Rating: 
Summary: Go get Shadows of Amn instead
Review: GraphSim fixed all the little things and [messed] up the big ones. Sure, it's nice that everybody now has two quick weapon slots (so Jaheira is playable), and that hide in shadows doesn't work if there aren't any shadows (oops!). The new quests aren't bad either, though they're nothing special.The big problem is that it crashes like a drunk driver. Most sounds HAD to be turned off during big fights or I would get an error saying that a decoder was not available & the game quit. I considered myself lucky if I could get through an hour of play without having a hard freeze that required a full system reset, even after tweaking the settings (most sounds off, etc.) to improve stability. Don't even think of increasing the game's memory partition, because it will actually crash MORE, even with tons of extra memory left over for the system! As far as I can tell (i.e., just looked at their Web site), GraphSim never released a patch at all. Save yourself some frustration. Go get Shadows of Amn instead. It's not only prettier & more interesting, it WORKS.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun, but oh the crashing.....
Review: As with other reviewers, I had problems with the game crashing....most noticable during the most difficult fight in the game. Luckily, an experienced RPG player knows to save the game often. The additional items, spells, and areas are a welcome addition, though the experience cap of 161k is still a bit low. However, there are easy workarounds that can be downloaded from the web. Still, the overall enjoyment of the game makes up for sketchy stability.
Rating:
Summary: Very good extension
Review: After completion of this game, I immediately bought Baldurs gate II. This extension for the initial game allows you to play with your previous character. The graphics are really nice and the scenario is very intersting. Concerning the problems with the sound and abilities I am very surprised: the voices of the character were clear and no crashes, excepted at one place (wich is not required for the completion of the game). I really enjoyed this game and recommend it to anyone who played the original baldur's gate ( tested on an Ibook 500, 256 Mo RAM system 9.2)
Rating: 
Summary: The mother of all computer RPGs
Review: The Baldur's Gate franchise is the most popular single-player RPG series out there for good reasons, even though it's been a few years since its release. While more recent Black Isle games, notably Icewind Dale II, have vastly improved graphics and interface and others like Neverwinter Nights have changed the playing field entirely, BGII stands out for its tremendous scope and exceptional depth. BGII's complexity, intertwining subplots and host of myriad characters are enough to constitute a novel, one which you get to shape and play out instead of merely reading. To me that's the essence of RPG that few others have been able to capture. Reinforcing this feeling, at many points in the game you must make decisions that have far-reaching consequences. Furthermore, you can also complete many quests using the good or evil approach. You may decide how to proceed based on whether you want to be good or evil; there are non-player characters (NPCs) of both alignments ready to assist you. BGII's strongest asset is its quests. While some quests are short and easily completed, most are substantial, highly interesting, and many engender their own sub-quests. For instance, one quest requires you to infiltrate a thieves guild suspected of treason; to gain their trust, you must finish several tasks for them; after you gather evidence of their treason, you're asked to go back and eliminate the guild leader; if you're successful, you then have the option of becoming the new leader and manage your own guild. It's possible to finish the game doing only the minimum handful of quests, but you'd be missing a big part of the game. Similarly, it's almost impossible to complete all quests in one run, because the quests you get depend on the decisions you make. For instance, you can side either with the thieves' guild or the rival vampires' guild, each of which comes with its own storyline and quests. Most of the quests are initiated at the beginning of the game in Athkatla. Subsequently, quests become smaller and more linear. Characters are tightly intertwined with quests. Since you start off with only one player, you should add additional characters to your party. Characters range from elven cleric/wizard to human ranger/stalker. Some are carry-overs from BG1. Some are found only if you accept certain quests, and some come with their own quests. You can interact with virtually any character in the game. Each character has his/her own history, alignment, and personality. From time to time, characters in your party will initiate dialogues with you and with one another, most with some amount of actual voice dialogue. Some interactions are quite funny; I've chuckled many times with Minsc and Jan in my party. One feature that I suspect to be very popular is romance with characters in your party. If you meet certain conditions, a male player can romance with one of three female NPCs and a female player can romance with one male NPC. Romance are simply additional dialogues that you go through during lulls between battles. They don't add significantly to the plot, but they're an extra dimension that adults may appreciate. A new feature in BGII is the "stronghold". The stronghold you get depends on your class. For instance, the fighter stronghold is a keep outside of Athkatla, while the thieves stronghold is a guild headquarter in the Docks district. Strongholds are gained after you complete a certain quest; they generate gold for your coffers and come with their own mini-quests at intervals. They're not essential to the story, but they add immensely to the illusion of role-playing. Another great new feature is familiars, small pet-like creatures that follow you and obey your orders. There are many tricks you can do with familiars, but mostly they're just cool to have. If you haven't played BG1, the premise is that you're the illegitimate child of Bhaal, the God of Murder. After you defeated your nemesis at the end of BG1, your party was ambushed and taken prisoner. You wake up in a dark dungeon and find yourself tortured and apparently experimented upon by an unknown wizard. The game begins as the dungeon are invaded by hooded assailants and you are released. Now you must fight your way out of the dungeons and discover the identity of your captor and thwart his nefarious plan. You will explore the vast city Athkatla as well as travel to many exotic destinations such as an extra-planar prison, an underwater Sahuagin city, the Underdark, the elven city Suldanessellar, even the Nine Hells! There are innumerable dungeons and ruins along the way for your to explore. If any game is able to truly capture the dungeon exploring feel of D&D, this is it! You'll encounter a virtual encyclopedic list of monsters, including golems, vampires, liches, beholders, mind-flayers, werewolves, demons, and dragons. Some are immensely powerful and require much tactical planning on your part. Mastering spells and understanding their effects and limitations are a must. This is a hard task as there are 300 spells of all types in the game. Enemy spellcasters have powerful magical protections that make them virtually invincible. However, every protection spell has some form of counter. To successfully attack them, you must use the appropriate counter-spells to weaken their defense. Game play is fast and furious. Battles are not as large as those in IWD2 and are more oriented toward magical duelling, which is equally if not more fun. The sprite graphics and animations are unspectacular by modern standards, but they are no longer noticeable once you become immersed in the game. Background graphics is gorgeous eye-candy, however, particularly the Sahuagin city, the Underdark, and Suldanessellar. The soundtrack and voice-over work are superb. BGII has very high-replay value thanks to its breadth and richness. If you like RPG games, this one is a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: Throne of Excellence
Review: The combined talents of Bioware and Black Isle Studios have done it again. The Throne of Bhaal expansion (which hardly feels like an expansion) brings many more entertaining hours of BG gameplay to the already spectacular product of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. If you are considering of buying the Throne of Bhaal expansion, you probably already enjoy Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn immensely. And if that is the case, I highly recommend this product for any BG fan. There are three whole new chapters added to the game's story to bring a wondrous conclusion the Bhaalspawn saga, as well as a large dungeon known as Watcher's Keep that can be accessed at any time. I found every new area with all the high-level foes very challenging. The voices, sound and music were top-notch. The graphics aren't very different from what you have seen in the original BGII, but they still strike me as being richly detailed and beautiful to behold. I did not find this expansion short one bit. (It is an expansion after all, not an entirely new game) The price for this product was very fair considering all the many hours I spent returning to the Sword Coast and battling enemies with god-like power. And as you finish the expansion and watch as the Bhaalspawn Saga comes to a close, you reflect back on the simple beginnings in Candlekeep and all the journeys and adventures that took you to this point. If you've been a fan of the Baldur's Gate games from the beginning, it'll be a sad but satisfying experience to see it end. My hats off you to hardworking folks at Bioware and Black Isle Studios... There are few games out there that I love as much as this series. Lets hope you guys continue to release quality products that raise the expectations of RPGs for years to come. "Wherever evil treads, Minsc treads louder!!"
Rating: 
Summary: Better games on the way
Review: I waited and waited and WAITED for this game, and yes, I did get some enjoyment out of it. The graphics are beautiful, and the quests/encounters are generally top-notch. But there are quite a few drawbacks... 1. The characters move slowly and constantly bump into each other/go the wrong way. Compared to Diablo II, this is incredibly frustrating! Yes, you can jiggle with the AI, and I encourage it, and yes, you can pick up boots of speed, but it's a big problem with all the terrain you have to explore. 2. For my taste, there's too much hokey humor. A stuttering, chicken-out fighter? And one who loves his "space hamster?" Come on. A little bit goes a long way. 3. It's based on 2nd Ed rules. If you're unhappy with the new system, by all means, go for it. I much prefer the sleek and adaptable new system. Also, why settle for BG or BG2 when Neverwinter Nights is on the way, based on 3rd Ed? And Diablo II (already available) and its expansion, which use their own nicely-tuned system? Lastly, developers, let's get those Mac/Linux ports out faster next time, eh?
Rating:
Summary: Baldur's Gate II: Outstanding and Impressive
Review: This game is an absolute godsend. As stated in the first review I ever did on Amazon, I was not a fan of the role playing genre before this series came along. Since then, it has been a marriage made in heaven. Of course, my better half does not appreciate the time I spend with this series of games. Warning: Could Lead To Divorce!!! In BGII you are a descendant of the god Bhaal. This leads to your kidnapping and torture at the hands of Irenicus. The story develops from this premises. You will find many positives to this game including: 1) Partial use of AD&D 3rd edition rules. 2) Inclusion of kits for the main classes of characters which leads to specialization 3) The ability to import your character from BGI 4) Massively improved graphics 5) Inclusion of Monk, Sorcerer and Barbarian classes 6) 200+ hours of game play 7) Romantic involvement with some of the other characters (Aerie, Viconia, Jaheira and for female player characters, Anomen) 8) Interface is extremely easy to use 9) Inclusion of characters from BGI such as Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira 10) Ability to gain a stronghold with specialty quests from that stronghold (I have used the fighter stronghold and the mage stronghold so far, but there are also strongholds for a Paladin, Ranger, Druid, Cleric, Theif, and Bard, each with special quests) 11) A lot of replayability as there are so many different character classes to explore. 12) High experience point cap which allows for example, a mage to use and memorize up to 8th level spells. 13) Multitudes of magical items including Vorpal and Holy Avenger blades, Ring of Wizardry, Armor forged from the scales of Dragons you kill, Bag of Holding and other items that can be forged from items that are found across the quest. 13) High level legendary monsters. This game is an absolute must have for the RPG fan. It beats Diablo II hands down. Be prepared to think as there are many options open to the character and each choice can lead to unforseen consequences. Be prepared to fight as you are bound to run across a legendary creature or two. Be prepared to romance with one of the aforementioned characters. Be prepared to eat at your computer. By the way, what exactly is sleep? This is THE BEST RPG on the market!!!
Rating:
Summary: Baldur's Gate, JUST GREAT!
Review: Well, where to start. Well for starters if you read my review on Diablo 2, it stated how I would log on each day to their server just to get my fix. No longer. The day I bought Baldur's Gate 2 was the last day I logged in to Diablo. It is just that ... good! Baldur's Gate 2 is an R.P.G. that many of us would be familiar with (Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment). I've started the game again numerous times trying out all the different character options, and believe me there are many. Fighters, Rangers, Paladins, Clerics, Druids, Thieves, Bards and Mages each have 3 styles to choose from (example: The thief class has:- Assassin-poisonous dagger & +'s in cmbt, Bounty Hunter-special trap setting, and Swashbuckler-Cmbt excellent.) Then there are the three new classes Monk, Sorceror and Barbarian. So it is actually really good fun to play a single-classed character as opposed to the original. Then into the game you start of as roughly level 7, depending on your class choice, which makes it a hell of a lot more fun as you are already quite capable opponents. Old characters are reprised, you'll encounter three at the beggining, and lets just say most of the wackier ones return for a bit more fun. I recommend playing Baldur's Gate 1 first if you haven't already done so, as the story continues on from after completion of it. There are also a few references to the other Black isle/Bioware games such as Torment, where a Tiefling has entered a portal into your plane, and you must save him. All this makes up for a hell of a game, enjoy! Poem: Baldur's Gate 2, it's for you Especially for anyone who's ever played a Black Isle game It'll work on as low as a P2, 233 You'll play more than 100 hours, this poem is lame.
Rating:
Summary: Truly brilliant
Review: Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn (henceforth BGII) is a truly brilliant game. Few other computer roll playing games can compare to the immersiveness offered in the world that Bioware has magnificently created. The only one that comes close was Betrayal at Krondor, 7 or 8 years old by now. Baldurs Gate I pretty much rejuvenated a soporific genre that was running low on ideas. BGII has built on the foundation of BGI, and the results are impressive. BGII does everything important right. It makes good use of the AD&D license with monsters, places, and objects familiar from those that played the pen & paper version. One of BGII's main bonuses is that it incorporates some new 3rd AD&D rules, specifically in character creation. Whereas before you were the familiar basic fighter/wizard/thief there are slews of new options. Each of the old classes, such as Fighters, have been given "kits" which are basically subclasses. So instead of being a guy or gal with a sword, now you can be a Mageslayer. This class has great bonuses when attacking magic wielders. On the minus side, they can't use a lot of magical items, including healing potions - which can make the game much tougher. Its a great balancing act, and makes playing the game much more immersive. As you play to your strengths and find ways around your weaknesses it creates much more of a dilemma and challenge. There are also three new classes: monks, barbarians, and sorcerers. All of which I could continue on about in depth... The characters you come across in the game world are fabulous as well. Other characters that join your group will have their own personal axes to grind. They often need your help and agree to join only if you do indeed help them out. If you dont keep your word, they will easily walk out on you. Also, if you try and mix good and evil characters in your group, they will have words with each other and may even fight to the death! Such drama! The game allows for an amazing amount of personalization as well. If you are so inclined you can import your own picture and voice files into the game, for that truly submersive experience. I could go on and about the good stuff as there is simply so much stuff to gush about. Interesting quests, size of the game (200+ hours of entertainment) etc, but there are a few caveats. The game is a bear - four discs! A full install will eat up several gigs. And if you dont do the full install, your load times can be veerry sllooowww. Additionally, the minimum requirements are a bit misleading. I make the minimum requirements and I've had to do *tons* of tweaking to make the game playable. If your machine is borderline, be very careful, or else you will have a game that is barely playable, its just too choppy. Besides hardware concerns, there have been some performance problems - the game does occasionally lock up and crash. But overall, Bioware has done an incredible job in delivering a solid, bug free game (especially when you compare it to other stuff on the market) that pushes the limits of the genre. They have done nearly everything right: great manual, great support, multiplayer etc. If you are ready to graduate from Diablo's mindless hack and slash into a game that will challenge your imagination, tactics, and assumptions, do yourself a favor. Baldurs Gate II is going to go down as one of the best games to ever be produced. If you like roleplaying games, go buy this game. NOW!
Rating:
Summary: Why Diablo II doesn't compare
Review: I bought D II first. I played it and I liked it. The improvements from Diablo were good and I was pleased. Then a few days later Baldur's Gate came in the mail. Holy geez! As a computer gamer, I was impressed. But as a long-time RPG fanatic, I was blown away. A game like this could replace the traditional RPG. Listen to this, you generate your Player Character just like you would in an RPG, no having to chose from a standard 5 PCs as you must in D II. And you can customize the actual appearance of your PC. Not only that, but you must think. It's not your typical hack-and-slash game. Those of you who are bitter about the late arrival, well, GET OVER IT.
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