Nov 13, 2013

Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition set for release on Nov. 15

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

A whole slew of new screenshots have just landed in time to remind you that Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition is landing this Friday. All of the original art has been remastered into high-res, but the Dungeons & Dragons–based rule system and gameplay remains intact. The new edition also has four new allies and their various quest lines to explore, along with an arena challenge that focuses solely on tactical combat.

We were lukewarm on the enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate, but there's no denying that an updated version of one of the most beloved RPGs ever, and with new content to boot, is exciting.

At the very least, the enhanced edition should be a great way for new fans to approach the legendary RPG. If you never got into the original or, perhaps, were just a wee baby 13 years ago, the enhanced edition represents a revamped version of a great game in one convenient download.

Check out more screenshots (there really are a ton of them) at the Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition website.

Oct 4, 2013

Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition release date set for mid-November

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

Here's a new trailer for Baldur's Gate 2, 2000's hottest RPG. Just pretend the last thirteen years never happened, and check out those tasty particle effects. After a successful roll against some unfortunate legal issues, Beamdog's Enhanced re-release of the BioWare classic is now preparing for launch. You'll be able to regather your party before venturing forth from November 15th.

The Enhanced Edition offers both Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and its Throne of Bhaal expansion, along with four exclusive party members, new areas, a new "Black Pits" arena, and... *drum roll* ...widescreen support.

As with the first Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, I worry that the added improvements won't justify the price over the much cheaper original versions and their available mods. For the $25 being asked for to pre-order the game, you can get both Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, with all expansions from GOG, follow this modding guide to create a super all-in-one edition, and have some change spare to throw at any attacking kobolds you might face. It'll take something pretty special to justify switching to the Enhanced version. We'll find out if it's worth it next month.

Oct 4, 2013

Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition Out In November

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Craig Pearson)

ENHANCED? It looks like Baldur’s Gate II’s spam filter has let through an enhancement e-mail. You know the kind I’m talking about. In search of an ego boost, though I know plenty of people who like the venerable organ just the way it is, it has succumbed to the cheap thrills offered within, and ordered a course of treatment: “Why settle for less when we can boost your resolution and remaster your original renders with our all natural process?” So Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition will be arriving in November, all enhancedy. (more…)

Oct 3, 2013

Weekend Deal - Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, 75% Off

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - Valve

Save 75% on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition as part of this week's Weekend Deal*!

Since its initial release in 1998, Baldur's Gate has entertained millions of fans around the globe and has received countless awards. This classic saga of mystery, intrigue, and adventure has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons™ computer roleplaying games ever since.
Running on an upgraded and improved version of the Infinity Engine, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition™ includes the entire Baldur's Gate adventure, the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack, and never-before-seen content including a new adventure and three new party members: the Calishite monk Rasaad yn Bashir, Neera the wild mage, and Dorn Il-Khan, the evil blackguard.

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

Aug 30, 2013

Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition opens to the world on November 15

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition, an updated version of the classic BioWare RPG, is set to release November 15, according to the game's official website. Just like the reworked edition of the first Baldur's Gate, the sequel is set to include new characters, another Black Pits arena combat mode, and lots of work under the surface of the venerable game's interface and coding.

As in the original Baldur's Gate 2, you're placed in a world that depends on the choices you make and the path you choose for yourself, some lawfully good and others perhaps chaotically evil. But there should be one or two new ways to uncover your character's true destiny, after hearing back in May that more than 350,000 new words of content had already been added to the enhanced version being completed by Overhaul Games and Beamdog.

Our review of the first Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition ultimately came down to a balancing act between paying a higher price for the new version or downloading the original from a site like GOG.com and installing a variety of existing mods yourself for a similar experience. It's encouraging to hear that so much more new content is apparently planned for the updated version, which includes both the Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal segments of the game.

Baldur's Gate 2: EE will launch at $25.

Aug 16, 2013

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is back on sale, patch details coming soon

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

If Baldur's Gate had an undercurrent of politics and intrigue, it's nothing compared to the behind-the-scenes twists in the development of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. It was removed from sale for "contractual issues" at the request of a "publishing partner", later revealed to be Atari. Development of a planned patch was also postponed, and the possibility of an enhanced Baldur's Gate 2 slipping further into the shadows. Of Amn.

Now, it's back on sale, with its celebratory developers saying the outstanding issues are resolved, and news of upcoming releases will arrive soon.

Trent Oster's email to fans has been reposted on Reddit and GOG's forum:

"Dear Friends of Baldur’s Gate,

"We're back!

"Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is available for sale once again. All outstanding issues with our publishing partner have been resolved.

"We'll announce the details of an upcoming major Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition patch and the Android tablet version in the near future. We'll also have some exciting news regarding Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition soon after.

"We want to thank our fans for the outpouring of support we received during this difficult time. Legal issues are never fun. We're glad we can once again focus on what matters - makin' videogames!"

On the game's forum, Beamdog's Phillip Daigle shares some more info, admitting that "it'll be awhile before we can say anything", but that essentially, "things are back to normal." Later, he teases the upcoming update, saying, "Patch development is back on! We'll have an announcement regarding that in the near future. I personally am very excited for people to use the new UI."

Jul 2, 2013

Midweek Madness - Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, 75% Off

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - Valve

Save 75% on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition during this week's Midweek Madness*!

Since its initial release in 1998, Baldur's Gate has entertained millions of fans around the globe and has received countless awards. This classic saga of mystery, intrigue, and adventure has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons™ computer roleplaying games ever since.
Running on an upgraded and improved version of the Infinity Engine, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition™ includes the entire Baldur's Gate adventure, the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack, and never-before-seen content including a new adventure and three new party members: the Calishite monk Rasaad yn Bashir, Neera the wild mage, and Dorn Il-Khan, the evil blackguard.

*Offer ends Thursday at 4PM Pacific Time

Jun 24, 2013

Beamdog Hoping For Baldur’s Gate III Despite ‘Legal Hell’

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

He smiled once, but it was so long ago.

For a while there, it looked as though Baldur’s Gate had finally emerged from the dank dungeons of obscurity, prepared to crush modern glitz-and-glamour RPGs under a mountain of depth and 20-sided dice. But then things happened. Law things. Now Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is stuck in neutral – with Beamdog unable to continue fixing some rather worrisome launch issues – and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition has been put on indefinite hold. Yikes. But are things really as bad as they sound? And where does this leave Baldur’s Gate III, which Beamdog described as a “long-term goal” no so long ago? I got in touch with Beamdog head Trent Oster to find out.

(more…)

Jun 20, 2013

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition withdrawn from sale over “contractual issues”

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

In this scene, Sarevok will be playing "contractual issues".

In this scene, Sarevok will be taking the role of "contractual issues".

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, the attempted restoration of BioWare's classic RPG, has been removed from sale by developer Overhaul Games in light of contractual issues with the game's publishing partners. A statement by Beamdog/Overhaul president Trent Oster explains the situation - albeit in the vague manner of someone staring at a heavy pile of legal documents.

"We recently removed Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition from sale on Beamdog and the Apple App Store. We've taken this step at our publishing partner's request as we attempt to resolve a number of contractual issues."

Oster goes on to say that, until the "complex legal matters" have been resolved, the developer is unable to release the planned next patch to the game. It would have brought an updated user interface, "enormous performance improvements", enhancements and a new font system.

Perhaps more troublingly, the issues are also blocking Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. While BG:EE struck me as slightly less enhanced than a properly modded version of the original, BG2:EE was shaping up to be a more dramatic revision - already boasting 350,000 words of additional content.

Strangely, you can still pick BG:EE up from Steam. Whether it's due to be taken down is unclear, but the Steam release was handled by Atari instead of Beamdog, and so received no direct support.

Jun 20, 2013

Yikes: Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Pulled, BGII On Hold

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

We're gonna need a bigger lawyer.

I am worried. I still don’t know what a Beamdog is, and now my chances of finding out are looking rather slim. The Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition developer has hit a slightly>, um, fatal rocky patch, with messy “contractual issues” leaving the update effort’s future in doubt. For now, the first Enhanced Edition has been yanked from all relevant e-tailers, and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition is officially on-hold for the time being. Also, it probably goes without saying that this pushes Trent Oster and co’s Baldur’s Gate III pipe dream to the backburner’s furthest reaches. The back of the backburner>. Ye gods, they said it was only a myth. You’ll find a statement from Beamdog after the break.

(more…)