|
Baldur's Gate II - Collector's Edition
By Mindsoup - October 22, 2000
 | Infobox |  |
|
Product Reviewed: Baldur's Gate II - Collector's Edition
Product Page
Manufacturer: Interplay (BioWare)
Home Page
Suggested Retail Price: Unspecified
|
 |
|
 Originally, I had planned a long, in-depth article about Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn; however, now that I have started to play it, I have decided to make this a much shorter article, because every second I spend typing, is a second I'm not playing Baldur's Gate II. (Henceforth known as BGII to save me from typing).
I was a teenager when Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition was released; my friends and I played it religiously. Fortunately, I was able to avoid demon possession, joining any satanic cults, or matricide (look it up, it does not mean the "killing of a mattress") that the media had been warning everyone about. Then, just before I turned 18, I discovered girls (well, I discovered a girl who would actually date me) and put down pen and paper gaming.
Then several years, and several girls later (ok maybe not several girls), I got married which was enough for me to realize the true dangers of women. This time, I discovered digital crack in its purest form, the original Baldur's Gate. It came close to recreating the Pen and Paper experience than any D&D game I'd played before. My wife also liked it, which cost me half my computer time.
Jump ahead two years and BGII is released, I picked up the Collectors Edition because of the promise of added characters. It also contained a cloth map, trading cards, a BGII note pad, a bonus disk, and gold CDs. It cost me $1500 because I had to built my wife her own freakin' computer so she'd stay the hell off mine.
This time the game allows a full install so you can avoid disk swapping (2.5GB), or you can go with the standard install (1.5GB) or minimum install (800MB). After installation, the setup provides three sliders (Sound, Video, Processor) so you can adjust the performance level to meet your computer. (Minimum system requirements of 32MB RAM, a PII 233 and a 4MB DirectX Video Card).
BGII sports an improved version of the same graphics engine that powered the original. Now you have the option of playing with a resolution of 640x480 or 800x600 and the spells are accelerated through your graphics card allowing for some spectacular effects.
 
All of the game rules in BG II have been adjusted to fit the new third edition A D&D rules recently released by Wizards of the Coast.
A character now tops out his/her level anywhere from 17th to 23rd level, depending on class, and starts you out at level 8-10 making starting the game much easier than the first (especially if you started out as a mage with 4 hitpoints). More than 100 new spells have been added. As well as new classes and class kits that change the way you play your character. New classes include Monk and Barbarian, and new kits include specialty priests (Cleric Kit) and Assassin (Thief Kit).
The game starts off very dark, with you hearing about the torture and death of two of your companions from the original BG. Then continues with a twisting, fascinating story that adapts itself somewhat for your character (people say and do different things depending on your race and class). In-between levels, hints and warnings pop up to help you learn the game, including one warning about forgetting to eat, and starving to death while playing the game. The computer's AI is better than in the original Baldur's Gate, but I suspect that has to do with my processor being more than three times as powerful as the one I used for the original.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer experience in BGII is a little strange--different things happen to different players but the result is always the same. A leader assigns the rules (who can join, what kinds of characters, who has control over NPCs) and then everyone in the game plays cooperatively. There is no Battle.net style server, so someone has to have the server burden on his or her machine.
BGII's complexity may lose some fans, but it's sure to win over everyone frustrated with the point and click simplicity of Diablo II. The game has a very deep story line with multiple paths and sub-quests, which give it a reported 300+ hours of possible game time. Even the voice acting is good (with the exception of the voices you have to chose from for your character but you can record your own). The collector's edition does not contain anything that's really worth the extra money to anyone except maybe the most diehard fan. In conclusion, if you were a fan of the first, you'll love the second. If you think Diablo was the best game ever made you might find the complexity and slower moving BGII frustrating. It is certainly not a game for everyone, but for those who like true RPG's this is the best one you can buy.
Pros
- Tons of gameplay for your dollar
- Excellent graphics
- Dark, engrossing story
- Allows for full install to avoid disk swapping
- Flexible system requirements
Cons
- Digital crack; may cause you to forget to eat, sleep, go to work or shower
- AI could be better
- Steep learning curve if you're not familiar with A D&D rules
- Lots and Lots of reading
- Wife/GF might like it too
- Some references to Gerbiling
|
|
|
