Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Once again rated the Number One Least Safe City to Live In by Medieval Life magazine.

Action games that tread into role-playing territory (a.k.a. members of the Diablo family) tend to have a lot of things in common: tons of action, lots of ways in which to develop your character, and mountains of fun when you introduce more than one player to the mix. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 was clearly cast from the same mold, though it was forged with some exotic curves and bends to make it stick out in the crowd.

The Book of Exalted Deeds
The story and setting of Dark Alliance 2 is a little more macabre, and the diverse character selection (barbarian, necromancer, cleric, rogue, and monk) is a little more offbeat -- there's no "traditional" fireball-spewing mage, and the rogue is a dwarf, for heaven's sake. The quest is absolutely enormous, especially for this style of game, with tons of lengthy missions and a few character-specific side-quests. There's also a great weapon-and-item customization feature that vastly increases the already impressive equipment possibilities.

The interface has been tweaked, too, with a handy quick-select menu for fast access to your most-used skills and feats -- and anyone who played the original will be glad to hear that platform jumping has been seriously toned down for this excursion. The presentation is top-shelf with detailed characters, weird enemies, awesomely rendered backdrops, and appropriately dramatigothic themes, clangs, and incantations.

The Sewers (Loading)
Anyone who's played this kind of game before is bound to find a few nitpicky problems: For one, the level designs are a little on the expansive and mazelike side, leading to many similar-looking, random corridors and lots of backtracking -- the longer you play, the more a "this feels familiar" sense will start to kick in (Dungeons & Dragons Heroes for the Xbox did a better job keeping things feeling fresh). The camera is still too limited, and most bosses are underwhelming. Also, it's not all that difficult to unlock your character's best feats, making the climb up the "skill tree" a little less rewarding than in some other games of the type. And, in an era where games like D&D Heroes allow four-player co-op (the upcoming Champions of Norrath allows four players online), you can"t help but notice that Dark Alliance 2 is only a bicycle built for two. But those are just a few bent coins, really, in a heaping mound of treasure.

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