Baldur's Gate

This article is about the first installment of a video game series. For other uses, see Baldur's Gate (disambiguation).

Baldur's Gate
Developer(s)	BioWare
Publisher(s)	Black Isle Studios, Interplay Entertainment
Designer(s)	James Ohlen (lead designer) Ray Muzyka (director)
Composer(s)	Michael Hoenig
Series	Baldur's Gate
Engine	Infinity Engine
Version	1.1.5512
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
Release date(s)	30 November 1998
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) ELSPA: 15+ OFLC: M
Media/distribution	5 CD-ROMs, 3 CD-ROMs, 1 DVD, download
System requirements 166 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 2 MB video card RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 5.0, 300 MB available hard disk space, Windows 95

Baldur's Gate is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using modified Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd edition rules. The game received critical praise, and was credited (along with Diablo) with revitalizing the CRPG genre.

The story follows the journey of the player character (PC) along the Sword Coast, which lies on the west coast of the continent Faerûn, as he or she grows up following the cataclysmic Time of Troubles. Character development occurs through dialogue and battle. The game rewards the PC according to his or her moral choices.

Baldur's Gate uses the Infinity Engine, which was developed by BioWare. The same engine was later used in games such as Planescape: Torment, the Icewind Dale series, the Baldur's Gate expansion pack Tales of the Sword Coast, the sequel Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and the sequel's expansion pack Throne of Bhaal. The Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series took its name from Baldur's Gate, but the storyline is unrelated and the games have little in common beyond the setting.

Gameplay

The game was programmed within the licensed fictional world of the Forgotten Realms setting, using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition role-playing rules, though various elements from the ruleset were modified to allow the game to be executed with pausable realtime. Each character is in constant action, while the game can be paused at any time.

During the game, past and present events are related to the player through dialogue, written text, journal entries, or cut scenes. Dialogue is initiated when the player clicks on computer controlled characters. This generates written and sometimes spoken dialogue with selectable responses. Such interactions can lead to quests or missions.

The game is separated into seven chapters interspersed with segments of spoken dialogue. Free exploration of the world map is allowed in every chapter, though some areas are not unlocked until the player's character (PC) advances to a certain point in the game. The PC begins as a weak character, poorly equipped and without allies. As the game progresses, the player discovers new and more powerful equipment and magic, and can recruit a party of up to six characters, including the PC. Experience points are gained through completing quests and killing monsters, which can be spent to improve the abilities of the main character and other party members.

The flow of time during the game is expressed by changes in lighting and the opening and closing of most shops, with an increased likelihood of combat encounters during the night. Taverns are open during the night, but there are no changes in the presence of customers or the barkeeper to reflect the flow of time. The troupe of characters controlled by the player will become fatigued after traveling for a full day, which requires rest to recover.

Plot

Setting

The western shore of Faerûn along the Sea of Swords contains a multitude of ecologies and terrains, including mountains, forests, swamps, marshes, plains, cities, and ruins. Collectively called the Sword Coast, it attracts adventurers with both good and evil intentions, and provides the backdrop for the game's adventure. The region encompassed by the game is roughly bordered to the South by the Cloud Peaks, the East by the Wood of Sharp Teeth, the West by the Sea of Swords, and the North by Baldur's Gate, which is the largest and most affluent city in the region. The characters travel the countryside, exploring the various areas such as towns, dungeons, mines, forests, castle ruins, and Baldur's Gate itself. The main story involves the characters investigating a conspiracy, confronting the clandestine plots of organizations like the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards of Thay, The Iron Throne, the Flaming Fist, The Chill, The Black Talons, and the Harpers, and finding out the main character's own ancestry and history.

Characters

Baldur's Gate includes several canon characters from the official Forgotten Realms campaign setting, such as Cadderly Bonaduce, Drizzt Do'Urden, Volothamp Geddarm, and Elminster.

Story

The PC and his or her friend Imoen have grown up together since childhood under the tutelage of their guardian, the mage Gorion. As orphans, they were raised in Candlekeep, an ancient fortress-turned-library in the rural Sword Coast region, which lies south of the city of Baldur's Gate. However, strange things are afoot on the Sword Coast: iron production has virtually halted, metal already produced quickly crumbles, and bandits scour the countryside seeking iron over any other treasure. Strangest of all, there are mercenaries with designs on the main character's life, even inside the secure walls of Candlekeep. Gorion knows what is going on, but will not tell the PC, and instead decides to leave Candlekeep and journey with the PC to a hiding place. However, the night after leaving Candlekeep, the pair are ambushed by a group of bandits led by a mysterious armored figure. When Gorion refuses to hand over the PC, he is attacked by the bandits; Gorion defeats them but dies in doing so. The PC soon runs into Imoen, who had been following in secret after reading a note about the journey on Gorion's desk. She too saw Gorion's murder, and now insists on accompanying the character.

The Baldur's Gate series relies heavily on storyline and dialogue.

The nearest cities are closed to the player: Candlekeep demands a unique, valuable book as its admission fee, and the city of Baldur's Gate is closed off to outsiders for fear of the bandit hordes. Seeking safety, the PC teams up with other adventurers, and soon he or she sets out to find the cause of the iron shortage by traveling to the source of the iron, the mines of Nashkel. In doing so, the player begins to unearth a deeper conspiracy. Kobolds have been contaminating the iron in the Nashkel mine, and documents found there connect the operation with the iron-hunting bandits, and ultimately lead the main character to the secret campsite of the bandits. They appear to be mobilized mercenary companies employed by the Iron Throne, a mysterious organization which is aggressively expanding its influence. The Iron Throne intends to gain control of the Sword Coast by diverting the iron supply to its own armies exclusively, and stockpiling all plundered iron at the only working iron mine in the region, deep in the Cloakwood forest. As the main character sabotages the mercenary installation in the Cloakwood mines, the pressure on Baldur's Gate is relieved enough for the city to be re-opened to outsiders, and the PC can confront the local Iron Throne leaders at their headquarters.

In Baldur's Gate, the PC is enrolled by the Flaming Fist city guard to investigate the Iron Throne, but after no damning evidence is found, the PC returns to Candlekeep to spy on a meeting of the Iron Throne leaders. Much has changed in Candlekeep since the PC left, and it is soon revealed that the fortress has at least partially been taken over by Doppelgängers. The PC also encounters a mysterious man named Koveras. Soon after leaving the company of Koveras, the PC is charged (rightfully or falsely, depending on the player's choices) with the murder of the Iron Throne leaders. The only route of escape is through the catacombs below the monastery. The PC manages to escape the catacombs, and returns to Baldur's Gate. But things only get worse, as the PC is framed for the murder of a Flaming Fist officer^{[citation needed]} and must stay hidden while working to uncover the truth, finally uncovering a grand scheme masterminded by the original armored figure, Sarevok.

Seeking to confront Sarevok, the characters find out that he is actually half-brother to the main character, both of whom are children of the dead Lord of Murder, Bhaal. The main character's Bhaalspawn ancestry explains much about their past, and raises questions about their future. Sarevok's plans turn out be much more sinister, as the Iron Throne is just a façade for his real intentions. Through manipulation of politics and resources, Sarevok plans to start a war of sacrifice between Baldur's Gate and the kingdom of Amn to the south, causing enough carnage to become the new Lord of Murder. In the end the PC defeats his brother Sarevok and sends his tainted soul back to Bhaal.

Development

Baldur's Gate was developed by the Canadian game developer BioWare, a company founded by a pair of practicing physicians, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk. The game required ninety man-years of development, which was spent simultaneously creating the game's content and the BioWare Infinity Engine. The primary script engine for the game's AI was Lua.

At the time that the game was first shipped, none of the sixty member team had previously participated in the release of a video game. The time pressure to complete the game led to the use of simple areas and game design. Ray Muzyka said the team held a "passion and a love of the art," and they developed a "collaborative design spirit." He believes that the game was successful because of a collaboration with Interplay.

The game was published by Black Isle Studios, an internal division of Interplay.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	92%
Metacritic	91%
Review scores
Publication	Score
GameSpot	9.2 out of 10
IGN	9.4 out of 10
Maximum PC	9 out of 10
PC Gamer US	94/100
Computer Gaming World	4 out of 5
Computer Games Magazine	5 out of 5
The Electric Playground	9 out of 10
Awards 1998 Game of the Year: Computer Games Online · Computer Games Magazine · GameCenter Reader's Choice · Games Domain · IGN · Vault Network 1998 RPG of the Year: Adrenaline Vault · Computer Games Online · Computer Gaming World · Electric Games · GameCenter · GameCenter Reader's Choice · Games Domain · Gamespot · Gamespot Reader's Choice · IGN · PC Gamer · Vault Network

Baldur's Gate received positive reviews from virtually every major computer gaming publication that reviewed it. At the time of the game's release, PC Gamer US said "[Baldur's Gate] reigns supreme over every RPG currently available, and sets new standards for those to come".

The Maximum PC magazine game review compared the gameplay to Diablo, but with a more extensive selection of features and options. The pixel-based characters were panned, but the reviewer stated that, "the gloriously rendered backgrounds make up for that shortcoming." The main criticism was of the problems with the path finding algorithm for non-player characters. Despite this, the game was deemed an "instant classic" because of the amount of customization allowed, the "fluid story lines", and the replayability.

Baldur's Gate did much to revive the role-playing video game genre, which was struggling at the time. Baldur's Gate was notably successful in using AD&D 2nd edition rules in a video game.

The game was a financial success, selling over two million copies worldwide. This success led to an expansion pack, a sequel, and a separate spin-off series. It also set the standard for many other games, in particular those using AD&D rules, especially those developed by BioWare and Black Isle Studios: Planescape: Torment (1999), Icewind Dale (2000), Icewind Dale II (2002), Neverwinter Nights (2002), and Dragon Age: Origins (2009).

Legacy

Baldur's Gate was the first game in the Baldur's Gate series, which spawned three more software titles before the series ended. It was immediately followed by the expansion pack Tales of the Sword Coast (1999), then the sequel Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) and its expansion pack Throne of Bhaal (2001). As of 2006, total sales for all releases in the series was almost five million copies. The series set the standard for other games using AD&D rules, especially those developed by BioWare and Black Isle Studios: Planescape: Torment (1999), Icewind Dale (2000), and Icewind Dale II (2002).

Baldur's Gate was re-released along with its expansion in 2000 as Baldur's Gate Double Pack, and again in 2002 as a three CD collection entitled Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga. In 2002, the game and its expansion were released along with Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter and Planescape: Torment as the Black Isle Compilation. In 2004, it was re-released once again, this time along with Icewind Dale II, in Part Two of the Black Isle's compilation. More recently, Atari published the Baldur's Gate 4 in 1 Boxset including Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal on a combination of DVDs and CDs.

Baldur's Gate and its expansion were released digitally on Good Old Games on September 23, 2010.

References

• (1998) Baldur's Gate game manual.

External links

• Official website at BioWare
• Baldur's Gate at MobyGames