15.5.2012

Baldur's Gate is one of the best roleplaying games out there. The storytelling is done terrifically and there's plenty of plot twists and well written dialogue to keep you intrigued with the plot and wanting to learn more. The prologue to the game ends rather intensely and leaves you in a huge open dangerous world without any quest markers or guide holding your hand. From here you're on your own to solve the plot and gain answers. Chapter 1 starts rather slow but once you progress to the end of chapter 1 the plot starts unfolding even more and becomes even more interesting in the following chapters as you travel the sword coast trying to unravel a conspiracy and learn who's behind all the troubles that the sword coast is experiencing.The answers you receive are rather unexpected and increase the story on a huge scale.I won't go into much story details but I think the storytelling, the writing and the characters within the plot are one of Bioware's best and Baldur's Gate's story certainly stands out. Even your character's alignment and choices somewhat impact the plot and playing through the game multiple times is encouraged as you'll encounter different things as a different alignment along with a different party. Speaking of your party (companions), evil characters will leave a character that becomes too popular (liked among people) and good characters will leave a character who is disliked for evil actions and some characters (Minsc being an example) will actually attack you should your reputation become too low. Baldur's Gate is big on choices with consequences and even selecting a certain dialogue option can end up leading to a consequence. This game doesn't hold your hand and that's what I love about it.The world is pretty much open (although divided into multiple areas) and you can freely explore it in a non-linear pace. There's lots to do in each area. Every area I've been to has its own enemies, quests, treasure and secrets just waiting to be discovered. In one area to the foremost east there are some basilisks (creatures that can turn you to stone and thus kill you in one hit) which are being led by some mad dwarf who delights in turning adventurers into stone statues. Killing him and his creatures was hard-work (especially since I needed expensive potions required to resist turning to stone) but I got it done and the rewards were worth-while. In the same region I later come across some adventurers who started mocking me and my companions dress sense and they then dared to say that we weren't even true adventurers! I challenged them to a duel for their insults and obliterated them. They should have known better to have messed with the hero who had just wiped out the entire basilisk population in that same very region.Which brings me to another note. Baldur's Gate allows for immerse role playing. You can role play a heroic knight who happens to be rude and rather ruthless and yet a hero at heart. You can even knock people unconscious with your firsts if you feel that they've insulted you and you won't suffer reputation lost. The game literally allows you to roleplay a knight who believes in honor and who will do what is right but at the same time won't hesitate to defend his honor in a duel. There are often plenty of dialogue options for characters of any alignment and personality to choose from. Some quests even allow you to decline a reward and in another quest you could even help a farmer out by giving him some gold. The later quest became available after completing a previous quest given to you by the farmer. The farmer asks you to search a nearby cave for his son. The problem? The son is dead and when you give the body to the father he enters depressions because his son whom he loved is dead, he now has no help on the farm and he's penniless. Now you could just walk away because you've completed the quest but you can also do what I did and offer the farmer gold. The game also allows you to be as evil as a fiend as you can demand more money for completing a quest at times, you can break into people's houses and demand that they hand everything over to you and you can even kill children. Whatever character you can imagine you can create within this series.Yes, Baldur's Gate even has some well written side quests and sub-plots. The encounter with basilisks that I mentioned earlier on? That wasn't even a side quest. It was just an encounter in the world and yet it had an entire plot to it. Elsewhere to the south I encounter some kid who says he's lost his dog. Turns out the dog is a hellhound and the kid is actually a demon. I manage to slay the fiend before he escapes back into his hellish dimension. Then in another place we had some shadow druid who had poisoned a druid's mind so that he would go crazy and kill his group. The shadow druid succeeded in his plan and the druids were all killed. After questioning the shadow druid (who only revealed himself as such later on) I came to the conclusion that something wasn't right and that's when he admitted to his evil deeds and tried to attack me and my group. We put a short end to him and his miserable life.Companions in Baldur's Gate aren't as meaty as companions in later Bioware games. For example they don't have much to say and you can't initiate conversations with them. Even so they are somewhat interesting and every companion has their own biography and morals and even their own connection with other companions (Jaheria and Khalid are married). Some companions might even clash with one another at some time later in the plot and others might betray you should you go against their ideals. Minsc is definitely one of the best characters I've encountered in a game. There's nothing to hate about him. He has a hamster called Boo who he believes to be a giant space hamster and Minsc's frequent comments to Boo add to his character as he actually believes that Boo talks back to him. Minsc might be rather simple minded but he's on the side of good as well and despises evil with all his heart. His berserker nature, fearlessness, sense of justice and massive strength meant that he became my right hand man and took control of the party if my main character ever split from it.Combat in Baldur's Gate is strategic and tactical. Rushing into battle and into areas will likely result in a quick death. Enhancing your character's statistics with spells and potions before battle is a must especially in the face of potent foes and then attacking the right opponents in battle and using the right abilities at the right is also essential to winning battles. At times Baldur's Gate presents massive challenges and there's been several boss fights where I've had to retry but winning these battles is rewarding especially when you see that your tactics actually pays off when you wipe the floor clean with your enemies. Due to how punishing and hardcore Baldur's Gate can be at times, I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone who enjoys Amalur and Skyrim which are casual RPG's which hold the player's hand in and out of combat. Baldur's Gate doesn't have any quest markers and combat is about statistics, tactics and strategy. Companions can also permanently die if they explode (often caused by a critical hit being the killing blow) which means you can't resurrect them because there's no body to bring back to life. Baldur's Gate is all about patience and thinking. Quests are solved through reading what a NPC says and battles are won through quick thinking.On to Baldur's Gate 2 and it's Baldur's Gate 1 but enhanced. Companions now have more to say and you will have conversations with them. The level cap is higher which means that you gain access to more spells/abilities and better armor and weapons (thus your character operates in combat faster and deadlier) and the graphics are enhanced. The storytelling in Baldur's Gate 2 is just as amazing as what you'll encounter in the first game and the quests are handled the same way.Graphically this game is amazing. It's years old and yet the hand painted environments present everything as a work of art. Magic effects look old but everything else (from houses, to roads, to trees) look great. Basically everything is smooth and easy on the eyes.If you're big into traditional RPG's then buy this package. The package is currently £7 and that's an amazing bargain considering the two games and their expansions are bound to provide you well over 200 hours of content. The series of Baldur's Gate shouldn't be missed by anyone who loves traditional type RPG's.10/10Concerning the Baldur's Gate 1 expansion. The disc doesn't seem to work over here in the UK but you should be able to find the UK patch on the web. Download and install the patch and the expansion should work just fine.P.SI don't view comments. So questions shall not be answered by me.

16.2.2010

I have played these to death and every few years pick them up again and have another go. I would recommend you google, download and install some user modifications to play these games:"bgtutu" allows you to play the original and expansion using the second ones game engine."bg1 unfinished business for tutu" and "unfinished business" adds content that was cut from the finished versions of both games. So without changing the feel of the games they are fleshed out a little."bg widescreen mod" allows the user to change the resolution to modern display resolutions.You control a hero of the soldier/mage/ranger/healer variety using a point and click interface with an isometric view and 2D artwork.When you click on an enemy your character will auto swipe at them until they are no more. You can intervene with a pause button and a selection of special commands. During you journey you can seek the aid of upto 5 companions at a time. The world consists of a large number of countryside maps that reveal their neighbours when you reach the edges. You are free to wonderThe originals map design is expertly made:You start in a single area that will not open up to anywhere else until the plot is advanced.The spine of the map contains a main quest and story.The outer areas of the map are free to be explored or ignored at your leisure.Special new areas are revealed in line with an advancement in plot.To me this is the perfect map design. The first area gives you a chance to get to grips with thte game. The spine gives you a tight script, direction and a world that you can affect. The outer fringes give you a sense of freedom and openness and a sense that the world carries on regardless of you. The introduced areas give you a sense of advancement and reduce the overwhelming size of the world to begin with.The original gives you all the wonder of a fantasy book. You start of in a safe and stuffy environment with an urge for adventure. Disaster strikes you a left alone, confused and vulnerable. You have freedom but not daring to leave the path, you head for the one place you know that may provide safety. Companions join you which brings some relief with the conflicting feeling that you can't trust them. You eventually find companions you can trust and together you grow strong whilst chipping away at the strength of a slowly revealed enemy. At the same time you learn to rely on your companions and get involved in revealing banter....and you get the idea.The original has fantastic game mechanics.In a classic party of six. The mage is unbelievably weak. One good shot from a bow and the mage could be in a critical condition. However if the mage pulls off a fireball uninterrupted they can cause devastation to a group of enemies. A warrior can hold off a group of enemies for the mage but their health will degrade and they require the aid of a cleric to keep them in battle. The warrior is also of low intelligence and susceptible to spells and traps. The cleric can buff the warrior and remove curses but a better option is to seek the support of a good rogue who can sneak and back stab a mage and seek and remove any traps. Do you want a beast of a barbarian who can cut foes in two with their huge sword or a virtuous paladin who improves the perception of your party to strangers? It is the weaknesses as well as the strengths that make a good party based game as it requires co operation between members. It is the options available that make the party yours. You cannot just pick and choose who you want either. Most characters have past relationships that come first or grievances. The party becomes less ideal as you take the characters into account and that brings it all the more to life.For the large part you use standard equipment and magical weapons and such are rare. I don't want to find my millionth magical weapon in a fantasy game. I want my treasure to be treasured! Nor to I want several levels of sword.The enemies are of a predictable difficulty to you along the main plot driven routes with a few nasty surprises to add to the sense of danger. Travel into the wilderness though and who knows what you will face. These areas become less of a worry to the experienced traveller but to become an experienced traveller you must venture into these areas. This type of world gives meaning to a levelling system.**WHY ARE THERE NOT MORE GAMES LIKE THIS**The second game is a continuation of the first. It is widely considered better than the original although not by me. In the second game you become truly powerful and truly special. You face a new threat and the story from the first is expanded and concluded. The graphics and mechanics are improved upon and the relationships with your fellow travellers are larger and more complex. There is allot less random exploring now as you are a hardened adventurer with a mission. Enemy levelling is introduced to the game so that you still have a sense of freedom in choosing where to go amongst a number of areas that follow a plot path. The large benefit of the changes is that the game is more plot orientated and driven throughout. More opportunity is given to tell the story. I can never enjoy enemy levelling existing in games though. I can see it and it brings me out of immersion. I don't like it when a game changes to suit me be it item or enemy levels. If a world exists it should exist as it is whether I am level 4 or 8. Still this aspect is allot less apparent than some other games.If you play one series in the world of orcs and goblins and magic and swords, make it this one.

16.5.2008

In my opinion these games, along with the other Black Isle / Bioware Infinity Engine creations (Planescape : Torment and Icewind Dales 1 & 2), define what computer role-playing games ought to be. One of the main reasons for this is that they are based on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. These rules, conceived by Gary Gygax (who recently died), were painstakingly worked out and have been tweaked by fans of pen & paper RPGs over many years. They work systematically and as near to perfectly as possible, though you don't need to understand them to play the game. No other system of rules has ever worked as well. But there are many reasons why these RPGs outclass all others in almost every way.The games are set in the Forgotten Realms universe,which, like D&D rules, were already in existence before these games appeared. If you've ever read Tolkien and been amazed to realize that everything in his stories already has its own history, its own language etc., then be prepared to experience something very similar when venturing into the world in which the Baldur's Gate saga unfolds. The Forgotten Realms universe has its own gods, its own races (and racial conflicts), its own politics, its own heroes, monsters and legends. There are many books strewn throughout locations in the game (in buildings, in dungeons etc.) which you can read at your leisure - or simply ignore (depending on how much you want to savour the game). The detail and depth of the Forgotten Realms universe is a marvel by itself.Another great thing about these games is that, although at the outset you create your own character , you very soon control a party of six. So in your party you might for instance have a warrior, a paladin, two mages, a thief and a cleric. One of them is "you" and the other five you must first find and then hire (ask to join your party). You can alter your party (hire and fire NPCs) - but you must try to remember where you left everyone ! There are some memorable NPCs in both games and some of the banter between them is VERY funny. Six party members also makes for infintely absorbing tactical combat - and this is yet another great strength of the game. Some of the battles are epic in scale and very challenging - though you can change the difficulty level - and very satisfying to win. Put simply, I've never experienced more satifying tactical combat - even in a strategy game.The quality of both the dialogue and the writing throughout the game is second to none. In these terms the Baldur's Gate games represent the polar opposite of Oblivion and Morrowind. There is so much soul and personality in these games. You will experience everything from religious awe to sheer farce. There is a lot of humour in the game but just as much (if not more) drama and darkness. Not to mention love - and undying hatred ! They're just computer games and yet they live .... It would be impossible to praise the writers responsible for the dialogue highly enough. You will remember many characters from this game. They are as memorable, in my opinion, as those in The Lord of the Rings itself.The musical score (in both games) is the perfect match for the atmosphere. Some of the battle music is truly stirring stuff. But there are also many delicate tunes - basically, the music always fits the scene, and is of the highest quality throughout. The hand-drawn art is beautiful and full of colour. So much detail has been put into every character and location. For those who are worried about playing a game with lower resolution graphics, there is a program called Baldur's Gate Tutu which allows you to play BG1 using the BG2 engine.I still don't feel as though I've done this game justice. This compilation is ridiculously good value : if Fallout 3 is worth £30 then this must be worth £3,000 ! But I might advise a newcomer to try to find the original, boxed versions of these games and their expansions, complete with their first-class manuals. There are "online" (pdf format) manuals included in this compilation but there's nothing like owning the beautifully written originals. These games are in my opinion (and with a deep bow in the direction of Deus Ex and Planescape : Torment) the BEST games ever written, and any gamer who never plays them will have missed out.

20.9.2012

To begin this is a wonderful set of games that everyone should play. However this particular version has some "difficulties" because Atari just sorta shoved it on the disks. In particular this breaks the Bgmain.exe so that it doesn't work because they didn't properly set up the .ini file and it looks for a folder for disk 6, which no longer exists. This keeps you from installing the major mods that merge BG 1+2 into one continuous game, exceedingly popular mods these are very nice to have. And so with out further diversion, I will explain how to fix them. It took me 4 hours and a merger of no less than 6 separate fixes found online to make it work,so I figured I'd save you all the trouble.How to merge Baldur's Gate 4in1 pack on Windows 7 64 Bit, even though everything is terribly broken in the 4in1 pack: (In order to make this work, I had to merge the information of no less than 6 separate fixes....)NOTE: Make sure all installs are custom and set to maximum or full.1. Install BG1 (Make a new folder on the C drive, NOT in program files or program files x86)2. Install TOSC3. Install BG2 (Make a new folder on the C drive separate from the one for BG1, NOT in program files or program files x86)4. Install TOB5. REMOVE ALL DISKS6. Install patches:BGTalesUS5512BGII-ThroneofBhaal_Patch_26498_ENGLISHBGII-ThroneofBhaal_Patch_26499_BETA7. Set BGMain.exe in BG II main folder to run as administrator8. Extract Ascension64-BGT-WeiDU-1.15, copy all of these files into the primary BG II folder. (AKA Baldur's Gate Triology)9. Perform this: (Left intact to credit the source, thank you Sato, whoever you are, your info fixed what the 4in1 pack truly broke.)*******************************************************************Reply #16Original-Sato** Member No.300,113* Karma+2September 16, 2011 6:46:51 AM from GameStop PC Downloads Community Forumshere we go:-Open the folder where the game is installed.1. open the folder "Data" and create 2 folders : "Data" and "Movies"2. go back to the root-folder of the game-- move all files from the folder "...CD2\Data\" to the newly created "...\Baldurs Gate\Data\Data\"-- move all files from the folder "...CD2\Movies\" to the newly created "...\Baldurs Gate\Data\Movies\"3. repeat the procedure with the content of CD3,CD4 and CD5(dont create other folders for these CDs..all must be copied in the same folders as in step 2)4. delete the folders: CD2->CD5 from the root game-folder. If a window opens up asking to replace a similar file, just ignore it.(some files have duplicates in all original CD folders.)-last step:1. open the "baldur.ini" file located inside the root game-folder (its the configuration file)- under the section [Alias] make these changes.It should look like this:(replace the highlighted with your installation path and save the file)[Alias]HD0:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\ (Neo: This is the location of the main folder)CD1:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\ (Neo: These are wherever your new data file is)CD2:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\CD3:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\CD4:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\CD5:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\CD6:=D:\32bit (x86)\Baldur's Gate II\data\YES, for some reason a 6th CD is needed------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------HAVE FUN WITH THE GAME---- Awake and Aware**********************************************************************************10. Run setup-bgt.exe in the BG II folder, this should be self explanatory11. Once it is done close it all out and then put the BG II TOB Disk in the drive12. Run the game from the now working BGMain.exe in the BG II main folder

27.7.2008

First off, any person who has played a bunch of computer games will tell you this: The amount of fun you have in a game, after say the first day of playing it, is totally irrelevant to the game's graphics. The BG collection is a good example.I too think it is better than the Neverwinter series, for one main reason:BG and especially BGII are extremely open and non-linear. Yes, of course the game has limits, but there are so many optional areas, quests, characters, and items, and more importantly, so many decisions you have to make in each play-through that open some doors and close others, that you can play this game probably ten times in a row and still discover fun new things.Even concepts which seem like game-universe "laws" can be surpassed once you gain enough skill as a player.I'm not talking about cheating. For example, you might think the Cowled Wizards are impossible to resist when they arrest you, right? Nope, not for a creative tactician. Or, you might think that it's impossible to beat the game using just three, two, or even one single character. But it's actually very possible--just more intellectually challenging and rewarding. Most do that with a fighter/mage or fighter/thief, though, to get the maximum number of abilities. But you couldn't do it with a single, lonely armor-less kensai fighter, right? Think again...The great thing about these "implied" challenges, in addition to every other normal challenge in the game, is that even though they are ridiculously difficult, you still don't need a cheat sheet to do them, because since the game contains hundreds of items, spells, and abilities, (access to all of which have a sort of "open this door and shut that one" style) there are still a million different ways to complete even the most difficult challenges.This is why the Baldur's Gate games are huge fun the first time, for the above-average (not great) story, and even more the second and third, to explore all the variations and possibilities within that story.Finally, a note for new players:===============================The only complaint I would have is that in order to play a Fighter character, you can't just choose one weapon specialization and go with it--you have to have advance knowledge of what weapons exist in order not to be stuck with crappy weapons during critical endgame duels.If you are about to buy this game, let me tell you a few things that will save the need for the cheapening feeling of using a game guide or deciding to reboot your character halfway through:-The one and only great 2-handed sword can only be used by Thieves and Paladins, though it comes early in the game. It is by far the best weapon in the game-There is a good mix of low-to-mid level longswords, but few great ones-There is only one good bastard sword and it comes late in the game-There is only one good battle axe, and it is great, but it comes late in the game-There are a good mix of low-to-high level Halberd weapons-More attacks per round *usually* nets you more total damage than a higher damage per hit weapon, because all the different weapon types do not have a wide spread of damage ranges. I.E, most of the damage you do at a high level does not come from your weapon.-Some liches can only be hit by +4 or higher weapons.-NEVER be a sorcerer for your first playthrough...you will inevitably choose spells that sound good on paper but fall flat in practice...be a wizard instead, you will get more (real-life) experience that way.That's it--all the rest you can figure out yourself, with a little patience and experimentation. Happy adventuring!

8.6.2010

Hello.God these games are a true classic!Recently my Baldurs Gate fever caught fire as I'm doing a lap of the classic RPG D&D Games to inspire my own Dungeons and Dragons table-top game over the summer. I recent purchased the 4-in-1 boxset of Baldurs Gate and like some of the people here, got unlucky and recived a US version of Tales of the Sword Coast and Baldurs Gate 2 in my 4 in 1 box. This gives you a warning message when you try play them along the lines of; 'Warning Message: Wrong Region this Game only works in US or Canada"Now then:First off - If you really want to complain. Atari now handles distribution of the games, not Bioware the original developers.You therefore need to contact Atari through their website or via phone for your region if you want to shout at them.Second - So far i've had no trouble running the Game on Windows 7 64 bit edition. Man the resolution being in 640x400 makes the world look huge bit ill get onto that in a second! As an extra note: I don't even run compatability modes either the games just seems to 'work'. I guess problems with Windows 7 are due to the 32 bit versions.Third - If you get a US version of Tales of the Sword Coast / BG 2 you don't need to panic. They have already admitted on their website that Atari had a distribution error with regards to versions being sent out in the 4-in-1 boxset. If you don't want to go through the refund process, I recommend that you go to Bio-ware's website. Under support for Baldur's Gate, you can find the UK Patch for Tales of the Sword Coast and BG 2. If you download and install these 'UK' patches this should make your version of the game work without twiddling with Region settings or have you pulling your hair out in frustration.Fourth - A mod called BGTuTu is out which runs Baldur's Gate 1 using the Baldur's Gate 2 Infinity Engine (A more advanced version of the original game engine). It's still in development but if you install this mod, it gives far more gameplay and game mechanics options options, as well as better high resolution support for better graphics for Baldurs Gate 1. I high recommend it as it is almost like playing two different games (one with 'classic look' the other with tutu). I highly recommend you try get it working, though you cannot beat the 'classic' feel and nature to the 640x480 default res!Fifth - If you want to crank the res up even higher. There are several 'Widescreen' mods and hi-def applications that work. I can't post the websites but a quick search for them should turn them up. These allow you to turn up your graphics appropriately if you use a unique monitor aspect (eg. 1650 x 1024).Finally - If you never played these games. You missed out on some of the greatest RPG games of all time. These got me into D&D and inspired so many and much from Neverwinter Nights to MMO's like World of Warcraft. Even now Bio-Ware have spiritual successors and hommage to BG in the form of Dragon Age Origin's (The official 'Spiritual Successor' to the Genre), Mass Effect (You can get a space hamster in ME2) and even the KOTOR series. Which were all developed by some of the people who made all these games as great as they are.For such a low price and a little bit of tweaking (took me about 20 minutes to get up and running smoothly) I can honestly say this boxset is the best value for money I've had in a long long time; theres still a strong community and even now when I mention my purchase to people I work with, theres always that 'Ahhh man, that game is classic!' moment.

13.6.2012

More than a decade on ... and this game still hasn't been surpassed.Where to start ? The start. DON'T skip the titles. The opening sequence is lavish, atmospheric, and actually very important in terms of the game was a whole.The game engine IS Dungeons and Dragons. If you've played pen and paper D&D it's a breeze to pick up. Most other RPGs now use similar types of engine. The opening of the game gives you the opportunity to learn the basics in relative safety.The look of the game - for me the top down isometric 3D is gorgeous and far better than the identikit first person views that are currently in vogue.Also it means that you can SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING rather than what is happening in the 30 degree arc your character is facing.And once out of the gates of home - a massive degree of freedom. Yes there is a main plot to follow - and a wonderful and dark plot it is too - but there is a huge world wherein you can travel at will. And some parts of which where you will be killed very quickly indeed. There is however both a quicksave and an autosave that works every time you change location so you rarely lose too much progress.Game balance is near perfect. Pick a fighter class to start and no battle is too difficult - although some of the nastier ones may take a few tries. And one battle in the Tales of the Sword Coast is intimidatingly hard - but it's a side quest and the game can be completed without it.There are huge numbers of NPCs by no means all of whom will try to kill you. Many battles actually feature some dialogue prior to the fight - which occasionally can avert the fight.There are so many hidden and secret areas that on your first run through the game there may be 25% or more left to find.You can choose your main character and choose the remaining five members of your party from about a dozen choices.Particularly in "Shadows of Amn" your team members banter, bicker, and flirt both with themselves and, subject to your choices, you. There's more than enough dialogue with a real impact on the game to make it a TRUE ROLE PLAYING game. And there's some real character writing here - some of the dialogue is wonderful.The creatures are true Dungeons and Dragons beasts and wonderfully animated. In "Baldur's Gate" there is a HUGE city for you to explore - both above and below ground. The main plot is gripping, your enemies powerful and ruthless. And as your characters develop the game gives you a large number of strategic possibilities to meet your goals.But the best element of the game ? Fantastic "bitzwen". Don't know what "bitzwen" is ? It's the moment that you come out of the cinema with your friends, turn to them and say "I liked the BIT WHEN...". There are a large number of brilliant moments in the game - some of which when you first encounter them will kill you. This game was a labour of love - the designers clearly grasped the psychology of the players at the vital moments of the game.Imagine the most epic fantasy ever and yourself at the centre of it. Other games promise it - Baldur's Gate delivers.S.x.PS. If you're having loading problems or want mods there's still an active fan community producing patches and mods.

18.4.2010

What with better graphics, much better engines and far more intelligent A.I. it was pretty much inevitable that these games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape, etc) would become eclipsed by their descendents. There's only SO good you can make certain elements of a game though, and Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 are definitely the pinnacle of great writing (although, to be honest, I have spotted several typos throughout the game - perhaps it's to be expected with the literally tens of thousands of lines of dialogue written for these games), great ambience which really immerses you in the storyline and a fantastic music score (especially in Baldur's Gate 2).I bought this compilation pack recently having NEVER played a Baldur's Gate game before.I love RPGs, but I had never played one made before Oblivion, nor had I any experience with Dungeons and Dragons. Having said that however, the game was so damn immersive that I forgot I was playing a game over 10 years old (about 90 "game industry years" old). I can honestly see why Baldur's Gate/2 are regarded as two of the greatest games ever made, as they're two games that have really stood the test of time.However, no game is without its problems, and for a list of potential buyers, here are a couple that you may need to take note of:*You will ->>DEFINITELY<<- need to install some patches for these games, otherwise you may be subject to a large amount of glitches, script errors, NPCs constantly appearing "busy" and a host of other problems. This is somewhat remedied by the fact that it takes literally a couple of minutes and the patches are freely available on the official Bioware website.*I had a real headache getting Tales of the Sword Coast (The BG1 expansion pack) to work alongside BG1 vanilla. Eventually I got it sorted out, but phew, I recommend playing through BG1 vanilla first before installing the expansion pack and NOT installing it halfway through playing Baldur's Gate 1 like I did; it completely messed up my save files. Strongly recommend backing up your save files before attempting to install it, and if you do decide to install it, don't let the "insert disc 6" scare you, that's just the people who made these games not checking them properly before they put them out for retail >_>*In Baldur's Gate 1, you can't pause when you go to the inventory screen. Ever. This may sound like a minor complaint but it really grated on me throughout the game, to the point where I always had to check whether or not I had enough arrows in my quiver, or enough health potions equipped before every battle. Luckily they took this annoying feature out of Baldur's Gate 2, so I guess I'm not the only one it really pissed off.At the end of the day, this game is not without its minor flaws, but its definitely one of the better games of a past gaming era. Easily gets a 9.5/10+ in my book, and I'm sure any RPG fan would absolutely love these masterpieces. Also note that you don't need to have an understanding of D&D to play as the games hide a lot of the complex rules with scripting - although take note that in the case of "Armor Class", lower = better :)

29.4.2009

I won't cover old ground here, just back up what previous reviewers have said, about the games being simply magnificent. What I will mention though, are a few observations not noted elsewhere:When I first played BG1, it was on a 486 PC - yes, that's how old these are ! It's 2D isometric, well before `3D' ! .....And yet... the level of detail achieved from the 2D environment is beautiful to behold. Particularly with BG1, the developers achieved a level of detail in the world they created, that I really don't think has been equalled in any RPG since. Pick up a scroll - it looks like a scroll - it's faded & yellowing - charts are bound with tattered bits of old string,and look like they've been carried around in someone's pocket for years. Pick up a unique weapon - it looks like a unique weapon - it looks like an artefact that men have won & lost battles to acquire. In these games, unique items are unique - you don'accumulate 20 `slightly' different versions, wasting your time trying to evaluate ones potential against another. It's this attention to detail that sucks you in.The inventory system makes sense - you have a 2 line grid, based on weight - if you overburden yourself, you literally cannot move. This system differs from nearly every other RPG inventory system that came after it, which were/are based on what shape the equipment is (?????), and how you can manoeuvre it around a large grid, in a time-wasting mini-game of Tetris !Spellcasting - you don't have Manna ! Fantastic !! When you rest, your spells are regenerated - no more collecting endless bottles of blue stuff to clag up your inventory.Gameplay - I was really surprised by the reviewer that didn't like the character control, but I guess we all have those games (like movies) that we just can't get into (I hated Crysis). This may be an instance of the control being too easy - it's not turn based - there are no complicated combat `radial wheels' to navigate etc, you simply pause at any time during the fight, and redirect your characters actions, weapons, spells etc., take the pause off, and away you go again. I would strongly recommend that you take the party AI off though, as otherwise, the party will go off attacking when you don't want them to (perhaps that's what they meant ?).Finally, the party itself: you can have up to 6 - yes, that's right - SIX ! This is an Adventuring Company, not just a couple of characters thrown together to pass the time (even in Neverwinter Nights 2, you could only muster 4, who were all rather annoyingly attached to you by invisible elastic) - take the AI off, and you can send any character, anywhere you want on your current map - your mage & thief can go off buying spells from the local necromancer, your fighter can be over at the Smithy getting some armour made up, while the rest of you wait in the local pub; the only thing you all have to be together for, is to rest.I can't guarantee that you'll get as much fun out of these games as I did, but I really, really, hope so.

26.4.2010

UPDATE JAN 2015: To prove the point about what an absolute legend this game is, it has been reworked and released by Beamdog. It is now possible to play it on mobiles and tabs (5" minimum screen size) via Apple App Store and Google Play (hope your eyesight is better than mine), and you can also play on Windows post-Vista/XP and Mac OSX. The developer has ironed out all the previous bugs and added some enhancements (and new characters). I've downloaded a Windows version via Steam, but pleased I still have my hard copy DVD version for nostalgic reasons. So glad that so many others out there still see the value in this game.Originally released in 1998 but still going strong - Black Isle created a true legend.I've bought this purely and simply because I wanted to own it again for nostalgic reasons. Baldur's Gate was the amongst the first games to really switch me on to the RPG genre. At the time, it was unbelievably good. I've gone a bit retro of late, and played Fallout for the first time (which is brilliant). Without wishing to sound like an old dud, these older games are still heads and shoulders above newer games in my humble opinion. There was a huge amount of personal effort that teams of developers would put into such games and it's always evident when you play one of them; there's genuine intelligence in the design, everybody knew everyone else and there was massive interaction within the team. The results were something borne out of individual pride and team effort when 'game engines' didn't really exist until these peeps developed them - these games are a fine example of something crafted out of genuine ability. The games are therefore produced to a [high] standard, not a price or deadline. There is also usually plenty of authentic, non-sterilised humour in there as well. New games all seem to be the same to me with a few distinguishing features, but the result is always the same: eye candy and no substance.BG is simply a must-have, even if you are just getting it as an historical addition to a collection. It has incredible depth, plenty of complexity if you want it, and a character design which principally distinguishes this game from any others. Not only do you get to create your main character more or less from scratch, you also get to develop (not create) another 5 characters which can form part of your band of slayers. This means you get to learn other disciplines and skills which your main character might not have available. Lovely. The only downside for me is the lengthy and often tedious amounts of dialogue between characters.It is a very addictive game which has huge replayability because of the wealth of options you could use to develop your main (and team) character. Quite often you will find yourself re-fighting a battle with a different set of tactics to compare the outcome. You will not be able to finish this game in a day or two! Be sure to check out the additional downloads which other posters have very considerately included in these reviews.

5.4.2011

This pack is fantastic, far handier than the old CD versions (I think there were over 20 CDs in total!). First of all, a small issue: there is a problem with the BG1 location, the game will complain and won't run if your Windows settings are not English/US, but there is a patch to fix this. Just install the latest patches for both games to avoid problems. Yes, Bioware/Atari should have fixed this and not let it to the user, but we all know how these things work. Other than that, both games run fine on XP and Vista (and, as far as I know, on Win 7 and Linux with Wine too, so there really is no excuse not to play them).That said, I absolutely love these games!(Fangirl mode on)I love RPGs,

1.8.2006

If Final Fantasy VII is considered the pinnacle of console RPGs, then Baldur's Gate is most definetely considered the pinnacle of computer RPGs. This is simply one of the best series of games ever made, and any RPG fan simply cannot afford to not play it (and since the whole series is available for a tenner, you don't exactly have an excuse not to do so!)Pros:-One of the best RPG series ever of all time for ten pounds. I haven't seen a bargain like that for a while.-Make your own unique character from scratch in Baldur's Gate 1, and then after completing the first game, import them into Baldur's Gate 2 for true continuity and continue the saga.-100+ hours of pure RPG bliss,

8.6.2006

... I feel compelled to write about it. There's been many an RPG review that goes along the lines of "...it's great, but in Baldur's Gate 2 you get to do THIS...". Even today, the same goes with such fantastic games as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - amazing graphics and great to play but... your character is very lonely. In all senses of the word. Let me explain...In Baldur's Gate 2 (actually in Throne of Bhaal) if your character strikes it lucky with one of your travelling companions, she becomes pregnant and eventually gives birth. Your decision could then be: 1. Let her continue with you; 2. Dump her; 3. Put her somewhere safe (i.e. away from you and the hundreds of different types of undead,

10.2.2010

I purchased this when I was on a retro-gaming kick a while back, and out of all the older games, I think this one stood out as the most enjoyable. Since there are plenty of older reviews detailing the game features, I would like to point out a few things about the distribution.First, there is no printed manual, only a .pdf file contained on the disk. Also, the box itself is pretty flimsy, with the discs stacked on top of each other and held with rings that are too stiff. The way this is packaged makes the discs very prone to scratching, so I would inspect your discs first, then transfer them to another case. Compare this to the Diablo II box set which comes with a nicer jewel case and a booklet for about the same price,

5.3.2007

This Baldur's Gate collection gets you both games and their respective expansions - total value for money. Each game comes on a DVD (with the exp. on a seperate CD), so you don't have to change CDs like in the old days. All areas are accessible from their DVD, and from the expansion CD once you engage the expansion. The game isn't very resource demanding either (minimum CPU 300MHz, 64Mb RAM, DVD-ROM), so you don't need a top-of-the-line gaming PC to play it. Simple, cheap and a world of fun... hence the quote from the geek from "The Simpsons": Best... game... ever.The game itself is an absolute gem. Starting out in the small town of Candlekeep in BG1,

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