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BALDUR'S GATE: DARK ALLIANCE (PS2)
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Publisher: Interplay Entertainment.
Developer: Snowblind Studios. Released: December 2001. Genre: RPG. Other versions: XBOX; GC; GBA. Posted 31st May 2012. By Alan Passingham © 2012 |
After
being mugged by bandits in the titular city of Baldur's Gate and licking your
wounds at the Elfsong Tavern (the only location ‘real’ Baldur's Gate fans will
recognise), you answer the call of a few regulars and decide to investigate
some odd goings on in the sewers beneath the city. But what starts as a simple
sweep and clear of some bloated cheese eating dick monkeys, soon becomes much
more when you learn the thieves guild are responsible for the ongoing attacks
within the city limits. Finding out exactly what they are up to reveals more
than meets the eye (in-joke snigger), as portals leading to the Sunset Mountains
and the Marshes of Chelimber unravel an insidious plot for the complete and
total destruction of Baldur's Gate based on the whim of an age-old grudge.
Forced into the position of hero of the realm, it is up to you to save The Gate
by tearing into the gnolls, kobolds, undead, lizardmen and Drow that happen to
get in the way. Not bad for someone who got their arse soundly handed to them
by a couple of muggers at the beginning of the game!
The original PC version of Baldur's Gate rocked like few other RPGs have done either before or since. Filled with enough beardy-weardy goodness to keep any AD&D freak happy for months, the dungeon sweeping and questing along the Sword Coast made for some damn fine adventuring. Alas, PC and console gamers seem to be worlds apart - the former geeky cider drinking nerds, the latter attention deficient ice-cream eating goofs - that the conversion of Black Isle's original vision was never really going to cater for the needs of the console fraternity. Hence the creation of Dark Alliance, a game that purports to realise the home computers extensive RPG roots, whilst providing a unique PS2 experience. Problem is it fails to meet either of these telling descriptions...
For followers of the PC version, the first thing about Dark Alliance is that it's nothing like Baldur's Gate. Gone is the slow pace of adventuring and investing detail into your character and other members of your party. Gone is the open-ended strategic gameplay based heavily on AD&D rules. Gone is the superb turn-based auto-pause combat and magic system. Gone, rather sadly, are Minsc and Boo! Perhaps this isn't too surprising considering Black Isle contracted Snowblind Studios to develop a version of Baldur's Gate that would work for the PS2 masses. So instead of pen and pencil styled adventuring the PS2 faithful are treated to a more traditional arcade bashing role-playing experience.
The original PC version of Baldur's Gate rocked like few other RPGs have done either before or since. Filled with enough beardy-weardy goodness to keep any AD&D freak happy for months, the dungeon sweeping and questing along the Sword Coast made for some damn fine adventuring. Alas, PC and console gamers seem to be worlds apart - the former geeky cider drinking nerds, the latter attention deficient ice-cream eating goofs - that the conversion of Black Isle's original vision was never really going to cater for the needs of the console fraternity. Hence the creation of Dark Alliance, a game that purports to realise the home computers extensive RPG roots, whilst providing a unique PS2 experience. Problem is it fails to meet either of these telling descriptions...
For followers of the PC version, the first thing about Dark Alliance is that it's nothing like Baldur's Gate. Gone is the slow pace of adventuring and investing detail into your character and other members of your party. Gone is the open-ended strategic gameplay based heavily on AD&D rules. Gone is the superb turn-based auto-pause combat and magic system. Gone, rather sadly, are Minsc and Boo! Perhaps this isn't too surprising considering Black Isle contracted Snowblind Studios to develop a version of Baldur's Gate that would work for the PS2 masses. So instead of pen and pencil styled adventuring the PS2 faithful are treated to a more traditional arcade bashing role-playing experience.
This is no bad thing in general, as Dark
Alliance treads the familiar ground of classics like Gauntlet and Diablo 2.
Following a top-down slightly 3D view of the action, your character runs about
some beautiful scenery, hacking away at wave after wave of enemies, picking up
weapons and armour dropped from corpses, collecting experience points to garner
new abilities, in an attempt to reach the current mission objective. That's
pretty much the order of the day - unheralded simplicity. Dark Alliance is linear to a fault, with the traps
and monsters of the maze like dungeons and game areas simply the obstacles
attempting to prevent you from reaching point B. Even the character selection
has been stripped of its usual RPG refinement in order to get the player into
the game and involved as quickly as possible. Choose from a Dwarf (pretty much
the 'tank' option), a human archer (if you prefer ranged attacks) and an Elven
sorceress (the magic-wielder), each with varying skills based on their chosen
profession.
Thanks to it being a fairly lightweight RPG, Dark Alliance is, therefore, instantly hookable. No extensive manual reading required here! The initial monster bashing reveals spangley new weapons and, along with a thoughtful early level up, means the player gets to grips with the game mechanics almost immediately. Added to this is a fairly intuitive control system. Most inventory functions are manipulated by a simple button press, whilst the D-pad's method of switching between weapon setups and magic abilities are easy to get to grips with.
Perhaps the most intuitive aspect is the use of the analogue controls, which are superbly utilised in conjunction with Dark Alliance's most compelling feature - the wonderful graphics. Movement around the spectacular scenery is undertaken with the left analogue, which is as smooth as a Cadbury’s Caramel. The right analogue rotates the 3D environment around the central character with equal delight, ensuring you can target enemies attacking from awkward angles without a hint of slow-down or any uncomfortable jitters. Add to this some incredible lighting and water effects (the ripples as you waltz through water sections are delightful), well detailed and animated characters and enemies (especially the big end-of-level baddies some of which are spectacular) and some beautifully realised environments (from the Drow Underdark, to snow-topped mountain peaks), and Dark Alliance comfortably brings the basic construct of Gauntlet screaming into the 21st Century.
Yet perhaps that is where the real problem of the game lies. The basic construct of Gauntlet was a simple hack and slash - great for a mid-eighties arcade machine designed to rinse kids of a few pennies, not so for a next-generation console - and for all its grand presentation Dark Alliance never really builds on that premise. Indeed, there's very little onus on tactics integrated into the monster bashing, as there are only really two methods of attack, so it's unsurprising the game quickly descends into a continuous X-button bashing farce of mediocrity. With no combo attacks to learn - a serious crime in this type of game - and an AI intelligence that makes George Osborne’s fiscal policies look like a work of genius, Dark Alliance gets a little samey far too quickly. Only the graphical style changes as you progress further into the game which is, quite bluntly, a bunch of arse.
Thanks to it being a fairly lightweight RPG, Dark Alliance is, therefore, instantly hookable. No extensive manual reading required here! The initial monster bashing reveals spangley new weapons and, along with a thoughtful early level up, means the player gets to grips with the game mechanics almost immediately. Added to this is a fairly intuitive control system. Most inventory functions are manipulated by a simple button press, whilst the D-pad's method of switching between weapon setups and magic abilities are easy to get to grips with.
Perhaps the most intuitive aspect is the use of the analogue controls, which are superbly utilised in conjunction with Dark Alliance's most compelling feature - the wonderful graphics. Movement around the spectacular scenery is undertaken with the left analogue, which is as smooth as a Cadbury’s Caramel. The right analogue rotates the 3D environment around the central character with equal delight, ensuring you can target enemies attacking from awkward angles without a hint of slow-down or any uncomfortable jitters. Add to this some incredible lighting and water effects (the ripples as you waltz through water sections are delightful), well detailed and animated characters and enemies (especially the big end-of-level baddies some of which are spectacular) and some beautifully realised environments (from the Drow Underdark, to snow-topped mountain peaks), and Dark Alliance comfortably brings the basic construct of Gauntlet screaming into the 21st Century.
Yet perhaps that is where the real problem of the game lies. The basic construct of Gauntlet was a simple hack and slash - great for a mid-eighties arcade machine designed to rinse kids of a few pennies, not so for a next-generation console - and for all its grand presentation Dark Alliance never really builds on that premise. Indeed, there's very little onus on tactics integrated into the monster bashing, as there are only really two methods of attack, so it's unsurprising the game quickly descends into a continuous X-button bashing farce of mediocrity. With no combo attacks to learn - a serious crime in this type of game - and an AI intelligence that makes George Osborne’s fiscal policies look like a work of genius, Dark Alliance gets a little samey far too quickly. Only the graphical style changes as you progress further into the game which is, quite bluntly, a bunch of arse.
Even the roleplaying aspects of Dark Alliance fail to save it from the limited gameplay on offer. The range of items dropped is fairly insignificant when contrasted with the likes of Diablo 2, meaning choice is limited to simply the most powerful weapons available, especially as too few monsters feature resistances to certain weapon types. A missed opportunity in what would otherwise have been a welcome tactical dimension to the now tedious bashing strategy. Likewise, the character development is fairly shallow, and doesn't really add much to proceedings. Sure, you'll end up being able to take more damage, but the extra magical bonuses, while looking superb graphically when deployed, are made fairly redundant as simple melee bashing is just as effective in practice.
So, there really is little in Dark Alliance that is new or unique. It replicates largely from the likes of Diablo 2 to make the RPG heavy elements of the PC version game more palatable to console monkeys, but ends up simplifying everything a little too much. Lack of depth makes it all a bit too samey that even with the offer of re-trying the game on a harder setting with the legendary Drizzt Do'Urden fails to impress. And to top it all off, Dark Alliance is just far too easy to get through. A day’s full play and you'll have it beaten. Award yourself a medal for having staved off the tedium successfully throughout. A shame, as the graphical style and control system deserve better. As a Gauntlet-inspired graphical extravaganza, it may garner some fun and enjoyment in the short term. But for any fans of Baldur's Gate or Diablo 2 expecting a similar console experience, this is one purely for the button-bashing ice cream addicted goofs that lap such sh!t up! Extremely disappointing.
So, there really is little in Dark Alliance that is new or unique. It replicates largely from the likes of Diablo 2 to make the RPG heavy elements of the PC version game more palatable to console monkeys, but ends up simplifying everything a little too much. Lack of depth makes it all a bit too samey that even with the offer of re-trying the game on a harder setting with the legendary Drizzt Do'Urden fails to impress. And to top it all off, Dark Alliance is just far too easy to get through. A day’s full play and you'll have it beaten. Award yourself a medal for having staved off the tedium successfully throughout. A shame, as the graphical style and control system deserve better. As a Gauntlet-inspired graphical extravaganza, it may garner some fun and enjoyment in the short term. But for any fans of Baldur's Gate or Diablo 2 expecting a similar console experience, this is one purely for the button-bashing ice cream addicted goofs that lap such sh!t up! Extremely disappointing.
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VERDICT
Visual: 9/10
Audio: 7/10 Gameplay: 4/10 Longevity: 4/10 OVERALL: 4/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: BALDUR'S GATE: DARK ALLIANCE (PS2)
The PS2 iteration of Baldur’s Gate is best described as Golden Axe crossed with a watered-down Diablo. Sword ‘n’ sorcery button-bashing meets item scavenging and levelling-up, set around a central hub, in this case (at least in the early stages) a tavern. There’s an inviting story and a raft of nice touches within, though DA’s potential is curtailed by its own simplicity, linearity and lack of longevity. Still, for a game of its age, it’s exceptionally pretty. Whilst not as appreciable in the field of play, cut-scenes present characters with lovely, detailed animations as well as strong lip-syncing and facial expressions. Attention-to-detail is also a strong suit; all armours and weapons feature their own look in the field, whilst removing equipment humorously leaves your character in their underwear. But it’s hard to escape the feeling that it’s little more than a pretty button-basher underneath the finery. Problems are magnified during the second half of the game as secondary missions are no longer as prominent and there are fewer people to interact with, removing the semi-successful illusion of freedom and role-playing that helped during the opening hours of play. Accessible from the get-go and offering good, clean fun, Dark Alliance sadly runs out of steam before the end, as the novelty of the simplistic fighting soon turns to repetition. It’s well-crafted and not without charm, but series fans should stick with the computer versions. [6] – Tom Clare © 2012
The PS2 iteration of Baldur’s Gate is best described as Golden Axe crossed with a watered-down Diablo. Sword ‘n’ sorcery button-bashing meets item scavenging and levelling-up, set around a central hub, in this case (at least in the early stages) a tavern. There’s an inviting story and a raft of nice touches within, though DA’s potential is curtailed by its own simplicity, linearity and lack of longevity. Still, for a game of its age, it’s exceptionally pretty. Whilst not as appreciable in the field of play, cut-scenes present characters with lovely, detailed animations as well as strong lip-syncing and facial expressions. Attention-to-detail is also a strong suit; all armours and weapons feature their own look in the field, whilst removing equipment humorously leaves your character in their underwear. But it’s hard to escape the feeling that it’s little more than a pretty button-basher underneath the finery. Problems are magnified during the second half of the game as secondary missions are no longer as prominent and there are fewer people to interact with, removing the semi-successful illusion of freedom and role-playing that helped during the opening hours of play. Accessible from the get-go and offering good, clean fun, Dark Alliance sadly runs out of steam before the end, as the novelty of the simplistic fighting soon turns to repetition. It’s well-crafted and not without charm, but series fans should stick with the computer versions. [6] – Tom Clare © 2012