The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing game for the computer. Specifically, it's for high-level Pentium-class computers (anything over 166mhz will run it, and you don't need a Pentium-II). There might be a version for the Mac, but I haven't looked for it and am not aware of its existence.

Baldur's Gate is a Dungeons & Dragons game placed in the Forgotten Realms, and, unlike any video game based on the world's most popular FPR, it uses all the AD&D rules to do everything. That is has never been done before, and it's a wonder why no one did that before, right? Well, as my review is going to show, there might be a good reason why no one did that before.

But, before I get into that, I'd first like to cover how the game plays and looks. Before you play, you first have to create a character. Character creation is done using a variety of easy to use screens, and it follows the AD&D creation process almost exactly. (The only thing missing is specialty priests--and there are the specialty wizards from the Player's Handbook).

Once you've generated your character, it enters the game as a small figure you see from above, much like a character from Diablo or the earlier King's Quest games. You use your cursor to move this character around, talk to other characters (interaction and role-playing is pretty good), and for combat. The interface is extremely easy to use and works very well. As you continue the game, you can gain control of up to five more characters, all NPCs (unless you import other characters that you've made). If an NPC dies, it can be brought back to life at the local temple for a fee, often one low level characters can't afford. If your main character dies, it's over. You have to restart.

Once you begin, the game's story begins to shape up fairly quickly. It is a mystery where your character must learn about her unknown past and discover why everyone is out to kill her (there are bounty hunters en masse in this game, so watch it). The compelling plot is quickly diluted by a variety of useless side quests that take up for more game time than the main plot. You are plagued by sidetrack adventures that you have no choice but to participate in them because if you ignore them and just follow the main story line, you will die. And here is the game's greatest flaw: it follows the AD&D rules too well. Character experience is sparse and treasure not abundant enough.

You can be any alignment--even chaotic evil--but if you act anything but lawful good, prices start going up, city guards harass you, and so forth. Which brings me to the game's next problem: the only way to get enough experience to survive encounters is to ruthlessly kill anyone in sight. To pay for the resurrections of fellow party members (instead of reloading and fighting a battle over and over again until you win with no character deaths), you also need to steal everything in sight. But by doing both, you will not be allowed to go into towns (without being attacked on sight by the guards) and you will find prices become outrageous.

I myself attempted to play the game the way it was meant to be: do good, gather experience, and win. It did me no good and I got nowhere. I couldn't get any experience without pointlessly killing people, and couldn't keep from getting killed without having five NPCs with me, which meant the meager experience points are divided up even more. I got no where fast, even after weeks of frustrating playing.

So why is it that there are so many people praising the game and having so much fun playing it and I'm not? Surely I must be mad, since no one seems to hate it and everyone loves it. Well, I'll tell you why. They cheat. It's the only way to get anywhere. And here's how you do it: make a character, kill and steal until absolutely no one wants you around, then save the game. Start again by importing your character into a new game. Repeat the process until your character reaches about third or fourth level. Start again and play nicely. Or, better still, make six different characters the way you want them, play them so they get good equipment and a lot of experience, and import the lot of them into a single game.

So, what's my overall evaluation? Well, on a scale of 1-10, I give it a 9 for interface and the quality of graphics. (I'd give it a 10, but in the computer world something better is bound to come out next week.) As for playability and enjoyment: a 2 because the only way to win without playing the game for a year is to cheat (unless, of course, you're a genius at playing computer games).

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Baldur's Gate
Author: Various Category: Computer RPG Company/Publisher: Interplay Cost: $40 Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Mark Strecker on 01/27/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing game for the computer. Specifically, it's for high-level Pentium-class computers (anything over 166mhz will run it, and you don't need a Pentium-II). There might be a version for the Mac, but I haven't looked for it and am not aware of its existence. Baldur's Gate is a Dungeons & Dragons game placed in the Forgotten Realms, and, unlike any video game based on the world's most popular FPR, it uses all the AD&D rules to do everything. That is has never been done before, and it's a wonder why no one did that before, right? Well, as my review is going to show, there might be a good reason why no one did that before. But, before I get into that, I'd first like to cover how the game plays and looks. Before you play, you first have to create a character. Character creation is done using a variety of easy to use screens, and it follows the AD&D creation process almost exactly. (The only thing missing is specialty priests--and there are the specialty wizards from the Player's Handbook). Once you've generated your character, it enters the game as a small figure you see from above, much like a character from Diablo or the earlier King's Quest games. You use your cursor to move this character around, talk to other characters (interaction and role-playing is pretty good), and for combat. The interface is extremely easy to use and works very well. As you continue the game, you can gain control of up to five more characters, all NPCs (unless you import other characters that you've made). If an NPC dies, it can be brought back to life at the local temple for a fee, often one low level characters can't afford. If your main character dies, it's over. You have to restart. Once you begin, the game's story begins to shape up fairly quickly. It is a mystery where your character must learn about her unknown past and discover why everyone is out to kill her (there are bounty hunters en masse in this game, so watch it). The compelling plot is quickly diluted by a variety of useless side quests that take up for more game time than the main plot. You are plagued by sidetrack adventures that you have no choice but to participate in them because if you ignore them and just follow the main story line, you will die. And here is the game's greatest flaw: it follows the AD&D rules too well. Character experience is sparse and treasure not abundant enough. You can be any alignment--even chaotic evil--but if you act anything but lawful good, prices start going up, city guards harass you, and so forth. Which brings me to the game's next problem: the only way to get enough experience to survive encounters is to ruthlessly kill anyone in sight. To pay for the resurrections of fellow party members (instead of reloading and fighting a battle over and over again until you win with no character deaths), you also need to steal everything in sight. But by doing both, you will not be allowed to go into towns (without being attacked on sight by the guards) and you will find prices become outrageous. I myself attempted to play the game the way it was meant to be: do good, gather experience, and win. It did me no good and I got nowhere. I couldn't get any experience without pointlessly killing people, and couldn't keep from getting killed without having five NPCs with me, which meant the meager experience points are divided up even more. I got no where fast, even after weeks of frustrating playing. So why is it that there are so many people praising the game and having so much fun playing it and I'm not? Surely I must be mad, since no one seems to hate it and everyone loves it. Well, I'll tell you why. They cheat. It's the only way to get anywhere. And here's how you do it: make a character, kill and steal until absolutely no one wants you around, then save the game. Start again by importing your character into a new game. Repeat the process until your character reaches about third or fourth level. Start again and play nicely. Or, better still, make six different characters the way you want them, play them so they get good equipment and a lot of experience, and import the lot of them into a single game. So, what's my overall evaluation? Well, on a scale of 1-10, I give it a 9 for interface and the quality of graphics. (I'd give it a 10, but in the computer world something better is bound to come out next week.) As for playability and enjoyment: a 2 because the only way to win without playing the game for a year is to cheat (unless, of course, you're a genius at playing computer games). Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 2 (Sparse)