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Baldur's Gate was the best RPG to ship last year. It had more depth than anything I'd ever played before, and had the graphics and sound to support it. Bioware confirmed for the rest of the industry what the Fallout 2 team had laid down. RPGs are not dead. In fact, they're better than ever. Thanks in no small part to their on line cousins, but better than those shallow wannabes. Sure you can't bake bread, but if you want to bake bread, go to the kitchen. If you want to save kingdoms, read on.

More Baldur's Gate, it's game that can't miss. Easily the best RPG last year, this addon CD offers more of the same great adventures that the original had. A new town called Ulgoth's Beard has been added in the northern region of the Sword Coast. It's from here that you'll visit an island in the far flung frigid north to complete a wizard's quest. You'll sail to another remote isle and uncover part of the mystery to where Balduran dissappeared to. And a dwarven fortress by the name of Durlag's Tower holds the promise of wealth and great treasure if you can best the inhabitants and traps that are also within. An unsightly bug mars this otherwise excellent release - for which a patch was quickly released. Let it never be said that Bioware doesn't own up to their mistakes and fix them quickly. I played through the original again from scratch to get to the fifth chapter before taking on these new tasks. Each was enjoyable and not all rely on simple hack and slash to save the day.

It's one CD and as such is relatively short. Viewed as a less expensive addon however, it's an excellent value that will extend an already long playing game. The actual adventures can be beaten quickly, in a few hours. What they do offer is more variety to the overall game - better weapons and armor, new monsters and a chance to better improve your characters.

No change here from my original review. Simple to learn, easy to master. The control system is intuitive and easily configured, albeit with an app from outside the game.

The artists at Bioware are to be commended. Today's game art seems to be different variations on how to illustrate a weapon in a first person shooter or blood on walls. Bioware's art department goes the distance and gives us lush, beautiful new areas to explore. The desolate northern island is nice, if small. The temperate island is really well done, especially the ship on which the big confrontation for this part takes place.

No different from my original review. Nice music and well done sound. Well implemented if a little understated. It's still nice to hear Imoen cry out "I'm bored" when you wander off to get a Coke and take too long to get back.

Pop in the CD and you're off to the races. It modifies the original game and patches to the latest version for your convenience. The install isn't too large either.

When is the next one out? I'm ready for some more already even though I'd guess the next in line will be Baldur's Gate 2. (But it wouldn't break my heart if they did another module or four.) With any luck more developers will pick up the engine and release some more quality RPGs. This engine has some legs and does the job well, and could do so for some time to come. This is a solid addon to an already proven title than has few faults if any. That and its cheap price make it irresistible.