What We Think
Game Rankings Score: 89
What can be said about a game so huge, so intimidating, so daunting, so ambitious, so grand ... so huge ... err, did I already mention that? Just looking at the manual gives one an overwhelming feeling of insignificance that you do not even want to try and go up against this beast of a game. Rest assured that Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is probably the best RPG available right now. And I just can't help but ask ... is this a good thing?
Bioware and Black Isle certainly know what they are doing. With the quality of games they have managed to pump out in the past few years, one tends to get the impression that what they are doing must be easy. The Infinity engine looks as good as ever in 800 x 600 resolution and the enhanced environmental graphics. One cannot help but be impressed by the presentation of the game world. The sound effects are equally impressive and add to the eventual immersion you experience into this world. On the cinematic side of things, the music is epic and grandiose. Definitely some of the best I have ever heard in a game before.
The game starts out by placing you right into the action and in some respects this works well and in some respects it does not. To the new comer, it will no doubt be frustrating to encounter a simple bat that can seemingly kill all three of your party members just because you are not familiar enough with how the battle system works. It does provide a little more excitement than dropping you into a town where you need to secure your arms and talk to the townspeople etc. etc. The sequence isn't really as exciting as perhaps was originally intended, though, and the game doesn't really pick up until you get to the city of Athkatla, which is a city SO BIG that you could spend days (literally 24+ real hours) searching around and exploring.
The game, however, amidst all its various quests and sidetracks does manage to keep your ultimate goals on the horizon without ever making them seem too abstract or distant. Everything seems to hold together as well and it rarely seems as though a quest is being completed simply as "just another thing to do" rather a cohesive part of Amn altogether.
The game is always a pleasure to play and make your way through and the sheer amount of detail that has been infused into this title. Once you go about creating your character at the beginning and see the various different classes available in this set of AD&D rules, the possibilities are endless. The story is good, and like a sequel should do, it picks up right where the first one ended.
There's something about BG2:SoA that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's just because it is more of the same (granted it is good more of the same). Planescape: Torment had a different feeling to it because it took place in a radically different setting and it was more of an adventure game. BG2 feels unoriginal ... like a glorified, awesome add-on for the original BG, but I guess in most respects that is what a sequel is meant to be and BG2 delivers just that: more of the same.
It's so good though, that it cannot be compared to anything else simply because nothing else has come close to the ambition and quality of Baldur's Gate 2 and if you're looking for an RPG that will eat up 200+ hours of your life, this one has your name written all over it. And really, where else can you get nine straight twenty-four hour days of entertainment for only fifty dollarsUSD? Honestly.
-Jake