Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

"A +5 Game; definatley a classic!"

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is the sequel to the 1998 Game of the Year & RPG of the year, Baldur's Gate. Based off of the 2nd Edition AD&D rules, the continuation of the series was a great move.

Gameplay: 8.5/10

Baldur's Gate II is a real-time RPG, based off of the 2nd edition AD&D rule set. From the creation of the character, to the actual gameplay, it is almost completely perfect.

Character creation is an exact replica of it's Pen & Paper counterpart. You choose your character's Gender, Race, (Anything from Humans, to Gnomes, to Half-Orcs) Class, (anything from a front-line fighter, to a stealthy thief, to a magic-wielding sorcerer) abilities, and your character's belief in how one should act (ranging from those who obey their king's every order, as long as it is just and pure, to the person who believes in a balance of good and evil, and even the evil person himself). Just about the worst thing from making a character is the tedious stat-rolling, which can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to get Decent-Good stats for your main character.

Though the original set of rules had a turn-based combat system, Baldur's Gate II has done a seemingly flawless transaction to real-time. Using what the rulebooks state for how long a player round/turn is, they managed to make both movement and combat completely in ratio to its turn-based counter-part.
But, you ask, wouldn't this make combat extremely annoying for those that like to plan out combat? Not at all, as you can pause the game whenever you want, and give your various characters actions to do as soon as you un-pause the game. You can also turn on a few options that automatically pause the game when certain events are triggered (character death, a thief finding a trap, etc.).
The only bad thing about the combat is some of the tedious battles you have with the various Cannon Fodder in the game. By the end, you'll swear that if you see one more Troll/Umber Hulk/Whatever, your Paladin will go and kill all of the innocents in Athkatla, the main city in the game.

In Baldur's Gate, it is possible to use a party of completely created characters, or just one created character, and several NPC's from within the game. While creating your own party has it's obvious advantages (Making YOUR dream party setup, etc.), you also lose out on the various NPC interactions (also called party banter). The banter can be anything from one character complimenting another on their skills in battle, to an evil person insulting another good-natured party member because of their style of life. Each NPC has their own voice, and distinct personality. Also, depending on your characters race/gender, you can also romance various NPC's you meet throughout the game.

On a side note, its game is fairly open-ended, which means you can almost do anything you want. You do not have to follow the main story the whole time. If you wanted to, you can go off on a quest of valor, slaying a mighty Red Dragon, or on a quest of mischief. Many quests have their own mini-story lines to go with them, too. Many side quests involve riddles, that are often very clever, but are unfortunately almost three-quarters of the time easy. Some of the hardest riddles are ones that usually ones that require something outside of pure logic.

Story: 10/10

Baldur's Gate II has the perfect story line. It has the most evil antagonist you can think of, who would do anything to get what he wants. It has the perfect henchmen to the antagonist, who definitely supplements the bad guy's power.

Your half-brother, Sarevok, causes your foster father Gorion to lead you away from your home in Candlekeep. After Sarevok slays Gorion, you are set on a journey to find out who killed Gorion, and why. You find many clues the hint of your heritage, but you do not find anything that can confirm your thoughts. After finding that Sarevok plans on starting a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, you stop him. Before the final conformation, he confirms it: You are a Bhaalspawn, a child of the God of Murder, and Sarevok is too, planning to steal your father's power through the war. You kill Sarevok, and prevent the war.

After your triumphant victory, you return to Baldur's Gate, only to be captured by Irenicus, an Evil Mage who wishes to use your heritage for his own power. He cages you, and performs various experiments. Luckily, during a siege upon Irenicus' dungeon, your cage gets damaged, and your friend Imoen comes to wake you up, thus starting Baldur's Gate II.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in Baldur's Gate II fit the style perfectly. Everything is 2d, however, 2d done to perfection. All the areas are extremely detailed and clean. You can tell that the grass in an outdoor area is long, and has been un-trodden upon in a while. You can tell if that cliff has a smooth surface, or if it is a jagged death trap. Forests actually resemble forests, rather than walls that have a little green at the top of them. The water is animated a quite poorly, however.

Character and monster sprites are perfect. You can see the color of their skin, what kind of armor they are wearing, and what or class the may be, just by glancing at them. It is quite obvious if that thing the Fighter is holding is a Spear, or a Two-Handed Sword.

Your own NPC's inventories have Doll-like images in the center, showing what you can expect your character to look like in game. This is a good way to see what to expect when equipping that new piece of armor you found. While at first the Doll-Like images seem a little weird, you will get used to them, and realize that they are not as bad as they appear at first.

Music & Sound: 8.5/10

Music
The music in Baldur's Gate is orchestrated, and often fits the setting very nicely. All of the music is original, and very few areas have the same music. Unfortunately, some of the best scores are played in the areas you only visit once, or for very short periods of time.

Sound
The sounds in this game are EXCELLENT. The character voices are all played out extremely nice, and I applaud all of the voice actors. Minsc certainly sounds like a nim-witted, good-hearted Ranger, and Imoen certainly sounds like a poor girl who has gone through too many horrible things in such a small period of time. Outside of the NPC's you can party with, the voices STILL have extreme talent tied to them. Irenicus' voice is cold-hearted, and when he's angry, you can tell he's angry.

In area's that don't have any music, ambient sound affects are instead implemented. No music in an area is always a good idea in certain places, such as mysterious forests or dark, dank caves. In forests, you can hear the birds singing, and when approaching a waterfall, you can hear the water rushing and splashing into the pool of water below. In caves, it has that eerie kind of noise that makes your hairs stand on end.

Movement noises are also excellent, and let you know if something is running by, or if someone stopped moving. Each type of armor your characters wear makes a different type of noise, from the rubbing of leather, the clinking of chain, and the scratching of metal.

In combat, almost every type of enemy has it's own battle cries, pain noises, and death shouts. Unfortunately, there are only 2 voices for spell casting: A Male, and Female voice. By the end of the game, you'll start wondering if all spell casters learned their trade from the same two people.

Gametime/Replayability: 9/10
Baldur's Gate II, if you do most of the side quests, will take anywhere from 60-100 hours to complete.

With so many choices of character, ranging from the Lawfully Righteous Paladin, to the Evil Cleric, your adventures will never end! No two times through the game will be the same, as there are almost an infinite amount of choices and paths you can take to have a completely different experience with the game. There are hundreds of mods that modify gameplay, add NPC's, or equipment, that can make each time through even more unique than the previous time through! Just about the only thing spoiled are where to get certain tings, and the storyline, which is always something someone ruins their first time through the game.

The numbers:
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Story: 10/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music & Sound: 8.5/10
Gametime/Replayability: 9/10
Average Score: 9/10

Baldur's Gate II is a truly epic adventure, with excellent attention to detail in both graphics and sounds. It has extremely good and balanced gameplay, and a villain that will make you cringe. The interactions with your comrades will only add to the many unforgettable memories you can gain while playing Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn!

Is it worth buying new? Yes! You can buy both Baldur's Gate II and it's expansion together most of the time, and if not, you can probably find them separately quite easily as well!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/04