Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Occasionally every once in a while, when reviewing or even just playing all the games on offer for any platform you come across what can only be described as a little gem of a game. Wether its just the graphical 'wow' factor, or the games in-dept story that suits your preferred game type, or even the gameplay elements of the game, we all have games that really grab us from the moment we pick them up, and that don't let go until the magical ride that the developer has painstakingly created for us is at an end. For me Baldurs Gate - Dark Alliance was just one of these games.

Based on Black Isles Baldurs Gate titles for the PC, Snowblind Studio's, the developers of Baldurs Gate - Dark Alliance have created one of the most impressive 3D Engines available to date on the Playstation 2, and set it loose in a impressive hack and slash game worthy of the greats.

Making great use of the Dungeons and Dragons licence the game calls on some of the classic monsters such as Gnolls, and the Kobolds to create a rich, familiar world for those aficionados of RPG games. Yet hiding the traditional D&D ruleset to ensure that casual gamers get a great introduction into the realm of D&D, while not having to know what edition ruleset the game uses (3rd), or worry to much about character detail. But get on with the tasks at hand, lots of hacking and slashing, and the collection of phatloot!

Playing the part of an adventurer, you travel to Baldurs Gate in search of fame and fortune, only to be waylaid by Karne and his group of thieves in the city. After some timely intervention by the city guards you proceed to the Elfsong Tavern where your journey commences, pitting you against the might of Eldrith the Betrayer, General of the Bladed Crescent.

Next: The Gameplay...