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Baldur's Gate is a popular series of computer role-playing games that take place along the Sword Coast, a location from Dungeons & Dragons's Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
The series includes the following games, developed for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS by BioWare:
The console title Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was developed by Snowblind and released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. Dark Alliance is not often regarded as a part of the Baldur's Gate series, as the plot is unrelated to previous games, and it was never released (as was the original series) for Windows and Macintosh.
The Baldur's Gate series brought many technical advancements in computer-based role-playing games, such as the famous Infinity Engine. It was also the third computer game ever to make use of the Lua scripting language.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The western shore along the Sea of Swords contains a multitude of ecologies and terrain including mountains, forests, swamps, marshes, plains, cities, and ruins. Collectively called the Sword Coast, it attracts adventurers for good and evil alike, and provides the backdrop for this epic adventure. The region encompassed by this game is roughly bordered to the South by the Cloud Peaks, the East by the Wood of Sharp Teeth, the West by the Sea of Swords, and the North by Baldur's Gate (the largest and most affluent city in the region).
You are an orphan raised in Candlekeep, an ancient fortress turned library, south of Baldur's Gate and north of the kingdom of Amn and its capital, Atkhatla, all on the Sword Coast. Your guardian is the mage Gorion, and Imoen is your childhood friend. Strange things are afoot on the Sword Coast: iron production has virtually halted, metal already produced quickly crumbles, and bandits scour the countryside hunting iron over any other treasure, strangest of all, there seem to be mercenaries hunting you! Gorion knows what is going on, but will not tell you, and he decides to leave Candlekeep and journey to another hiding place where he will "explain everything". As soon as you set out from Candlekeep, however, you are attacked, Gorion is killed, and you are left on your own. Worthy of note is that the attacker, known only as the "armored figure" tells Gorion to "hand over your ward and you may go free." Gorion responds with "I would be a fool to trust your benevolence!" and the battle begins, ending in Gorions death. Imoen had read a letter upon Gorion's table, and concerned for you and Gorion, she follows. She too saw Gorion's murder, and she now insists on following you.
You travel the countryside, equipping yourself and forming your party as you explore the countless areas such as towns, dungeons, mines, forests, castle ruins, and the city of Baldur's Gate. The main quest line involves you finding out who stands behind the iron conspiracy and confronting them, as well as finding out what Gorion didn't tell you about your ancestry and history. The Iron Throne, masterminded by Sarevok, intends to control the Sword Coast by restricting the iron supply to its armies. As you seek to confront Sarevok, who in turn seeks to seize you for his purposes, you find out that you are half-siblings, children of the god of slaughter, Bhaal. Sarevok also turns out to have been Gorion's murderer (the "armored figure"). Your Bhaal-spawn ancestry explains much about your past and raises questions about your future.
Thus, the Iron Throne is only a façade for Sarevok's real intentions, which are to perform a ritual which will make him the new god of slaughter, start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, and bring destruction upon the Sword Coast. Numerous side quests allow you to explore the game areas and accumulate experience and items. Finally, you confront and vanquish Sarevok in the hidden city beneath Baldur's Gate, finishing the game.
The game is based upon a real-time modification of the AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) ruleset. Your party consists of 1-6 members, either created by you according to the AD&D rules or NPCs recruited by you. Numerous side quests and plot twists are associated with particular NPCs and whether or not you have them in your party.
Through extensive, context-dependent dialogue, NPCs inside and outside your party are fleshed out as complex, interesting characters. Very good character and plot design and depth, excellent background art, and a well-made user interface provided by Bioware's Infinity Engine are the series' strong points.
Several characters from the first game make a comeback, some of which as NPCs that can (re)join the player's party. These are Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Edwin and Viconia. Other NPCs appear only in sub-secondary roles, mostly to supply the player with quests. Because Baldur's Gate II doesn't check the status of these characters at the end of the first game, they appear even if they perished in the course of the previous adventure (often prompting the player character to ask: "Aren't you dead?")
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is an expansion pack for Baldur's Gate II which adds one large optional bonus area to the game, Watcher's Keep. It also extends the main plot line to an epic conclusion.
War breaks out throughout Amn between the agitated Bhaalspawn who turn out to be numerous and fight each other for power. Defeating numerous other Bhaalspawn, the player comes a long way from his or her humble beginnings in Candlekeep. Ultimately, the player must vanquish all competitors and be presented with the choice of ascending the throne of Bhaal and becoming the new god of death, or destroying it and returning to peaceful life as a mortal.
The expansion disc adds Sarevok to the game, who is resurrected (albeit with none of his original divine essence) and may join the player's party.
1999; set 1368 DR; ISBN 0-7869-1525-0)
Memorable quotes taken from the series:
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