Graphics and Sound

The graphic detail of Baldur's Gate is pretty extensive. The problem is that the graphics are not quite as crisp and refined looking as they could have been. Perhaps we've been spoiled by Starcraft and Diablo, but we can't help feeling that the BG graphics aren't quite as clean as we've become used to. The immense amount of detail put into the characters, the buildings and environment make up for that slight blocky feeling though. Room interiors look as if they've been lived in, with random items strewn on tables and plenty of furniture. You're not left with that feeling that you're peering into a doll's house instead of a "real" room. We also thought it was a nice touch to have the characters' weapons and armor visible on them as you're walking around. You'll notice a real difference in character appearances depending on what kind of armor they're wearing or what kind of weapon they are using. You can also customize your character's hair color, skin tone, clothing color, and trim to your liking. Baldur's Gate features the same detail in the outdoor environments as well. The terrain can be variable and it doesn't look as though the design team tried to cut corners by making each outdoor area similar. The sheer size of the game and the amount of detail put into the graphics left us feeling impressed with the amount of effort put into the game.

Casting a magic missile

The sound in the game is also a mixed bag. BG supports Creative's Environmental Audio but not Aureal 3D which disappointed me because I own a Monster MX200. I did try swapping in a SB Live card but I didn't really notice the positional audio that much. It would seem that 3D audio doesn't play that big of a role when the game isn't first person. The sound effects in the game are one strongpoint; the ambient sounds of town chatter or animals in the wilderness contribute to the overall immersiveness of the game as does the music, which has a definite adventure theme. One thing that bothered me though was the sparse options in voices given for the main character. I thought they were all pretty cheesy, with two of the three male voices having too much of a feminine quality to them and the last having too much of a "drunken pub fighter" sound to it.

The Interface

On a more positive note, the developers did an outstanding job with the game interface. As mentioned before, everything is very intuitive so it's easy to just load up the game and get started without having to study the manual first. Left clicking in the main screen is context sensitive and the command will vary between talk, attack, move, open, and pickup. On the left side bar are buttons that take you to secondary screens like inventory, mapping, and character attribute screens, and the journal, which is one of my favorite aspects of the game. In a lot of older RPG games you were forced to either remember the quests you've been sent on or take out a sheet of paper and write down the details yourself. It's quite a pain either way. Baldur's Gate saves you the trouble by automatically writing down in your journal the important information that you pick up. It's hard to overstate how convenient a feature this is because of the countless times you'll read your journal to help you remember things. Well at least I use it a lot and I'm a bit young to be going senile already (I hope). The bottom bar features an expandable and collapsible chat interface and access to your quick weapons, items, and spells. Finally, the right side bar lines up the portraits of every member in your party so you can easily click the portraits to issue co