| Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Snowblind Studios Black Isle Studios High Voltage Software Magic Pockets |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Entertainment Destination Software |
| Distributor(s) | Vivendi Universal |
| Producer(s) | Black Isle Studios |
| Series | Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series |
| Engine | Dark Alliance Engine |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 2
GameCube Game Boy Advance |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2; later released for the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It was re-released on the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits title. Its gameplay is based on the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons.
The game was well received and a sequel Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II was released in 2004.
Contents |
The game takes place in The Sword Coast and The Western Heartlands, areas in the Forgotten Realms. Each chapter of the game takes place in a different region: in the first chapter Baldur's Gate is explored, in the second the Sunset Mountains and the third the Marsh of Chelimber (the latter two being areas known to fans previously only as maps).
The game' story follows the quest journey of three characters: Kromlech, a Dwarven Fighter; Vahn, a human arcane archer; and Adrianna, an Elven Sorceress, all of whom are playable. An unlockable characters, Drizzt Do'Urden is available to play through the main quest after completing the game and a survival mini game.[1]
The game begins with Vahn, Adrianna and Kromlech's arrival in the city of Baldur's Gate whereupon they are attacked, robbed, and left for dead. They are brought to the Elfsong Tavern by guards to recover where the first hints of a great evil hiding in Baldur's Gate are revealed.
The three begin by clearing the tavern's cellar of rats and vermin to get the key to the sewers. There they discover a thieves' den where it is learned that one of the guests at the inn has been captured. Delving further into the sewers, the three find an entrance to the crypt of the local temple where the dead are being reanimated by a magic orb which must be destroyed. The destruction of the orb leads to meeting Jherek, agent of the Harpers, who tells the Adrianna and the rest of the heroes that the Thieves' Guild is only one part of a greater whole, and the guild must be destroyed. The three then infiltrate the guild's secret lair, defeat Karne (sometimes Kharne), associate of the Zhentarim and the second-in-command of the thieves who had ambushed the Adrianna and her companions at the start of the game, and meet Xantam the beholder who reveals that he is controlling the thieves' guild on behalf of some greater power. After defeating Xantam, the three join the Harpers and are instructed by Jherek to use a portal they find to find the source of the guild. Before using it the heroes meet Keaira, a caravan guard, who instructs the three to bring her a box of spices from the Thieves Guild. After getting Kearia her spice box and receiving thanks from the citizens of Baldur's Gate, the three descend into the portal.
The three are sent to the Sunset Mountains, where they face the treacherous Wind's Walk, with yetis, ogres and gnolls. At the end of this mountain path lies Kromlech's home-town, the trading mine-camp town of Easting. The dwarves have been driven from their mine by drow and have sent a party to light a signal fire to request reinforcements, but that party has vanished. Torregir, a dwarf, asks Kromlech to scale Mount Burning Eye to discover the fate of the signalling party and to light the signal. Taking Vahn and Adrianna with him, Kromlech finds that the dwarven signalling party was ambushed and scattered by Ciraxis, a powerful white dragon. Kromlech is able to light the signaling fire and retrieve the key to the mine but in the process Ciraxis is alerted. The three enter the mine and engage the Drow forces therein. On the lowest level of the mine they combat Valsharess, the drow queen, who again refers to herself as a servant of another power. In the drow holding cells the three discover a dwarf who is also a Harper. This dwarf leads the three to a cave in a nearby forest where they fight and slay Ciraxis, finding another portal in the process.
The portal transports the heroes to the Marshes of Chelimber where they emerge in a ruined sunken cathedral filled with undead. The fight their way to the surface where they meet Sleyvas, a humanoid lizard who explains that the local lizard tribes are being controlled by an Onyx Tower that dominates the landscape. The tower has no visible entrance but can be accessed via the water stair, a conduit to the elemental plane of water. The path to the water stair is blocked by the local lizard tribes and only the defeat of their chieftain will cause the tribes to scatter. The heroes travel through the swamps and the remains of the ancient human kingdom of Chelimber to defeat the chieftan of the lizardfolk. They then fight through a temple filled with minotaurs to reach the water stair and then the Onyx Tower.
At the penultimate level of the tower the three meet a number of ghosts of fallen soldiers who explain that their general, Eldrith the Betrayer, once served Baldur's Gate, and fought a crusade against dark forces of the Orcish Black Horde who intended its destruction. Upon her defeat she was betrayed by the elders of Baldur's Gate who were angered by her defying their orders not to march. Furious, she rallied her unwilling soldiers to attack Baldur's Gate, but was fought back to the Marshes of Chelimber and killed. Her rage brought her back to life, caused the tower to come into being and gave her the power to open portals between distant locations. Seeking revenge, she has orchestrated the attacks against Baldur's Gate and its allies, and created a dark alliance between the thieves' guild, mountain creatures, drow, and lizardmen.
The heroes learn that defeating the Betrayer will destroy the Onyx Tower, free the ghosts to pass to the afterlife and free the Elfsong as well, but will trap them in the elemental chaos. However, they learn of one last remaining portal in the Onyx Tower's roof and decide to use it to escape. Before the heroes proceed, the ghost Keledon tells Vahn of the Onyx Sword, the only weapon that is able to pierce the armour of the Betrayer. The heroes proceed to the roof to join combat with the Betrayer. They find the Betrayer alone on the roof of the tower with another portal. She again reiterates her plans for the destruction of Baldur's Gate, and attacks the heroes. After a hard fought battle Vahn manages to pierce the armour of the Betrayer, making her vulnerable. The three then manage to defeat the Betrayer, who repents for her rage. With the tower crumbling around them the heroes enter the portal.
In the final cutscene, Sleyvas' true motives are revealed: he has manipulated the heroes to defeat Eldrith so that he and his masters, the Zhentarim, can gain control of the tower to return to their former glory; he also expects the heroes to have died in the tower. Instead they emerge in an unknown forest and walk a few steps before being surrounded by nightshades and nightwalkers, and the game concludes on this cliffhanger.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a real time hack and slash Action role-playing game presented in a true 3D perspective correct rotatable third person overhead view. The battle system in the game is simplistic but flexible. Character statistics at the game's beginning are preset, and the player may only customize their character's stats through gaining experience points. Experience points are gained by winning battles, and at specific levels the character gains new ability points to spend on enhancements specific to the character class. The ability choices affect the fighting style of the character.
Gameplay is linear, and any current quest must be completed successfully before the story proceeds. There are also relatively few non-player characters (NPCs), of which only those who are part of a quest or side-quest may be interacted with. There are not that many sidequests available in the game, but those available - such as for Keaira and Ipswitch - help players to gain experience and level up. Weapons, armor and items are only available for purchase from one location at a time in the current region, and are increasingly valuable later in the game.
The game's ruleset is based on a limited set of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rule-set; compared to other D&D Games there are relatively few rules implemented in the game. There are four playable classes: Human Arcane Archer, Elven Sorceress, Dwarven Fighter and Drow Ranger. Gameplay strategy is different for all characters: the human relies on ranged attacks and stealth, the elf character can cast magic spells, and the dwarf is an all-around fighter. Through updating each character, the characters go to mimic characters of other classes.
A local co-op mode is available, which uses a single non-split screen view. The second player can select one of the unused characters.
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) version of Dark Alliance features some noticeable differences from the console versions.
The game was first announced by Titus Software to be in development by Snowblind Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment in early November, 2000 following the cancellation of the Sega Dreamcast port of the original Baldur's Gate. [2] The game was featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo where it gained critical acclaim. The game was released in December, 2001. [3]
While GBA version used its own engine, the console versions used a more graphically superior one. The console versions of the game used the Dark Alliance Engine, it was built for this game and is the foundation for other games on the PS2 including Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel[4] and The Bard's Tale.[5] Graphically, the Dark Alliance engine is a drastic improvement over the Baldur's Gate series that debuted on the PC, which utilized the Infinity Engine (1998), the earlier versions were only able to render 2D sprite characters and static environments. The Dark Alliance engine makes use of Sony's PS2 platform, allowing for such improvements as dynamic lighting, real-time shadowing and 3D models of characters and environments. The graphics, in particular, were considered a highlight of the game by many critics.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was critically well received; Metacritic recorded average professional review scores of 87, 83, and 79% for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube consoles.[6]
The Gameboy Advance version was also received mostly positive reviews with and aggregate score of 76%.[7]
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