User Reviews (21 - 31 of 37)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Great RPG fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is one of the most fun games i have played in a long time. The hack 'n slash action is instantly addictive and the smooth polished graphics add to the appeal of this excellant game. It is jam packed with different weapons and spells to use while battling in the three extensive worlds. I thouroghly enjoyed every second of this Dungeons & Dragons themed RPG, however i just wish there was more. the game ends rather abruptly, forcing you to by the game's sequel in order to finish the story. that aside this is an wonderful game with tons of replay value and personality to boot.

Excellent - for what it is.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First, I have to admit that I've been out of gaming since atari and early nintendo 1990's. So I may be easily impressed.

Dark Alliance - the drageons, characters, exploration, buying, etc really appealed to me.

I found this to be an exploration type game and destroy everything you could. Yes, you had to do certain things, but I wouldn't have considered them puzzles. The most difficult part of the game was getting over these floating stone circles.

The ablity to upgrade and tryout new armour, weapons, and powers also drew me into this game. What would this do - burn or turn them to ice! For the scale of the game, the graphics were cool and detailed. However, I would have liked to see this world up closer.

If I had any complaints, it would be that towards the end - you felt like everything became repetative and the ending disappointing. I would have liked more puzzles. And, as I found out - circling your enemies was the easiest way to defeat them. The ending was, well, short - I would have expected some sort of 5 minute clip of celebration, reward ceremony, etc at Baldur's Gate.

Recommendation - I would suspect that hardcore gamers would find this simplistic and I bet they have already buzzed through it. However, being a beginner and moving to controllers with more buttons - its a nice dive into a world that kept me coming back and wanting more.

Suprisingly good, one of the best of its genre

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I picked up a copy of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance not too long ago (yah, I know it has been out for a while). Anyway, found the game surprisingly good and much better than expected.

In case you haven't read any of the other reviews or are completely confused, this game is typical hack-and-slash. You guide your charachter from an overhead perspective and control their attacks, blocks and magics. There is little in the way of skill needed here, which is refreshing in its own right. You have only three charachters to select from (Elven Sorceress, Human Archer and Dwarven Rogue), which was my first complaint. Each plays roughly the same, though they have slightly different starting stats and their list of spells/feats (which can be purchased when you level up) are different.

The game uses the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game ruleset, but takes a lot of liberties with it. But for fans of DnD you will see spells, feats and classes you recognize. The use of the DnD rules is not without its flaws though, and of most note is the flaw in the way armor works in this game (or doesn't work). As you improve your armor don't expect to take any less damage when you get hit, it doesn't work that way and armor doesn't absorb any damage. What the armor does is make it harder (supposedly) for enemies to hit you in the first place (yah, you will see them swing at you and have it deal no damage, or you swing at them and see your weapon slice them but don't deal any damage). While this sounds good, the problem is that the enemies you are going up against in the early stages of the game can hit you 99% of the time even with the best armor you could find at that point. In the later stages, the enemies will hit you no matter what, you simply can't get your armor high enough to cause them any concern - the developers of the game actually released a statement acknowledging this. Oh well, you do have a manual block (provided you are using melee weapons) and it works pretty well against most attacks except those of bosses. All armor does is make you look cool and take up a huge chunk of your limited carrying capacity.

Graphically the game looks really good, the colors are clear and vibrant and your charachter model looks good and usually stands out nicely from the surroundings. As you change your equipment you will notice that it reflects on your charachter. Magical weapons also have a nice blue shine and as enemies near some will burst into flame or something similar. The enemies as well look really, really well done, and again, if you are familiar with DnD you will recognize them. The visual representation of your spells is also very well done with bright colors, dancing flames and showers of magical energy - nice! When you strike an opponents you will be rewarded with blood spatter, and smaller enemies like rats can be cut clean in half. Spiders also goo nicely (and can be pretty creepy to anyone who happens to not like spiders).

The gameplay is smooth, no glitches, and the controls are easy. Spell management is a little cumbersome as you have to use the direction pad to scroll through your list of spells/feats to find the one you want to use for the current situation, but simply pressing the B button uses the selected spell, and A delivers your attack. Switching between close and ranged weapons is very simple (press a direction on the D-pad) and pressing the other direction turns the automap on and off. As far as the map is concerned you don't really need it because the game pretty much uses invisible barriers, stones, walls, green foilage, ravines and what have you to keep your from exploring out of the desired area. In all respects the game is extrememly linear, but as you are basically playing for the hack-and-slash aspect, that is not too bad. And you can also have a friend control a second charachter on the screen, which adds to the fun.

As far as sound, that is never too much of a big deal for me, but the voice acting in this game is fine, the spells, blows and weapon effects sound great for the most part, and I didn't really notice the background music, so obviously it isn't a probem either.

I did give the game 5 stars, but it does have some flaws. The graphics are nice and the levels are laid out ok, but not great. And they re-use a lot of the texture tiles and what have you, so in that respect some of the areas have similiar appearance to what you would expect to see on the super nintendo with the same brick tile pattern repated every so many inches (most annoying when you are outdoors and they reuse trees and rock formations). Also, as I mentioned, there are only 3 classes to play as, and each one is somewhat limited in their spells and feats. For example, as the Sorceress I found only a few of the spells to be worth investing in and none of them did more damage than a fine sword and a lot of them take a pretty good amount of magical energy to cast for only a limited effect. Using ranged weapons and spells can also be aggravating as it is not always easy to tell exactly where your character is facing, so they will miss a few times while you try and line them up. This gets harder when you are farther away from your target, or trying to fire diagnally.

Overall I really enjoyed this game. There are a few aggravating spots (like jumping across tiles that fall out from under you) but overall very fun and a great way to burn away the time. If you overlooked it before, give it a try.

too easy

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

this game is too easy .. I finished it in 10h , nice grafik and fun to play in coop, but its too short in my own opinion

Very great RPG!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: November 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

When my freind introduced this game to me I thought it was the most complicated game! When I got into it the adventure and the monsters they had in the game it was the greatest!!They have an great story to go with it you have to buy this game and see what I mean!!!!You will become a fan very quickly,(EDIT) but it is short I'm still waiting for the seqal, Brandon and I finished it in 17 hours, but just because we where going for a record of my house! Love the hack and slash with plenty of weapons and armor and places. So I'm not changing my ratings though. I always play as the Dwarven (Dwarf) Fighter, he is awsome Always use the Bull Rush!

Sincerily,
Snow Leapord

Awesome Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This has been the best XBOX game I have played so far. Fantastic graphics.(The water is awesome) I love the challanges and the battles. The ease of control was great.(This is very important). I do not like using 2 control functions to move and see. I compare htis to the harry potter game. (Also very good control)
I look forward to the next Baldurs game on XBOX

Pretty repetitive

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I really like these types of RPG games but was really disappointed when I played it. The graphics were really great and the sound wasn't too bad, but that's about the only positive thing I have to say about this game. I find it difficult when you play a game and you cannot change the view. When you're playing, you see everything from a birds eye view, which is disappointing. The game gets repetitive quickly. You always seem to be fighting the same monsters in the crypt and nothing seems to change. If you like games like Diablo, this one isn't for you.

Awesome for serious gamers!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is not your typical console title. It's more like a PC roleplaing game with a distinct console aftertaste. The fighting sytem is rather interesting. It is based on typical roleplaing rules. In other words, there are hitpoints, XP, and the like. On the other hand, the player def. influences the outcome of fights by aiming at oponents, or by defending their position. If you shoot an arrow and you miss: Tough luck. However, once you hit the target, the hit points are calculated based you armor and weapons ratings, and the like. It sounds a bit weird, especially if you are used to PC roleplaying games. I was sceptical at first, but as a PC roleplaying fan I gotta say: This works rather well!

The graphics are beautiful. The gameplay is fun. I especially like cooperative muliplayer.

In my mind, this is one of the most underrated xbox games so far. If you are a bit more serious about gaming and like to go beyond extreme sports and mech fights, this is for you!

One of the best Xbox games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you have been looking for a great two player RPG for your xbox, look no further. It has arived with Dark Alliance.
I have been reading some of the other reviews. The other reviewers are correct in that the game has limited (literally three) character choices (a dwarf fighter, human archer, or elf mage). You don't even get to choose their name or roll their stats. HOWEVER...the characters are customizeable as you raise levels. Each time you level you obtain feat points which can be added to a skill of your choice. For example, if you are playing the archer character, you can put feat points onto a skill which raises your hit and damage with arrows, or a skill which allows you to carry more equipment, or a flame arrow spell. Every four levels you get to add one point to an ability score of your choice. This in itself allows a lot of customization.
Gameplay is comparable to games such as Diablo2, but with much better graphics. I would liken the graphics to the movie Final Fantasy.
Now...if you want to replay the entire game with one of your high level characters you can. All you have to do is start a new game and import the high level character from your other saved game. This allows you to raise to as high a level as you want, as you can get experience points galore.
There are three difficulty levels to start. If you complete a challenge mode called "The Gauntlet," (which I think is way too hard. ...) you can access two higher difficulty modes. I have not yet unlocked them but I am guessing that they have extremely powerful magic items.
One complaint I have is that the game strays a lot from the real rules of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition. While many things are the same, many more are far different. For example, you can obtain a weapon which does over 100 points of base damage! The armor class system apears to be the same at first, but later on you find full platemail +5 which adds 44 points to your armor class!
If you play the sorcoress, the most powerful spell is a new spell called "Ball Lightning." Almost all the spells are damage spells, such as magic missile, fireball, cone of cold, Melf's acid arrow, and even meteor swarm. This sort of turns the sorcoress into a walking artillery piece. None of the many useful spells which do not damage, such as invisibility or hold person are obtainable.
Despite its drawbacks, you just can't beat playing a coop RPG with amazing graphics. I would highly recommend it.

baldurs gate review, swapping cash

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

actually there is a way to swap cash or better yet make unlimited cash, potions, weapons, etc.....but this would be cheating, wouldn't it? I have done this just for the feeling of omnipotence it provides but it certainly rubs against the moral and ethical tenets of true game play. For those who find out how to do it.....enjoy your godhood. Game is excellent...graphics, sound, oppontents(really love those mud slugs)but you better find that special sword before you battle the ultimate foe or you will have troubles out the wazoo. With the sword its a piece of cake. The dicotomy is truly amazing. Bring on the Gate II.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions