What could have been wonderful turned out to be repetitive fights with the same two spells. The Tower is awesome though.
A high levelled expansion with a lot of battle planning. But there are only a few fights that are really exiting and challenging – in a good way.
Graphics: 8.5/10.
I applaud the graphics of the whole BG (and IWD*) series as usual. But it's nice to know that this one is the last of them, because when comparing to games from the same time you get the feeling that it's getting old. (And so NWN** was made in 3D view). In this kind of games it's important to have a good view of the surroundings – which is ok, and most important is a view that enables good control in combat – which is super! There are some small details that are devastating to miss so sometimes you'll need a microscope when playing on higher resolutions.
Sound: 7.5/10.
The music has some charm and nice characteristics. Some melodies repeat themselves in different shapes from time to time, which is a nice trick to get a good feel in the game. But the music isn't as nice as in BG 1. Other sound, like spell effects, sounds OK. The same goes for all the taunts and shorter voice acting. The longer parts of voice acting has it's up and downs, at times it's really good and get you a strong feeling of how the character is but then you have some sloppy dialogs where the actors seem to read the script a bit of. The imp rocks.
Gameplay: 6.5/10.
Finally I am able to use all the high spells that I've longed for throughout the whole Baldur's Gate series. But then again, I only need two of the spells to win every battle it seems. There are a lot of hard fights, but only a few that are really enjoyable. One fight that I will remember for a long looong time (be sure to get the smaller add-on for the game, the one with the big tower). I was a bit let down nevertheless, all lower spells seem worthless when playing this expansion.
Story: 5.0/10.
The story is clear and straightforward. There is not much to marvel about even if the game tries to build up some mystic and confusion. All the characters with pictures are important, and that makes you know who will be likely to meet again and not – if the aren't dead already. I didn't like BG 2s way of mixing different worlds and all the side quests with weird outer planetary stories; it took away a part of the true fantasy feel for me. Here in the expansion you are very much limited to your own story and wont mess around with much side quests at all. But then, your own quest is kind of outer planetary to, so I'm not in love with it. I guess I just miss the old retro easy going "save the town from the Troll" stories. Stories don't have to contain the whole world and more to become interesting. Nice with the epilogue about the hero's followers.
Idea: 6.0/10.
It's good that they made this game, so you could use your high levelled troops in hard combat. But I wish there would be more easy combats to, where you could go bananas with some low level spells and use different weapons then the regulars.
* = Icewind Dale
** = Neverwinter Nights