Baldur's Gate fans: there is now a light at the end of that long tunnel of waiting, and it's a very bright light! Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn makes the award-winning original Baldur's Gate look like mere child's play. BioWare Corporation, in conjunction with Black Isle Studios and the well respected Interplay, have managed to improve their "Infinity Engine," which they used to create the smash RPG hits Baldur's Gate, Tales Of The Sword Coast, and IceWind Dale. Continuing their "true to the rules" style of game, they have kept the original AD&D 2nd Edition rules, with the option to allow for slight lenience for easier play. That, combined with hundreds of new spells, thousands of new items, and dozens of new stats, abilities, and character classes, mark this game for a sure spot in the RPG hall of fame.

Wait, there's more eye candy to behold: They have added break-away side menus, so that the game can finally be played in the full-screen splendor that it was meant to be, as well as the option to play in resolutions higher than 640x480. What does this mean to the average gamer? MORE SCREEN AREA TO PLAY WITH! While only 800x600 is "officially" supported, players with the right hardware and monitors can play in resolutions up to 1600x1200, which, I have to tell you, is just truly amazing. If you have a friend with a 21" monitor, steal it to play this game! Since IceWind Dale has been such a smash hit with its experimental 3D OpenGL support, Baldur's Gate 2 now officially supports OpenGL and 3DFX for improved 3D effects and character animation. One word: Stunning! Speaking of character animation and effects, did I mention that each character in the game has at least 30 separate animations, as well as hundreds of voice clips? Whenever one of your characters is tired, bored, hungry, or upset, you will hear about it is half a dozen different ways.

Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn isn't perfect though. For starters, the amount that you can customize the main character is limited. There are only 5 voice packs to choose from, as well as only a handful of new custom portraits. This is sure to be improved upon once the gaming community gets going with the new specifications and puts together nifty voice and portrait packs. Another small flaw comes not from the game but from the gamers. Back in Baldur's Gate, customized items were very simple to create, but, with the improvements in Baldur's Gate 2, all the customized item creation tools have stopped working. Again, the gamers will fix it soon. The final gripe deals with the problems introduced with the 3D improvements. With some graphics cards and system setups, server crashes and slow downs occur in the game. Luckily, I was able to avoid all of these and play the game fine, but I do know several people with perfectly fine systems that had problems.