Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

"I'm No Fan of D&D, but I Enjoy This Game"

I've never played Dungeons and Dragons, and I plan not to. I find the game boring from the facts I've heard. But the truth is, Gamecube needs some RPGs. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance delivers.

Story 9/10-
You come to Baldur's Gate, a town off the coast of the country. As you enter the town, it is dark and you are suddenly attacked! When you awake, you fin you have been robbed of all your money, and the guard of the town is standing in front of you. They send you to the Elfsong Tavern, where your quest to deal out justice to those thieves begins. As the plot thickens, your enemies go from a band of thieves to a danger to the entire land!

Graphics 9/10-
Dark Alliance provides excellent graphics for all characters of the game, friend or foe. Environments are nice as well, providing a true sense of the situation. All characters have unique faces and figures. When your characters equips and item, it shows up in the game. This provides an extra level of realism compared to games like Diablo where there are three different ''kinds'' of armor graphics. Weapon graphics also change whenever you equip anything, including axes, staves, swords, bows, and more. Monsters look awesome, especially the enemy human characters.

Sound 10/10-
Dark Alliance delivers in the sound department as well. Every swing of your sword can be heard as it moves the air particles. You can perfectly hear the fire as you unload your flame spell. Other sounds include opening chest and killing bad guys. A nice addition to the game is the voiceovers. These are all done perfectly, but the voices start to repeat after awhile (due to limited cast members), but it makes the game kind of comical.

Music 5/10-
The one downer to the game is the music. There is barely any at all. I can recall one tune that plays every once in awhile when you are inside of dungeons, but other than that, there's not much. But, the absence of music does add to the mood of the game. Still, I think more is needed, but the category still deserves a below average score for the mood of the game.

Gameplay 8/10-
You can play as three different characters; the Human Archer, the Dwarven Fighter, and the Elven Sorceress. The Fighter and Sorceress are pretty cool, but the Archer stinks. He fires his arrows so slow, and they barely do any damage. If you are planning on having a Legolas the Elf like archer, pick up The Two Towers. Otherwise, you got nothing with the Archer. He can learn some spells that make his arrows do more damage, but the firing rate is always slow. The other two characters however are much better. The Dwarven Fighter is good for people who like tank characters. The Dawrf has the easiest time at the beginning of the game because of his strong physical attacks. He can learn many skills that enhance his fighting skills, including faster attack speed and special moves. The Elven Sorceress is the most powerful character, but she is as weak as hell at the start of the game. However, after awhile, you will quickly pick up spells that do devastating damage to multiple enemies at once.
Now that the characters are out of the way, we can talk about the game. You travel underneath the city of Baldur's Gate in order to find the thieves that stole your money. You travel deep into sewers, catacombs, tombs, and the thieves hideout, all the while fighting creatures, undead, and even skilled human opponents. Once you find the leader of the thieves, your journey is only a third over. You still have two chapters of the game to go, and you'll need all the magic and weapons you have to complete them.

Control 10/10-
Controls are completely customizable, and the defaults are what I would choose anyway. Good setup.

Difficulty: Above Average-
While not the easiest game around, the game is certainly not impossible. Most players will find the game moderately challenging, while some RPG fans may blow right through.

If You Liked This Game:
-Baldur's Gate (PC)
-Baldur's Gate II (PC)

Overall 8/10-
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a pretty good game with only the slight problem of the music. If you like RPGs and are a Nintendo loyalist, buy this game. If you are just a gamer who plays RPGs every so often, look carefully before purchasing Dark Alliance. Otherwise, just wait for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Again, I'm no fan of D&D, but this game is still a good RPG.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/03, Updated 01/08/03