Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is a 2001 action role-playing video game developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment subsidiary Black Isle Studios for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox consoles, with High Voltage Software handling the GameCube port and Magic Pockets developing the Game Boy Advance version. CD Projekt was developing a version for Microsoft Windows, which was ultimately cancelled. The game is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons, and the gameplay is based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, which were released in 2000. It is the first video game to implement the real time application of the new rules. It is also the first game in the Baldur’s Gate series released on consoles as opposed to just PC and Mac. Dark Alliance was well received on all four platforms, with the PlayStation 2 version going on to win the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for “Console Role-Playing Game of the Year” (2002). A sequel, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II, was released in 2004 for non-Nintendo consoles. A third game was planned, but was cancelled early in development due to legal problems, and the closure of Black Isle Studios after Interplay went bankrupt. In 2021, a 4K port of Dark Alliance was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC, and in 2023, ports for iOS and Android mobile devices were released.

Gameplay

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is a real-time hack and slash/action role-playing game presented in a 3D perspective, with a rotatable isometric three-quarter top-down view. At the beginning of the game, character stats are preset, with the player able to choose from three race/class combinations; a dwarven fighter (Kromlech), a human archer (Vahn) or an elven sorceress (Adrianna). The player can customize their character’s stats through gaining experience points from defeating enemies. Every time the character increases in level, points are awarded corresponding to their previous level; i.e. if a character increases to level twelve, the player will gain eleven experience points to spend on the character’s spells and feats. For every four levels which the character increases, the player is given one ability point to spend on one of the six core attributes (strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, charisma). Each of the three characters have their own unique fighting style and their own specific set of spells and feats. Gameplay strategy is thus different for each character. As Kromlech is a fighter, his spells and feats tend to focus on increasing his brute strength and ability to resist damage, as well as granting him powerful abilities to aid in melee combat, such as the ability to swing his weapon in a circle or slam it into the ground to damage groups of nearby enemies. As Vahn relies on ranged attacks, his spells and feats tend to focus on increasing the power of his bow and granting him the ability to fire special types of arrows, such as exploding arrows, ice arrows or multiple arrows. As Adrianna is a sorceress, her spells and feats tend to focus on increasing the power of her magic and granting her numerous new spells, such as the ability to shoot ice or fire from her fingers, shoot a ball of lightning or call down meteors on her enemies. Gameplay is linear, and each main quest must be completed in sequence before the story can proceed, although there are some optional side-quests, which do not have to be completed immediately, but all side-quests must be completed within the act in which they are assigned. There are relatively few NPCs in the game, with whom only those who are part of a quest or side-quest may be interacted. Weapons, armor and items are only available for purchase from one location at a time, and become increasingly expensive and more powerful as the game progresses. The HUD features the option to use either a transparent map that covers most of the screen, or a mini-map, with the player also given the option to turn the map off entirely. The game also features cooperative gameplay with another player. Both players share the same screen, and are thus limited in how far they can move away from one another. In co-op mode, the player who makes the kill gets 60% of the experience, and the other player gets 40%. Whichever player collects any gold drops gets 100% of the value, with the other player getting nothing. The game contains four difficulty levels; “Easy”, “Normal”, “Hard” and “Extreme”. Extreme can only be unlocked after the player has beaten “The Gauntlet”, a special mini-dungeon unlocked once the player completes the game on any difficulty level. The Gauntlet can only be played with Drizzt Do’Urden. Extreme mode takes the form of a New Game Plus, and can only be played by importing a saved character from another game. Once the player has completed Extreme mode, Drizzt Do’Urden becomes available to use in the main game.

GBA version

The Game Boy Advance version of Dark Alliance features some noticeable gameplay differences from the console versions, whilst still generally following the same storyline as the other versions. Character creation is more limited, with a human male playable, though the player still has the choice of playing as a Fighter, Wizard, or Archer. After completing the game, a fourth class, Elven Fighter, becomes available on further playthroughs. There is no option to retain a character upon completing the game and play through the story again, and must begin again with a new character. The game is also limited in more technical areas; there is no multiplayer or co-operative mode, forcing the player to complete the game alone. You cannot jump, there are no recall potions, which are utilized in the home console ports to teleport back to a town to sell wares, before going back to the dungeon. On the other hand, the game has been expanded in ways not present in the console versions. The town of Baldur’s Gate is far more interactive, with the ability to talk to NPCs, enter houses and use weapons to open breakable objects, such as barrels. There are additional side quests, and the game can be saved at any point, giving the player flexibility to pause their game at any moment.

Plot

Setting

The game takes place in the Sword Coast and the Western Heartlands, areas in the Faerûn continent of the Forgotten Realms. Each act of the game takes place in a different region: Act I takes place in the city of Baldur’s Gate itself; Act II in the Sunset Mountains; and Act III in the Marsh of Chelimber.

Story

The game begins with Vahn, Adrianna and Kromlech arriving in Baldur’s Gate, whereupon they are attacked by a group of thieves led by Karne (Michael Bell). The city watch save the trio and take them to the Elfsong Tavern to recover. There, the bartender, Alyth Elendara (Jennifer Hale), tasks them to clear the tavern’s cellar of rats. In the cellar, they discover the thieves are using the tavern’s sewer entrance to infiltrate the city. When Elfsong Tavern employee Ethon follows them into the sewers and disappears, they rescue him from thieves, and he directs them to the nearby crypts, where one of the thieves was headed. There, they encounter Fayed (Cam Clarke), a priest of Illmater, who requests their help in stopping the “Orb of the Undead”, which has filled the crypts with zombies and skeletons. They destroy the orb and discover the thieves, collectively known as Xantam’s Guild, placed it there. Ethon introduces them to Jherek (John Rhys-Davies), a member of the Harpers, a group dedicated to protecting the realms from evil. Impressed with the trio, he invites them to join the Harpers and destroy Xantham’s Guild. They agree, and Jherek shows them the guild’s entrance in the sewers. After navigating a gauntlet of traps, they face and kill Karne; they then find the guild master, the beholder Xantam (Tony Jay). They fight and kill him, and Jherek asks them to enter a portal which Xantam was guarding. The portal transports them to the Sunset Mountains, whereupon they head to a dwarf mining village, which is oppressed by drow elves. They light a signal fire atop a nearby mountain, calling for aid from neighboring dwarven clans, and enter the mines to rout the drow. After killing the drow priestess, they rescue a dwarven Harper, who tells them of another portal in the mountains. He also tells them that troops and monsters are planning to use the portals to move from the mountains into Baldur’s Gate, attacking the city from within. The adventurers head to the portal, which is guarded by the ice dragon Ciraxis. They slay him and pass through the portal into the Marsh of Chelimber. There, they meet Sleyvas (Kevin Michael Richardson), one of the native lizardfolk. He tells them of the nearby “Onyx Tower”, and of its inhabitant, Eldrith the Betrayer (Vanessa Marshall), who has sworn vengeance against Baldur’s Gate. He reveals that his kin, led by the lizard Sess’sth, are serving Eldrith. The trio fight through hordes of lizardfolk, kill Sess’sth, and cripple the lizard army. Sleyvas leads them to the Onyx Tower, which they enter by taking a detour through the Elemental Plane of Water. Inside the tower, they witness Eldrith’s preparations for war and fight their way upwards, through legions of Eldrith’s soldiers. At the penultimate level of the tower, they meet the ghost of Keledon (Dwight Schultz), first captain of the company of the Westering Sun. He explains that Eldrith once served Baldur’s Gate as its greatest general, fighting a crusade against the Black Horde. After defending the city, she defied orders and led her army in pursuit of the retreating Horde. Trapping them in a ravine, they proved stronger than she had anticipated, and she asked the city for re-enforcements, which never came. Eldrith survived, but her army was defeated, and, furious, she rallied her remaining soldiers to attack Baldur’s Gate, but was again defeated. The city’s soldiers pursued her and her men to the Marshes of Chelimber, and killed them all, but Eldrith’s rage was such that she returned to life, creating the Onyx Tower, which gave her access to the portals. Seeking revenge, she orchestrated the attacks against Baldur’s Gate, and created a dark alliance between Xantam’s guild, the drow, and Sess’sth’s tribes. Keledon explains that if the trio defeat Eldrith, the Tower will be destroyed, and the ghosts within will be freed. However, as they cannot leave the tower, it will likely lead to their own deaths. They find Eldrith on the roof of the Tower guarding another portal. She reiterates her plans for the destruction of Baldur’s Gate. They fight and defeat her, and as she dies, she repents her actions. With the tower crumbling, the heroes enter the portal, not knowing where it leads. It is revealed that Sleyvas manipulated the heroes to defeat Eldrith for his unidentified master. He tells his master that the heroes have died within the tower and Eldrith is no longer an obstacle. As such, they can now proceed with their plans. Meanwhile, the trio emerge in an unknown forest, and are surrounded by dark creatures.

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