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Developer: Snowblind Studios
Publisher: Interplay
Genre: RPG
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 20 Nov 02
User Rating
10 (1 vote) -
- Having played the excellent PS2 and Xbox ports, does the GameCube version have the the same magic?
More Screens (6 total)
Overview
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. PlayStation 2 owners know it as the greatest action/RPG title available for Sony's next-generation console. Dark Alliance was the first console-exclusive game in the series. Its gameplay style was faster, smoother and better than the PC counterparts, which were excellent in their own right. But very few games could compare with Dark Alliance's deep, engrossing gameplay. I had never played a Baldur's Gate game before, but became addicted to the series immediately after playing Dark Alliance. More than 400,000 PlayStation 2 owners agree, making it one of the most successful next-generation releases to date.
Interplay and Vivendi Universal have decided to spread the love, releasing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for Nintendo's GameCube. The result? An excellent port of an excellent game that is sure to make everyone's day truly excellent.
Gameplay
The transition from PS2 to GameCube wasn't a rough one, meaning that no harm was done to this new version of the game. Dark Alliance's controls are seamless. It doesn't matter if you're familiar with the series or not, because it will only take you a couple of minutes to get the hang of this game.
Each battle is comprised of fast, exciting gameplay mechanics that require a good amount of skill to survive. Many magic spells are at your disposal, such as fireballs, lightning, exploding arrows and the super-powerful Meteor Swarm, which drops an avalanche of meteors onto your foes. There are 20 spells and feats in all, each of which are unique to the game's three character types: Arcane Archer, Dwarven Fighter and my favorite, Elven Sorceress. The Arcane Archer is great with the bow and arrow attacks; the Dwarven Fighter is a short (but powerful) axe-wielding fighter; and the Elven Sorceress is big on casting deadly magic spells. All three characters are selectable from the start of the game.
Graphics
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance has some of the best graphics ever seen on the 'Cube. Some of the backgrounds are pre-rendered, while others are made up of polygons, allowing you to move the camera around to any desired angle. All of the backgrounds look great though, regardless of which type they are.
Water effects are especially impressive, showing off GameCube's ability to render realistic, un-repetitive ripples that correspond to your character's movements. The fire effects are stunning as well, featuring better colors, smoother animation and more detail than in 99% of the GameCube games out there. And let's not forget about the character animation. All of the characters -- friend or foe -- move remarkably well. This grand cornucopia of graphical effects will dazzle your mind, entice your senses and keep your eyes occupied while your fingers engage in Dark Alliance's extremely addictive gameplay.
Fun Factor
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an entirely new experience. It's very different from the previous Baldur's Gate titles, and is not at all reminiscent of any other Xbox, GameCube or PlayStation 2 game available. That alone makes it worth checking out. But it's not just unique -- it's also an extremely entertaining, highly-engrossing game that'll keep you glued to your console all night long.
There is so much fun to be had with this game that you'll consider telling your boss that you're sick just so you can stay home and continue playing it. Seriously, it's that addictive!
Overall
I'm gonna be frank about this: you'd have to be a complete idiot to pass up the chance to own Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Whether you get the PS2, Xbox or GameCube version does not matter. The point is, this is one of the greatest games ever made. It's the greatest action/RPG available for a next-gen console, and will definitely stay that way for a long time. I loved playing it on PlayStation 2, and now I'm having a blast playing through it all over again on the 'Cube. If that doesn't prove how high this game's replay value is, nothing will.
- Gameplay
9.0 - Graphics
8.0 - Fun Factor
9.0 - Overall
9.0
