Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

"What does it offer to the genre beside graphics? Nothing, and even then..."

First, let me get this out of the way: I've only played up to level 2 in this game (the Crypt), so take my review with a grain of salt, especially for the Audio section. It's not my habit to review games before at least reaching the half-way point, however, I feel that I gave the game a fair chance, playing it from scratch for several hours on two different occasions (first the PS2 version months ago, then the Xbox version recently).

Note: I've only played with the Dwarf, aka Warrior.

Graphics: 7
What can I say without being called delusional or a fanboy...it simply lacks COLOUR. Everything is bland and lifeless, and that trademark colorless look that Sony must have copyrighted by now made it to the Xbox intact. I didn't see any difference between the two versions except perhaps quicker loading times.

To be fair, during cutscenes, when the camera zooms in on characters, it looks much better than I'd expected. Most games look worse the more you zoom, but not here. However during gameplay the camera stays at a fixed long distance, so it's all wasted. I think it would've worked better in a 3rd person perspective (more on that in the Gameplay section).

Audio: 6
I have no recollection of any ambient music despite playing this game as recently as yesterday, and considering that I'm all ears when it comes to videogame music, that should tell you a lot about what Dark Alliance has to offer. The only track of any importance is the Elfsong Tavern theme, which is recycled for better results in later parts of the game.

As for sound effects, I unfortunately can never pay attention to them.

Story: ?
It's simply not a story-driven game, I can tell you that without having to complete it. You are treated to a very brief cutscene in between levels, involving a masked bad guy and mysterious orbs of evil. You can have a conversation with the tavern patrons, who tell you a brief story about something or other, and usually send you on a fetch subquest for objects/persons that you will invariably meet during the main quest.

Gameplay: 7

I'm assuming you know how dungeon crawlers play, so there's no need for an explanation. If you do need one, read one of the other reviews.

The biggest problem for this game, is the existence of Record of Lodoss War (LW) for the Dreamcast. LW, while not particularly ground-breaking, brought so much refinement to the dungeon crawler genre, that it's impossible to forgive or play Dark Alliance (DA) without frustration. Picture playing Final Fantasy 1 with FFX's graphics, would that make it any less archaic? Quick summary of the main flaws/differences:

First, the melee weapons are identical in DA, save for damage modifiers of course. This means that a halberd or spear hits for the same distance as a dagger, as well as at the same speed. There is no tactical choices to make in weapon length, or weapon speed.

Then, there's the fact that DA plays like a 3rd person game stuck in a bird-view perspective. This affects the absolute CORE of the gameplay. It's not a simple matter of turning to an enemy and slashing, because the game doesn't take into account the slash animation when hitting. So while LW handled fighting by allowing you to hit anyone in front of you with a single slash, in DA, you'd be getting gangbanged by a horde of kobolds, only able to hit a single one at a time, only when you are facing him DIRECTLY, and only when you are close enough to touch him with your attacks, while the others keep beating on you. This, coupled with Complaint #1, makes the gameplay nightmarish in comparison.

And a minor flaw to boot, an extension of the similarity between weapons: since they're all identical, there is no variety in playing the Warrior class. There are two special offensive skills (all the rest are passive, like bonus to hit), but that's it. So you'll spend your entire time doing the same attack animation, hitting a single enemy every time. Pure fun!

Conclusion
Honestly, I gave this game more than enough chances to entertain me. It was one of my most anticipated (and ultimately most disappointing, because I wanted to like it so much) games for PS2, so when the Xbox version came out, I thought that maybe I didn't give it a fair chance back then, and rented it again.

I wish it had SOMETHING to make up for its failure to meet current dungeon crawler standards, but unfortunately it doesn't. It topped Lodoss War in review scores, I'll never understand how, and that makes it the most overrated game I have ever come across (and yes, I have played MGS2). Oh, and if you didn't get the point yet, GET LODOSS WAR.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/02, Updated 11/24/02