One of the best hack'n'slash RPGs available for PS2
Gameplay: Many say that Dark Alliance 2 is inferior to it's original. Many claim that it did not have the sense of originality that the first one possessed. However, I found the sequel to be a huge improvement. While the basic gameplay remains the same as the first one (which is awfully similar to the Diablo series), there have been several improvements. No longer is your selection limited to 3 characters: this time, you can choose between 5 different characters, each one vastly different than the last.
The game is divided up into 4 acts, each one unravelling the story more and more. Each act gets progressively harder until the final encounter with the boss of the game. The action in BGDA2 is fast-paced and action packed, from the start of Act 1 until the final battle at the end of Act 4. You'll spend alot of the game dungeon-crawling, acquiring loot and other valuables on the way. You can equip weapons and armor, like in the previous game, however, new to the sequel is the ability to imbue jewels and other magical stones into your weapons. This can make your weapons stronger and add to your stats/spells, making you able to make your character more powerful than in the original game.
You can level your character up to a maximum of level 80 (double that of the first game). However, by the end of the game, you’ll only be in the mid 20’s, making you want to replay through the game (maybe on a harder difficulty) to level your character and make him as powerful as he can be.
Graphics: The graphics are the only thing that can be considered “not amazing” about BGDA2. Although the main gameplay graphics are excellent, with some amazing water effects and some well-detailed dungeons and enemies, it’s the cut-scenes that aren’t very well detailed. For example, in the opening cut-scene, the characters have huge texture problems, making them reminiscent of the PS1’s graphics. However, since there aren’t many cut-scenes in the game, and some of them actually have some alright graphics, overall the graphics in this game are good, and definatly above average.
Sound: The sound in this game is amazing. It is nearly flawless. The music in the game is excellent, and the opening theme that plays on the main menu is especially awesome. The game is also fully voice-acted (except for your character), and this voice acting is very good and fits each character nicely.
Value: This game is packed with replay value. Although the game will only take you roughly 12-15 hours to beat, there are 3 difficulty levels, plus an additional one that opens up once you beat the game, called Extreme. In extreme, you use a character that has already beaten the game, and it is very hard (you might want to go through on normal a couple of times to level up your character before trying extreme). In addition to the difficulty levels adding replay value, there are also 5 characters to choose from, each one vastly different than the last. You’ll definatly want to play through the game with all of them, since it’s a unique experience each time. Also, each character has a unique quest that only they can do, so it’s not like you’re doing the exact same thing each time you go through the game with a different character.
The game also features a two-player co-operative mode through the main game. You’ll definatly want to go through the game with a friend at least once, but if both of you enjoy the game as much as I did, you’ll be going through it several times with each other. It would have been nice to be able to fight against your friends as well, but they don’t have that option in the game.
With all of the different difficulty settings, characters, and 2 player modes, you could easily get 100+ hours out of this game, maybe more if you’re interested in levelling up to 80.
Tilt: Overall, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is a masterpiece. It improves on the first game in nearly every way possible. Even if you aren’t a fan of the RPG genre, I’d still advise you on checking this game out. This is definatly one of the best hack'n'slash RPGs for PS2, and should not be missed by anyone.