Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Review Summary

Excellent nostalgic action RPG experience: The game is praised for successfully capturing the nostalgic feel of classic action RPGs, especially those from the PS2 era. Many reviewers express excitement about reliving their childhood memories and find the game just as enjoyable as they remember it. This strong nostalgia factor significantly contributes to the game's appeal.

Great co-op, local and remote: The game offers enjoyable co-op experiences, both locally and remotely, enhancing the fun and replayability. The "Remote Play Together" feature is highlighted as a major positive, allowing players to share the game with friends even if only one person owns it. The game is considered a great couch co-op alternative.

Simple, accessible, and well-optimized: The game is easy to pick up and play, with intuitive controls and mechanics that "just work." It offers multiple difficulty levels, making it accessible to both newcomers and experienced players. The game runs smoothly on PC without requiring extensive setup.

High replayability, multiple characters: The game offers high replayability due to multiple character classes and unlockable difficulty modes. Players are encouraged to play through the game multiple times to fully explore each character's skills and experience the game at higher difficulty levels.

Well-executed and polished PC port: The PC port is well-executed, featuring improved graphics, textures, and fast loading times compared to the original. Reviewers report no significant bugs or stuttering issues, indicating a polished and stable experience.

Overpriced, lazy port: The overwhelming sentiment is that the game is overpriced for a barebones port of a 20-year-old game, lacking significant enhancements or modernization. Many reviewers feel the price does not reflect the minimal effort put into the PC version and consider it a cash grab.

Poor, outdated graphics: Reviewers consistently criticize the poor visual quality, citing muddy textures, blurry UI elements, low-resolution menus, and a general lack of graphical options. The game's visuals appear dated and unoptimized for modern PCs, with some assets not scaling well to higher resolutions.

Technical issues and bugs: The game suffers from various technical issues, including crashes, freezes, and frame rate-related bugs. Some reviewers reported the game running at excessively high speeds due to uncapped refresh rates, making it unplayable.

Lacks PC-specific features: The PC port is criticized for lacking essential PC-oriented settings and modern quality-of-life improvements. Reviewers note the absence of graphical options, cloud saves, proper keyboard/mouse support, and other features expected in a modern PC game release.

Poor balance and difficulty: The game's balance and difficulty are frequently criticized, with reviewers noting difficulty spikes, the need for 'cheesing' strategies, and imbalances between character classes. Some found the game overly difficult, requiring excessive health potion consumption.

Diablo-like ARPG in Baldur's Gate: The game is a hack-and-slash ARPG in the D&D/Baldur's Gate universe, similar to Diablo but simpler than classic RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights. It features three pre-made characters, dungeon crawling, and loot progression. The game also includes local co-op support.

WASD movement and jumping: Unlike typical hack and slash games, movement is controlled with WASD keys instead of mouse clicks, and the game includes jumping. These control mechanics were considered innovative at the time of release.

Adjustable camera with limitations: The game features a fully 3D, top-down perspective with an adjustable rotating camera, but some sections restrict camera rotation. In co-op, if one player stops moving, the camera locks off the other player, potentially leading to them getting trapped and killed.

Leveling and skill progression: Leveling provides stat points and ability points for active and passive skills, with increasing costs per tier. Attributes like strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma can be increased upon leveling up. The game features a skill menu with various abilities.

Stunning enemies and varied types: The game includes various enemy types, normal enemies, mini-bosses, and bosses. Larger enemies can briefly stun the player, potentially leading to death.

Uncapped framerate causes issues: The game's uncapped framerate on modern hardware causes various issues. These include speeding up gameplay, desynchronizing audio, and screen tearing. External tools or V-Sync are often needed to lock the game at 60fps for proper functioning, with Nvidia cards showing better compatibility for framerate capping.

Limited graphics options; blurry UI: The game lacks graphics options, and some players have noted that the UI, particularly the inventory menu, appears blurry and low resolution. This suggests a lack of optimization for modern displays in certain areas.

Remote play functions well: Remote play functionality appears to be working well, allowing players to stream the game to other devices without significant issues. This enhances accessibility and convenience for those who want to play on different screens.

Loud noise at startup: One user reported that the Black Isle Studios screen at the start of the game produces an unpleasant, loud noise when using headphones. This is likely a minor audio glitch that affects a small number of players.

Emulation/Original better than port: Several reviewers recommend emulating the game or playing it on original hardware instead of purchasing this PC port due to issues like bugs and lack of cross-platform cloud saves. Some also report that the original versions offer a better experience.

Recommended for genre/D&D fans: Many reviewers recommend the game to fans of the genre, D&D, or those seeking a nostalgic experience. Some consider it a masterclass or a timeless classic, and praise the story.

Requesting ports of sequels: Some reviewers suggest checking out the sequel, Dark Alliance 2, as it is reportedly better. They also request a PC port of Dark Alliance 2 and Champions of Norrath.

Sequel is a better game: Some reviewers feel that Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is a better game than this one.

Clone of Champions of Norrath: Some reviewers feel that the game is a clone of Champions of Norrath. They would like to see Champions of Norrath and Champions Return to Arms released on PC.

Direct port of original: The game is a direct port of the 2001 console version with minimal graphical updates, not a remake or remaster. This point highlights that the game retains the original gameplay and visual style from two decades ago.

First PC release: This release marks the first time Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance has been available on PC, excluding a newer, less favored version. This is significant for players who prefer PC gaming and have been waiting for this title.

Game preservation, nostalgia: The game's addition to Steam is appreciated for game preservation and nostalgia. However, this point lacks specific feedback on the game itself.

Customizable keyboard controls: The game allows for keyboard control customization, as exemplified by remapping jump to the space bar. This is a positive feature for players who prefer personalized control schemes.

Title significance unclear: The game's title, "Dark Alliance," lacks clear explanation within the game itself. Players may need to seek external sources to understand the title's significance.