This plot is hot

It’s the plot that makes this came a classic – none of your standard 'Save the princess' fare. And who would, when you have the chance to be nasty? Indeed, I am quite partial to creating a character that is Chaotic Evil and then smashing some townsfolk back to the Stone Age. Indubitably, Baldur's Gate plays to the shades of grey in your moral choices.

Tents moments

Overall, the gameplay was superb, with only a few minor bugs. Even so, it would crash on the odd occasion and I did come across some stubborn glitches. Baldur's Gate had realtime battles where I clicked once to attack until my enemy is dead. Being able to pause gameplay and change my orders was essential when up against a legion of foes.

Pausing moment

For 1998, the art is astonishingly detailed – its isometric graphics displayable in up to 32-bit colour with a 4MB video card. Each scene is maximum pretty-pretty, as it is pre-rendered. Trust me, no two trees are alike, just like in real life, and this attention to detail made Baldur’s Gate unique.

Are you experienced?

Just like the art, the voiceovers are superb. Not many games these days come with eight different voices per character, this lends to the feeling of realism and a level of immersion you won’t get working out stats on a piece of paper.

Carpet globe trotter

The non-linear nature of Baldur’s Gate provided the freedom to explore within a story-driven game but the fact that the plot advancement was delivered through scrolling script and narrated messages was always a bit of a let down. But the frequency of the combat succeeded in making Baldur's Gate feel like a good old hack and slash game, rather than a tedious story slog.

Baldur's Gate brings back those fond memories of sitting around playing D&D while fighting with your family and, compellingly, it carved a niche for role-playing games in the vanguard of computer gaming.

Reg Hardware will be revisiting memorable titles from gaming's illustrious past every fortnight