GameCube

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance has some problems but is a terrific RPG game for the GameCube.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance hat nichts von seiner Faszination verloren. Das Gameplay ist nach wie vor unglaublich fesselnd. Auch die grafische Präsentation kann sich wirklich sehen lassen, auch wenn die Ruckler nicht nachzuvollziehen sind. Im Kooperations-Modus macht das Spiel richtig Laune. Aufgrund der miesen Umsetzung bleibt dem Spiel leider ein Hit verwehrt.

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 Baldur’s Gate franchise has become synonymous with RPG gaming and Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance takes the series and the genre to unprecedented new heights. After last year’s mega-success release on the PS2 Interplay has finally released this epic quest on the GameCube, and while it suffers from a few mysterious problems and shortcomings it remains one of the best RPG games you can currently play on the Cube.

A mediocre port of a good game is like a bad cover version of a great song. A listener who's not acquainted with the original may think it's groovy as all get-out, but if you love the original, you wince every time the remake comes on the radio. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a wonderfully entertaining game that doesn't quite -- for no viable reason but apathy or incompetence -- live up to the technical quality of the PS2 original or its Xbox incarnation.

Though I enjoyed Dark Alliance immensely, I couldn't stop thinking about all the things they could have done differently while playing the game, especially when it came to the adaptation of the 3rd Edition rules. I kept thinking how cool it would be to be able to create my own character, roll my own stats, choose my own race, my own class, my own gender and my own name. I also would have liked to be able to interact with the people in the varied locations a little more. As it is, the citizens of Baldur's Gate just provide decoration. I know this would have meant a lot more work (especially artwork) for the developers, but it could have elevated the game to something truly special. Still, I'm not here to judge the game on what it could have been but rather what it is, and what it is is still a lot of fun and just an all-around great game.

Fans of action RPGs should make every effort to play Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance--but ideally not the technically deficient GameCube version.

Dark Alliance is a great looking game with incredible controls that is held back by the essential shallowness of the gameplay and the plot. It's nice to see that developers are still interested in making games like this. If the developers had put as much thought into the complexities of gameplay and creating a compelling story, this would be easily be one of the best PlayStation 2 games so far. Instead, you get a game boasting incredible graphics, excellent controls and addictive gameplay, but also a game that falls short of greatness because of shallow game design and a lack of innovation within the genre.

It's taken a while, but Interplay has taken one of its best new original properties for the consoles, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and delivered it to GameCube. As a really good dungeon hack-and-slash with some deeper RPG elements and a great story to boot, Dark Alliance is in a class of its own on GCN. However, it comes a year late with a bafflingly destroyed framerate, courtesy of the High Voltage. If can overlook that blunder and have not played it yet on another system, we highly recommend you consider investing in what is one of GameCube's best co-operative games to date.

Si la durée de vie moyenne du jeu et l'absence d'un mode 4 joueurs peuvent être montrées du doigt, Dark Alliance n'en est pas moins un mets de choix. Malheureusement cette version Gamecube est la moins bonne des trois versions 128 bits avec des ralentissements très présents et des voix trop étouffées. Reste tout de même un très bon jeu, superbe graphiquement et prenant surtout à deux joueurs.

This game does nothing but make me wonder about how a company could rush production so much. The game has enormous potential, if only they had put a little more time into thinking it out and playing their own game. The good parts of the game are drastically outweighed by the bad and this game is barely good enough to rent. If you like games like Diablo I recommend you check this game out on a rent. Otherwise, leave your money in your pocket.