I had this weird craving after our game last night to play more role-playing, so when the weather was beautiful today, I went out shopping.  (Isn't it weird how some people shop when the weather gets nice?  Isn't it weird that I'm one of them? Yes, I have a problem.)

So I picked up a copy of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the XBox.  First off, let me say that I'm not disappointed with the game, but I came away with the same feeling that I always get from computer RPGs - that feeling that they could have done better/more with what property they have.

You can choose one of three characters in the game.  A male human archer, a male dwarven fighter, or a female elven sorcerer.  Well, I wanted to play a sorcerer more than I did not want to play a woman, so I chose the elf.  My first question here is why do all female characters in CRPGs wear next to nothing?  Is there some titilation factor involved in going to the inventory screen and removing her clothes to see the barely-there underclothes?  Why bother adding this feature?  Whatever.

As usual, dialog with other characters in the game is a contrived attempt to make the player feel like he's talking to someone.  Who doesn't try all of the dialog options?  Or, rather, who doesn't try all of the dialog options expecting something to happen as a result, then doesn't bother talking to anyone for the rest of te game because it doesn't really matter?

On to the first "dungeon", a maze of a basement under an inn.  Who builds these labrynthian wine cellars?  And connects them to the sewer?

Anyway, I wandered down through the cellar, careful to leave all of the innkeeper's stored goods in tact, hoping to be rewarded for rescuing things from the rats.  As it turns out, she didn't care.  So I went back down and broke open every box and barrel, and stole everything I found inside.  She still didn't care.  Even the shopkeeper (who runs his business not out of a shop, but out of a corner of the inn) took my stolen gold without care.

The controls for the game, in my opinion, suck.  I don't enjoy using the directional pad as four buttons.  Likewise, I don't like pulling the triggers to drink potions.  Thankfully, drinking potions heals you instantly, otherwise, I would have died much more often than I did.

The game is supposed to follow the D&D 3rd edition rules, but I can't figure out how that works.  There are some of the same words in there, and some of the stats play out (Base attack bonus, Dexterity offers a bonus to Armor Class, etc.), but there are specific things that do not.  For example, when you make a level (through killing a bunch of monsters, ugh) you get "points" to spend on traits.  Well, as a sorcerer, wouldn't I simply get access to my next level (or appropriate quantity) of spells?  Instead, I get only two of these weird "points" which I can then choose to allocate to many things at odd ratios.

The graphics are good.

Dungeon levels seem to be stacked on top of one another, Diablo-style.  So when I finished with the inn cellar, I headed straight down to the sewer.  And when I was finished with the sewer, I headed straight down to the crypts.  One must marvel in the ability of the town planners who nicely stacked everything in Baldur's Gate so nicely on top of each preceeding thing.

The item system is one of the most fumbled things in the game.  You can equip items, but not use them.  Also, the recall potion (which returns you to the inn from any dungeon level, regardless of distance underground - this would be a big issue in 3rd Ed.) is activated not from the inventory screen, but from the pause menu.  The pause menu.  Weird.

I really am not a fan of real time combat in games.  I would have prefered a system where I could calculate my moves.  My argument here is just because I have clumsy fingers (and can never remember which button casts the single readied spell) doesn't mean that my character is inept at magic or fighting.  She kills pretty much everything, so I can't see how with a little strategy she couldn't run the entire dungeon through.

As I said at the beginning, all of this is pretty much what I expected.  I think I'm just tired of being disappointed in computer/console RPGs.  It would be nice if this game was more like the real, computer Baldur's Gate, in that your actions and conversations change the way the world works and what you must do to succeed.  Unfortunately, I think the masses are simply into the hack and slash.  If so, this game should appeal to them.