Introduction

Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Interplay
Baldur's Gate 2 official page: http://www.bioware.com/bgate2/

Baldur's Gate 2

Many RPG fans know by now that Interplay and Bioware recently announced Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. For those of you who haven't played the original Baldur's Gate, it was the award winning game that sparked a resurgence in the RPG genre on PC. What made Baldur's Gate unique is that it was based strictly on the official Dungeons and Dragons rules. This was no watered down, Diablo-type RPG - Baldur's Gate was much more hardcore. It was made for those who grew up on dice rolling, character creation, and the thick guides of the pen and paper D&D games. BG featured an isometric view, polished user interface, and of course a huge world and tons of quests for your party to enjoy. BG2 will be the continuation of that story, which Bioware always intended to be a trilogy (so look for BG3 in a couple of years).

The city where the sun don't shine

The BG2 announcement was made at the Wizards of the Coast game center in Seattle, Washington. Now, I'm not a big fan of this great Northwestern city. Quite frankly, I'm tired of the fact that the University of Washington has owned Cal for about a quarter century in football. I'm further annoyed that this city spawned the single biggest scourge of music in my lifetime: the grunge movement. Sorry, flannel, self pity, and scratchy throated caterwauling just isn't my bag. And don't get me started on my feelings about that "java virus," Starbucks.

A convenient gaming outlet...

Small, but clean

Still, I wasn't going to turn down a trip. It's not often that Dennis and Kenn unlock me out of my cage and let me out, so I wasn't about to pass up the chance to see some real sunlight. Oh wait…I was going to Seattle so I guess I shouldn't have expected any of that. Well, maybe Seattle wouldn't be such a bad place. I'd never been there so maybe I was giving it a bad rap. Well, the trip didn't exactly change my mind; it rained almost the entire time I was there (surprise, surprise - this is a city that gets 50 sunny days a year?). At least the hotel where I was staying was fairly nice. They even had "pay per view" Super Nintendo games right there on the room's TV. There was a McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Jamba Juice right around the block. And the rain did let up momentarily before the BG2 announcement to reveal a nice rainbow. Maybe Seattle isn't all that bad.

Oooh...purty

A pot of gold is at that Chevron