Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

"*breaks down crying* It's just so good!"

The continuing circle of fate has continued. You have now killed, Serevok, the man who would have awakened Bhaal, the lord of murder, and brought him back. But now claims that you are a child have arisen. No matter, you are on your way again, in search of a new quest, but something went wrong and you were ambushed. You couldn’t separate dream from reality, and you went easily. You awake to the screams and cries of helpless prisoners, and the harsh reality of knowing you are a captive here too.

Baldur’s Gate: The Throne of Bhaal is the sequel to the hit game: Baldur’s Gate and it’s expansion. In my humble opinion this outdoes the original in every way, the only thing Baldur’s Gate has that the sequel doesn’t is the huge amounts of Fed Ex trips.

Storyline: You awake in a cold dungeon, as a man without a soul tortures you for some strange reason, something about the potential you and your best friend Imoen have. While you have no idea what he means, you do know that you have to get out of here. He begins to harm you with fire-based magic. Since you are in an enclosure, you are helpless. Suddenly a break in the pain comes, thieves from the feared group called: the Shadow Thieves have broken in. Jon Irenicus, your master and torturer at this time is caught unprepared, and must leave to deal with them. Imoen comes, she broke free, with Imoen’s help you escape the cage you’re in and set off for two tasks: escape and revenge.

Gameplay ---10/10--- What’s not to love about it? The controls are fine. Once I pressed ‘H’ by accident and the screen widened, at the time I had no idea how to get out of it and was stuck for the longest time. Other than that small mistake I had no problem.
Controls: Check
The amount of options in spell casting, weapons, levels and all other sorts of goodies are limitless. I don’t think I ever finished it. It’s exciting know you can play the game again with totally different weapons, character class etc…
Options: Check
Plus, the extras in the game; ranging from emotions: euphemism to grief, love to hatred all plays a part in your characters. The amount of chores and side quests are mind-boggling; being a hit man, ruling a castle, revenge and Fed Ex trips. It could make a gaming nut cry.
Extras: Check

Graphics ---10/10--- Of course it has a low polygon count, you’re looking at it from 120 feet in the air. But crap that’s some good stuff. If you were a knight in shining armor you’d attack the dragon to save a damsel in distress, it’s good enough to fool him. The buildings pay fine attention to the architectural style, a pirate Gestapo island looks just like they’d build it, plus it’s significantly different from a castle you can rule. Talk about advancements in this field of work.

Sound ---9/10---
Music ---10/10---
It’s annoying even if you register the sound playing programs it still messes up in certain spots. But besides that, this has some of the greatest music in a game yet. It fits each spot so well. I certainly can think of a game with better music, but this hits the spot so nicely. I’m near speechless.

Replay Value ---9/10--- It’s amazing, there are so many games in this world and few give me the rare glimpse to say: What If? What if I changed his character class? What if I acquired him instead of here? What if I became heavy on mages instead of swordsmen? Few games give me that pleasure. I’ve never completed the entire game, there’s so much with so little time. There’s the cheats which alone could make a 3 out of 5 star game. The side-quests are almost the best I’ve ever seen. The game is so original, never compare it to Diablo my friend, never.

Buy/Burn/Borrow? Buy!!! It won’t be money wasted. I guarantee that you’ll be pleased, and if you’re not, well, you can always have it refunded. Put this in a platinum case when not in use. Consider putting it in the bank also. You might also want to head down to FermiLab in Batavia, IL to ask about putting a few super-heavy isotopes on to protect it. It will be money well spent.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/02, Updated 05/02/02