Developer Snowblind Studios did an amazing job on the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The game was drop-dead gorgeous, and did things on the PS2 that just shouldn’t be possible. The hack-and-slash, dungeon-crawling gameplay was visceral and satisfying, and the character customization/maintenance aspects of the game made it extremely difficult to put down the controller. Dark Alliance was truly a work of art. Nearly two years after the release of the original game comes the sequel; Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II. While it retains the majority of the first game’s charm and appeal, it just doesn’t stack up in comparison. It still delivers a very fun and engrossing experience for fans of the first game or the RPG genre in general however, and it stays true to its roots, for whatever that’s worth. But DAII simply doesn’t shine as brightly as the first game, no doubt due to the fact that Snowblind Studios wasn’t involved with the development of the game this time around.