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Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a 2001 action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Snowblind Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was ported to the GameCube by High Voltage Software, and to the Game Boy Advance by Magic Pockets. The game was published for the PlayStation, Xbox and GameCube by Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay Entertainment. The Game Boy Advance version was published by DSI Games. CD Projekt was working on a version for Windows, but it was cancelled early in development. A sequel, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A third game was planned, but was never made, due to legal problems and issues with rights.

Dark Alliance is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons, and tells the story of three heroes who must protect the city of Baldur's Gate from Eldrith the Betrayer, once one of its staunchest defenders. It was the first video game to implement the real-time application of the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rules, which had been introduced in 2000. It was also the first game in the Baldur's Gate series to be released on consoles as opposed to PC and/or Mac.

Beginning development after the cancellation of a Dreamcast remake of the original Baldur's Gate, the game was built with the Dark Alliance engine. A major improvement over the Infinity Engine, the engine used by the Baldur's Gate games for PC, the Dark Alliance engine allows more complex 3D graphics and was created by Snowblind specifically for Dark Alliance.

The game was well received on all four platforms, with the PlayStation 2 version generally seen as superior to the others. The game was also a commercial success, selling over one million units across all platforms. The PlayStation 2 version went on to win the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Role-Playing Game of the Year" (2001).

Gameplay
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is an action role-playing hack and slash game played from a rotatable top-down isometric perspective. The HUD features the option to use either a transparent map that covers most of the screen, or a mini-map, with the player also given the option to turn the map off entirely.

At the commencement of the game, character stats are preset, with the player able to choose from three race/class combinations; a dwarven fighter (Kromlech), a human archer (Vahn) or an elven sorceress (Adrianna). As the player progresses through the game, they can begin to customize their character's stats by gaining experience points from defeating enemies, which can then be spent on the character's spells and feats. Every time the character increases in level, points are awarded corresponding to that level; i.e. if a character increases to level twelve, the player will gain twelve experience points. For every four levels the character increases, the player gain one ability point to spend on the character's six core attributes (strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma).

Each of the three characters have their own unique fighting style, and their own specific set of spells and feats. Kromlech is a fighter, with his spells and feats built around increasing his brute strength and resistance to damage, and enhancing his melee combat, such as granting him the ability to swing his weapon in a large circle or slam it into the ground to damage groups of nearby enemies. Vahn relies on ranged attacks, with his spells and feats built around increasing the power of his bow, and granting him the ability to fire special types of arrows, such as exploding arrows, ice arrows or multiple arrows. Adrianna is a sorceress, with her spells and feats built around increasing the power of her magic, and granting her new spells, such as the ability to shoot fire, ice or thunder from her fingers, or rain down meteors from the sky.

The player moves through the game's levels in linear fashion; each main quest must be completed before the next can be attempted, although there are several optional side-quests which do not have to be completed immediately. However, all side-quests must be completed within the act in which they are assigned. There are relatively few non-player characters (NPCs) in the game, and interaction is possible only with those who are part of a quest or side-quest. Weapons, armor and items are only available for purchase from one location at a time, and become increasingly expensive and more powerful as the game progresses. The game also features cooperative gameplay with another player. Both players share the same screen, and are thus limited in how far they can move away from one another. In co-op mode, the player who makes the kill gets 60% of the experience, with the other player getting 40%. Whichever player collects any gold dropped by defeated enemies gets 100% of the value, with the other player getting nothing.

GBA version
The Game Boy Advance version of Dark Alliance features some gameplay differences from the console versions:


 * There is no choice as to the playable character. Instead, only a human male is playable, although his class can be chosen from three available (fighter, wizard, and archer). After the completion of the game, a new class, "Elven Fighter," becomes available.
 * Upon completion of the game, players cannot import a character to play through the story again; they must start a new game.
 * There is no co-op mode.
 * The town of Baldur's Gate is more interactive, and players are able to talk to NPCs beyond those from whom they receive quest information, as well as enter houses, and use weapons (to break barrels, etc.).
 * The town is split into two sections: North and South. The southern region cannot be entered at the beginning of the game.
 * There are various new side-quests.
 * Players cannot jump.
 * Recall potions, which allow the player to teleport back to town to sell wares and then back to where they were in the dungeon, are not available.
 * The ability to save the game is present at all times through the pause menu, and in-game save points are less frequent, usually appearing before act bosses.
 * The GBA version lacks the experience meter from the console versions.

Plot
The game begins with Vahn, Adrianna and Kromlech arriving in Baldur's Gate, whereupon they are attacked by a band of thieves led by Karne. As the city watch approach, the thieves flee with the trio's gold, and the watch advise them to seek shelter in the Elfsong Tavern. There, the bartender tells them the thieves were probably part of a dangerous new thieves' guild, and she suggests that if they intend to reclaim their gold, they should investigate the sewers, which she believes is how the guild are moving around the city.

After exploring the sewers, the trio eventually reach the crypts, where a priest of Ilmater tells them an "Orb of the Undead" has killed his fellow priests, turning them into zombies, and animated the skeletons of those already buried. The trio destroy the orb, and upon returning to the Elfsong, are introduced to Jherek, a member of the Harpers. Inviting them to join the organization, he explains the Orb was intended to distract the city watch so as to allow the guild to operate freely, and he wants them to find out who is controlling the guild.

He shows them a secret entrance to the guild hall in the sewers, and, after navigating a gauntlet of traps, they kill Karne, before confronting the guild master, the beholder Xantam. After they kill him, Jherek discovers a map with Baldur's Gate, the Sunset Mountains and the Marsh of Chelimber all linked, telling them, "the evil that has risen in Baldur's Gate is only part of a greater evil." Near the map is a portal, which he believes is how the guild were able to enter the city. Telling the trio of "strange rumors" coming from the Sunset Mountains, he explains the Harper sent to investigate has not reported back, and asks them to ascertain his fate.

After emerging from the portal, the trio head to a dwarven mining village, where they learn the mines have been overrun by drow. Falling back, the dwarves were able to temporarily seal the drow within the mines. Agreeing to help the dwarves, they light a signal fire atop a nearby mountain, calling for aid from a neighboring clan, and then enter the mines to rout the drow. Upon rescuing the missing Harper, he tells them someone has been organizing the gnolls and ogres into an army, and the drow were being used to wipe out the dwarves so as to allow the unimpeded movement of that army. He also tells them of another portal, leading to the Marsh of Chelimber. The trio head to it and pass through.

In the Marsh, they meet Sleyvas, one of the native lizardfolk, who tells them of the nearby Onyx Tower, which appeared mysteriously in the Marsh, and of its inhabitant, a woman who rose from her own death. He also reveals that his kin, led by Sess'sth, serve the woman, and are forming an army. Explaining that he calls the woman the "Spider of Doors" because she makes onyx doors which magically lead to human cities, Sleyvas says that to get into the Tower, they must first kill Sess'sth. They do so, scattering the army, and Sleyvas explains how to gain entry to the Tower, but tells them they cannot leave the same way.

Once inside, they begin fighting their way to the summit. On the penultimate level, they meet the ghost of Keledon, first captain in the Company of the Westering Sun. He explains that the occupant of the Tower, Eldrith the Betrayer, was the greatest general of the Sword Coast. Successfully repulsing the Black Horde from Baldur's Gate, she defied the orders of the dukes and led her army in pursuit of the retreating Horde. Trapping them in a canyon, they proved stronger than she anticipated, and she sent word for re-enforcements. They never came, and Eldrith's army was broken. Returning to the city to demand an audience with the dukes, she was turned away, and told that for her disobedience, the gates would be forever closed to her. Furious, she rallied her remaining soldiers to attack the city, but the company was almost wiped out. The city's soldiers then pursued her and her few remaining men to the Marshes, where they were all killed. However, Eldrith's rage was such that she returned to life, bringing forth the Onyx Tower, which allowed her to control the portals. Keledon also explains that if Eldrith is defeated, it will mean the destruction of the Tower, and will free the ghosts trapped within. However, as the trio cannot leave the way they entered, it will most likely lead to their own deaths.

They find Eldrith on the roof near another portal. They fight and defeat her, but as she dies, she asks forgiveness, vowing not to rise from death a second time, before being absorbed into the Tower. As the Tower crumples, the trio enter the portal. The Tower explodes, as Sleyvas speaks to an unidentified master, telling him the heroes have defeated Eldrith, and all four are now dead. As a result, they can proceed with their plans. Meanwhile, the trio emerge in an unknown forest, and are surrounded by nightshades, who swoop upon them.

Development
Dark Alliance was first alluded to in November 2000, when Interplay confirmed to IGN that an as-yet untitled PlayStation 2 game based on the recently released Microsoft Windows title Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn had begun development, in lieu of a cancelled Dreamcast port of the original Baldur's Gate. Interplay stated the game would probably not be a direct port, but would instead be a new game derived from Baldur's Gate II, tailored specifically for the console market. Few further details were revealed at the time, as the game was still only in the planning stage, but Interplay did state that BioWare, developers of both previous Baldur's Gate games, would not be handling the PlayStation 2 title themselves.

The game was officially announced in February 2001, when it was revealed it would be an original title, with no direct relationship to Baldur's Gate II. Although a new game, however, Dark Alliance would follow previous Baldur's Gate titles in being set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Interplay also revealed that Snowblind Studios were developing the title, while publishing would be handled by Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay focused on role-playing games. Black Isle were also providing "design assistance" for the game. Snowblind's director, Ryan Geithman, stated, "we are developing the game from the ground up to take full advantage of the sophisticated PlayStation 2 technology. Our goal is to push the hardware to its limits, thus creating stunning environmental effects and highly detailed characters never before seen on the console." Black Isle division director, Feargus Urquhart, added, "we recognize the tremendous demand for a Baldur's Gate game on PlayStation 2. We're totally committed to making Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance a completely original experience that both console gamers and RPG fans will enjoy." It was also revealed that Dark Alliance would be the first video game to feature the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rule-set, which had been introduced in 2000.

In April, Interplay confirmed that if the game was successful, a sequel would enter development immediately.

The game was first shown at the E3 event in May 2001, where it gained critical acclaim, with IGN writing, "it almost instantly became one of the most wanted games for PlayStation 2 owners across the country. The game's graphics are as good as anything else on the system. It's as simple as that. The lighting, shadows, textures, models, water effects, and reflections are all amazing to look at and are a testament to the power of PlayStation 2 and the skills of the developers over at Snowblind Studios."

Dark Alliance was built with a new game engine; the Dark Alliance Engine, which was built specifically for the game, and would later be used for other PlayStation 2 games, such as Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and The Bard's Tale. Graphically, the Dark Alliance engine is a major improvement over the engine used by the previous Baldur's Gate games, the Infinity Engine. Infinity was only able to render 2D sprite characters and static environments. The Dark Alliance engine, on the other hand, made use of the PlayStation 2's advanced GPU, allowing for such improvements as dynamic lighting, real-time shadowing and 3D models of both characters and environments. IGN wrote of the E3 presentation,

"none of the problems that are commonly associated with PlayStation 2 games, such as low-res textures, flickering, or aliasing problems, are to be found here. It's hard to think of a game that pulls off the much-fabled anti-aliasing as well as this game does. Dark Alliance uses a technique similar to what a large number of Dreamcast games did to pull off their clean look: they simply render the scene at a much higher resolution, anti-alias it, then drop it down to a more acceptable resolution for TVs. The result is a beautifully anti-aliased game."

In November, a few days before the release of the game, IGN's David Smith gave a full preview, again praising the graphics, and writing, "this game is running on a rock-solid 3D engine with completely rotatable dungeons, brilliant animation for nearly every interactive element (of which there are many), and first-rate lighting effects of all different kinds [...] In the beginning, simple refined touches are impressive, amid the generally sharp atmosphere of the game (while there is no visible aliasing, the graphics aren't heavily filtered, either). Even when all you have to fight are rats, and all you have to fight with is a dagger, you can admire how barrels come apart when you smash them, in realistically shaded pieces and a puff of dust, or all the different limbs you can bloodily excise from your foes."

Ports
With the success of the PlayStation version, Interplay announced an Xbox port in May 2002. The port would be handled by Snowblind themselves. A GameCube version was announced in September 2002. The port would be developed by High Voltage Software.

A Game Boy Advance port was announced by DSI Games in November 2001. However, little more was heard of the title until January 2004, when a rumor circulated that the game was finalized, and would be published by Ubisoft. This proved inaccurate, with DSI ultimately publishing the title, which had been ported by Magic Pockets.

Believing the game could also be a success on the PC, Interplay's Feargus Urquhart and David Perry contacted Polish developers CD Projekt. As Poland was known for developing PC games, Urquhart and Perry believed Projekt would be the perfect team to port Dark Alliance to Microsoft Windows. Sebastian Zieliński, developer of Mortyr 2093-1944, which Interplay had published, was placed in charge of the project, with Adam Badowski, a film storyboard artist, hired as designer. A PlayStation 2 development kit was smuggled from Interplay's offices in London to Poland, and work on the port began. However, almost immediately, Interplay cancelled development for unspecified reasons.

Reception
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance received "generally favorable reviews" across all four platforms. On Metacritic, the PlayStation 2 version holds an aggregate score of 87 out of 100, based on twenty-nine reviews; the Xbox version 83 out of 100, based on twenty-five reviews, the GameCube version 79 out of 100, based on ten reviews, and the Game Boy Advance version 76 out of 100, based on seventeen reviews.

IGN's David Smith scored the PlayStation 2 version 9.4 out of 10, giving it an "Editor's Award" and calling the Dark Alliance engine "one of the best 3D engines yet devised." He dismissed criticisms of the game as a "Diablo clone," arguing the gameplay is much deeper than such a comparison suggests. His only criticisms were some anti-climatic boss fights and repetitive music. He concluded "There is honestly not a great deal to complain about here [...] Snowblind has put together one of the best engines on PS2 and one of the best hacks in the business, certainly the best a console has ever seen." Kaiser Hwang scored the Xbox version 8.5 out of 10. He praised the graphics, but wrote "What hurts this game's score is the fact that it is almost exactly the same game that was released last year, not that that's a bad thing. The game is a fine example of exceptional game-making. But an extra level or character, or really any added extras would've been great." Fran Mirabella III scored the GameCube version 7.5 out of 10, calling it "a downgrade from the PS2 version." He criticized the "bafflingly destroyed frame rate," and commented "When it was released on the PS2 a year ago, few could believe what Snowblind had pulled off on Sony's stubborn console. A year later, and quite magically, High Voltage couldn't get the engine running smoothly on GameCube." Craig Harris scored the Game Boy Advance version 8 out of 10, arguing that "Even though it's missing a few key elements from the original design it's based upon, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance works out very well in portable form."

GameSpot's Gerald Villoria scored the PlayStation 2 version 8.8 out of 10, praising the differences between the fighting styles of the three characters, the controls, the range of enemies and weaponry, and the lip syncing. He concluded "You can really appreciate all the work that went into making sure that all of the little things came together so nicely." Greg Kasavin scored the Xbox version 8.5 out of 10, calling it "one of the finest action RPGs ever made" and lauding it as "a perfect port." Kasavin scored the GameCube version 7.6 out of 10, finding similar faults to IGN's Mirabella. He called it "technically deficient" and argued "the visuals [...] just don't measure up, mostly because it suffers from frame rate issues that are nonexistent in the PS2 version (or the new Xbox version)." He concluded "the game just wasn't optimized for the system." Frank Provo scored the Game Boy Advance version 8 out of 10, praising the enemy AI, the sound and the graphics. He concluded, "If you're looking for a hack-and-slash game on the go, this is the one to get."

GameSpy's Raymond Padilla scored the Xbox version 4 out of 5, writing "With the Xbox, the developers had a significantly more powerful tool to retell the story of Dark Alliance. Unfortunately, they didn't take advantage of it. There are minor visual and aural enhancements in this version. They're very slight and I'm sure many gamers wouldn't notice the differences." He criticized the lack of Xbox Live compatibility or any kind of downloadable content, arguing "the only improvements are superficial." However, he also wrote "Compared to competing titles, this is one of the best games available for the Xbox [...] I wholeheartedly recommend Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the Xbox. It's not serving up anything new, but it's still a grand adventure." Christian Nutt scored the GameCube version 3.5 out of 5, calling it "a wonderfully entertaining game that doesn't quite live up to the technical quality of the PS2 original or its Xbox incarnation." He wrote "the graphics have taken a subtle but damaging hit" and criticized "the game's frame rate, which is passable if slightly sluggish most of the time, but chunks up quite perceptibly when you rotate the dungeon." He praised the gameplay, but wrote "for a gamer with a choice between platforms, the GameCube version is the one to avoid."

In the mainstream press, Victor Godinez of The Dallas Morning News called the game "a blast to play." Billy O'Keefe, of the Knight Ridder Tribune wrote Dark Alliance is "all about action," opining that a pure RPG would not work on a console, and the additional action elements in Dark Alliance improved playability. John Breeden II of The Washington Post praised "the smaller number of more straightforward quests." Bob Low of the Daily Record called the graphics "flawless." Godinez also lauded the graphics, calling them "breathtaking." Breeden agreed, saying, "the graphics on the PS2 version are eons ahead of the PC series." Low's one complaint was that the game was too short. Breeden echoed this sentiment, arguing that players used to the longer PC games in the series might find Dark Alliance too brief.

Sales and awards
The game was a commercial success, selling over one million units across PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The PlayStation 2 version won the 2001 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Role-Playing Game of the Year", defeating the hot-favorite, Final Fantasy X. It was later listed at #66 in IGN's "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games". In 2014, IGN ranked it at #7 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time."