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 character, 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 by thieves, 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, Alyth Elendara, assists the trio in recovering their money 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. When their new friend, Ethon, follows them in and disappears in the sewers, the trio agree to Alyth's plea to find him. The adventurers rescue Ethon from the thieves, and he tips them off with a lead to the crypts. Their quest for revenge is delayed when a priest of Illmater, Fayed, requests their help to stop an Orb of the Undead, which has filled the crypts with the zombies and skeletons. They succeed in destroying the orb and discover the Thieves, Xantam's Guild, to be behind the plot. Afterwards Ethon introduces them to Jherek, a member of the Harpers, a group dedicated to protecting the realms from evil. The adventurers accept his invitation to join the Harpers and hunt down the thieves, and Jherek shows them the entrance to the thieves guild in the sewers.

After navigating a deadly gauntlet of traps they face off and kill Karne, the skilled thief who led the ambush on them. Having taken revenge, the heroes advance to find the guild master, a beholder called Xantam who guards a mysterious portal gate. Before being killed, Xantam reveals that the guild was only one part of a greater whole. The heroes are then commissioned to enter the shadow gate leading to the Sunset Mountains by Jherek. They enter and find many wild and rogue beasts wandering around. They head through the mountains to Kromlech's home, a small mining village, and discover it to be tortured at the hands of drow elves. The three light a signal fire for dwarves of the surrounding clans to help recapture the mines in which the drow have been trapped. After killing the drow priestess they rescue a Harper, who tells them of another gate in the mountains. He also tells them that troops and monsters were meant to secretly travel between gates, to move from the mountains to Baldur's Gate, and attack the city. They then enter the ice caves in the area to find the portal and uncover the truth. Guarding the shadow gate, however, is the mighty ice dragon Ciraxis. The heroes manage to slay it and pass through the gate into the Marsh of Cherlimber.

At the marsh they are greeted by one of the native lizardfolk named Sleyvas. He tells them of the nearby Onyx Tower and of its inhabitant, 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 Onyx Tower. The trio fight through the marsh's hordes of undead and lizardfolk and kill Sesseth, breaking the spine of the lizard army. Sleyvas leads them to the Onyx Tower, which they can only enter by taking a detour through the Elemental Plane of Water. Once inside they see firsthand Eldrith's preparations for war and fight their way up the tower through the preparing 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 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 Xantam's guild, the drow, and Sesseth's tribes.

The heroes learn that defeating Eldrith will destroy the Onyx Tower, free the ghosts to pass to the afterlife and break the Dark Alliance, but will likely cost them their lives as well. Before the heroes proceed, the ghost, Keledon, tells them of the Onyx Sword, the only weapon that is able to pierce the armour of the Betrayer. The heroes find the Betrayer alone on the roof of her tower with another portal. She reiterates her plans for the destruction of Baldur's Gate, and they enter a vicious duel. After a hard fought battle they use the Onyx sword to weaken and finally defeat Eldrith. As she dies Eldrith repents for her rage and asks forgiveness. With the tower crumbling around them in a destruction of lightening and fire the heroes dive into the portal.

In the final cutscene, Sleyvas' true motives are revealed: he has manipulated and used the heroes to defeat Eldrith for him and his mysterious master. He tells his master that the heroes died with the tower, and says they can now proceed with their plans. Meanwhile, the trio emerge in an unknown forest and walk a few steps before being surrounded by dark creatures, 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)