Baldur's Gate II: Shadow of Amn, published by Interplay for PC

SPECS: Pentium 233, 32MB RAM, 800MB hard drive space, 4xCD-ROM, 4MB graphics card

LOVE, death, revenge, deception, laughter, tears, victory, tragedy... all this and more is to be found in Baldur's Gate II, the sequel to what used to be the best role-playing game on a PC.

At the start of Baldur's Gate II, you find yourself locked in a cage in what appears to be a torture chamber. You don't know how you got there but the villain of the piece, voiced by David Warner, is purring about the "potential" you show. All of this is just the beginning of a journey which will take you to such places as the mighty city of Athkatla, the horrors of the Underdark where Dark Elves stalk, Druid groves or the wondrous tree city of Suldanessellar. Throughout the journey, you will be pursuing an epic storyline that the creators of the game conservatively estimate will take between 200 and 300 hours to complete if you follow every last twist in the tale.

To begin with, you either create a character using the rules of the 2nd Edition of the AD&D role-playing system, upon which Baldur's Gate is based, or import your old character from the first title. Character creation options are great, allowing you to take charge of a monk, a berserker, a cavalier, a bounty hunter, a sorcerer... all kinds of characters with all kinds of abilities.

The game is viewed from the same third-person isometric viewpoint as the previous game, although the graphics and, particularly, the spell effects have been perked up considerably.

Best of all, interaction with the other members of your party (which can consist of up to six characters) is much improved, with plenty of conversation. There are very few problems. The plot isn't as meandering as the first Baldur's Gate and side quests are much more intriguing. At the beginning of the game, you really feel you are only just dipping your toe into a deep, deep pool. Don't be shy with a game of this quality. Take the whole plunge.

Graphics 4/5

Sound 5/5

Gameplay 5/5

Gamespan 5/5

Overall 5/5

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