Rating: 
Summary: I would give it 10 Stars!
Review: OHMYGAWD! This game is sooooo addicting and fun. I feel like a pimply faced teenager again rolling dice in a freind's home long into the summer nights, playing D&D. The RPG concept has been captured so very well in this game. If you are a D&D freak, you will LOVE this game. Black Isle RULES!
Rating: 
Summary: Baldur's Gate
Review: Baldur's Gate was the game that mannaged to blow new life into computer roleplaying games. For those of you not familiar with roleplaying games or the AD&D rules, here is a short introduction. You start out with creating your character, selecting a race(dwarf, human, halfling, gnome, elf and half-elf)and a profession(Fighter, mage, cleric(priest), ranger etc, etc). Then you roll up your ability scores each representing one physical or mental ability (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma). After creating your character you start the game in Candlekeep, a keep located on the swordcoast famous for its library. You are an orphan raised by your ward Gorion. The start of the game is easy and not very challenging, but it does give you time to get into the game mechanics and there are several tutors in Candlekeep that can give you advice on the game. I will avoid going into any further detail about the game plot as it will ruin the joy of the game.The game itself features a linear story line, but with a lot of subquests, some minor and some larger. There are plenty of areas for your party to explore, but beware, some of the areas might prove more than you can handle in the lower levels! As the plot thickens and you find out more about your background and the powers working against you it becomes more interesting, and you find yourself working towards the grand finale.
The graphics are fine, considering the game isn't new anymore. This is truly an entertaining game with only a few flaws(flaws that I only noticed after playing Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn). The character interaction in the group is almost non-existant, and it would have been nice with a little more in-groub dialogue. There are plenty of characters that you can have join your group...almost too many. Sometimes you are really have doubts about who you want since you are limited to a total of 6 members(including yourself). Even with the limited NPC(NonPlayerCharacter) interaction most NPC's are still very different and have good developed personalities.
The main plot is really good, intrigue based, although it seems that at some point you find yourself a bit "lost" in all the subquests and explorable areas there are, that you almost lose sight of the "real" goal of the game.
That said, it is still a great game. Most importantly it mannages to get the AD&D "feeling" to the computer, almost like the real thing. The AI does not always work as it should though, and you might find your characters blocking your path, so you are suddenly "stuck" in a small area and need to reload. This can be annoying, but knowing the danger of this happening can help you avoid it.
A note, this game is very different from games like Diablo and Diablo II, none of which were true roleplaying games. If you are looking for a way to hack and slash your way to glory this is not the game for you. There is a need to interact with other people during the game, and the way you behave and answer them will affect their reaction towards you, unlike Diablo where everything is a monologue. If you ever played and enjoyed tabletop AD&D, this will almost certainly entertain you. If you never tried AD&D this might just get you introduced.
I propably would have given this game 5 stars, but since I played Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, I have chosen to limit myself to 4 stars, as there are a lot of things that are enhanced in SoA.
Rating:
Summary: This is quite possibly the best game ever...
Review: It certainly is the best game I've ever played. I started reading the books, and then I heard about this game coming out, so I thought I'd give it a try, and I love it. I've played it several times through. The variability within characters, quests and areas, and the way the game is setup is absolutely wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughts...
Review: This game single handedly brought back the "old school" rpg back from near extinction, when it released in 1998 the graphics were great, and the gameplay couldn't be beaten. Here it is 2002 and while the graphics engine is definetly dated, it's good enough that there is still one more game coming out that's using the Infinity engine originally created for this game.... No, this game isn't for everyone..., it is a straight up role-playing game, and if you don't like those, you probably won't like this. Either way, if your looking for a way to spend a hundred hours or more in the forgotten realms, pick this up..., it's a hard deal to beat.
Rating:
Summary: This Game is awesome!
Review: = Baldur's Gate just plain cool!!!
Reviewer: Paul from North Webster, IN USA
Baldur's Gate 2 is an awsome thriller of off the seat action! The gameitself is pretty cool. The real time weather and color effects make this game totally worth it! It holds a good story line, and great graphics with some major weopons,and ARMOR! For instance like Drizzts Mithril chainmail("you have to put Drizzt asleep to do that, for good) and Scimitars like Drizzt's plus five defender, or his plus three frostband! You can also steal! For instance you can pickpocket, or pick locks. I think you should try this game out. Anyway I don't want to give away all the secrets. While this game is good the second is much better, but I suggest you buy this one first to get a good impression of whats going in the game.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent CRPG that breathed life into a dying genre.
Review: Baldur's Gate came along at just the right time. At a time when the RPG genre was dying out, it came in and rejuvinated the genre. Baldur's Gate is an isometric CRPG, and from first glance, it might seem like your generic CRPG, but it has several features that set it apart from the rest. First of all is the infinity graphics engine. This engine allows for impressive areas, excellent graphics, spell effects, and great scale. Secondly, and most note able is the AD&D ruleset. This ruleset allows for both simple, and in-depth character development, as well as a great way to develop statistics for both characters, NPCs, and any creatures you fight. Thirdly there is excellent dialogue, voice acting, and story progression throughout. The story is quite epic and it makes the game epic, and makes you important. All in all this game is great in every respect, and most importantly it began a series of excellent "infinity engine games" all of which were wonderful, and continue to be produced to this day.
Rating:
Summary: Good Game, not for Impatient players
Review: I found this game to be very entertaining, though I found it frustrating and dull at times, but is enjoyable. It is a good role-playing game, but the ending was not what I expected at all. I liked the little quests and enjoyed the multiple choices you could make, I like the fact that there are many spells and weapons. This is a great game entertaining but slow, not for impatience players. Usually many of the important characters die so if you don't want to pay money to revive them, you should save all the time. It is recomendable for people who enjoy a long sharp game. Yet again I repeat not for eager players. This game is long and you won't win the first time you play. But it is a witty game.
Rating:
Summary: Baldur¿s Gate!
Review: In one word - Wow! This game is simply one of the best adventures I've across. I've just finished playing the first two introductory chapters of Baldur's Gate, which is all that is available in my city. I'm in love with this game. This game provides the kind of classic adventuring experience I've always longed for in as many adventure games I've played so far. The wait ended with Baldur's Gate. Very many thanks to its developers. For how much ever I've played of it the game is simply superb. It reminded me a lot of previously played games like Diablo and one of my very first short time adventure game Dink Smallwood by RT Soft. What I find most interesting about this game are the variety of character classes allowed from which to select your character type and adding and removing team members. Sometimes deciding over this itself will take a lot of your time. The plot of the game looks great and its many twists n turns are quite shocking! Besides the main plot you also have many side quests. The graphics are very pretty and one look at the homes and Inn's cannot help but remind me of Dollhouses. I'm sure this game is a hot favorite with all adventure fans. 5 STARS!
Rating:
Summary: Superb...
Review: This game is wonderful. Customizing my character was very entertaining (and one of things I enjoy the most about RPGs, and the small side quests are numerous and interesting. There any many areas that serve no particular purpose other than to gain some XP doing quests. This, I think, is a weakness of the succeeding games in the BG series: there are not enough exploration options available. The possibilites of your party are nearly endless, since there are many NPCs, all of whom have their own strengths. However, there is little NPC interaction, which is disappointing. There are some annoying aspects of gameplay (which is what caused me to downgrade this game slightly), such as the fact that the characters are excruciatingly slow, and have a poor pathfinder feature, which leaves them w/ a tendency to go places other than where you planned. You will be challenged from the first shocking event to the final show-down...and you will enjoy it the entire way.
Rating:
Summary: The Wait Is Over
Review: Firstly, my congratualtions to Bioware / Wizards of the Coast / TSR for their wonderful creation in the Baldur's Gate Series. I can quite confidently rate Baldur's Gate as one of my most enjoyable gaming experiences. Familiar with the "Forgotten Realms" package and prefering AD&D 2nd Edition rules, I was overjoyed to see that the theme created for BG followed these guidlines. I have been a PC gamer for several years and have followed the fantasy / adventure genre since reading Lord of the Rings back in the mid-eighties. Having enjoyed early PC titles released under the then SSI logo, such as "Champions of Krynn","Pool of Radiance" & the "Eye of the Beholder" trilogy, I have been patiently waiting / hoping that another RPG would be created to effectively capture the AD&D gaming experience. I believe that wait is over. There are too many pros to outweigh cons in this game. For a gamer who enjoys depth and structure in the storyline without being too cumbersome, BG delivers. Your character walks a fairly linear plot throughout the BG series, but it does not bore. On the contrary, a lot of thought has gone into the creation of the BG storyline and the result is captivating, just reward for avid RPG gamers who want to become part of an original saga. Excellent pre-rendered graphics, realistic creature/character animation, a huge gaming area, countless sub-plots and appropriately composed music all combine to create a magnificent fantasy-adventure masterpiece. I have completed BGI, BGI - TotSC, BGII and will grab BGII - ToB when I see it. But I chose to review the original, as the series only gets better as it progresses.
With some refinements to the storyline seen in BGII such as further detail in graphics, heaps more of the classic monsters (...), hugely increased xp cap (although you can't get 9th level spells until playing BGII - ToB), and a splash of 3rd edition rules - I have no concern going back to BGI and begin questing as a lowly 1st level character - the same level of enjoyment remains. For me, the re-playability of this entire series scores a very healthy 10/10. Having given this review, I'm sure this game would not be for everyone. The sheer scope of the BG series and depth of storyline may be too tedious for those gamers who prefer more "in your face", hack 'n slash style, rapid level advancement. If I could possibly tarnish the experience I must say, I had only 2 real dissappointments in playing the BG series.
Firstly, the actions of the NPC's and most encountered enemies were somewhat simple. By that I mean, although the AI improves a little in BGII, they have no real common sense. I imagine it would not be too difficult to make NPC's / Monsters a littel smarter - definitely worth a thought.
Secondly, and I understand the point has been raised before, there is no real dungeon-crawl available in BG. Durlag's Tower exists in BG - TotSC & a brief sortie through the Underdark in BGII make up for this though. All in all - a superlative effort - will keep me happy for another 10 years.
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