A delightful experience
This is the first of many games with the same game engine, which means it got popular. It should be very well liked by every RPG gamer, especially by those who have used the D&D rules before. The fantasy feeling is intense and very well formed.
Difficulty: GOOD
It's challenging for all different types of classes. Some fights need to be very well planned if you want to succeed without having someone in your party dead. It's good to use you'r brain. Most gamers will likely come up with tactics that scatters the enemies at some point. One way that seems to be well used in hard fights is to summon as many small monsters as you can so the dangerous enemy cant come near you.
Game lenght: GREAT
It's a long game that leaves you satisfied. You you've finished it, you wont feel that annoying feeling of having a high level character with many abilities and skills that you almost havn't used since you got them so late. Maybe some of the high-level spells will take you there, but that's something you need to be prepared to swallow.
Stability: GREAT
The game is well made throughout the whole story and in all areas. It dosn't crash or anything.
Control: GREAT
All the controls are satisfying in original settings. You can also customize them and give you'r characters "auto pilot"- scripts. The space button are used frequently since it pauses the game to make it possible to give all characters different orders at the same time.
Graphics: GOOD
It's all you need from a RPG. It's not a flashy 3D game, but some of us prefer this overview when making tactical moves.
Detail: GOOD
The level of detail is well satisfying. The trees looks different from each other in the woods and the colour setting of you'r heroes inventory comes true in-game – though this have been a bit unstable when putting on new equipment.
Music: GOOD
Very well made music, suiting for the occasions. The Cloakwood Forest theme is totally wonderful and the rest is more than OK.
Cinematic: GOOD
They are quite few but well distributed throughout the storyline. They pump up the tension of some areas.
Quantity of units / skills / spells / whatever: OK
There are many spells and skills as well as enemies. But I miss special abilities for fighters, they become almost exactly the same – all of them.
Possibilities / Choices to make: OK
You can only make one character from start in this game, the rest will come to you as you play. You may of course try to multiclass the others if you need them to be something they arn't. As written above, the fighters has little to choose from when it comes to abilities. Sometimes you can't do anything new with the heroes even if they have leveled up. But then there are the magic skills, which are many and depending of you'r class. Choosing the right spells for coming events is a really tactical part of the game. You can travel as you like on the map to a certain point, many areas are first reviled when you have finished a certain quest or talked to the right person.
Story: GOOD
The story is exciting and fairly easy to follow. I wanted to get Elmister of Shadowdale in my party right from the first time I saw him, that wasn't possible however.
Tension / Excitement: GREAT
You don't really know whats waiting for you on you'r next move for most of the time. There are many turn-points and sudden events.
Humor: GREAT
BioWare has a good sence for houmor. Minsc and Boo are very hard to forget. There are certain characters that are really fun in one way or another.
Singleplayer / multiplayer usage: OK
This is a true singleplayer experience. The multiplayer possibility isn't that fun since there has to be one leader and the others are to follow the leader at all times.
Game editor: N/A