Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

For the entire series, see Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (series).

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Developer(s)	Snowblind Studios Black Isle Studios High Voltage Software Magic Pockets
Publisher(s)	Interplay Entertainment Destination Software
Distributor(s)	Vivendi Universal
Producer(s)	Black Isle Studios
Series	Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series
Engine	Dark Alliance Engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 NA December 2, 2001 PAL December 14, 2001 JP September 26, 2002 Xbox NA October 22, 2002 PAL March 21, 2003 GameCube NA November 18, 2002 PAL April 25, 2003 Game Boy Advance NA February 10, 2004 PAL February 10, 2004
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 15+ ESRB: T OFLC: M PEGI: 12+

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2; later released for the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It was re-released on the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits title. Its gameplay is based on the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

The game was well received and a sequel Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II was released in 2004.

Plot and setting

The game takes place in The Sword Coast and The Western Heartlands, areas in the Forgotten Realms. Each chapter of the game takes place in a different region: in the first chapter Baldur's Gate is explored, in the second the Sunset Mountains and the third the Marsh of Chelimber (the latter two being areas known to fans previously only as maps).

The game' story follows the quest journey of three characters: Kromlech, a Dwarven Fighter; Vahn, a human arcane archer; and Adrianna, an Elven Sorceress, all of whom are playable. An unlockable characters, Drizzt Do'Urden is available to play through the main quest after completing the game and a survival mini game.

Plot

The game begins with Vahn, Adrianna and Kromlech's arrival in the city of Baldur's Gate whereupon they are attacked, robbed, and left for dead. They are brought to the Elfsong Tavern by guards to recover where the first hints of a great evil hiding in Baldur's Gate are revealed. The bartender, Eldrith assists the trio in recovering by giving them a job to clear the tavern's cellar of rats and vermin. There they discover that the thieves are using the Elfsong Tavern's cellar entrance to the sewers to infiltrate the city. Driven by revenge, the three attack the thieves in the sewers and push them back to their guild. Their quest for revenge is delayed when a priest of Illmater, Fayed, requests their help to stop an Orb of the Undead, they assist and discover the Thieves Guild, Xantam's Guild, to be behind the plot. They are then inducted into the Harpers by an agent named Jherek, the Harper gives them the co-ordinates of the thieves guild location.

They enter the thieves guild and find Karne, the leader of the thieves guild and he who ambushed the trio. The heroes defeat Karne and advance on to face his master, the beholder Xantam of which the guild was named after. Before being killed, Xantam reveals that the guild was only one part of a greater whole. The heroes are then commissioned to enter a shadow gate leading to the Sunset Mountains by Jherek, they enter and find many wild and rogue beasts wandering around. They go south of the mountains to the town of Easting and discover it to be tortured at the hands of drow. The three light a signal fire for dwarves of clans around the area to launch a raid on the mines in which the drow are trapped. They then enter the ice caves near the area to make way to the Marsh of Chelimber, where the leader of the Dark Alliance lay wait. Guarding the shadow gate, however, is the mighty ice dragon Ciraxis, nevertheless, the heroes manage to make it to the marsh.

At the marsh they are greeted by one of the lizardfolk named Sleyvas, the lizard shows them the Onyx Tower and reveals the story of Eldrith the Betrayer and her quest for revenge against Baldur's Gate. He then reveals that his kin, led by the lizard Sesseth, have turned to serving the the Onyx Tower. They fight through the marsh's hordes of undead and lizardfolk and finally make to the Onyx Tower after some last minute defense by minotaurs, they then begin fighting through the towers various hordes of onyx soldiers.

At the penultimate level of the tower the three meet a number of ghosts of fallen soldiers who explain that their general, Eldrith the Betrayer, once served Baldur's Gate, and fought a crusade against dark forces of the Orcish Black Horde who intended its destruction. Upon her defeat she was betrayed by the elders of Baldur's Gate who were angered by her defying their orders not to march. Furious, she rallied her unwilling soldiers to attack Baldur's Gate, but was fought back to the Marshes of Chelimber and killed. 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 heroes learn that defeating the Betrayer will destroy the Onyx Tower, free the ghosts to pass to the afterlife and free the Elfsong as well, but will trap them in the elemental chaos. However, they learn of one last remaining portal in the Onyx Tower's roof and decide to use it to escape. Before the heroes proceed, the ghost Keledon tells Vahn of the Onyx Sword, the only weapon that is able to pierce the armour of the Betrayer. The heroes proceed to the roof to join combat with the Betrayer. They find the Betrayer 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 heroes. After a hard fought battle Vahn manages to pierce the armour of the Betrayer, making her vulnerable. The three then manage to defeat the Betrayer, who repents for her rage. With the tower crumbling around them the heroes enter the portal.

In the final cutscene, Sleyvas' true motives are revealed: he has manipulated the heroes to defeat Eldrith so that he and his masters, the Zhentarim, can gain control of the tower to return to their former glory; he also expects the heroes to have died in the tower. Instead they emerge in an unknown forest and walk a few steps before being surrounded by nightshades and nightwalkers, and the game concludes on this cliffhanger.

Gameplay

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a real time hack and slash Action role-playing game presented in a true 3D perspective correct rotatable third person overhead view. The battle system in the game is simplistic but flexible. Character statistics at the game's beginning are preset, and the player may only customize their character's stats through gaining experience points. Experience points are gained by winning battles, and at specific levels the character gains new ability points to spend on enhancements specific to the character class. The ability choices affect the fighting style of the character.

Gameplay is linear, and any current quest must be completed successfully before the story proceeds. There are also relatively few non-player characters (NPCs), of which only those who are part of a quest or side-quest may be interacted with. There are not that many sidequests available in the game, but those available - such as for Keaira and Ipswitch - help players to gain experience and level up. Weapons, armor and items are only available for purchase from one location at a time in the current region, and are increasingly valuable later in the game.

The game's ruleset is based on a limited set of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rule-set; compared to other D&D Games there are relatively few rules implemented in the game. There are four playable classes: Human Arcane Archer, Elven Sorceress, Dwarven Fighter and Drow Ranger. Gameplay strategy is different for all characters: the human relies on ranged attacks and stealth, the elf character can cast magic spells, and the dwarf is an all-around fighter. Through updating each character, the characters go to mimic characters of other classes.

A local co-op mode is available, which uses a single non-split screen view. The second player can select one of the unused characters.

Game Boy Advance version

The Game Boy Advance (GBA) version of Dark Alliance features some noticeable differences from the console versions.

• There are no playable characters like in the original game. Instead, a human male is playable. A player can choose his class, however (fighter, wizard, archer). After the completion of the game, a new class, titled Elven Fighter, is available.
• Players cannot import a character to play through the story again; they must start a new game.
• No multiplayer mode.
• The town of Baldur's Gate is much more interactive. Players are able to talk to people, enter houses, and use weapons (to break barrels, etc.).
• The town is split into two sections: North and South. The southern region cannot be entered at the beginning of the game.
• New side-quests.
• Lack of recall potions.
• Players can no longer jump.
• Players can switch between melee and ranged combat using the "R" button.
• Larger enemies will sometimes get trapped behind doorways, allowing the player to shoot them with the bow while staying out of harm's way.
• The white dragon Ciraxis (who was the final boss of Act II in the console version) is absent.
• The wizard (comparable to the sorceress in the original game) is no longer as strong and has a lower mana pool.

Development

The game was first announced by Titus Software to be in development by Snowblind Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment in early November, 2000 following the cancellation of the Sega Dreamcast port of the original Baldur's Gate. The game was featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo where it gained critical acclaim. The game was released in December, 2001.

Graphics engine

While GBA version used its own engine, the console versions used a more graphically superior one. The console versions of the game used the Dark Alliance Engine, it was built for this game and is the foundation for other games on the PS2 including Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and The Bard's Tale. Graphically, the Dark Alliance engine is a drastic improvement over the Baldur's Gate series that debuted on the PC, which utilized the Infinity Engine (1998), the earlier versions were only able to render 2D sprite characters and static environments. The Dark Alliance engine makes use of Sony's PS2 platform, allowing for such improvements as dynamic lighting, real-time shadowing and 3D models of characters and environments. The graphics, in particular, were considered a highlight of the game by many critics.

Reception

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was critically well received; Metacritic recorded average professional review scores of 87, 83, and 79% for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube consoles.

The Gameboy Advance version was also received mostly positive reviews with and aggregate score of 76%.

See also

• Baldur's Gate (series)