Baldur’s Gate I and II are fantasy role-playing games made by BioWare. These highly acclaimed games have a dark setting and involve demon hunting and puzzle solving, with the ultimate goal of stopping the followers of Bhaal, the Lord of Murder.
The games are comparable to Diablo game series but then somewhat less action-orientated.
Another differentiator of Baldur’s Gate is that the games are licensed to make use of the Dungeons and Dragons rules-set and also contain several of the Forgotten Realms characters.
Story
The story of the game revolves around the main character fighting demons, evil gods, vampires and the like in and around the city of Baldur’s Gate with as the ultimate goal to stop the followers of Bhaal, the Lord of Murder.
In the original Baldur’s Gate, the player searches for the killer of his or her foster father and tries to find out what causes metal to crumble into dust.
In the second game, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the player is imprisoned but escapes into the city of Athkatla, the capital of Amn and tries to figure out why he has been captured.
Games & Gameplay
The Baldur’s Gate games are RPGs (role-playing games) based on the rule set of the Forgotten Realms role-playing setting, using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules. The game is played in real-time and not turn-based.
The player begins as a weak character but obtains new and more powerful weapons, armour, and spells during the game. Also, experience points can be gained by killing monsters and completing quests.
The following games make up the Baldur’s Gate series:
- Baldur’s Gate (1998)
- Baldur’s Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (expansion pack, 1999)
- Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
- Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (expansion pack, 2001)
- The Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (unrelated plot and only game to be released on game consoles, 2001)
Conclusion & Future
With over 5 million copies sold, Baldur´s Gate I and II have been very successful. However, it is unclear if a third game will ever be made. It has been mentioned many times in the past, both by BioWare and by license holder Atari but currently there is nothing but rumours.
Tags: Baldur's Gate, Fantasy Games
