Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Three systems later, and the console debut of Baldur's Gate is the same as it ever was?shorter than most platformers, but still a fair bit of fun.

The GameCube port of the first console Baldur's Gate is almost exactly like the PS2 and Xbox versions before it. As always, you play a novice adventurer caught in a battle between two thieves' guilds that escalates into a demonic threat to the entire world. The only way to solve this crisis: navigate three chapters and pummel down hundreds of D&D-style monsters, using a game system that borrows with gusto from Gauntlet and Diablo.

Console RPG fans who never bothered with PC games are in for some dire culture shock when they stick Dark Alliance into their systems. The graphic style?black, brooding, and straight out of a fantasy-novel cover?would never be seen in a Japanese RPG, for one, and the sheer amount of weaponry, magic, and armor you have at your disposal are enough to make novices break into tears. You shouldn't feel intimidated by all this, though: Under the PC-game exterior lies a fun, solidly constructed little hack-em-up. It's outlandishly short (10 hours if you're good), the controls take getting used to, and the multiplayer mode's limited to only two players, but the whole of Baldur's Gate is still far greater than the sum of its parts.

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