PC Gamer

These games are like books, in that
they are long and wordy and you’ve
finished far fewer of them than you
own. They are also like books in that
they can be supremely transportive,
but getting to that point requires an
investment of energy
and interest that Steven
Seagal will never ask of
you. They are also like
a different kind of book

• a maths textbook – in
  that you will often feel
  like you have failed to
  do your homework.
  This rare
  hybridisation of books with different
  books created something rather
  special. There is a reason that these
  games have returned to prominence:
  they are lavish in their dedication to
  telling you a story, and permissive of
  your desire to make that story your
  own. This is a format that has aged
  remarkably well, too, because they’ve
  never depended on novelty or

V

ideogames are a hybrid medium. For example: one day some
game developers figured out how to extract all of the talking
bits from a Steven Seagal film and combine them with the
emotional arc of a slightly-too-long car journey. We call
these ‘action games’, and they are very popular. At the other
end of the medium’s diverse spectrum we have Baldur’s Gate and its kin,
the ‘CRPG’ (the ‘C’ stands for ‘complicated’).

technology so much as writing and

detail. You know, like books.

As such, Baldur’s Gate is as much

worth a go-around today as Pillars Of

Eternity, or Divinity, or Torment. This

Enhanced Edition from 2013 – the first

of Beamdog’s sprint

through the Infinity

Engine catalogue –

succeeds at smoothing

Baldur’s Gate’s rougher

edges without really

altering anything at the

game’s core. The UI

has been modernised

• but only so much –
  gaining a zoom function and a more
  helpful quest journal. The original’s
  CGI cutscenes have been replaced
  with hand-drawn alternatives, which
  will age better. There’s a more
  thorough and faster tutorial, which
  speeds up the beginning of the
  campaign by preventing new players
  from spending three hours extracting
  all of the information they need from

Candlekeep’s endless supply of

expository men in bathrobes.

EASY READING

Hardliners will note that several

player-made patches and mods

offered similar improvements to the

base game, and a few went further in

bridging Baldur’s Gate to its sequel

and in tightening up the game’s 2nd

Edition D&D fundamentals. If you’re

coming at it fresh, however, then

you’ll benefit more from Beamdog’s

UI improvements than anything else.

The spirit of ’90s RPG design is

still capable of delivering some nasty

surprises – murdering your entire

party with a basement full of spiders,

setting you back to some far-off

autosave – but there’s nonetheless

something about this game, and it

always comes back to Baldur’s Gate

for me, that feels a bit like self-care.

It’s that rare kind of entertainment,

like reading a good book or getting

some sleep, that you don’t feel guilty

about afterwards.

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A classic adventure

where sometimes

you’re completely

murdered by lots of

spiders or wolves or

kobolds.

EXPECT TO PAY

£15

DEVELOPER

BeamDog

(af ter Black Isle)

PUBLISHER

BeamDog

(af ter Interplay)

REVIEWED ON

Core i7-6700K, 16GB

RAM, GeForce GTX 980

MULTIPLAYER

Up to six players – it

actually works in this

version!

LINK

http://www.baldursgate.com

85

A lovely old fantasy

paperback with a million

pages and a robed wizard

firing out lightning bolts

on the front cover.

VERDICT

FORGOTTEN REAMS

Sinking back into BALDUR’S GATE: ENHANCED EDITION

An investment

of energy that

Steven Seagal

will never ask

of you

OLD GAMES REVISITEDby Chris Thursten

THEY’RE BACK

Park guys of Candlekeep.

This cart is

very sleepy.

Dare you confront...

this massive rug?

Roaming a pub, looking

for work, as ever.