Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

"Ruined the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series"

Gameplay:4/10
The gameplay of this game was pretty bad compared to the original Dark alliance. While the battles are similar it is to repetitive. There isn't really anything that made me think wow. I found that there was no challenge at all even though I only beat the game on normal, I found that with some of the abilities in this game they added it made it boring because you don't have to think about when you are going to use them since you can mast cast at some points. I also found that the barbarian could have been alot better but they didn't put that much effort and creativity into him.If you have never played the original maybe you can enjoy this game but other wise i think this game is crap compared to it. Basically I think it was the abilities and spells that ruined the gameplay for me.

Leveling system: 3/10
I found that they ruined the game by changing the way the experience system was in the original. For one you leveled alot faster and allmost all the spells you can get from the start of the game and you didn't have to think how you would spend your skill points since in the end. If I never played the original though I probably would still hate it.

Story: 7/10
I think the story wasn't that bad in the end because the original left it as a cliff hanger so after the wait for this game i couldnt wait to find out what happened. If you have not played the original however some parts may be confusing.

Graphics: 8/10
Well I cant say much here because the lighting and shading is pretty nice. They didnt make things look realistic but they didnt need to and thats one thing that I think brought something extra to the game. I think that they made the game look beautiful with all the doodads they added but that still dosnt make up for some of its flaws.

Sound: 3/10
The sounds in the game were nothing special. You here them in any other game like this so I can't say its anything special because its not.

Re playability: 6/10
Even though i think the gameplay sucks in this game and many things about it people will replay it because they ether want to gain more levels and try a harder mode or just try out a new character.

Overall: 5/10
In the end I don't think the game offers you anything new or special. I would rent the game first and get the original which is now really cheap and in my opinion 20x better.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/04