Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance<subtitle> <content>General The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\" RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds. The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion. Gameplay Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood. BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near. There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience. Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre... Graphics ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes. And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. Sound Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content> <rating>910<rating> <author>Kevin Zhu<author> <authoremail>nucleargamer12@gma GameCube<title> <subtitle>Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance<subtitle> <content>General The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\" RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds. The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion. Gameplay Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood. BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near. There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience. Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre... Graphics ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes. And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. Sound Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content> <rating>910<rating> <author>Kevin Zhu<author> <authoremail>nucleargamer12@gmail.com<authoremail> <date>

910 Kevin Zhu nucleargamer12@gma GameCube <subtitle>Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance<subtitle> <content>General The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\" RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds. The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion. Gameplay Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood. BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near. There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience. Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre... Graphics ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes. And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. Sound Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content> <rating>910<rating> <author>Kevin Zhu<author> <authoremail>nucleargamer12@gmail.com<authoremail> <date> - The Realm of Gaming"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Realm of Gaming offers video game cheats, codes, previews, reviews, downloads, screenshots, images, gameshark codes, for GameCube, Xbox, Playstation 2, Dreamcast, Playstation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and more."> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="video game cheats, X-Box, Xbox, cheats, codes, cheatcodes, GameCube, Game Cube, Playstation 2, Sony PS2, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PSX, Game Boy, Gameboy, Saturn, Genesis, Game Genie Codes, Gameshark, NES, Super NES, CD, Personal Computer, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Wonderswan, Atari"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <META content="" name=description> <meta name="verify-v1" content="QyYmHA2R/I28jRfRUHclPBP/3a+e1EzbXWZo2tM2B/s=" /> <link 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height="12" border="0"></td></tr> <br> <tr><td background="/designs/link.jpg"><img src="/designs/clear.gif" border="0" width="52" height="1"> <br><br> </td></tr> </table> </td>  <td width="526" valign="top"> <h1 class="mainb">GameCube<title> <subtitle>Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance<subtitle> <content>General The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\" RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds. The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion. Gameplay Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood. BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near. There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience. Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre... Graphics ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes. And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. Sound Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content> <rating>910<rating> <author>Kevin Zhu<author> <authoremail>nucleargamer12@gmail.com<authoremail> <date> Review<br>Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance<subtitle> <content>General The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\" RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds. The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion. Gameplay Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood. BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near. There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience. Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre... Graphics ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes. And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. Sound Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content> <rating>910<rating> <author>Kevin Zhu<author> <authoremail>nucleargamer12@gma</h1><div class="main">General<br /> <br /> The Gamecube finally has another RPG to add to its lacking library: \"Sequel\" of the highly acclaimed Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Snowblind Studios’ Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The Baldur\'s Gate series has defined the \"Hack and Slash\"<br /> RPG genre at its best, and Dark Alliance does a good job on preserving the<br /> definition with its classic gameplay, awesome graphics, and moody sounds.<br /> <br /> The game starts simply enough: an adventurer returning from a long journey is assaulted by a trio of crooks. They take your belongings and your money, before quickly fleeing to the sewers. As you hunt the criminals down, the plot unfolds and you see that these thieves (part of a new, more vicious thieves’ guild than that of old) are indeed just small roots branching off the large, expansive taproot of, dare I say it, evil. This plot has been thoroughly used before, but it still gets the job done. As you hack your way through all this treachery and peril, you gain levels, pick up new weapons, and learn awesome new skills in regular RPG fashion.<br /> <br /> <br /> Gameplay<br /> <br /> Gameplay flows solidly in Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance. Everything is done in classic Hack and Slash RPG style, from the killing of the monsters to the exploring of the dungeons. You\'ll encounter a multitude of enemies, fight a slew of bosses, and explore a horde of levels (40) in your gaming adventure. Unfortunately, if you’re even a decent gamer, such as myself, beating this game on the medium difficulty setting should take you somewhere around eleven hours. Many medium-sized RPGs will take about 20 hours to complete. This one took ten. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that they cut the game off so soon. None of the levels were particularly memorable, and after throwing enemy after enemy at you, the game really loses its spark, but you don\'t really get bored of it, since you\'re always alert on wether there\'s another enemy ambush around the corner. When you kill off enemies, their bodies don’t disappear, they instead stay in place where they died, as a permanent reminder of the damage you\'ve <br /> done. This is definitely a plus and adds to the game\'s overall mood.<br /> <br /> BGDA holds many items to buyfind and many skills to learn. Although there aren\'t nearly as many items as in the Diablo series or in many other RPGs I\'ve played, there are still many cool items to choose from. You can find powerful and rare ones in treasure chests and corpses, including life-giving amulets and flaming weapons that light the night sky only when enemies are near.<br /> <br /> There\'s even a two-player cooperation mode, where you and a friend can both enjoy the gaming experience. You don\'t get to level up as much, and the two players must share the treasures and gold, but the two-player game is a unique and fun experience.<br /> <br /> Even though the game does slightly vary the creatures that attack you, it still gets boring killing things over and over again. But hey; it’s an RPG. I think a good solution for breaking this wall of monotony would be to put far less monsters in each level, but instead make each one more powerful. Or even better, let the player possess some of the cool monsters in this game, and kill some baddies through the eyes of an ogre...<br /> <br /> <br /> Graphics<br /> <br /> ...And that brings me to my next subject of discussion: the monsters in BGDA. These baddies are truly fascinating, memorable, but most of all, fun to kill (to a point at least). From the lowly sewer rats (which are large to say the least), to the majestic, frost-spitting wolves of the Arctic, every creature is well-designed and is also a feast for the eyes.<br /> <br /> And the rest of the game is, as well. Whatever the situation, BGDA provides awesome graphics and highly defined eye-candy. At one point in the game, as I stepped into an cavern made completely of ice, I could see my character’s reflection and tiny, watery ice crystals in every pixel of the cavern. Every color from crystal blue to amethyst purple was represented beautifully in the cavern; it was truly breathtaking. This is just one example of the beauty of Dark Alliance: every screen of this game was pure, unadulterated eye-candy. <br /> <br /> The game’s wonderful lighting also attributes to its beauty. Whether I was trekking through morbid dungeons or mysterious swampland, the path was lighted beautifully, while keeping each level’s mysterious feel. Character animations are also up to par; they’re very simple, but fluid at the same time. NPC\'s look wonderful and well-planed when you talk to them, and their hand gestures and movements really add to your conversations with them. <br /> Sound<br /> <br /> Also, BGDA offers a multitude of sounds. Every monsters has its own sounds, and its actions are also crystal-clear, such as when a mountain giant gather large pieces of rock from the ground and hurls in at you; you hear the gravel being crushed into a ball, as well as the giant’s grunting as he hurls the ball at you. Even your own character has certain grunts and yelps, and if you leave the character alone for a while, heshe will become annoyedbored and say funny things. Also, each NPC has its own voice, and every conversation is well-voiced and sounds great. <br /> <br /> The in-game music is also well-done. Whatever the situation, the game\'s orchestrated, deep music form fits to it. If traveling in an atmospheric dungeon, the music that accompanies is foreboding and mysterious. If trekking through a deep cavern, the music will accordingly be dark and brooding. It also seems to carry on at random intervals, but that doesn\'t decrease from the overall appeal.<content><br /> <rating>910<rating><br /> <author><br><br>By: <a href="mailto:"></a> </div> <br><br><br> </td> <td width="273" valign="top">  <center> <div style="text-align: left; width: 278px;height: 33px;background-image:url(/data/images/designs/right-cotd.jpg);"><font size="-1" face="Tahoma" color="#ffffff"><b> Women's Volleyball Interview</b></font></div> <a href="/interviews/womensvolleyball.html"><img src="/data/images/womensvolleyball.jpg" border="0"></a><br> <img src="/data/images/design/right-cotdb.jpg" border="0"> </center> <br>   <center> <div style="width: 278px;height: 33px;background-image:url(/data/images/designs/right-cotd.jpg);"><font size="-1" face="Tahoma" color="#ffffff"><b>ROG Newsletter</b></font></div> <div style="width: 278px; background-color: #cccccc;"><form name="afc" action="/modules/newsletter/index.php" target="afc" method="get"> <center> Email: <input type=text name=email size=20> <input type="hidden" name="type" id="type_sub" value="sub"> <input type=submit name=sub value=Subscribe> </form> </font> </center> <img src="/data/images/design/right-cotdb.jpg" border="0"> </center> </div>  <div id="gad"> <center>    <a href="http://www.cardsoldierwars.com" target="_blank"><img src="/data/images/CSW_static_300x250.gif" border="0" width="278" height="270" /></a> <br> </center> </div> <br>  <center> <div style="width: 278px;height: 33px;background-image:url(/data/images/designs/right-cotd.jpg);"><font size="-1" face="Tahoma" color="#ffffff"><b>Forum Posts</b></font></div> <div style="width: 278px; background-color: #cccccc;"> <center> <font size='-1' face='Tahoma'><a href='http://www.realmofgaming.com/forum/index.php?topic=320.msg2679#msg2679' class='left'>Re: Resident Evil 5</a></font><br><font size='-1' face='Tahoma'><a href='http://www.realmofgaming.com/forum/index.php?topic=320.msg2678#msg2678' class='left'>Resident Evil 5</a></font><br><font size='-1' face='Tahoma'><a href='http://www.realmofgaming.com/forum/index.php?topic=319.msg2677#msg2677' class='left'>Re: Soul Calibur IV</a></font><br><font size='-1' face='Tahoma'><a href='http://www.realmofgaming.com/forum/index.php?topic=319.msg2676#msg2676' class='left'>Soul Calibur IV</a></font><br><font size='-1' face='Tahoma'><a href='http://www.realmofgaming.com/forum/index.php?topic=318.msg2675#msg2675' class='left'>RoG Looking for Reviewers</a></font><br></center> <img src="/data/images/design/right-cotdb.jpg" border="0"> </center> </div> <br>  </td> </tr> </TABLE> <center><TABLE Class="copyright" background="/images/copyright.jpg" width="1024" height="25"><TR><TD><center>Copyright 1999 - 2008 Realm of Gaming - All Rights Reserved</center></TD></TR></TABLE> <br> <a href="http://www.moneyexpert.com/Compare-Loans.aspx">Loans</a> - <a href="http://www.bloomingdesert.com">Arizona Pools</a> - <a href="http://www.orbitz.com/App/ViewHotelSearch">New York Hotels</a> - <a href="http://www.moneyextra.com/mortgages">Mortgages</a> </center> <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-2751989-1"; urchinTracker(); </script> </BODY></HTML>