this one as much as I thought I could. But I've looked at all the reviews on this board, and most are raving about it. But what I'm also wondering is if these very positive reviews are from mostly die-hard RPGers, and/or Dungeon & Dragons fans.

I personally do not play D&D, so I'm not a die-hard. But I did enjoy Diablo, Everquest, Might and Magic 7, and Age of Wonders, so I'm not against "dungeon-crawl"/fantasy type games as you may think I am. I did like the "pause" option in Baldur's Gate, so you can give commands to each of your party's members without getting thrashed in the meantime, but I didn't care for the graphics. But to some, that's minor and forgivable if you like the gameplay--I guess I just didn't. I also prefer faster paced games with a more linear storyline. But if you prefer a non-linear storyline, and sometimes feeling semi-lost in a rather large world to explore, that's all the more reason for you to get this game.

I also get a tired of too much repitition. Every battle I set my formation up, pause, issue relatively the same commands, and execute. (In Everquest, I only went up to Level 12 and quit, thinking, what's the point?) So the combat is repetitive, but in Baldur's defense, it does have a storyline and an ending, unlike Everquest. But it is time consuming. But if you can afford the time, and you like RPG's, then you'll love this title, otherwise, spend your gaming money elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: AD&D the way it is supposed to be
Review: After rereading the 'Lord of the Rings' series, I had put myself back into a fantasy state of mind. It had been many years since my brother and I wielded stacks of paper, dice and books to an imaginary game that was so intriguing because as a player you had such dynamic freedom of action and decisions. I wanted a game that would make me feel like that, and I found it when I stumbled across Baldur's Gate. It is the most perfect AD&D game I have played to date.

You create your main character and customize him or her to your liking. All other characters must be encountered and often convinced to join. There are well over twenty characters that I encountered in my game play, although your party can only consist of six characters at a time. Once a character joins your party, you have complete control of them (unless your actions violate their alignment). One of the greatest benefits of controlling the characters with a computer (as opposed to on paper) is that it is much easier to control and remember all the variables that each character and class has. When in control of a character, your icon controls are specific to that class; so it is very easy to quickly switch your thief into stealth/backstab mode, to have your cleric turn undead, to have your bard sing an inspiring battle song, to have your ranger charm an animal. Also with the computer, you don't have to worry about all the little variables that affect a characters abilities; weapon proficiencies, THACO, abilities granted by magic items. This makes for a much cleaner enjoyable game.

The gaming world is huge. Each new area you enter is completely original with beautiful new graphics, random monster encounters, and so very many sub-quests. On average, I think that each area on the map had at least 3, sometimes 4 sub-quests to be completed. But only if you want to, the progression of the game is completely non-linear, YOU DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!! Fight or talk, steal or buy, fight the bad guys or join the bad guys. There is a major plot line that your main character is forced into. You simply remain ignorant of new areas on the map until you have completed a chapter by ending a major quest. My only complaint of Baldur's Gate is that there are so many variables in the game play, I wonder what all I've missed.

Upon completion of Baldur's Gate, your character is saved so that you may load him into Baldur's Gate II. (In Part I, you are only allowed to progress to Level 7 or 8; this is why) . I strongly recommend playing Baldur's Gate first and not jumping straight to Part II. Part II has much that Part I does not: another two years of technology, AD&D 3rd Addition Rules, Character Kits, Ability to get a stronghold (castle). You would be selling yourself short by missing the development of your own character, as well as one of the best games you would have ever played. I am pretty certain that Part II will blow Part I out of the water, as far as being the greatest game. As great as Part I seems to me now, it would be terrible to play Part II, fall in love with the game, decided to play Part I, and then think that Part I was not very good in comparison.

PLAY 'BALDUR'S GATE' RIGHT NOW!!!

Rating:
Summary: Tip Your Hats
Review: I have been a gamer ever since I could think enough to be one, and Baldur's gate is quite possibly the very best game in the world today. To be a proper PC gamer, you have to be one who cares not about graphics, or animation stylings, but storyline. A true PC gamer sees the true worth of a game in the emotion which you percieve in playing it, and the true feeling of joy in the playing. GAMING SHOULD NEVER BE A CHORE. That is the thought of a true PC gamer. And this game is a wonder of the PC world. Of all the 30+ pc games, 5 xbox games and 15 gamecube games that I own, few have even begun to give me the same feeling as this, and none have ever completed it. Though this game might not be a graphical wonder, it is a 2-d world that is still more beautiful than any 3-d attempt. This game is bursting with replay value, and is never a bore or a trouble to play. It is my greatest game of all time.

Rating:
Summary: a well example of pc gaming...
Review: Well...I must say that this game is just that: it's not the best game ever, but it is really fun and you'll play it a lot supposing you like D&D/AD&D or RPG's. That being said, allow me to get to the nitpicky stuff.

One major gripe with this game that I have is teh experience system. It divides up the experience rather then give each party member an exact copy of the amount recieved. Another problem is the amount of "Cosmetic" strikes and how you miss a lot. I guess that is for "realism" but it just annoys me. Also, sometimes the game is REALLY non-linear so you have to get a guide or talk to EVERYONE in a place to see where you need to go.
Other than that, this game is really good and will keep you playing it forever. The story is really good and the rest of the game is good, I will not spill details, although most of you have already gotten the game and beaten it. Well i must go, hope you enjoyed the review...