Nut Load. Mini reviews of games old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. Occasional shock face.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)

Genre: RPG | Players: 1-6 | Developer: BioWare

The game begins a few months after the ending of the first game. Abducted by a crazy wizard, you are about to embark on a journey to discover even more about your past and yourself.  And make yourself new enemies.  Lots of new enemies.
Heck, it seems all the bad stuff happening on the sword coast is falling on one poor schmuck: you.

BG2 takes on the strengths of its predecessor, and enhances them tenfold.  Better graphics, much better environments, lots of new items, classes (which open the way to class quests, a fun thing that sets you on a few quest available only if you play a certain class of character.  The reward is reaaaally worth the crap the game will throw at you).  That and the game is huge.  I'd say twice of three times as long as the first one coupled with its add-on.  Lots of new places and literally hundreds of side-quests, and secrets to find.  I've played this game for close to 10 years now and I still discover secrets.

The game still has flaws, but many corrections have been applied since the first one.  First, it's easier to survive.  The AI of NPCs and enemies is much better, and easier to customize.  Then, lots of NPCs to choose from to assemble your team, with more versatility than in the first one.  Third, it's easier to find protective objects, which were really rare in the first.  And fourth... hell... it's supposed to be a challenge.  Forget the first one.  Compared to this, Baldur's Gate was a warm up.  On top of that it's still available.

Buyer's Guide:
Available on PC, Mac, and GOG.com.

5 "This time I'll shove my mace up your bum & turn you into a popsicle!!" out of 5.

Nutted by Docrate1 (If he comes at you with a mace... run faster than before.)

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