Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Four Fat Chicks

A fine RPG, very loosely based upon a simplified Dungeons & Dragons motif. The game mechanics are easy, leaving you to focus on the puzzles, the high-adrenaline battles, and the lustful visuals.

Play Magazine

A superb game. [Feb 2002, p.59]

FHM

Shave off the beard, throw away the sandals, the RPG has grown up.

GamingTrend

With it's beautiful graphics, easy to use interface, replayability and 2 player cooperative mode it should be the definitive hack and slash type RPG on the Playstation 2 for a long time to come.

GameSpy

The gameplay is easy to pick up, yet has lots of depth due to the feat system. The graphics and sound are excellent. And there's plenty of replay value, especially for Forgotten Realms fan boys.

IGN

The three character classes add substantial replay value, and the multiplayer mode is a must if you've got a friend who can stick with you for the long haul.

GameZone

Featuring awe-inspiring graphics, ultra-realistic sound, seamless frame-rates, a masterful rendition of D&D 3rd Edition rules, and insanely addictive game play - there just doesn't seem to be enough words to describe the way this title upped the standards for it's genre in the console world.

XenGamers

Not only fun to play but also quite breathtaking in its level of graphic detail.

Into Liquid Sky

Baldur's Gate is all of the best things about "Dungeons & Dragons" without the annoying people you used to have to play with and the bother of keeping up with stats and dice rolls.

PSX Nation

It spanks the crap out of "Gauntlet Legends" in depth while still having the hack ‘n slash a non RPG fan will be drawn to.

Cheat Code Central

Shorter than the average RPG, this game should take you about 18 hours to complete but the two player co-op and the two other class characters will add to the replay value. Truly an instant classic that will be enjoyed by gamers of all persuasion.

Electric Playground

One of the best PS2 games on the market. It combines well-paced action, a strong story, and AD&D rules into an exciting romp through the most famous city on the Sword Coast.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

The best Diablo-style action/RPG ever produced. [Jan 2002, p.130]

GamePro

The visuals are flat out gorgeous with environments that are both intricately detailed and quite enormous...[though] it’s short for an RPG (about 11 Hours) even if its main focus is action.

Yahoo! Games

Set in a rich and charming world with a host of great characters, it's beautifully paced and challenging enough to make you want more, yet simple in both its control interface and concept.

GameSpot

While Dark Alliance provides a capable story, it succeeds most on an instinctive level--as a pure gameplay experience. Every button and feature of the PS2 controller is used in a manner that is both intuitive and functional.

Game Informer

Just a button-mashing beat-em-up in fantasy clothing, but what a fabulous controller cruncher it is. [Dec 2001, p.89]

Gamezilla!

With the stunning graphics, super-fun co-op mode, and intelligent and seamless interface, you won’t be worrying about the storyline until well after you’ve finished shooting fireballs at the last of the frost giants.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

[It will] suck you in faster than an arrow into a gelatinous cube. [Jan 2002, p.202]

Game Revolution

Serves up enough tasty D&D stew to satisfy your role-playing urges. It oozes with quality and is genuinely fun.

All Game Guide

The combination of action, treasure seeking, and character development is highly reminiscent of that other hit PC role-playing game, "Diablo II," with 3D graphics that go far beyond Blizzard's 2D beauty.

Hot Games

It's refreshing to see a quasi-RPG game that doesn't go for the high-brow, rules-specific combat of RPG's - but if you're looking for an RPG with more clout, stick to "Final Fantasy X."

GMR Magazine

A beautiful-looking "Dungeons & Dragons"-based hack-and-slash. [Feb 2003, p.92]

Gamer's Pulse

A very creative game; baked with remarkable graphics, a nicely furnished plot and sprinkled with dazzling effects, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is definitely worth buying.

Gamestyle

Now here comes the main niggle I have with this otherwise incredible co-op game. It’s short. I mean Danny De Vito short. My friend and I did it in less than 10 hours, and we explored everywhere and killed everything.

GamePen

A great game for those in the market for a solid dungeon crawl. What the game lacks in plot, it makes up for in good old-fashioned hack-n-slash fun.

TotalGames.net

And there's Dark Alliance's core problem in a nutshell – it plonks you in one of the most painstakingly created gaming universes to ever emerge, and yet you're more than happy to be kept within this episode's central, linear plot-path.

netjak

It can be improved upon, by making the story less ambiguous and more involving without making it feel like an afterthought. The gameplay aspect could definitely be less tedious and provide more side quests or alternative options.

G4 TV

At normal difficulty (which is actually quite easy) the game should take about eight to 10 hours to complete. There is replay value in the different characters, although the dungeons and quests remain identical.