RPGDot 2001 Awards
Best Single Player RPG Expansion
In the last weeks of December 2001,
you had the opportunity to vote for the best RPGs released
in 2001. Nobody knows better what these are then you the player
and as such The RPGDot 2001 Awards will look good on any game
receiving one.
We thank all those who entered their votes and helped us in
making it possible to select the best games.
Best Single Player RPG Expansion
Expansions to games come in different forms. The purpose of
the developer/publisher is to make some more money on a well
received game and there is nothing bad about that as they
have to make a living as well. As long as the expansion adds
enough to the original game to make it worthwhile playing
it, both the gamer and the creators can be happy. And you,
the voters, have selected those games that fit this criteria.
The winner: Baldur's Gate II:
Throne of Bhaal
Throne of Bhaal concludes the Bhaal saga and personally I
don't like it, but all good things must end some time and
this is it.
Throne of Bhaal puts your character into the higher levels
and it might even do the same for the player. It plays and
feels like its predecessors, so if you liked those than this
is a must have (and if you did you already have it I guess).
This expansion does not add anything new, but gives you more
of the same, which is a good story with a nice plot, high
level fighting and a rewarding end.... what more could you
want from an expansion.
(Myrthos)
Runner Up: Diable 2: Lord of Destruction
Diablo 2 was a big hit, as could be expected from Blizzard.
And after a big hit comes an expansion, which was Lord of
Darkness, which brought us two new character classes: The
Druid and the Assassin who offered new ways of playing the
game (even though you had to start at level 1 again with them).
Of course Lord of Destruction adds more great fighting and
more new treasures to be found as it is supposed to do, but
it also adds six new quests that will keep you busy for some
time, while you fight your way through the new areas. It deserves
it's place on the hard disk right next to the original Diablo
2.
(Myrthos)
Second Runner Up: Icewind Dale:
Heart of Winter
Icewind Dale was Black Isle Studio's very own dungeon crawler,
based upon the same Infinity Engine as used in the Baldur's
Gate series. And even though it had a decent story, the game
focused on fighting and more fighting. The original game sold
ok, so an expansion was to be expected and thus Heart of Winter
was created.
Heart of Winter offered some nice things of which the 800x600
screen must be the most noteworthy thing in my opinion. The
larger screen size does add a lot to the atmosphere. The game
had only one major shortcoming.... for that money it was too
short.
To solve that issue Black Isle Studio developed an expansion
to the expansion named Trial of the Luremaster, which was
downloadable for free.
If you liked Icewind Dale then you're going to like Heart
of Winter as well. It adds enough to the original game to
make it worthwhile replaying the whole thing again, if only
to see how it looks in 800x600.
(Myrthos)
The Numbers
To make it complete we now give you the top 4 (there were
only 4 games to choose from) as voted by our visitors:
1.
|
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of
Bhaal
|
35% |
2.
|
Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction
|
32% |
3.
|
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
|
4% |
4.
|
Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster
|
2% |
And 28% of those who participated were unable to select one
of the games.
We, the RPGDot team casted all our votes at two games, so
here is our top 2:
1.
|
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of
Bhaal
|
75% |
2.
|
Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction
|
25% |
Well I can say that we think alike here ;-)
Note that percentages are rounded to the nearest number.
|