Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal Review

Such character levels are accompanied by appropriate magical items. In Throne of Bhaal I found loads and loads of magic items; at some point it seemed that there are more magic items here than in the rest of the serial. This is OK, however as powerful characters deserve powerful equipment. All classes will find a rich assortment of everything they need from swords to magical accessories. The enchanted items you gather on the way are fantastic and further enhance your abilities. You should pay heed however, that this is not a Diablo-like clicky game and that your opponent will also be pretty strong. I have to mention my favorite two objects: the Psion's Blade +5 (double handed sword dealing 1D10+5 damage, and granting complete immunity to confusion and all mind attacks), and the Thief's studded leather of thorns +6 (AC 1 + 1d4 fire damage to attacker). Anyway, you can expect a lot of magic and even more enchanted weapons (not that it will help you against the golems as they are practically immune to magic).

We have gathered here today...

Check the map, dammit!

Both cleric/druid and mage spells are far more powerful thanks to their levels. My favorite spell was the Summon Planetar (ninth level spell, can be Dark Planetar or just Planetar depending on mage's alignment), which summons a creature from some other plane that will fight for you. Those creatures can cast high-level spells, are immune to most spells, and are very good fighters. There's also the Comet (tenth level - 10D10 damage!), Implosion, Biggbie's Hand (a gigantic arm crushing anything in front of it), Wish, Spellstrike (neutralizing all enemy magic protection) and so on. Clerics/Druids on the other hand have the Storm of Vengeance (kills all enemies level eight or less on screen instantly), Finger of Death (like Symbol Death, automatically kills the enemy). The forty new spells will surely provide fun even for the most demanding players. The game also features a special treat; the abilities, giving you special bonuses. For instance, Planetar is a quest spell which is gained as ability by mages, just like the clerics can gain Globe of Blades or Summon Fallen Deva Fighter/Ranger/Paladin and all "warrior" classes have not been forgotten either. When they reach the twentieth level, for every consecutive level they reach, they can choose a special ability that would be used as a bonus in combat. They can choose from Deathblow (in ordinary and Greater variant, makes the punch lethal), Critical strike, Whirlwind attack (wounds all nearby enemies), Smite, Hardiness (increases stamina), Warcry (causes panic in the enemy), Power Attack, etc. These abilities are especially useful when you have to face large numbers of enemies.

Speaking of enemy numbers, I noticed that Bioware substantially improved (optimized) the Infinity engine. At one point, I found my company fighting with about forty Drow slaves without slowing the game or frame-rate down. Massive battles are a frequent occurrence in Throne of Bhaal. And you won't be facing ridiculous gibberlings; you will have to defeat hosts of characters with levels higher than ten. Not to speak of various demons and wraiths (I hate those level draining bastards), which will always lurk behind the next corner. All this will give you a good impression of strength of your characters. One of the funny situations (apart from talks with Caspenar) is the conversation with Elminster when he tells you that you are too powerful for him. It is fun to hear something like that from one of the greatest mages of Forgotten Realms.

Dungeon crawl in Throne of Bhaal is very difficult and full of traps on each step. It is far from easy surviving the meteor storms or the Abi-Dalzim horrid wilting traps. I said that you will need more than forty hours to finish the game primarily because of the puzzles. There are a lot of logical puzzles (you have to answer different questions or solve problems) and combinatory puzzles (you have to light six candles in a specific order to open the door). All this takes a lot of time, especially when combined with slaughtering large numbers of powerful enemies.

NPC's in your party have several new comments to pass, act much more serious, and are better in combat. This is not too strange concerning their levels. The romances from BG II: Shadows of Amn are imported with your character, and there are several new ones, but it would be a spoiler if I told you anything about them.

Even though the Baldur's Gate serial is finally finished, Black Isle will continue to provide us with quality entertainment as they had for the past four years, with their new project the Neverwinter Nights, their first 3D D&D adventure. There is a rumor that they intend to give the notorious Infinity engine code to their fans, but that is still but a rumor. The end of Baldur's Gate is also a surprise, or should I say several surprises as there are several ways to finish the game :-).