- Rid the land of chaos and monsters as you face a new threat to the legendary city of Baldur's Gate.
- Five new characters with unique powers and abilities -- they'll accompany you through 40 levels of thrilling action, spread over 4 acts.
- Master new skills, weapons and magic spells -- all-new spell effects and more detailed environments will bring the combat to life.
- New item creation system lets players create their own unique magical weapons.
- Discover hidden areas, secret characters, and hundreds of new items -- from magic potions to magic wands.
Product Description
-------------------
The sequel to the award winning "Baldur's Gate: Dark
Alliance" is here! Furious hack-and-slash combat with more deadly
enemies, more intricate weapons and items and more explosive
spell effects than ever before!
.com
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Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (
/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005Q8IR/%24%7B0%7D ) took
co-operative action role-playing to new heights on the
Playstation 2 console. Alone, or with a friend, you could tackle
giant rats, undead monsters, dark elves, and even a white dragon,
as you uncovered a plot against the good city of Baldur's Gate.
But the ending indicated there was more adventure to come. Fans
were worried that the sequel wouldn't live up to original's
promise when the original design team jumped ship to work on
Sony's Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000CDZBC/%24%7B0%7D ). They need not have
worried; Dark Alliance 2 is a worthy successor, retaining the
weapons, monsters, Dungeons and Dragons action and rules, sharp
graphics, responsive controls, and high adventure of its
predecessor.
The plot is a bit darker this time, but you're given a wider
range of character classes to help face the elevated threats.
There's the mighty barbarian, a dwarf rogue, a cleric, the monk
(a martial artist), and a necromancer. The quest is huge and
there are character-class specific side quests you can embark
on--an extra incentive to play again as a different character.
The level design tends to be a little too maze-like, and there's
lots of boring backtracking, but the annoying jumping puzzles
from the first game are gone.
The biggest problem with Dark Alliance 2 is that it doesn't
measure up to the competition. It's a 2-player game, while
Dungeons & Dragons Heroes (on the Xbox) and Champions of Norrath
(on the PS2 and Xbox) allow four-player play. Then again if you
plan to play solo, or with a single friend, that shouldn't keep
you from coming to the city of Baldur's Gate's aid once again.
--Andrew Bub
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From the Manufacturer
---------------------
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a breakthrough product
that infuses eye-popping technology into a thrilling
action-adventure game that immerses the player in a rich,
compelling storyline. Set in the most popular Dungeons & Dragons
campaign setting, The Forgotten Realms, and maintaining the
appeal of the original franchise, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
will be an entirely new, action-packed experience that opens the
Baldur's Gate fiction to a new, wider audience. Faithful
adaptation of the new Dungeons & Dragons rules, set, customizable
player characters, rich character development and dramatic new
spells and abilities combine to create an engrossing experience
that will captivate console gamers hungry for a dynamic and
rewarding action game for the PlayStation 2 that takes full
advantage of the console's capabilities.
Review
------
Approximately eight hours into this quest, I ran into a merchant
who had an assortment of weapon enhancement gems for sale. After
perusing his inventory, I decided to spend my hard-earned gold on
a Moonstone and a Ruby. Applying both of these jewels to my
reliable blade resulted in the creation of a +1 Fine Stirge's
Bastard . Curious as to how my concoction would fare, I
returned to the battlefield with haste. In no time flat, I
confronted a goblin rider ed atop a wolf. Just as I engaged
this foe, I noticed that fluids began oozing from my . With
much bewilderment, I suddenly realized that it was bleeding…and
not just a droplet or two, either. It was gushing buckets of
blood. With each swing that this steel abomination would make, a
brilliant crimson trail would follow. It was at this point that I
mirthfully marched through the remainder of this game with an
ear-to-ear smile on my face.
This is just a small taste of the role-playing bliss that can be
found in Dark Alliance II. With roughly 90 levels spread across
four expansive acts, this sequel absolutely shatters any fears
that you may have had about this game being as short as the
original. Although the development responsibilities have changed
hands from Snowblind Studios to Black Isle Studios, significant
enhancements accompany every inch of this game's coding.
Characters can now dual-wield armaments, sprint, and switch
between three fighting styles on the fly. Missions are introduced
in a non-linear fashion, with players having two to three path
choices at any given time. Item customization can be tapped to
create an unbelievable number of unique weapons and armors. Black
Isle also did a great job of diversifying the experience that
players have. You never spend too much time in the same
environment, and different enemy types are interspersed with
great frequency.
If anything, this is a much deeper play with a higher level of
interaction. As notable as these improvements may be, I don't
agree with all of the changes that Black Isle has instituted. In
the original game's co-op play, the player who defeated a foe
would get 60 percent of the experience from a kill. The other
player would get 40 percent. Whoever touched the gold that
dropped got it. This time round, both gold and EXP are equally
divided. Because of this, the game no longer has such a high
level of competitiveness amongst players. I was also hoping that
the camera system would have been upgraded. Every minute or so, I
found myself rotating the camera to reveal blanketed corners.
As much as I enjoy the online play and random dungeon generation
in Champions of Norrath, Dark Alliance II's quest has a better
flow to it, the stages show more variety, and the hack n' slash
gameplay is more dynamic. That said, Dark Alliance II is the
better playing game of the two, but it doesn't have the longevity
of its rival.
Concept:
A straight-up sequel with the same great hack n' slash play and
tons of new features
Graphics:
Same quality…yet still beautiful by today's standards. The
lighting effects, water, and detail in the models are very
impressive
Sound:
Not much of a soundtrack, but it does a nice job of creating
realistic ambience for its stages
Playability:
The high level of interaction really brings you in and makes you
want to tinker with everything
Entertainment:
Lacking online play, but longer and more dynamic than the
original
Replay:
High
Rated: 8.5 out of 10
Editor: Andrew Reiner
Issue: February 2004
2nd Opinion:
With all of the dungeon crawlers coming out of the woodwork at
the same time you would think that the quality of at least one of
them would be poor, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Sure, Dark Alliance II looks a little dated, but that doesn't
stop the game from delivering top-notch action. It's so good, in
fact, that I'd be hard-pressed to pick between this title and
Champions of Norrath, as they both deliver great gameplay.
Obviously, the lack of online action hurts this one, but the item
creation angle in Alliance II is so absolutely brilliant, it
would be a shame to miss it. In the end, I have to give the
slight nod to Champions of Norrath, but if you don't plan to
adventure online I would give Alliance II a serious look. ANDY
Rated: 8.5 out of 10
Editor: Andy McNamara
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