Product Description: Baldur's Gate II takes the RPG experience to a higher level with the best in fantasy gaming. Gameplay enhancing features include 3D support, dazzling new spell effects, improved multiplayer capabilities, subquests based on class, new classes, and a new character race.
Amazon.com Review: It's not easy being a child of a god. Your character quickly comes to this conclusion after being imprisoned and tortured by a wizard with an unhealthy interest in your parentage. So begins Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, an ambitious role-playing game based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game.
Shadows of Amn is not really a sequel to Baldur's Gate. Instead, Baldur's Gate was merely a prelude to Shadows of Amn. Shadows of Amn develops the plot lines, characters, and events introduced in the first game into a mature, genuinely interesting fantasy tale. Players who thought the original game shallow will be pleasantly surprised by Shadows of Amn's bold story arcs. Major events are afoot, and the characters' choices have a real impact on the Forgotten Realms.
In the same way, Baldur's Gate served as a proving ground for the refined game mechanics evident in Shadows of Amn. The game's artificial intelligence has been vastly improved, and players have many more choices for NPC AI scripts and party communication. Keeping with Shadows of Amn's more mature theme, the party interaction even includes possible love interests for your character.
Those who played through the original Baldur's Gate can import their character into Shadows of Amn, or can choose to create a new character. Character kits such as the Mageslayer and Swashbuckler add variety, and the game even includes the Monk, Sorcerer, Barbarian, and Half-Orc options from the new Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rules. Whether you import an old character or create a new one, you'll begin the game as a fairly advanced character--unlike most RPGs, you won't have to spend hours slaying puny critters and instead are plunged into a high-stakes plot against powerful foes.
A strong plot backed by strong technology makes Shadows of Amn stand out as one of the best RPGs we've ever played. Fans of AD&D will love the classic AD&D feel, and fans of the popular Forgotten Realms setting will delight in the people, places, and politics found in Shadows of Amn. --Michael Fehlauer
Pros:
High-level power gaming
Quality voice work
Improves the already great Baldur's Gate interface
Character kits and D&D 3rd Edition races and classes add variety
Advances the plot begun in Baldur's Gate
Cons:
Based on obsolete AD&D 2nd Edition rules
Character animations are stiff
Player's character starts out less powerful than other party members
Amazon.com Product Description: In Baldur's Gate 2: Shadow of Amn, you face an uncertain future, with a lineage that tempts the unscrupulous to use you and the ignorant to fear you. You will face a foe that views you as no more than chattel and that toys with you at every turn; a villain whose goals go beyond a quest for power and who threatens to use a lost companion as a tool for unparalleled destruction. The choices to be made will not be easy, and you may have to align with the lesser of evils, even though all evils cannot help but seem equal. In the end you will have mourned lost loves, celebrated new ones, and had adventures that profoundly shaped the Realms.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - WHEN cRPGs TOUCHED THE SKY...
This was the LONGEST the MOST FUN game I have ever played! And, mind you, I am not an easy customer (feel free to browse through my reviews, you will see what I mean...)
The original BG series was excellent in all of storyline, gameplay, music and stability. Now, nowadays, sequels usually mean a graphically-improved expansion (at best). BG2 is a rare exception of the sequel clearly SURPASSING the original. And in the case of such great original, this means a lot!
Words fail to describe the perfect harmony of brilliant ideas, interweaved story-lines and detailed coding that makes this game an unsurpassable classic! Do not let the slightly outdated graphics discourage you. They were cutting edge only some years ago - and you will be able to unleash their full potential even on mid-range PCs!
I have yet to meet anyone who has played it and not raved about it! Hard-core D&D funs will find the character building, fighting checks and balances and overall experience very close to the actual pen-&-paper games.
Casual computer gamers will notice none of the tedious stuff of other cRPGs as the gameplay runs smooth and beautifully.
You even have the choice to turn it into either a turn-based or an action game by tweaking the auto-pause options! I am telling you: this is how computers games should be!
You will let yourself get lost in the deep dungeons of the labyrinthic story; you will be laughing out loud to the humorous dialog; you will be surprised as to who is a double and triple-agent.
There is an evil beyond imagining unleashed and only you with your party can stand in its way.
Party members offer a multitude of unpredictable balancing points and diverging story-lines of their own: side quests, conflicts and love affairs enrich the story in so many original ways!
An unsurpassed classic!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rating: - An Improvement over the First.
This game is great, while trying and challenging, it is fun and dynamic enough to keep you riveted. The rewards and dynamism of the characters allows you to enjoy the game, as well as the actions of the characters in it. The places you travel to and visit are unique and well thought through as well. You may be stuck in a dungeon for a while, but the reward for success is not too little nor too much, but just right.
Still being able to control each movement and roll down to the core should you choose, no battle is unbeatable. For fans of Baldur's Gate, this sequel is wonderful.
Rating: - One of The Best RPG Games Ever
Baulders Gate 2 has a classic appeal that just won't die. I have been playing newer games like World of Warcraft and Elder Scrow IV with there astonishing graphics and challenging play but theres still something that doesnt rank with the likes of Baulders gate 2.
To me its the plot and subplots of the game that make this game remarkable. The ability to make choses like what quests, who you want in your party, freedom to act Evil or Good. Each chose can change the game and make the game replay as enjoyable as the first. The charactor creation is as good as it gets for an RPG game. So if you want a game that isnt as keen on visual as it is on it overall story line. Get this game it wont disapiont. even if its 6 years old.
Rating: - A Game to Revist
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is Black Isle's follow-up to the groundbreaking Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate, released on Nov. 30th 1998, was an accomplishment in the translation of pen and paper role-playing to the personal computer. With an engrossing storyline, colorful non-player-characters, polished gameplay, an attractive presentation and an incredibly detailed fantasy world to inhabit Baldur's Gate was a landmark achievement. And as good as its predecessor was Baldur's Gate II, released less than two years later, improves upon it in every imaginable way.
With a longer main quest, Baldur's Gate II continues the epic story you began in the original. Many of your non-player-companions return in one form or another in the course of the game, which lend the proceedings a much needed feeling of continuity. Additionally, the overarching themes of good versus evil remain, as well as your ability to decide whether to ally yourself with either side. And of course, there is the obligatory awesome, love-to-hate antagonist. Therefore, in terms of story, suspension of disbelief and the gratification that comes with completing any narrative work, you will not be disappointed.
Graphically the game looks comparable to its forbearer in art style and environmental climes yet it benefits, on a technical level, from higher resolution settings as well as more detailed area maps and sprite effects. Due to these aesthetic improvements the hardware requirements are slightly steeper than Baldur's Gate, but because of the relative age of the game most entry level computer as well as many laptops should run it smoothly. Now because of its age the game is no longer particularly impressive graphically. The graphics are definitely dated however, that being said, it is an attractive game and the visuals are consistently of good quality. The textures are sharp and each character's outward appearance changes with the equipment s/he is wearing, which is a must for most RPG fans.
In terms of personal opinion I must recommend this game unconditionally. Although there is a learning curve which must be surmounted any effort put in is well worth your time. This is a game that I have returned to time and time again. I have completed the over 40 hours of gameplay with at least three different characters and each run through the game has brought a deeper appreciation of the open-ended nature this wonderful gem. If you haven't played this game yet... you should.
Rating: - Best game in existence
This is the best game I have played in my life. I have played about a few dozen rpg games starting from the Pool of Radiance series on the Commodore 64, and this game is the best. I am just simply voting here and this is not really meant to help people know what the game is about.
- WHEN cRPGs TOUCHED THE SKY...
- An Improvement over the First.
