Run the Gauntlet... (Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance (PS2))

Member Name: clownfoot

Product:	Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance (PS2)
Date:	16/10/08 (570 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic graphics and simplicity makes the game immediately engaging...

Disadvantages: ...but it remains too simple. A lack of depth soon leads to tedium and a dull gaming experience!

BALDUR'S GATE: DARK ALLIANCE (PS2)

After being mugged by bandits in the titular city of Baldur's Gate and licking your wounds at the Elfsong Tavern (the only location 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 rats, 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 (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 seeing to 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 a monkey! Filled with enough beardy-weardy goodness to keep any AD&D fanatic happy for months (or even years), the dungeon sweeping, questing and adventuring along the Sword Coast made for some pretty fine roleplaying. In fact, as far as single player roleplaying games go the experience of Baldur's Gate and it's sequel are right up there with the finest examples of the genre in its purest form (along with Planescape Torment and Fallout). 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 also providing a unique Playstation 2 experience. Problem is it fails to meet either of these telling descriptions...

For followers of the PC version, the first thing you notice about Dark Alliance is that it's nothing like the Baldur's Gate you know so well. 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 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 roleplaying experience.

This is no bad thing in general, as Dark Alliance treads the familiar ground of classics like Gauntlet and, more recently, Diablo 2. Following a top-down slightly 3-D view of the action, your character runs about some beautifully developed backdrops, hacking away at wave after wave of enemies, picking up weapons and armour dropped from corpses (which you can use or sell at the local shop), and collecting experience points to strengthen your character with new abilities, in an attempt to reach the current mission goal. 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 skill qualities based on there chosen profession. Simple!

Dark Alliance is therefore pretty hookable from the outset, thanks to it being a fairly lightweight RPG. No extensive manual reading is required here! Monster bashing relatively early and picking up spangley new weapons, along with a thoughtful level up early on for your character means the player gets to grips with the game mechanics almost immediately. Added to this is a fairly intuitive control system. Sure all of the PS2 controller buttons are used, but to a logical extent that it avoids complication. Key to this is that plenty of your characters inventory functions are manipulated by a simple button press, meaning you don't have to keep dipping in and out of your inventory during combat in order to heal or top up your magic power with a potion in your backpack. A simple tap of a shoulder button and - zing! - you're all better again. Most excellent! Likewise the D-pad's use to switch between weapon setups and magic abilities is easy to get to grips with, and when you do have to venture into the inventory or the character stats pages, its designed well to provide a minimum of fuss (despite the character portraits being somewhat dull).

Perhaps the most intuitive aspect of the control 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 anything else you're likely to see on a PS2. The right analogue rotates the 3-D 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 quality stuff), 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-toped mountains), and Dark Alliance comfortably brings the basic construct of Gauntlet screaming into the 21st Century.

And 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, not so for a next-generation console - and for all its qualities Dark Alliance never really builds on that premise. Indeed, there's very little onus on tactics when monster bashing, as there are only really two methods of attack (magic/ranged or melee), and it's unsurprising that the game quickly descends into a continuous X-button bashing farce of mediocrity. With no combo attacks to learn included - a serious crime in this type of game - and an AI intelligence that's limited at best, Dark Alliance gets a little samey far too quickly with only the graphical style seemingly changing as you progress further into the game.

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 that choice is limited to simply the most powerful weapons available, especially as too few monsters feature resistances to certain weapon types, which would have added a welcome tactical dimension to your 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 carry more stuff and take more damage, but the extra magical bonuses, while looking superb graphically when deployed, do little to the gameplay and are made fairly redundant as simple melee bashing is often just as effective practice.

There really is little in Dark Alliance that is new or unique. It replicates heavily from the likes of Diablo 2 (including poison breathing monsters that turn the character green and exploding barrels you can smash open), in order to move away from the RPG heavy elements of the PC version of Baldur's Gate, but ends up simplifying everything a little too much. This lack of depth makes the gameplay all 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 days full play and you'll likely have it beaten, for which you should award yourself a medal for staving off the tedium throughout!

A shame really, as the thought that has gone into the graphical style and the control system really deserves better enticing gameplay, rather than the shallow bash-fest on offer. As a Gauntlet inspired graphical extravaganza, it may garner some fun and enjoyment, at least in the short term. But for any fans (geeks) of Baldur's Gate or Diablo 2, expecting a similar console experience, this is one purely for the ice cream addicted goofs!


Overall - If you like a simple button bashing hack and slash with some stunning graphics and linear gameplay this might be right up your street! But it's a far cry from the RPG elements that made Baldur's Gate a modern classic on the PC, and offers little unique except for a new level of mediocrity.

Summary: Baldur's Gate, via Diablo 2 and Gauntlet!