User Reviews (1 - 11 of 188)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Great Game. Very similiar to Diablo II.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 34
Date: January 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you like hack & slash dungeon crawling games like Diablo, then you'll like this game. It is the first game of this style for the Playstation 2.

In this game, you play as one of three characters. You will be given quests by other people and creatures. These quests take you thru dungeons, sewers, caves, castles, woods, and mountain paths and usually involve killing a boss enemy or finding specific objects. Along the way, you must kill (or run from) enemies while picking up items (dropped by enemies, found in treasure chests, barrels, etc.) that may be useful to you or that may be sold. Fighting is in real-time (not turn-based as in Final Fantasy). As you complete quests and kill enemies, you gain experience. This experience allows you the change your character's attributes and learn new skills/spells. There are numerous types of weapons and armor to be bought or found during the game. As the enemies in the game get tougher, your experience and improved weapons/armor allow you to still put up a good fight.

The graphics and audio are amazing. The movement of water as you walk thru it and the movement of the leaves on trees as the wind blows shows the level of graphic detail that they gave the game. Also, the detail on many of the creatures in the game is outstanding. Voices and music are great. As you walk thru the woods, you hear coyotes howling in the distance. As you walk on the mountain path, you hear chunks of ice falling in the distance. Controls are simple and intuitive. Every button on the controller may be used during a game, but you'll find yourself using them like a pro in just a matter of minutes. I really like that fact that my character can change between a melee weapon (such as a sword) and a range weapon (such as a bow) during battle with the simple push of a button.

Gameplay is great and is almost identical to that of Diablo II. Unfortunately, the game is too short. Your saved games tell you how long you've been playing. On the Easy difficulty setting, I completed the game in about 12 hours. However, if you enjoy the game, you'll probably want to play each of the three characters and take at least one of your characters thru the three difficultly levels. Completing the game opens up something called the gauntlet where you have 15 minutes and one life to defeat all the various types of creatures (not too easy). Completing the game also opens up an Extreme difficulty level. Completing the game on the Extreme level opens up a fourth character. Playing a two player game is also a blast. It's just like the one player game, but allows two players to work cooperatively.

Don't let the shortness of the game keep you from trying it. I feel that this is one the best games for the Playstation 2 right now.

D&D + Diablo = PS2 dynamite!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Although it's set in the Forgotten Realms D&D universe, BG:DA features a gameplay style closer to Diablo than the Baldur's Gate games for the PC. I loved both series, so that makes me happy. And those who worried that BG:DA would be a tepid port of the PC games, rest assured that it is an all new, all different adventure.

The graphics effects and sounds are fantastic, and the soundtrack is as good or better. It's almost worth getting this game just to show off what the PS2 can do.

A few caveats:

- The game could be a bit longer, but the three character choices offer decent replay value. Still, it will leave you wanting more.

- It helps to have a handle on how to use the gamepad. The controls aren't as simple as the point-and-click interface of Diablo and the original Baldur's Gate, but they are well designed.

- Like Diablo, BG:DA is more of an RPG-lite experience than the original Baldur's gate. You only get to choose from three characters that are mostly pre-determined. It's still D&D enough to please me.

- Also like Diablo, the hack and slash action can get a little repetitive in spots. When it looks and sounds as good as it does, I don't mind.

BG:DA is a different experience than the original Baldur's Gate games for the PC, but it's a good one. And you gotta love the gelatinous cube! Definitely recommended.

Shorter than the Manual

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 27
Date: August 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a perfect chip off the Baldur's Gate series that has done so well on the PC. As with all of them it is a third person rpg composed primarily hack, slash, and bespell. Add a dash of sneak and run, and you have the entire spectrum of strategies available. If anything, there is even less story content on the PS2 than there is on the PCs. I didn't count them, but there are about thirty-five levels maybe the same number of monster types.

Basically the plot consists of arriving in Baldur's gate, getting mugged and going after the malefactors. On thing leads to another and soon you are haring all over the countryside killing everything in your sight until you come face-to-face with an old enemy of the town, On titanic battle later you are looking at the credits.

In retrospect, it is hard to believe that someone who spent list price for this game would be very happy about the game play. Even at the 'on sale, close out' price I was a bit stunned to get through the game in less than 20 hours on the first shot. And I'm not a particularly fast player. The game is beautiful to look at, motion is fluid, and you have good control of the camera angle. But all that artwork takes up most of the space on the DVD, and the game really screams for more of just about everything.

Of course, you could always just keep playing the game over until you felt you had gotten your moneys worth. Since game play is a bit monotonous, this is a viable option. But no matter what you do, you will always wind up in the same places with the same experience points and some slight variation in spells (not much if you want to win. There just isn't time to do any real character building. Oh well, it was almost fun while it lasted!

A good, but not great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: February 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

As many others have pointed out this game is very similar to Diablo, only in 3D, and not as good. Which is not to say it's a bad game, it's not, it's quite good in fact, but its flaws keep it from being great.

First off I should say I've only played it all the way through as the Archer (you can also choose from the Sorceress or Dwarven Warrior) and only on the easy level. Be forewarned, the easy level is VERY, VERY easy - that's OK with me, these days I prefer my video games to be relaxing rather than frustrating, but if you're looking for a challenge use the hard setting.
On the easy setting it's easier than Diablo.

The things the game has going for it are:

1) A good control scheme - this is really designed for the PS2 controller, rather than the awful controls you often get when a game is adapted from the PC

2) Easy to get into, lots of places to save your progress - keeps it from getting annoying

3) Nice graphics, good use of the 3D environment

4) Simplification - they've removed things that can get tedious like having to have every item or weapon you find identified, and having to have them repaired - looses realism perhaps but I'd rather not have to deal with that type of thing in a game

5) It allows you to play in whatever style you like - cautious and conservative, going back to town often to load up on healing potions and exploring every inch of the map, or wild and reckless, running through at top speed. Again this is similar to the way Diablo plays.

On the down side:

1) It's fairly short - I was surprised how quickly I got to the end, only playing it a few hours a week

2) Not too much replay value - Diablo did this a lot better with more quests, randomized so you have to play it more than once to experience all the quests and randomly generated dungeon maps

3) Arrows never really became an effective weapon, and for the Archer they really should - even at higher levels with a good magic bow and magically charged arrows it was still much more effective to simply hack and slash through with a good sword or axe

4) The magic items you find stink right up until the end. At the very beginning of the game you start off with only basic equipment so the first few things you find are useful - after that though all the good items are in the shops - until the very last levels of the game (when you can no longer go back to the shops) when you find some decent things. There is plenty of gold to be found however, so at least you can buy the expensive items.

5) Could have used MORE. More levels, more monsters, more weapons, more character classes. The monsters especially get a bit repetitive

6) I would have liked to see a better mapping system. Again the one it's got isn't too bad but I'd have liked to be able to scroll through it and have a better representation of which areas I had explored and which I had not

7) It would have benefited from a better explanation of some things - certain characteristics of weapons and spells aren't explained in the manual or the game itself - also could have used more customization options, this is a D&D based game, why can't I choose my characters race, sex, etc.

In conclusion it's an enjoyable game .... better still rent it - quite easy to finish in 5 days if you play it a lot.

Better than I expected.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: December 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I finished the game and very pleased that I had purchased it. As a fan of the series on PC I was very pleased with the transition to the Playstation. The graphics are great and no lags during combat. The storyline is pretty good but it leaves it open to continue the series same as PC versions do. The character you play is limited to archer, fighter or sorceress with the development a little lacking but you still have control over your stats on advancemnt. The story is slow to develop and the side quests are few and usually completed during your normal quest but this is made up for with playability. Controls are quick and easy to adjust and adjusting camera angles allow for a better experience. Weapons and Armor both enchanted and not are plentiful in types and quantity. Spells are somewhat limited but you develop them to more powerful levels. To any RPG or Baldurs Gate fans they should enjoy the transition to Playstation with this game and hope of future releases in the series.

excellent game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Much like Diablo, this is a great alternative for those like me who don't like traditional RPG's. Simply swing and slay, and that's all it takes, You don't get bogged down in complex battle systems or replay dungeons endlessly to build up you r character. Once enemies are dead, they're permanent floor decorations. To earn new weapons and abilities, you have to keep progressing, and that's why you'll never want to keep progressing , and that's why you'll never want to put the controller down. In fact our inability to pull ourselves away from the controller for hours prompted my girlfriend and i to nickname this bladder's gate. But that isn't the only reason you'll wet yourself. The dark and glommy dungeons hold plenty of surprises to make you jump. And slicing them to bits is a bloody sight to see. Who knew that a zombie can still attack after you slice his body in half? These thrills are best experienced with two players playing cooperatively. USing different classes fighters, sorceress or archer to complement each other's weaknesses is fun in an I ve got you back sort of way, and it makes it easier to beat the game too. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the two characters apart, despite the sharp graphics. In the middle of fights you can get lost in the carnage, and blocked sites lines caused by dungeon decor add to the confusion. THose slight problems might mix you up, but be clear on one thing this action RPG is the one to get. Just don't forget the Pampers.

The Best RPG on PS2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: October 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I thought Dungeon's & Dragons was long dead, resting comfortably in a grave with a colourful wreath of the success in endured in the 80's. I had never heard of the Baldur's Gate numerous times for the PC, and the last game I played of Dungeon's & Dragons was all the way back with "Slayer" on the Panasonic 3DO. Simple game, 1st person navigating through basements and castles while fighting off hordes of ugly looking enemies like ogres and the infamous Gelatinous Cubes. And now, at least 8 years later comes Baldur's Gate for the Playstation 2, the same idea as Slayer, but a whole new world of action/RPG gaming.

Baldur's Gate has enjoyed a successful run on the PC for the past few years, and just now has been transferred to the console masses, and PS2 is lucky enough to be first to receive it. However, instead of direct ports from already existing titles, Dark Alliance creates and entirely new gaming system for the PS2 version (About time). We've seen this type of game before no doubt, most recently Drakan and Dynasty Warriors 3, and even back as far as the original Gauntlet for that matter. Baldur's Gate is nothing more than a hack & slash at heart, but manages to become so much more than its blood vein genre has ever offered. Being this is the first PS2 title taken from a PC game that actually utilizes the full power of your Playstation system.

Three playable characters are offered for your journey, the female elf who possesses great magic capabilities, the male human who is a master with arrows and the physical powerhouse male dwarf. All characters can be armed to the teeth with dozens of weapons from axes, swords, hammers and armour from leather to steel. Grab a friend to join you in the melee and I can guarantee you'll be [in] your chairs in no time. And it is very nice to finally play a 2-player game that doesn't use a split-screen method, but rather and overhead so both characters are displayed on screen at once which is a welcome for those with small TV screens. The 2-player mode is a fantastic breather from the typical deathmatch that's carelessly thrown into every game for a quick buck on replay value (Half-Life's PS2 is my prime example). Which could have been added into this no doubt, but thank god, it wasn't.

The story is drawn straight from the classic blood vein of old school medieval adventures. Your arrival in Baldur's Gate is greeted by being beaten and robbed by a band of thieves who are currently at war with another guild of thieves in Baldur's Gate. And as you seek your revenge, the ploy of the war of thieves is a mere tip of the iceberg of events to come as an ancient evil threatens to burn Baldur's Gate to the ground. And your journey takes you to distant lands in mountains, swamps and your final destination a sinister tower that seemingly rises from the earth itself.

Whether you draw big on story driven games or not, Baldur's Gate has to be commended for its astonishing voice actors and probably the best lip-sync ever created in gaming history. The battle system is simple button mashing but increases its life-span by intertwining dozens of hand weapons, bows, and magic spells to lay waste to enemies, not to mention many special items that can be claimed for the wide assortment of side-quest and for those who prefer to search every inch of the levels will find that their efforts will be rewarded. Armour also plays a huge part in Baldur's Gate not only actually improving characters defence (Unlike Drakan) but literally giving players a mind-boggling assortment of customization for their appearances. Elements such as fire and ice are attributed to swords and axes, for instance swords with ice have a great chance of freezing enemies then allowing them to be smashed to pieces with the following attack. I was amazed to see a hack & slash game be so incredibly addictive and enjoyable. It's even more fun if you play with a friend and the experience system will keep you playing for hours to master new techniques and gather the ultimate weapon arsenal. It's one of the few games that grows beyond its genre and creates a pedestal for all others to follow. Dark Alliance is a fantastic game and one I sincerely hope to see continue, a must have.

Good game but a little monotonous

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I rented this for a couple of weeks as a "test drive" before buying. In the end I decided not to buy a copy for myself but to be honest I might rent Baldur's Gate again to continue the game. I know I won't be deleting my save file anytime soon.

Technically it is a notch above average. The graphics are great, if a little small due to the distance of the 3rd-person perspective. Lighting effects are excellent and the characters have good animation. The controls are intuitive and easy to learn. The swooping camera, controlled from the right analog stick, is not only great to watch but helpful. The on-screen map is nicely implemented and the health powerups are easy to use during battle - something that is sometimes essential.

Gameplay is a bit monotonous though. As you progress through the levels, the enemies become more varied and tougher to beat, but in the end it all comes down to hack-and-slash.

Storyline is good. The animation of the characters you talk to is detailed, especially the females. (Let's just say the programmers worked overtime on getting just the right jiggle.) As for the conversations, in talking to the other characters you are given options of what your character says to them. Of these choices it is pretty obvious which ones are better to take: kinda like, "That is an interesting comment. Can you tell me more about how to defeat the orb?" vs. "This conversation is no longer useful to me. Have a good day."

Well, maybe not *that* bad, but you get what I mean.

This is probably a good intro to RPG games for someone who's never played one. Otherwise, more experienced RPG fans might find it a bit underpowered. It might be more fun in multi-player; I went single-player only.

so where's the rest?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

when this game came out i was excited, i've played the baldur's gate-tales of the sword coast saga on the computer and i was expecting the same sort of things here. i was a little disapointed to find that instead of being a more traditional role playing game it took on more the effect of diablo, a lone adventurer-fighter venturing down into the dungeon to kill and seek fortune. after i got used to it and started enjoying the game for what it was, it ended. offering a scant 10.5 hours of game play with little to know replay value. the game details for the most part are amazing, even if some of them are over done to the point of being abnoxious. the major flaw in is that it's over too quickly, it leaves with a cliff hanger for a sequel but it makes me wonder why they'd expect me to pay another $... for the other half of this game. in diablo when you start with a previous character the dungeon is different and the bad guys are stronger to be able to compete, the second time through with baldur's gate i was confronted with the same maze and noone who could stand up long enough for me to hit them twice with my sword.
just gimme the rest of the game.

It's a good game, but there are better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I picked up Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (BG:DA) for Playstation 2 after finishing Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes on the Xbox. I'm familiar with Bioware, who consistently makes games I really enjoy (including Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic). Additionally, Baldur's Gate came first before D&D Heroes, so I knew there would be some improvements. Still, Maleficent and I enjoy blowing stuff up together, so we needed a new fix and Baldur's Gate fit the bill.

Unlike D&D Heroes, BG:DA pretends it has role-playing elements and in doing so, just highlights how non-role-playing the game is. Similar to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights, there are conversation trees. When you speak to a character, you select a series of responses from a menu. There are maybe five characters you can talk to in total and your conversation doesn't really matter - we quickly discovered that clicking the top choice always meant we'd get to hear the whole story. But you can just skip the whole story too and get right to the matter at hand, which means the role-playing elements are just trappings to make it seem more like D&D.

Forget character customization too, at least at character creation. There are three character types, including an elven sorceress, dwarven (cleric? I didn't play him so not sure), and human arcane archer. Some warning flags should go off for folks who play the third edition of D&D - one cannot start out as an arcane archer, that's a prestige class. But that doesn't matter - the human, named Vahn, is whom you get to play. While he can hack things up in melee, Vahn's clearly optimized for ranged combat. The game gives subtle hints like dropping great heaps of arrows as the only equipment you find in treasure hoards.

BG:DA is obviously geared towards a particular breed of player - the young, [...], male kind. The first character you interact with is a blonde elf that is quite buxom and has a habit of leaning forward, gesturing towards her chest or thrusting her hips. Similarly, the elven sorceress is only elf-like in that she has pointed ears - the rest of her is quite human. [...]

The artwork, especially for a PS2 game, is fantastic. The backgrounds and sound effects are impressively crafted and filled with a loving attention to detail. The characters themselves move smoothly and act like real people in their hand gestures and emotions - even the lizard man acts slightly inhuman in how he speaks and moves. The voice acting is well done, but that's something I've come to expect from Bioware.

There are some lazy shortcuts that were very irritating in their exclusion. One lizard man sends the heroes through an elemental plane of water, spends five minutes explaining how dangerous the journey will be and then we see a cut scene focusing on some random tower. POOF! That whole water/drowning thing? We never see it - we don't' even see animation explaining the journey. We have to trust on faith that it was a tough swim through the elemental plane of water. When everything else is narrated and explained in such painstaking detail, I expect to see animation explaining it.

There is, of course, all the good stuff that some people think equates with a role-playing game: you can buy equipment, switch out arms and armor, and train particular feats and spells as you advance. Little of these powers resemble third edition D&D - fire shield is considerably weaker than its tabletop counterpart. Strangely, my character was unharmed by Maleficent's burning hands (even when she was blasting right through him) but her fireballs hurt him. Go figure.

Some of the monsters are radically different from their tabletop equivalents in weird ways. In Neverwinter Nights, umber hulks are wusses with an irritating confusion gaze. In BG:DA they are terrifying juggernauts, sans gaze. Drow are still as sneaky as ever (it's clear Bioware has a soft spot for the dark-skinned elves), dragons are still a pain in the ass, and giants are suitably fearsome. Bulette burrow and are extremely difficult to kill, which is appropriate, although they waddle like fast moving turtles...not how I envisioned them (or how they move in D&D Heroes).

Perhaps the most unforgivable flaw in the game is that it crashed. That's right folks, just like a PC, the screen went white and the game crashed hard. Considreing we were at a critical point in the game and a lot of objects were on the screen at the same time (magic missiles, multiple enemies, arrows, etc.) I imagine it overtaxed the PS2. But what the heck - if I wanted a game that would crash I would have played it on a PC!

As a game developer myself for RetroMUD, I was surprised to see that every corpse and item stays where it is. That means there's no object cleanup. This means that the system has to determine the location of every item, corpse, and monster at all times. Corpses stay right where they are, which is alternately cool and disturbing, especially in rooms of mass slaughter. This problem was resolved in D&D Heroes (the corpses disintegrate) but it's a big mistake for a game of this size and probably led to the aforementioned crash.

I also got stuck once in an area due to clipping errors. These are amateurish mistakes that I haven't since seen repeated (certainly, not in D&D Heroes) so I'm willing to forgive the developers. But it's their first foray onto console games and it shows. It's a good game, but there are better games now with less boring, click-so-they-shut-up "role-playing" elements.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions