Customer Reviews
A great game both for its time and holding true today 
2008-02-29
Baldur's Gate 2: Ultimate Collection (Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal)
If you start to play this you'll soon see that the above statement is true. Following the ruleset of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (version 2.0), this game is highly addictive and allows for a great deal of customization (within reason) of your character and the party that follows you on your quest to learn more about yourself. This is not a chessy storyline in any way as there is good reason to "search for answers". I'll not give it away but if you haven't played the first it could blow your mind. The fact that this game comes with the expansion for it and costs not much more if not the same as just the game itself this is a very good deal. The only flaw is that its multiplayer community doesn't exist anymore as most people have added modifications to their own copy so be forewarned, unless other people you know in real life have this game, don't get it for it being multiplayer.
Incredible Value for Great RPG!! 
2008-02-23
If you have not played this title and are a D&D fan, or even just an RPG fan, I would highly recommend adding this title to your collection. I purchased this game for around $[...] for the entire game WITH the expansion. Even though the graphics are starting to show some age, there is far more to this game to make it a wonderful experience overall and for that kind of price you really shouldn't have to think twice about it. This game is huge, has top notch sound and a deep immersive story. There is easily a few hundred hours of gameplay here for most people, after all this is, and probably always will be, one of the largest games ever developed by Bioware. If you have ever played Baldur's Gate 1, you will notice a lot of improvements in almost every aspect and it supports importing characters from BG1. However, it isn't in any way nessesary to have played BG1. The only regret I have with purchasing this game, is that I didn't do it years ago, but either way im sure I will be ejoying this game for a long time to come. Not only does this game have a lot of replay value, but there is also still a large online community for it, and a lot of mods and addins. Overall, this is one game that I am glad, I didn't let slip past me.
What else can be said? 2007-12-24
Yes, the graphics are dated. Yes, the style isn't as fancy as today's over-the-top crpgs. But the gameplay in Baldur's Gate II is second to none. And in the end, the gameplay is what makes a game fun. This is the kind of game where you'll suddenly discover that it's 3 o'clock in the morning, and you've been playing for seven hours straight (or worse). The storyline is awesome, the NPC's are incredibly well done, and the atmosphere is so superb, you almost feel like your living through the main character's trials.
If you're new to computer gaming, and you're curious about some of the older classics ... then START RIGHT HERE. This is the game. In addition, the Throne of Bhall expansion pack complements the main game perfectly. If you're trying to decide whether to purchase this one ... . decide no longer. Get it! I promise you won't regret it.
THIS GAME IS AWSOME! 2007-10-24
ok forget what you hear people say about the graphics if you call these dated then you might as well never look at a drawing or peice of art work again. as ALL the graphics were hand drawn before being implemented into the game engine sure they are not the lastest 3d graphics , but to this day I would say they are still very very impressive graphics.
aside from graphics this si one of teh best playing games of all time with over 200+ hours of things to do , and a well developed story that developed the characters better than any modern game has to date. i don't think FF even holds a candle to this game series. and teh second game is the best in the series. on thing this game offers that just lacks intodays RPG's is romances, in this game the romances are far better developed and involving than any other game i ahve ever seen. the opnly down side is they only offer one romance character for girl players whil ethey offer about 3-4 girls for guy players . other than taht all the romances are well done. one other thign this game has done better than any sucessors is it offers the most pen adn paper like dnd experience avaible with up to 6 characters that can be in your party at once, and over 15 availble characters to meet and add to your 6 man party the game really get's you into the story and gets you to feeling for teh cahrs like no other game i have played.
las but not least the game as a realatively easy to navigayte interface compared to other rpg's of it's time, and it's itner face influenced many modern rpg's such as neverwinter nights and the Temple of elemental evil. if youc ang et this game do so you wont be disapointed especially fi youa re a fan of dnd based rpg's this is one of the best !
Life changing! 2007-10-18
Lets start off by saying that I'm NOT a fan of computer games. Usually that is. Before I played Baldurs Gate I had never really been into anything other than nintendo and that was when I was 10. Then one day I saw a friend of mine playing BG at his house and I did show a tiny bit of interest because he told me it had this "middle ages" feel to it. Then I thought nothing of it. But one day he came to my house with the game and literally forced me to install it on my own computer and I did, and well, a few days later I had stopped calling my friends and stopped going out on weekends. This was just a few weeks before BG:2 Shadows of Amns came out and my boyfriend bought it for me almost immediatly.
Well, as much as I had loved BG and let my life revolve around it, the fact was that SoA had even more of an effect on my life. When I started playing it I dropped out of school, talked about nothing else and well, turned into this weird recluse that no-one wanted to be around anyway. But it was worth it! SoA gave me the best time of my life, lol. I have a collage degree now but it took me longer to get it thanks to BG. And I'm fine with that. SoA is without a doubt the best game of all time. It is magical. I don't care about graphics and such stuff, all I care about is the storyline and the charachter and BG is definitly better than any book you could possibly read (and I've read thousands so I know what I'm saying here). Since I finished it I have played most of the Black Isle games too and I love them all but this one is the best - I just bought BG and SoA again since I was always lending mine (trying to get people to play them, and some just didn't want to give them back) and I guess after 8 years it will be wonderful to live this adventure again!
I HATE THIS GAME!!! 2008-07-20
ITS SO GOOD I HATE IT ITS SO COOL I STAY UP TILL 3AM AND HAVE TO FORCE MY SELF OFF THIS GAME IF U DONT WANT TO BE FREAKED OUT BY A SWEET GAME DONT BUY IT YOUR PROBLEM BUT I LOVE THIS GAME SO IF U WANT A COOL GAME GET THIS ONE ONE IS GOOD TO BUT THIS IS BETTER.
Baldur's Gate II rocks and works on Vista 2008-07-13
I bought this game after seeing it mentioned in several different "Top Games of All Time" lists.
I'm a fan of more recent games like WoW and Oblivion. So far, this game has held its own. The graphics are dated, but the plot and game mechanics are not. There are also really interesting side quests and puzzles. I find it rare to find puzzles in more recent games that are challenging, but these are refreshingly so.
It also works on Vista - and even with low-end HP computer (with an integrated graphics card) I can play the game on its max settings. I would NOT recommend going over the "supported" resolution, as it makes some in-game maps/menus hard to read.
Get the game while you can!
A very good classic 2008-06-10
I have been playing this game since i was 16 when it first came out.
Basically you can do anything in this game, be anybody, or actually just do nothing. If you get this game i recommend getting throne of bhaal because it makes this game even more fun.
Baldur's Gate 2: Ultimate Collection (Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal) 2008-05-14
I love this game. It's action packed and It takes time and patience to build up your characters in order to defeat this game. A walkthrough comes in handy too. lol.
My First Video/Computer/RPG Game! 2008-03-27
After many years of listening to people talk online about the greatness that is Baldur's Gate, and gaming in particular, I finally decided to pick one up. I had been warned that they are surprisingly addictive, but at 42, and having been game-free since the first Atari came out in the 80s (Think Space Invaders), I was pretty sure I'd only find it mildly interesting.
Oh, was I wrong. Once I had the basics understood, I found myself spending more and more of my free time playing the game. When I'm not playing, I'm puzzling out how to retake some building/tomb/dungeon that I've not yet been able to best. Addictive isn't quite the right word. It's rewritten my basic mental programming. I adore the game!
I started with the Collection -- essentially Baldur's Gate 2. And I've been told that BG1 is better. But I'm not complaining.
If you're like me, and have only played some of the earlier computer games -- there is no comparison. BG is an entire world to explore -- maps and seemingly endless terrain. There's always something you missed, more to explore. And I expect that I'll be wandering the landscape for many months to come.
