by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: June 06, 2007   Last Updated: March 07, 2011

Based on the Advanced Dungeon's and Dragons setting called Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate is a classic entry into the series. In this game you can test your swordsmanship, exercise magical abilities or move with great stealth through beautiful worlds. This is the game AD&D'ers have been waiting for all these years.

The plot is this: you are an orphan who was raised by a wizard. When the wizard gets killed by a yellow clad yellow eye monster it is horrifying. But the truth is that the monster was after you... And thus the premise of the story is set up: whoa re you?

You go on a quest with a party of up to six characters. The characters run the normal gamut except for a few new additions that have weird powers... One nice thing is the fact that you can actively choose to be good or evil and thus change your fate and mission throughout the story... This to me was the most compelling element.

The gameplay is rigidly AD&D, which will satisfy the hardcore types. Spells, weapons, items, monsters, classes and abilities are all exactly as they would be in an AD&D book. The combat system is evolved over anything else I have seen associated with AD&D in the past. It is real time instead of turn based and you cannot imagine how much better this makes the gameplay. It is like watching television in colors versus watching it in black and white.

The graphics are in 2D but still immersive and the world is very detailed. The scope of the graphics is extremely impressive. The stereo sound is also excellent. It even has a multiplayer system that allows friends to play throughout the game on the same missions. This one got just about everything right. Three and a half stars out of four.

Learn more about this author, Royce Radcliffe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.