Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a 2001 action role-playing video game developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment subsidiary Black Isle Studios for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox consoles, with High Voltage Software handling the GameCube port, and Magic Pockets developing the Game Boy Advance version. CD Projekt was developing a version for Microsoft Windows, but was ultimately cancelled. In 2021, a 4K port of the game was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
| Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Snowblind Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Entertainment Black Isle Studios |
| Producer(s) | Darren Monahan |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) | Erza Dreisbach |
| Artist(s) | John Van Deusen |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Series | Baldur's Gate |
| Engine | Dark Alliance engine |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2
|
| Release | December 4, 2001
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, hack and slash |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op multiplayer |
The game is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons, and the gameplay is based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, which were released in 2000. It is the first video game to implement the real time application of the new rules. It is also the first game in the Baldur's Gate series released on consoles as opposed to a PC and/or Mac.
Dark Alliance was well received on all four platforms, with the PlayStation 2 version going on to win the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year" (2002). A sequel, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, was released in 2004 for non-Nintendo consoles. A third game was planned, but was cancelled early in development due to legal problems, and the closure of Black Isle Studios after Interplay went bankrupt.