Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Welcome readers of all ages and sizes. Your friendly neighborhood video game blogger has a treat for you today. It's called Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Dark Alliance was a game that came out earlier in the decade for the Playstation 2, and was later ported onto the original Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. Dark Alliance is a hack and slash game with so much more. When you start the game, you choose from one of three classes, but no matter who you choose, the story remains the same. It starts out as you, a lone traveler, in the kingdom of Baldur's Gate. It is late into the night, and you are making your way into town, when suddenly you are mugged and beaten to near death. Everything is stolen from you, and it was only the city watch that saved you from the thieves finishing the job. They direct you to the Elfsong Tavern, where you learn of the Thieves' Guild, who are acting much more oddly than usual. Eventually, after a series of tasks, you infiltrate the Thieves' Guild, only to find that there is so much more behind the whole operation. It turns out to be an evil empress by the name of Eldrith is hell-bent on taking revenge on the Kingdom of Baldur's Gate for abandoning her at the battle for Onyx Tower. It is then up to you to make your way to Onyx Tower, and defeat Eldrith before it is too late.

The game play is based off the popular Role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, meaning you level up and gain new skills and abilities as you go on. Of the three characters you choose from, you can either be a fighter, who is adept at melee and close-combat, an archer, who focuses on taking down enemies from afar with powerful ranged combat, and a sorceress, whose arsenal of strong spells are a force to be reckoned with. Each character has their own unique fighting style, and are all strong in their own ways. The game takes on overhead point of view, making vision easy and strategy easy to think up. You progress through the game by hacking away at the enemies and traversing through the dungeons to beat the final boss, unravel the story, and make it one step further to the Onyx Tower.

The simple story leaves something to be desired, but it isn't bad. The plot goes in an episode basis, making things easier to digest. The game play is where it shines the most, though, not only because it is fun and simple, but you can also play it with your friends in co-op mode, hacking and slashing away at monsters with your buddy by your side. With that, the game becomes much more fun, since you have an ally to help you through the game, as it does get more difficult as you progress. CNET's review of Dark Alliance states "Beyond the visuals, you'll find that the gameplay of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is pretty simple but purely fun and addictive." As with that, IGN agrees with the review by David Smith, "At first glance, it's easy to say 'Oh, that's Diablo,' but it's worth noting that the console port of the first Diablo played very poorly, while Dark Alliance controls as smoothly as you please with the interface provided by the Dual Shock 2. The inventory subscreens are very straightforward, there are hot buttons for things like the important potion-quaffing commands (healing and mana rejuvenation), and magic spell selection is handled with a nice Metal Gear-style inventory overlay in one corner." Not only is the game easy, but it's incredibly fun. I've played this game, and it is good. I've played this game with a friend, and it was one of the best times I've had playing a multiplayer game in my life.