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The mother of all computer RPGs

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 134 / 137
Date: March 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

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.

Truly brilliant

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 90 / 95
Date: October 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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!

A perfect game for anyone except me...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 72 / 74
Date: January 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Described in one word, Shadows of Amn is HUGE. The amount of choices you have for creating your character is huge - you'll probably restart a few times just to try different options for forging your champion, which range from seven different races (the classic stuff + half-orc), about thirty (I think) classes and character kits (specialist classes like inquisitor), and a myriad of other options like different combat styles and A LOT of spells. Truly, your imagination can, for once, run wild. Once you have a character you are happy with, the fun begins. Your character starts a lot more powerful than in BG1. Although the game starts out as a simple dungeon romp, when you eventually reach the city of Athkathla, far south of Baldur's Gate, the game EXPLODES with possibilities. You have tons of terrain to explore, lots of quests to solve (all of them take at least 15 minutes and are generally quite intriguing, unlike the usual fetch this, kill that), plenty of characters with interesting personalities to join your six-member-maximum party, many mosters to slay (of course), and a fantastic story to follow. Perfect in the gaming department.

And now to the technical stuff. The game's graphics are, all in all, gorgeous. The rendered backgrounds look ten times better than before, even though they're still 16-bit (the game does support 800 x 600 resolution now, though). Bioware's artists have truly outdone themselves. But here's the part I don't like: some of the game's graphics, like character, monster and spell animations aren't created in the same style. Some of them are taken from BG1 (meaning choppy animation and low detail), while some are completely new (meaning high detail and smooth animation). The problem is that I (and probably only I)find it weird to stand next to a monster taken from another game (some graphics are also from Icewind Dale, others from Torment), that's rendered in a different art style. And also some spell animations (which are mostly gorgeous) look like they've been rushed and don't look very carefully made. I could probably list a hundred instances where the game's visuals aren't "seamless". Well, you're probably thinking, "why the heck should I worry about that?" You're right. You shouldn't. Now go out and get the game if you haven't already. Enjoy.

Baldur's Gate, JUST GREAT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 71 / 80
Date: October 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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.

Baldur's Gate II: Outstanding and Impressive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 52 / 54
Date: December 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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!!!

A word or two...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 52
Date: August 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First off, Baldur's Gate is BY FAR the best game I have ever played. The gore of Diablo, The depth of the Final Fantasy series... it is the one game I own that I can continually play without getting bored with. It got a great overall rating from gamers and gaming networks alike, and Bg2 is a bigger, better Baldur's Gate. Anyone in their right mind would love this game! (unlike others around here...)

The best computer game ever (and I'm not kidding)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 32
Date: October 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

It is quite likely that Baldur's Gate II (BG2) will go down in history as the first computer game to move into the realm of "art" and be looked at in the same way as the great Volkswagen commercials of the 1960s have become "art". Yes, BG2 is a game, but it embodies such a depth of knowledge, the challenges are so real and complex, the story is so rich and engaging, it really is a lot like living through and creating a very good fantasy novel.

Some basics: I've played games and computer games since the mid-70s. At this time I own more than 200 computer games so I am well versed on the subject. I will state categorically that BG2 is the most interesting, well put-together, beautiful and satisfying game I have ever played. It has now pushed aside previous top games (in my list) such as: Planescape Torment, Fallout 2, Fallout 1, The Bard's Tale, and Diablo.

What is so good about this game? How about the visual display with beautifully drawn screens showing nearly everything you could want out of a High Fantasy game, from dark haunted forests to the inspired architecture of the Dark Elf city (the Drow if you want to be picky), complete with their spider-shaped beds. My single favorite spot in the whole game is the Temple of Ilumater. Not much happens in this place but visually it is such a treat just to visit it and watch and listen.

Speaking about listening, how about the soundscapes that were created for each area. Each area has its own sounds. In one place you hear the hub-bub of a city in the day and then, if you visit it later, at night, the sounds are different. For scary, how about the weird crashing noises you hear as you move through a deserted stone temple; or the deep thrumming sound you hear as you make your way through a long deserted magical sphere?

How about the richly entertaining characters you add to your party? From the berzerker ranger (Minsc) and his gleeful (though not entirely rational) yells, to the cynical comments from the Dark Elf cleric (Viconia), to the starry-eyed innocence of the elf maiden (Aerie). Some of the character interactions are laugh-out-loud funny (especially between Misc and the Gnome (Jan Janson) who is trying to steal away his pet hamster!). Some interactions are thought provoking, others are emotionally moving.

How about the battles you fight against the mightiest creatures imagined? Yes, the first time you see a red dragon, you are thinking "can I really fight this thing? It is bigger than a house!" Or when you first attack a beholder and are quickly turned to stone or disintegrated or charmed? These are the ultimate monsters in this game, the sort of monsters you dreamed about one day besting if you ever played Dungeons and Dragons. And here they are, in their full power and danger. Yet you learn the monsters weakeness, you learn to utilize the powers of the people that you command and finally you will be standing on a dead dragon's head, cleaning his smoking black blood from your blade. This is truly the stuff of dreams made real.

In closing, I will say again: Baldur's Gate 2 is the finest game that has ever been created and I find it hard to believe that it will be bested by any game currently in development. Future games are all going to be "3-D" and visually, they won't be able to compare to BG2, at least not for several years. Making games like this is hard, hard work. The people who created this (Bioware in Canada) were inspired and I don't think we will see this sort of inspiration again for a long time. Enjoy it now, there's nothing better. -- Colin Glassey

Rock-solid FRPG gaming

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 29
Date: November 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Once again, Bioware has refined the art of PC RPGs. Its first offering, Baldur's Gate I, was revolutionary in producing a real-time 3rd person party-based RPG. Icewind Dale refined the engine and game mechanics to produce a much more well-crafted game, but without the character development of the original.

Baldur's Gate II is better than the best of both of these worlds.

As far as plot and character development goes, BGII leaves BGI in the dust. Picking up where BGI left off, your main character is immediately thrust into the center of a plot by an evil wizard fascinated by your inborn powers. However, this is far from the only plot. A multitude of side quests flesh the game out. In many of these quests, other characters in your party figure in as much as the main character; these sorts of interactions add richness and depth to the story. The only drawback here is that to experience it all, you have to re-play the game as a variety of character classes with a variety of different parties. Whether you'd like to replay such a long game just for the nuanced differences is a matter of taste.

While many of these side quests are simple find-the-item or kill-the-monster types of quests, many of them exploit the full potential of the plotline, the Infinity Engine, and the AD&D rules. They illuminate the backstory for the main character and party members. They give your character the opportunity to set up a stronghold, a high-level perk for AD&D characters, and they actually pull it off rather well. The fact that much of the experience you gain in the game comes from completing these quests means there is far less menial monster-bashing than in other RPGs-- there are still plenty of critters to hack up, but you're always doing it in pursuit of a clear goal.

Most of the quests are also tests of your ingenuity, requiring clever tactics and utilization of the variety of spells, items, and powers at your disposal. (A favorite dirty trick of mine, useful in some, but not all cases, is casting a Cloudkill into a room and then closing the door. It's especially useful when you can recharge a wand of cloudkill by selling and repurchasing it-- which also works on Rods of Resurrection). My only gripe (as an old-school adventure gamer) is that only one of the quests I have come across requires anything like the sort of side-thinking creativity you'd see in Zork or King's Quest... But not getting completely stuck for days at a single plot point is a plus.

Bioware also tweaked the engine to improve gameplay, game balance and variety in tactics. Spells have been balanced by counterspells, far more than in dice-and-paper AD&D. A multitude of subclasses ("kits") allow your characters to specialize in more ways than the simple fighter / thief / mage / cleric system. Combat tactics have been expanded to allow everything from unarmed to two-weapon specialists. Containers keep inventories from becoming cluttered with gems or scrolls. The adventure journal, while still not as well-structured as Might and Magic or Planescape: Torment, is still much improved. The automapping function now includes tool-tip style map notes. Also, for the most part, tedious retreading of steps on an already explored map is reduced.

In all, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in Fantasy RPG's, from Final Fantasy to Might and Magic to Ultima.

Good game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 50
Date: May 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have seen other games and the last baldur's gate was good but this one is better. Better graphics. Better spells and even better areas. It's just better all around. Those of you who like bg one {and who dosn't) will love bg2. It's all u want and more.

The best game ever made better

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 46
Date: June 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have not yet played Baldur's Gate 2:Shadows of Amn, but if Baldur's Gate, TOSC, Fallout, and Planescape are any indication of what this game is going to be like, IT WILL BE GREAT! It will look much like Baldur's Gate, one of the best games ever, except everything will be improved. It will have many more spells, items, and monsters, and all will have improved graphics. If you loved Baldur's Gate, you will love this one even more. It is longer than the epic BG 1, and if you do all the side-quests, assuming you know exactly what to do, it can take three hundred hours without the expansion pack that it's bound to have. The great story that enveloped the BG 1 world will be nothing compared to this game. With old characters - Minsc and Boo, Jaheira, and Imoen - new features - strongholds, different sized monsters, and the improved Infinity engine - BG 2 will be the best RPG ever. It was all you loved in BG 1, plus much much more.

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