Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

"Only die hard fans can put themselves through this much torture..."

Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II

Game Play 2/10

The game play is lack luster, there isn't much to look at, and very many visual glitches. You can jump in this game, though it seems to serve no real purpose other than amusement. Fighting gets very repetitive, you either face a very large number of foes which will tear you down in no time, or be attacked by some absurd creatures like large birds and albino wolves. Your character only has one attack animation, which gets very boring and repetitive. This game does not show off nor properly utilize the power of Snowblind engine. The game play is nothing to get excited about. The characters are sooo stereotypical its not funny. Why cant people be original?

Interface 2/10

What can I say, The interface is terrible. In your inventory you see about 5 (Terribly rendered) items per page, Which takes tons of time to sift through. All possible enhancements are skills, of which, most are not passive, which means constant shuffling through the spell menu to find the spells you wish to use, Once your done you have to start recasting the first one again. The opening menu looks exactly like Champions of Norrath, Which shows lack of ingenuity and imagination on the producers part. However when they did stray off the path champions took, they made a mess of menus and mapping.

Graphics 1/10

The graphics are terrible, Coupled with the lack luster animation, and the terrible use of space and layout of menus makes for a devastating game. Most items are very poorly created and rendered, The items remind me of 600X800 resolution clarity, they are very blurry and very... terrible. The water is nice, but when you walk through it it looks like circular ripples, as if you are jumping up and down in a single spot instead of wading through it. The creators seemed to take more care in creating inanimate objects such ass cart wheels and fires instead of the characters themselves.

Sound 2/10

The sound isnt going to save this game, when you have no mana left and you try to cast a spell, or any time your character talks in game, you feel as though they are a mile away, Hope you didn't miss anything important.

Positive points

There are a few positive points buried among hundreds of terrible ones. The ability to create items, upgrade quality, and socket them with tons of augments is a positive point. Character charisma helps with bartering which is very realistic. Thats pretty much all the good I can say about it, Other than the fact that the front of the case has some nice art.

Negative points (Unmentioned before)

Making games about saving the world from evil monsters which lurk in the shadows is getting very old. All things aside this game is terribly repetitive, the story has been told millions of times before, and the game simply does not live up the its competitors. Sub par gaming experiences should not be the staple of any gamers collection, and this game is just that, Sub par.

If you happen to find this game for a low price, You could make a small fortune on ebay for it. Which is about all its good for.

2 out of 10 Is being generous.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/07