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 Home -> Reviews -> Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal By John "Award" Del Percio, July 23, 2001
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Developer :Bioware
Publisher :Interplay
Release Date :Early July 2001
Demo Available : No
Table of Contents

· Introduction
· Closer Look
· Facts
· Final

A Fitting End

Certainly a few of the things mentioned ruined the fun-factor a bit, but overall, if the series end had to come in the form of an expansion pack rather than a full game, this was an excellent expansion to do it in. While shorter than I would have preferred, it's still one of the longest expansions I've seen in a long time (don't worry about how quickly I beat it, that's me, and my over-powered party, it will take you far longer.) The storyline was great (if a bit predictable at times), and every aspect of it still left me wanting more when I was done. Certainly, if you're a huge BG fan, even if you didn't buy Tales of the Sword Coast, or even BG1 at all, you'll definitely want Throne of Bhaal to complete the story, and get another fix of Baldur's Gate. Do note that it doesn't really add much to the original game, so you didn't miss out on anything by playing without it. The new area is really the biggest part.

Rating

Personal Note

Graphics - Sound - Gameplay - Depth - Multiplayer  Reviewed by John Del Percio
GRAPHICS
99 %

As always the Bioware team is out to impress with hands-down the best 2D artwork ever to grace a PC game. The new areas, and monsters and spells, are truly a phenomenal display of artistic talent, and are worthy of framing. There was one spot that looked a bit flatter than normal, but even that was excellent.

SOUND
95 %

Nothing new was really added to the sound except the backgrounds for a few areas and some voice over talent. The voice overs were, as always, excellent, and the backgrounds were fitting. Where the sound category really shines though, is the new music added. As always, it secures Baldur's Gate as the series with the best music.

GAMEPLAY
94 %

I hated to drop that point there down from 95, but the incredible difficulty encountered in the expansion is simply a bit much, and the need to constantly reload, wait for timestops, or other annoyances really adds to the frustration rating of the gameplay rather quickly. It's still fun simply because it's building on what is D&D, and all D&D games are fun, but I think it could have been toned down a bit here.

DEPTH
94 %

Certainly deep enough stemming from the Child of Bhaal storyline, and the gameplay is deep in terms of the intricacy of the the spell system. Unfortunately, the depth of really detailing the storyline and adding to character storylines was a bit abandoned in Throne of Bhaal.

MULTIPLAYER
95 %

Not much of a change here from the original game. It is greatly improved over BG1, but still isn't great for hopping on a server for a quick game. You really need to play with someone you know and go through the game with them.



Note that the rating system has changed a bit since the Baldur's Gate 2 review, and is outlined in the Antaeus Rising review. Also note that the ratings of an expansion can not be compared to the ratings of a full game in any way. They are rated on entirely different criteria, and compared to many things including trueness to the name or the original game, how much it adds on, what it changes etc. I am certainly going to miss the Baldur's Gate series, it's been one of the coolest series I've ever had the privilege to play. I certainly remember how great it was when I got BG1, as well as how long it took me to beat it. It's one of those game series that always sticks in your mind, is worth a replay every few months, and can totally immerse you in another world. It will be missed. On the other hand, I'm sure Black Isle has a few ideas for more D&D titles up their sleeve, not to mention how much I know we all look forward to Neverwinter Nights (you can import your BG2/ToB characters into it after all! Start working on that level 40 mage now while you can!)

Overall Rating

 



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