Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: May 11, 1999
• Genre: Role-Playing
• Style: Isometric Action RPG
• Similar Games: Diablo (IBM PC Compatible), Diablo (PlayStation), Diablo (Commodore 64/128), Fallout (IBM PC Compatible), Fallout (Macintosh), Diablo (Macintosh), Baldur's Gate (IBM PC Compatible), Diablo (Hybrid PC/Mac), Baldur's Gate (Macintosh)

Game Description

Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (TSC) is an expansion pack for the original Baldur's Gate role-playing adventure game. In order to use the expansion CD, you must have the original game installed. The expansion package does not add a new chapter to the original, but rather increases the number of available exploration areas within the existing chapters of Baldur's Gate. A utility updates previous saved games from the original title for compatibility with the expansion.

Three options are available once TSC is installed. Start a new game of Baldur's Gate as usual with no noticeable differences because of the TSC installation, continue Baldur's Gate from an earlier saved game with the option of exploring the new TSC areas when you arrive at the point in the game where they become available, or, in the event you have finished Baldur's Gate and kept the automatically generated "final save" created just prior to the final battle, you can load it to re-entering the game near the end of Chapter 7. In this case, the TSC components have been seamlessly merged into Baldur's Gate and you'll begin adventuring again at the town of Ulgoth's Beard. Returning to the Baldur's Gate world once you have entered the new areas provided by TSC is possible under all three of the aforementioned scenarios.

Several enhancements to the game have been included as part of the expansion pack including a new ending with heightened interests, challenges and rewards. Also, a "quick save" feature has been added, as well as about a dozen tweaks or add-on capabilities, some of which were available but not mentioned in the Baldur's Gate documentation (e.g., auto pause when enemy is sighted, blue-tinted unidentified magic items, speed of all projectiles have doubled, possible experience points are now 161,000 versus 89,000 in the original game, an option to increase or decrease AI path searching, etc.). For multi-player fans, the voice communication software package Roger Wilco(tm) is available for on-line chatting.

Roots & Influences

The root of the game is obviously the original Baldur's Gate role-playing game. This CD package is simply an expansion of the game world experienced in the original title.

Review: Overall

An expansion pack normally offers players of the original game more options and levels to give the fans a "fix" until the company releases a new game or sequel. Since the developers would likely want to incorporate all the new features into a newer game, the expansion pack expands on the original by offering new or updated options including new weapons and player classes, spells, items or even fixes to the inventory system or game play. As such, it can be very difficult to create a decent expansion pack without it being shrugged off as "more of the same." Enter Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, an expansion pack of the widely successful RPG Baldur's Gate, which, while easy to throw it into the "more of the same" category, adds just enough to keep the original fan base happy.

Instead of creating an entirely new story, the developers opted for new locations incorporated into the original world. Ulgoth's Beard, an extension of the conglomerate city of Baldur's Gate, is the focus of the four new locations, each of which are quite massive. As in the original, each location is filled to the brim with side quests to find a certain item or person. However, in Tales of the Sword Coast, the quests are much more puzzle-based and require use of your noggin rather than bashing through an army of monsters to take the prize.

Other than the new locations and quests, Tales of the Sword Coast remains very much the same Baldur's Gate. Some new things, such as inventory tweaking and automatic item stacking have been included to make management of possessions much easier. There are new spells for the magic users who obtain the extra level (the experience cap of the original has been lifted to allow party expansion). In addition, there are new magical items, weaponry for the warriors, etc., but nothing new really stands out from the original.

Tales of the Sword Coast is an extremely difficult expansion, built for those who took the time to really develop their party rather than rushing for the end of Baldur's Gate. If your party is weak, it will still be playable -- just be warned that you'll have to dedicate some serious time to get past certain obstacles. Even with a built-up party, it is incredibly difficult, although not on the same level as the original's easy-going in a lot of places. Some of the new places are so laced with traps and instant kills that navigation without a thief or someone to look for these things is almost futile. The new monsters and major battles are so difficult that you'll have to pause the game after every attack just to revitalize your party.

So, take this to heart before you rush out and buy Tales of the Sword Coast. It isn't drastically different then the original, but it is a very difficult experience. If you weren't a big fan of Baldur's Gate, then you may want to pass it by. If you were, you'll have to ask yourself whether the new features (or lack thereof) are enough.

Review: Enjoyment

Tales of the Sword Coast is often very frustrating due to the sheer difficulty of some quests and locations. However, with patience, you can complete everything since a lot of the new quests are fun to carry out. For the online aspect, they incorporated the Roger Wilco(tm) technology (microphone based communication in real time) to interact with your multiplayer buddies, which adds tremendously to the experience.

Review: Graphics

The new areas are beautifully rendered, just like those in Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately, a lot of the "new" monsters look rehashed from the original.

Review: Sound

The soundtrack is superb, with new sound effects to add to a very pleasing aural experience.

Review: Replay Value

The new locations and quests will take even the most seasoned veterans over thirty hours to complete, after which there's not much reason to play again unless you want to replay any quests you failed to complete the first time through.

Review: Documentation

The new documentation tells about things left out of the original {*Baldur's Gate} manual and goes into detail about the new weapons, player classes and spells.

Production Credits