Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

"A soundly successful sequel, sirrah!"

I just uploaded a FAQ for BGII, so I might as well take a swing at a review as well. I give this game an 8, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and plan to go back through it at least once or twice more.

PLOT: 8

The plot is much more tightly scripted this time around. It's worlds better than the first Baldur's Gate, but I think I got spoiled by the incredibly immersive story in Planescape: Torment. It's much harder to tailor a game around a general sort of character who may be male, female, and one of many classes; whereas, Planescape: Torment always had the same protagonist and a much more limited number of companions, thus making for a much more involved story. That being said, the plot for BGII is still well done and I enjoyed romping thorugh the story. A solid effort.

GAMEPLAY: 7

Not perfect by a long shot. I love the Bioware Infinity Engine, but it's still far too buggy for my tastes. The slowdown factor is much improved due to better 3D card support, but it's still palpable even on a higher end machine with a nice 3D card. Also, the game is slightly buggy (bugs which will no doubt be fixed in upcoming patches), but that doesn't lessen the frustration when the game spontaneously quits back to the desktop.

EYE CANDY: 8

The game is very well-rendered and there's great attention to detail. Like Blizzard and Bungie, Black Isle pays great attention to detail; and I believe that's the secret to their success. The Infinity Engine is starting to wear a little bit, though, and I think it's time it went through a major overhaul. I miss the larger characters from Planescape: Torment but realize that the game runs more smoothly and functionally with smaller avatars.

EAR CANDY: 9

As always, a sterling effort from the sound and music team. There are some very haunting melodies being played in the background. I'm glad I got the Collector's Edition and Bonus CDs to enjoy all the great music. The music often sets the mood, and Black Isle does a great job here.

OVERALL: 8

Better than the first Baldur's Gate. It ranks about the same as Icewind Dale, but with a better story. Icewind Dale seemed to execute a bit cleaner, though, but I think BGII is a slightly better game. I consider it their second best AD&D effort, below the wonderful Planescape: Torment, of course.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/00, Updated 09/30/00