Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (DA2) could be described as a “mystery wrapped in an enigma,” because it attempts to replicate the basic gameplay of the original, while subtly including new elements intended to turn the franchise on its head, which is no mean feat considering the original Dark Alliance game was also accused of turning the Baldur’s Gate franchise on its head as it made the transition from PC to console gaming. For those of you unfamiliar with the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance franchise, it is a widely popular series of Diablo-esque video games loosely based on the rules and world of Dungeons and Dragons.
Before the game even begins, the player sees that things are going to be different this time around upon arriving at the character selection screen. Move over, decidedly vanilla archer, warrior and sorceress, and make way for the eclectic rogue, monk, barbarian, cleric and necromancer. While these new characters might not be that exotic for the tabletop gaming aficionado, even the biggest D&D fan has to admit that the inclusion of the new characters adds a new element of strategy into character selection. For example, I chose the dwarven rogue, who could disarm traps and potentially knock more treasure out of chests and enemies, but he could not wear some of the more sophisticated types of armor without spending skill points on “Armor Proficiency”. There really isn’t any character who is better than any other; what it really comes down to is personal preference.
The inclusion of an extended playable prologue that has the player completing missions before the beginning of the game’s first act was also a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the novelty of it all begins to wear thin with nouveau missions more suited for a platformer. I will admit that I was intrigued by the first “escape from the dungeon before you die” mission, but when there was an almost identical mission in the very next quest, I was most unimpressed. I don’t mind the scavenger hunts, but two “escape” missions back-to-back was way too much; I’m very thankful that the rest of the game was filled with the same good old monster-killing-treasure-grabbing action that made the first game so great.
Gameplay is fairly formulaic: The player embarks on a quest, enters various dungeons, kills all monsters in said dungeon, and collects gold and weaponry. Really, the best part of the game, or any game of this type, for that matter, is finding and selling stuff. Most dungeons have boss characters at the end who range from fairly easy to ridiculously difficult to beat. This process repeats itself indefinitely, but of course, there are various aspects of gameplay that keep things from getting stale and repetitive, including the riveting storyline. While the storyline is the same for all of the various characters, there are some aspects that are tailored for each character. The plot starts out in a fairly simple manner; the player’s character arrives in the citadel of Baldur’s Gate in hopes of defeating the villain from the first Dark Alliance game, only to find out that she has already been defeated. From the very beginning, the player finds himself receiving intriguing objectives such as rescuing hostages and solving murders. The quests continue to intrigue the player right until the very end of the game.
The control scheme deserves special commendation. I have played several games like DA2 on the PC and I find it rather cumbersome to use both the keyboard and the mouse. DA2 and its predecessor took a lot of heat from the purists for being dumbed-down versions of their PC counterparts, but I think it is most convenient that the shoulder buttons are automatically linked to refill the players mana and health, provided the player has the proper potions in his inventory. While I do realize that PC titles also have hotkeys, the natural shape of the controller makes using potions much easier. Also, DA2 introduces a hotkey system of its own that allows the player to assign up to four spells to the four face buttons; the player needs only to press R1 and the desired face button to perform a spell. This is a lot more convenient than constantly switching between popular spells. I do have one minor caveat about the control scheme; in many games with menus, the triangle key scrolls back to the previous menu but in DA2, pressing the triangle key in the inventory screen causes the player to drop the highlighted item. I can’t tell you how many items I accidentally dropped before catching on.
Everyone who plays DA2 will have a unique experience because, despite the same basic plot for everyone, there are enough unique variables to ensure that every player’s experience will be slightly different. To begin with, each character type receives at least one unique quest. I was grateful for the inclusion of a unique quest and I think it helped to increase the replay value. The developers also brought back the leveling up system which allows players to spend skill points on a wide variety of attributes that, in turn, increase a character’s proficiency in various disciplines. Since players will spend their skill points on different skills, even two players who are using the same class will end up with two unique characters. Moreover, even though they are both completing the same missions, the manner in which they do so will be different The workshop, a new aspect of gameplay, allows players to design custom weaponry and armor by imbuing ordinary weapons and armor with rune stones and different types of gems. Gems can be purchased at the store or collected in the dungeons, and they can drastically alter a weapon’s potency. Since there are many different types of gems, there is endless potential for the creation of new and dangerous deadly weaponry for killing the forces of evil. Finally, items appear randomly, so two players crawling through the same dungeon will most likely find different items. There is even a cooperative play mode, although that can be rather frustrating since experience and gold is shared; this appears to make the game even more difficult than it would be if a player was embarking on a solo quest.
You might be thinking, gentle reader, that this game sounds too good to be true. To put it simply, yes, it is too good to be true. In addition to the aforementioned platformer-style missions, DA2 also contains fairly abysmal enemy AI. To be honest, I found the fact that enemies would run into walls and get stuck in doorways to be an added advantage because it made gameplay really, really easy at times. However, it was also very unsettling that monsters were clearly not supposed to get stuck in doorways. I found the most glaring AI error in the rogue’s unique quest, in which the rogue must fight an enemy who can turn things to stone simply by looking at them. The room in which the battle took place contained many stone pillars and, logically, one would assume that the player would be able to use these pillars to hide behind, right? No such luck; apparently, the enemy’s penetrating gaze goes right through the pillars. In the end, this was a moot point, as I ended up defeating him by taking cheap shots at him when he was slightly off-screen; I was still able to hit him somehow without catching his attention. Again, I probably wasn’t supposed to be able to do that, but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. While the AI errors do not ruin the DA2 experience, they are very noticeable.
Graphically, DA2 is not much of a step up from its predecessor, but this not as much of a problem as it might appear to be. The terrain and overall milieu varies from dungeon to dungeon and this is reflected very well in the graphics. However, there are some minor graphical annoyances that need to be discussed. Most notably, the game is too dark at times. I can understand and accept that dungeons crawling with monsters are supposed to be dark and dank, but it is a little drastic to be forced to resorting to turning up the brightness, sitting thisclose to the television screen and squinting. Also, it is not very sporting to have dungeons shrouded in shadow when said shadows contain bottomless pits which are equally dark.
At times, the background music is conspicuously absent. As I wandered around a dungeon on an increasingly frustrating scavenger hunt, there was no sound except for the echoing footsteps as my character walked down a long hallway. Admittedly, it was very creepy, but when the music randomly began to play, I was confused. When the music is playing, it is well-orchestrated and fits the mood perfectly, but there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason as to when the music begins to play. Voice-acting works well for the most part, although there are some characters who are more convincing than others. I especially enjoyed the gruff shopkeeper who often offered his opinion on quests. Sound effects are fairly utilitarian, but occasionally add to the ambience as well.
While Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is not without its faults, it is still a worthwhile title that is worth your time, especially if you were a fan of the first Dark Alliance game. With five characters to choose from, there are endless possibilities and you will find yourself occupied for hours upon hours. However, that, said, if you were not a fan of the original Dark Alliance, this sequel will do little to change your mind, as Dark Alliance 2 is really little more than a full-price expansion set. Nevertheless, with fifteen to twenty hours of gameplay and cooperative play, there is plenty to like about Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2. Just don’t expect anything groundbreaking to happen in that stretch of time.
