I must to admit to
a shameful sense of excitement when I received my pre-order copy of BGII in the mail. Im 27 years old and flipping my lid for a
computer game. Additionally, this could be
the biggest let down of all time. The hype is
incredible with both Baldurs Gate and Planescape: Torment (two of the last three
titles from Black Isle) winning RPG of the year. But
after the opening cinematics (which look good and scary) I felt comfortable that the boys
from Bioware and Black Isle were not going to fail me.
After 70+ hours of play (in which Ive barely scratched the surface of
what BGII has to offer), I can safely say they havent yet. As BGII is based on
the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing system, character creation is no laughing matter. You are allowed to port a character from the
first Baldurs Gate, but in BGII, the character system has been expanded to include
three new classes (Monk, Barbarian, and Sorcerer), one new race (half-orc), and kits
(sub-classes for the fighter, wizard, priest, and rogue).
Creating a character took me a least a half hour and I eventually decided to
run three different games as the same time in order to get a feel for the different
classes. (Im playing with a monk,
single-class wizard, and a paladin.) As both
your sex and class affect gameplay (they didnt in Baldurs Gate), different
classes produce a markedly different experience and I foresee the replay value of BGII
being very high. Character creation
is also important because youll be spending a lot of time with that character. A LOT OF TIME. 200 to 300 hours of real time including all
quests. (And there are tons of quests. Your reputation has preceded you and everybody
wants your help.) In Baldurs Gate, most
of the quests were of the step-n-fetch-it variety: person X wants item Y; you kill monster
Z and return item. BGII has a much more
dynamic quest structure. You spy, gather
evidence, assassinate, become a slaver, free slaves, protect villages, and for every class
there are class-specific stronghold quest. Ive
played through the mage and paladin strongholds and they are fantastic, yielding great
items, difficult combat, and huge amounts of fun (and, Ill ruin it, you get
to fight
dragons). For each quest there are also
multiple outcomes depending on your playing style. Another improvement
over the original, and related to how much time youll spend in the game, is NPC
interaction. Now NPCs recognize your
sex, interact amongst each other, betray you, and have quests specific to them (some get
kidnapped and have to be rescued, some are required for the completion of different
assignments, and some are trying to get specific items).
You will want to play multiple times in order to use them all. The only complaint I have about NPCs is that
there isnt much depth in terms of party organization.
While 19 can possibly join with you, the majority of them are fighters. Specifically, there are a shortage of thieves in
BGII and, while this may have been done for narrative purposes, it makes party composition
an unsatisfying balancing act. I find myself
swapping NPCs in and out depending on the specifics of whatever Im doing. The only way to get the ultimate party is to start
a multiplayer game and create it yourself. Finally, a bit of
ink has already been spilled over BGIIs use of the infinity engine (the one which
powered Baldurs Gate, Torment, and Icewind Dale).
Some have claimed that this gives BGII a dated feel and sub par graphics. I disagree. The infinity engine, with its ¾ isometric view, seems perfectly suited to
the RPG genera. You get a good view of the
terrain (especially now as you can hide various parts of the interface and the engine
supports 800x600 resolution) and keeping the game in two dimensions makes it faster. The infinity engine has an excellent design. It isnt broken. I suggest you dont fix it. Perhaps the best
part of the first impression, the impression I want to leave you with, is that with a good
chunk of time in BGII, I feel that Ive only begun.
The things Ive missed, items not found, encounters screwed up, quests
not done, all compel me to keep going, keep playing, and play differently. When you throw down 60 bucks for a title, you like
to think your money well spent. BGII pays off
(so far) with deep and complex gameplay and an engaging story. So, if youll excuse me, Ive got some
gaming to do. |