Is a New Baldur's Gate On The Way? Maybe.

By Kevin Parrish
published

Something is going on with the Baldur's Gate series that's not related to the Baldur's Gate 2 Complete Edition release on Steam. A third installment? Or a revamped port to tablets?

Talk about classic PC gaming! Baldur's Gate was nothing but pure RPG goodness Forgotten Realms-style when the series crashed the PC gaming scene back in 1998. It, along with Blizzard's original Diablo, kept many a player engaged long after their eyes began to get blurry and their legs grow numb. And now with the third Diablo installment threatening to consume every ounce of free time next quarter, it seems only fitting that BioWare's Baldur's Gate series makes a comeback too.

The Baldur's Gate series seemingly ended with the release of Throne of Bhaal in 2001, the expansion pack for Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. But hints embedded within the source code of the Baldur's Gate website now suggest that the Lord of Murder might make a return via resurrection or by way of offspring. Honestly we've seen this type of teaser tactic before, so don't assume it's a case of wishful thinking. Here's one clue:

\Shadowy Figure- Raise Dead : Infinity EngineFor years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory.And then... it returned. Better than it was before.

Here's another one that just appeared:

Pore over the tapestries and works of art hanging from our walls if you wish, Child of Bhaal... perhaps you will find a clue. But patience, ah... patience would reveal it all.

As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life.

And then we have former BioWare designer Trent Oster who now resides at independent developer / digital PC game store Beamdog. His team reportedly has something to do with the new Baldur's Gate teaser site.

"We're not related to the Steam complete edition, I can tell you that much," Oster told GameBanshee. "Other than that, we're hoping to announce something soon."

Based on the clues, a new Infinity Engine may be in the works along with a third installment to the Baldur's Gate series. The previous engine powered both Baldur's Gate titles, the two Icewind Dale RPGs, and the classic Planetscape: Torment. But like the revamped MDK2 HD, these hints could also mean that the Baldur's Gate series is getting an overhaul and will be ported to tablets like the iPad 2/3.The latter scenario seems more likely.

"A new toy for the office. What could we be developing that would require an iMac?" Oster teased via Twitter. He later talks about enjoying the fan reaction, unable to sleep because he keeps watching the analytics on the Baldur's Gate site.

As for February 29, the new clue is as follows:

Take heart fellow adventurers, for you have curried the favor of Boo, the only miniature giant space hamster in the Realm! Hit the link if you can't remember the story behind Boo (squeak).

The last game released in the Baldur's Gate series was Dark Alliance 2 back in 2004.

Kevin Parrish
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ddemon
    I really hope this is a new and fresh game ....so much could be done with this ...very exciting!
    Reply
  • gilbertfh
    Back in the day I played this game extensively. I would love to see a port to tablet but there would be a lot of kinks to work out. FF7 port to a tablet would be cool as well.
    Reply
  • Horhe
    I wish I'd played it back in the day because when I tried to play it last year I just couldn't get into it. Maybe if I hadn't played newer DnD games before (like NWN2)... I really hope they give your party members a good AI, to avoid micromanagement.
    Reply
  • gilbertfh
    I do like NWN2 but the storyline isn't as compelling as BG. They say what is old is new again but time will tell on that. If/when they do rerelease it I hope it has the new 5.0 rules that are in development.
    Reply
  • lets just hope there is no pay to gay system in this game. D3 is B$, it aint even worth playing multplayer anymkore. RPG games NEEDS to take ages to finish. not come after work, buy the best items, and beat everybody thats been farming and grinding the whole day...
    Reply
  • Pherule
    I tried the first Baldurs Gate, and really cannot see what all the hype is about, or why the original games had much success. It had a very turn-based feel to it, where you are forced to pause the game to set up combos, then unpause for a few moments to watch them unfold, then re-pause to issue more commands. 90% of the time was spent paused. Really? Is that what some people consider fun?

    Compare that to Diablo. 100% action, no pausing.

    Dungeon Siege 1 & 2 get it halfway right, they don't need to be paused, but like Baldurs Gate, you also have a party to control instead of a single character. Nothing wrong with multiple characters in a RTS, but in an RPG it can be a bit much. Far better to have summons that you don't have to control directly, and that are (usually) expendable.
    Reply
  • mortsmi7
    PheruleI tried the first Baldurs Gate, and really cannot see what all the hype is about, or why the original games had much success. It had a very turn-based feel to it, where you are forced to pause the game to set up combos, then unpause for a few moments to watch them unfold, then re-pause to issue more commands. 90% of the time was spent paused. Really? Is that what some people consider fun?There's already more than enough RTS games to go around. Turn-based has its niche too. I'd like D&D games to remain that way. Sequels that drift too far from the original style are hardly sequels, but simply a different game that happens to share a similar name. Personally, I'd like to see another solo turn-based like NWN1. I don't need innovative changes to the play style, small changes are okay and welcome though. A new but equally rich story storyline and a graphics update is good enough for me.

    If you like Diablo style play, then stick to Diablo. And I don't really want to see Bauldur's Gate: Dragon KoToR Effect either.
    Reply
  • gilbertfh
    sdfghk34lets just hope there is no pay to gay system in this game. D3 is B$, it aint even worth playing multplayer anymkore. RPG games NEEDS to take ages to finish. not come after work, buy the best items, and beat everybody thats been farming and grinding the whole day...Although I agree with you on many counts in your post there is definitely a gray area in between that is good for business and still fun to play.
    Reply
  • alidan
    look at dragon age 2 and tell me seriously, that you really want a Baldur's Gate... i dont mind if they crap on something new, just not Baldur's Gate
    Reply
  • beoza
    Pherule you must have never played the old PnP version of Dungeons and Dragons. You had to wait for everyone else to say what they were going to do then wait on the DM. Baldur's gate plays very similar to that. I rather enjoyed the play style of the BG and IWD series. You did not have to pause every time you wanted to do something, you could if you wanted to, there were times when I did and at some points in the game it actually worked to your advantage being able to pause and regroup. Sure the AI wasnt very sophisticated but that could be said of most games released at that time. Diablo was a mouse killer, I spent many nights just going click, click, click, click, click in Diablo and D2, and doing pretty much the same thing in BG/IWD. The main difference between BG and Diablo was that the BG/IWD series had back stories to the characters you controlled, Diablo...not so much, DS 1&2, they had a story to the characters as well. Then there's the depth of the game itself, anything based on Dungeons and Dragons is going to have so much more to it than almost any other game, with the exception of ancient myths and books like LOTR. DnD goes back to the early/mid 70's and the late Gary Gygax. There is more lore in these 2 series than Diablo, Warcraft and Dungeon Siege combined. The style of game wasn't for everyone, I had friends that loved and hated the game. But being able to import your toon from BG1/TOSC into BG2 was great! Cant remember how that worked with IWD though... .

    Personally I would love to see Baldurs gate done with more of a Oblivion/Skyrim style to it, or even AI squad based style play similar to that in STO and other new MMO's. If your gonna revamp the series why not go all out and make it a game worthy of the BG/DnD/Forgotten Realms name. I miss playing in Faerûn and the world of Abeir-Toril.

    But for those who like the game check this out: Dungeons & Dragons Anthology: The Master Collection Includes Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2 + Expansion, Icewind Dale 1 & 2 + Expansions, Planescape: Torment, and The Temple of Elemental Evil (ToEE was ok). $20 for that isnt bad imo. Was updated to work with WinXP/Vista/7 for those interested.
    Reply