Games

Best of 2008 | 07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

EMAIL PRINT pc

9.3 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 150 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Interplay

Developer: Bioware

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game

Players: 6

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: September 22, 2000

Summary

An epic continuation of the story that began in "Baldur's Gate," this RPG is set along the southern portion of the Sword Coast, a detailed and rich area of the Forgotten Realms called Amn. It features 300 spells and 130-plus monster types compared to only 130 spells and 60 monster types in Baldur's Gate. [Interplay]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Adrenaline Vault Cheat Code Central Da Gameboyz Game Revolution GamePro GameSpot GameSpot GameSpot Guide Gamezilla! Happy Puppy IGN IGN Guide PC Gameworld

Also On The Web: Official Game Site Planet Baldur's Gate

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GamePower

It's not just vast, but flooded with quests and side adventures. There is always something to do in this game and, after that, there's always something more.

100

CheckOut

May very well be the best computer-based role-playing game of all time.

100

Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

The best conventional RPG -- carefully side-stepping "Deus Ex's" entirely different brilliance -- in recent years.

Read Full Review >

100

Adrenaline Vault

Astounding graphics, sound, and storytelling combine to make the definitive fantasy RPG epic, one that will enthrall players for years to come.

Read Full Review >

100

GMR Magazine

The rare occasion when the sequel to a classic goes above and beyond its predecessor. Can't wait for III. [Feb 2003, p.94]

100

Daily Radar

A great experience. It's as close to a perfect rendition of the D&D universe as we've ever seen.

100

GamePro

The best RPG action the PC has to offer.

Read Full Review >

100

Quandary

This game could consume you too, it could change your life. Good news on one level but even if it's bad news and all your friends and family disown you, there's still a silver lining. This game is value plus for money!

Read Full Review >

100

Computer Games Magazine

Outstanding writing combined with a good plot, plenty of content, beautiful graphics, and an engrossing soundtrack place Baldur's Gate II alongside some of the best role-playing games ever created.

Read Full Review >

Gamer's Pulse

By far the best sequel I've ever played.

Read Full Review >

PC Gameworld

With near-seamless integration of the 2nd Edition AD&D rules, a tight storyline and a good deal of action, I really can't think of an RPG to date that betters it.

Read Full Review >

Da Gameboyz

To me it is like a well-written novel, I just couldn't put it down.

Antagonist

I'd like my life back, Black Isle.

GamerWeb PC

The enormous amount of characters and choices that you face while playing the game will make it impossible to explore everything in your first go. Well, add to the fact that it will probably take about 200 hours to finish the game in your first try.

Read Full Review >

ActionTrip

An incredible game.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

This program intrigues, and delights. The characters have personalities, the game board is huge and the storyline is liable to go in almost any direction – or so it seems.

Read Full Review >

Armchair Empire

Great quests, solid story, very good voice acting, challenging battles, and engaging dialogue and characters make this an RPG that stands head and shoulders above the competition.

Read Full Review >

Electric Playground

For the first time in a single player game, I truly felt I was playing my way through a pen and paper fantasy campaign.

Read Full Review >

Happy Puppy

It's everything you loved about the original (1998's RPG of the year), yet infinitely more refined.

Read Full Review >

IGN

Baldur's Gate II has no peers. It commands your attention and will command your life for months. It's exactly the RPG I've been waiting for.

Read Full Review >

FiringSquad

A masterpiece of game design and development. Like its Black Isle-developed "Planescape" cousin, BG2 is a tour-de-force in computer roleplaying.

Read Full Review >

GameSpy

Epic in scope and delivery and should not be avoided by anyone, novice or veteran. This is most certainly my pick for RPG game of the year.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

It's a definitive role-playing experience, and the only reason it can't be called the best game in its class is because in a sense there's nothing available that compares to it.

Read Full Review >

PC Gamer

A bigger, prettier, better version of Baldur's Gate that's sure to satisfy. [Dec 2000, p.146]

Game Over Online

I'm not exactly sure what Black Isle has for an expected gaming time, but I'd assume it's at least more than BG1 (over 150 hours).

Read Full Review >

Game Revolution

It is the kind of game you could easily find yourself dusting off two years from now and enjoying just as thoroughly.

Read Full Review >

CNET Gamecenter

Possibly the best and biggest RPG you'll ever play.

Eurogamer

What we have here is a role-playing game in which little could be improved - the story and quests are captivating, the gameplay tried and tested, and the overall feel is professional and entertaining.

Read Full Review >

Spank!

Where the game scores low is in the repeated use of cliched fantasy fodder in the shape of the narrative, nomenclature, audio and character portraits.

All Game Guide

A diversely beautiful and deadly environment filled with amazing characters and a myriad of possibilities. For any fan of the original, this is a must have – it's just too good to pass up.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 150 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Onur C gave it a10:
Simply the best game I have ever played. An epic adventure which any other game could not offer and I do not think they will do so. I have been playing variety genres of computer games for nearly 20 years and I did not played a game more than once but this. I completed this game four times and after all that I never got tired of it.

S D gave it a10:
They don't make 'em like this anymore, more's the pity. Everything came together in this game in a way that has never been achieved again. Balance was just right, gameplay was fun without being excessively repetitive, plot was interesting, world was expansive, mechanics were sound. But all that does not really get to the essence of what it is: an alternative world experience that is totally immersive. Hardened gamers on forums reported that they literally cried at the end of this, as they would at the end of a great novel or a great movie. This had real characters doing epic things. It's not quite The Lord of the Rings, but in terms of epic scale, feel, emotion, heroism, and all out escapist joy, it's the closest thing PC gaming has ever produced. It may be ten years old now, but it's still peerless.

Nathan W gave it a10:
There's a special place in a gamer's heart for his first RPG. What surprises me is how much I adore this game more than the original, which was my first real rpg immersion. Everything was better, deeper, richer, and more exciting. I have never played a more realized and wonderful fantasy world, and never regret the near hundred hours I poured into this game. Is it supremely complicated and difficult to learn? Of course it is, and all the benefit of those who want to learn and live.

d d gave it a10:
Every now and then i feel the urge to replay the whole baldur's gate story. every now and then i feel how much work and how much time that game needed to be build. every now and then i feel the masses of detail and art within this game. every now and then i feel ... minsc should STFU! but still i like him. reminds me of giving him that sword with verbal diarrhoea.

Lars gave it a10:
Still the best RPG i've ever played. Great story, very good music, interesting characters, romances and party banter, lovingly character portraits, beautiful graphic backdrops. The voice acting is brilliant - Jaheira with a slight touch of arrogance, an innocent Aerie, mad Minsc. It's an epic RPG that offers many, many hours of gameplay, but it's not an empty, dull world like Oblivion.

Philip D. gave it a2:
Oh. I really am annoyed about this. I bought it with intentions of getting sucked into the game like money into a vacuum cleaner but it just didn't work. Time and time again I have come back to this game, spending hours playing it and trying to get into the story. I can see why people like this game so much- once you get past the shell of this game I'm sure there are emotional plot twists, epic fights and pants of +3 healing... but what a shell to crack. I mean, I keep playing this game, sitting down for several hours, failing at enjoying it then going off for a stab at Oblivion or Deus Ex instead. Don't get me wrong- I do try. I spent £20 on this game, after all. I have a horribly powerful urge to play this game every couple of months (much as I do with the Sims) but once it's loaded up, I look at its pixelated graphics and sheer... dullness and give in. I'm going to say LOOK OUT. If you don't mind spending a whole day or so getting into it I'm sure there's a fantastic game underneath. However, if you're anything like me you'd be better off with a game which pays off sooner. A game like Baldurs Gate is missing from my life but at the end of the day, it isn't meant to be. Great music, though.

Jesper gave it a10:
Definitely the best game ever, there is no rpg like it, there is no game like it at all i have ever played after...but i hope there will be.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases