Surprise! Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is out now on PC
Jump into some noughties console hack and slash action
Earlier this year, Black Isle Studios and Interplay Entertainment announced they were porting the old 2001 hack and slash Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance to PC and consoles. It came out on PlayStation back in summer, alas they didn't give a date for PC. But, surprise! It's today! PC folks can finally try out the Baldur's Gate that console users first experienced 20 years ago. I did a full playthrough this summer and had a lovely time, at the expense of my partner, who I made sit through one of the jankiest couch co-op games in existence.
To be totally clear, I love Dark Alliance. It's an action-RPG set in Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms, and follows three heroes taking on an evil warrior who's trying to destroy the city of Baldur's Gate using a tower that controls the elements. Classic fantasy stuff.
On Steam, the game supports Remote Play so you can do some long distance two-player co-op. I highly recommend playing it with a friend too, the characters aren't really designed for solo play (much like D&D), and it's just way more fun dragging a pal along with you.
It is worth mentioning, however, that this is a port of a 20 year-old game that was already pretty janky 20 years ago. The levelling system isn't very balanced, bosses on normal mode are damage sponges that will one-shot you, the weapons and armour are rather ugly, and there are long stretches where you're just slapping enemies through seemingly never-ending dungeons.
Like, it's a good game that I have a lot of nostalgic love for, and I absolutely think it's worth giving a go - if only so that if they eventually port the sequel to PC, you have some background on the story. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 improves on the first one so much, with tighter level design, more interesting story beats, and loads more customisation (my favourite is enchanting weapons using gemstones you find in the world). I really really hope they port that one, it was one of the first games I ever played.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is available on PC right now, via Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, priced at £30/€30/$30. It's also already out on new consoles, if you'd prefer.