Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
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- See Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (series) for the entire series
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| Developer(s) | Snowblind Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Vivendi Universal Games |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 2: NA December 3, 2001 EU December 14, 2001 JP September 26, 2002 Xbox: NA October 22, 2002 EU March 21, 2003 GameCube: NA November 20, 2002 EU April 25, 2003 Game Boy Advance: NA February 10, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) PEGI: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance |
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2, and later for the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance, originally released in 2001. It began the Dark Alliance series of games.
The battle system in the game is simplistic, but allows for customizability. The human archer, for example, can assign experience points to enchanting arrows rather than to strength, which will result in more powerful arrows. Likewise, the Elven sorceress is capable of selecting between different spells. However, starting character statistics are preset, and the player may only customize his or her character's statistics through gaining experience points. There are also relatively few non-player characters: the only characters who may be spoken to are those who are part of a quest or sidequest.
Dark Alliance was built on a much more powerful game engine than the PC Baldur's Gate series, which utilized the Infinity Engine - an engine debuting in 1998 which exclusively used sprite characters and static, pre-rendered backgrounds. The Dark Alliance engine allowed for such things as dynamic lighting, real-time shadowing, fully rendered backgrounds and 3d character models. The graphics, in particular, were considered a highlight of the game by many critics. The graphics are so precise that each character can not only change their appearance depending on the armor they wear, but can also be stripped of all their armor, leaving them in their (usually revealing) underwear (this has become the subject of a number of jokes, as well as a glitch during one cutscene in the game, during which if the player is playing as the sorceress in only her underwear, the clothing vanishes and a very DETAILED physique is visible).
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[edit] Gameplay
The player must choose between one of three (or four) characters:
- Vahn, human arcane archer: archer with magical abilities
- Adrianna, elven sorceress: spell caster
- Kromlech, dwarven fighter: strong melee fighter
- Drizzt Do'Urden, drow ranger/fighter: fights with two strong scimitars (unlockable)
Gameplay is quite different for all three characters: the human relies on ranged attacks and stealth, the elf character can cast magic spells, and the dwarf is an all-round fighter for those who prefer a head-on approach. Additionally, each character has unique side-quests, allowing for replayability.
[edit] Plot
The game begins with the player character's arrival in the city of Baldur's Gate whereupon he is attacked, robbed, and left for dead. He is brought to an inn by guards to recover. There, the first hints about a great evil hiding in Baldur's Gate are revealed.
The player begins by clearing the inn's cellar of rats and vermin, but discovers a thieves' den in the sewers. He learns that one of the characters from the inn has been captured by the thieves after following him into the sewers, and proceeds to rescue him. Delving further into the sewers, he finds an entrance to the crypts of the local temple where the dead are being reanimated. The player destroys the artifact causing the reanimation, and meets Jherek, leader of the Harpers, who tells the player that the thieves' guild is only one part of a greater whole, and that to discover the whole story the guild must be destroyed. The player infiltrates the guild's secret lair, defeats Kharne, the leader of the thieves and associate of the Zhentarim who had ambushed the player at the start of the game, and meets Xantam, a beholder who reveals that he is controlling the thieves' guild on behalf of some greater power. After defeating Xantam, the player finds a portal which transports him away from Baldur's Gate.
This leads the player to the Sunset Mountains, where he faces the treacherous Wind's Walk, with yetis, ogres and gnolls. At the end of this mountain path, lies a Dwarven Village. The dwarves have been driven from their mine by drow, and have sent a party to light a signal fire to request reinforcements, but that party has not been heard from. Torregir, a dwarf who is also a member of the Harpers, charges the player to scale Burning Eye Mountain to discover the fate of the signalling party, and to light the signal. The player finds that the dwarven signalling party was ambushed and scattered by Ceraxis, a powerful white dragon, but the player is able to light the signalling fire and retrieve the key to the mine. The player enters the mine and engages the drow forces therein. On the lowest level of the mine, he combats the valsharess, the drow queen, who again refers to herself as a servant of another power. The drow queen's defeat leads the player to a cave in a nearby forest where he defeats Ceraxis, who had ambushed the dwarven signalling party. Ceraxis guards another portal which transports the player to the Marshes of Chelimber.
The hero emerges in a ruined sunken cathedral filled with undead, but is able to fight to the surface where he meets Sleyvas, a humanoid lizard who explains that the local lizard tribes are being controlled by an Onyx Tower that dominates the landscape. The tower has no visible entrance, but can be accessed via the water stair; a conduit to the elemental plane of water. The path to the water stair is blocked by the local lizard tribes, and only the defeat of their chieftan will cause the tribes to scatter. The player travels through the swamps and the remains of an ancient human castle to defeat the chieftan. He reaches the water stair and gains access to the Onyx Tower.
At the penultimate level of the tower, the player meets a number of ghosts of fallen soldiers who explain that their general, Eldrith, once served Baldur's Gate, and fought a crusade against dark forces who intended its destruction. Upon her victory, she was betrayed by the elders of Baldur's Gate and sent to the Marshes of Chelimber where her armies and herself were drowned. Her rage brought her back to life, caused the tower to come into being, and gave her the power to open portals between distant locations. Seeking revenge, she has orchestrated the attacks against Baldur's Gate and its allies, and created a dark alliance between the thieves' guild, mountain creatures, drow, and lizardmen.
The player learns that defeating Eldrith will destroy the tower and the portals, and will free the ghosts to pass to the afterlife, but will trap the player. The player proceeds to the roof to join combat with Eldrith. He finds Eldrith alone on the roof of the tower with another portal. She again reiterates her plans for the destruction of Baldur's Gate, and attacks the player. Eventually, the player defeats Eldrith, who repents for her rage. With the tower crumbling around him, the player has no choice but to enter the remaining portal.
In the final cutscene, Sleyvas' true motives are revealed: he has manipulated the player to defeat Eldrith so that he and his comrades can gain control of the tower. He also expects the hero to have died in the tower. The player emerges in an unknown forest surrounded by nightshades and nightwalkers, and the game concludes on this cliffhanger.
[edit] Gameboy Differences
The Gameboy Advance version of Baldur's Gate featured some noticeable differences from the Console versions. Probably the most notable is the fact that there can only be one save at a time, although it can be saved anywere. Players also can no longer import a character to play through the story again, so they must restart at level 1 every time. Missing from this port is the multiplayer mode. Other differences include a lack of recall potions and the addition of the "Elf Fighter" class, which combines some middle to high level spells and abilities of the other 3 classes. The town of Baldur's Gate is also much more interactive, as players are now able to talk to people, enter houses, and use weapons (to break barrels, etc.). There are new sidequests, too. The town has also been split into two sections: north and south. The southern portion cannot be entered at the beginning of the game.
Gameplay also makes a slight change. First of all, players can no longer jump. Switching between Melee and Ranged combat is different as well, since the player must now tap R to swap between Melee combat, Archery, and Spells.
One major complaint with this version of the game is that larger enemies will sometimes get trapped behind doorways, allowing the player to shoot them with the bow out of range of harm. Another complaint was that the white dragon Ceraxis (who was the final boss in Act II in the original version) was absent in the GBA version.
