Baldur's Gate

A realistic RPG? Well few RPGs are truly based on realism but instead an unwritten code of magic and fable. Recently games have strayed from that standard. Games like Diablo (while fun) left the gamer with a fast paced hunt and destroy experience that provided cheap thrills and unimaginable power later on. Baldur's Gate is a great return to the classic RPG, hard, time consuming, quest based but, unfortunately, with an appeal to a much narrower audience.

So what is this AD&D stuff anyway?

AD&D stands for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It is an elaborate set of rules governing every aspect of a fantasy realm. This game proudly proclaims (in one of the minor screens) to be true AD&D. What does this mean to you? This isn't any Diablo style clear-cut walk in the park.

Plot

The story behind this game is fairly overused but is very well done. You begin your journey as , an orphan adopted by a strange and powerful master of a keep. One fine day he tells you to prepare yourself for travel. A while later he is killed and you begin your interesting journey with only a location in mind. Like I said, its overused but very well done. Characters add to your information which is stored in a journal, allowing review of the story.

Character creation

After choosing one of five races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-Elf, or Gnome) and a class you roll for stats. This is fairly easy and afterwards you can store your characters for future games.

Basic Gameplay

OK, like many other RPGs you start out by forming a party, buying some weapons, finding out information. After you've explored a you're able to move around freely in something like a Starcraft style interface. You have an independent view area that is controlled by the mouse. You issue commands to your characters with a toolbar and clicking the mouse. Its really pretty easy and you can even adjust how easily and quickly the screen scrolls.

Are you a good mage or a bad mage?

Ah yes the title of my review. Unlike those goodie two shoe RPGs of the past this one allows you to make your own destiny. Want to have a life running from the guards and looting civilians go for it! There is no restriction to who you can kill (although guards take another view). Are you the satanic evil type or an officer of the law? This game also makes no attempt to hide the underbelly of a medievil town. Prostitutes talk in the middle of the night, drunks litter hotels and reek of nice little English style peasants we all know and love.

No easy thrills

If you?re looking for a fast paced battle after another you might want to look for something else. Enemies are found in small groups and are usually few and far between. Experience points are also hard to find and because of this mages and other characters are worthless for a long time. In Diablo a mage is able to survive with some difficulty from day one. In Baldur?s gate my level 3 mage (which takes quite a while) still sits in the back hurling an occasional stone. Having less hp at level 3 than my Ranger did at level 1 and an armor class that really just screams ?HIT ME?. The mage (and other weaker classes) require excessive protection early on.

Graphics

This isn?t a 3d thriller. Its more of a comfortable, fairly low resolution 2D highly colored and solid game. Characters looked realistic and fit their respective roles. Character animation was fine although nothing special. The backgrounds were absolutely wonderful and effects such as rain and snow really effected the mood.

Sound

At character creation you choose one of 6 voices (3 male, 3 female) for your character. These really sound nice although more choices might have been nice. In general speech in this game is handled wonderfully (although the vast majority of it is just text boxes). Cheerful (or bleak) backgrounds are wonderfully complimented by background noise. Birds chirp, wolves howl in the background and it all seems believable. Occasionally one sound is worn out a bit (when 5 bandits in a row say the same thing something isn?t right). Background music is lively and fits the game well.

Multiplayer

I?ve got to hand it to the designers. This is the aspect of the game that really made it worth buying for me. Its very rare to have a party style RPG that has multiplayer features. I connect to a good friend?s (who happens to be an RPG fanatic) computer and we each have control over 3 characters and play the normal storyline. Internet play with heat.net is also available for free although I haven?t looked at it yet. The sometimes boring gameplay is really livened up with another player there. Permissions can be set to keep certain party members from doing certain things. Many other options are also available. Certain headaches arise with two or more players but gameplay is hardly hurt and combat is unchanged.

AI

Two types of AI add some depth and help with party management.

Player AI

Each of your characters can be set with an AI script. If an enemy approaches and they are standing still they will react as you instructed them. You may think this is a bit excessive but here?s an example of how this might help:

My friend scouts with his little thief and is rarely detected. I back him up if he is discovered. If I get ambushed I?m not looking at my characters. I merely press stop and watch the AI scripts work. My mage is set on a defensive script. She casts armor on herself and retaliates with ranged offensive magic and, after that?s used up switches to a sling. My Paladin targets the enemy with a bow and begins plucking away at the enemy with my Ranger. The enemy makes it to my Paladin who switches to his two-handed sword and finishes the beast. What did I do? nothing.. it was all the AI script. This can be easily changed or turned off at any time. If you have no script selected your player will attack with the weapon they have selected if an enemy comes into range. This was wonderful and gives me more combat options with less hassle.

Computer AI

The computer?s AI is a bit dimmer. When you?re in view they respond in an organized way attacking a combination of the closest and weakest character you possess. If you happen to scout ahead or use advantageous terrain they?re similar to little school girls. They often lose a moral test and run or respond one by one. This might have been better done but works decently well (especially when THEY track and attack you).

The level of difficulty can be changed but this seems to have no effect on the actions of the creatures, only the damage you inflict/take. In addition unlike the game states experience doesn't depend on difficulty.

Overall

If you?re looking for something with a deep plot and can play a game with fairly sparse combat and more of a concentration on quests this one is great for you. If you get frustrated easily or need more action than plot you might just consider waiting for Diablo II (which appears to be coming out for real this time, heh). This game really offers a lot to the kind of person who spends way to much time gaming or misses that old D&D feel. The 5 CD world has enough depth to take even experienced gamers a very long time to explore (and there?s even an expansion after that!). If you?re just beginning to get into RPGs you might want to start out with something a bit more basic and intuitive but if you feel up to it go for it.

I wish I could rate this one two ways:
For the action freak: two stars.
For the RPG freak: five stars!