There is a throne up for grabs. The children of Bhaal have been thrown together, the conflict is raging, and bloodlust instills the souls and hearts. Welcome to the expansion for Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

This game will conclude the saga of the children of Bhaal, and bring the mythology to a close. Sad tidings, for if there was a game that embodied the spirit of role-playing games, that combined strong characters, interpersonal storylines, and terrific plot with stellar graphical elements, it was the Baldur’s Gate program from Bioware.

In the nether regions of the Canadian northlands – Ok, Edmonton, Alberta, isn’t exactly the hinterlands, but it is close – a talented group of programmers have labored to bring life to a highly anticipated expansion package that wraps up the legendary game. Any chance of an afterlife? Nope.

However the game does offers some exciting new features that is certain to breath new life into Shadows of Amn – as if it really needed it. In addition to an entirely new dungeon, which is added to the the original game, there are new spells, new high-level abilities, a new character, and new items to discover. The game promises 30-50 hours of gameplay, with 80 new areas spread across a dozen adventure areas. Oh, and there will be new monsters to battle.

Kevin Martens, lead designer for BioWare on the project, answered a few questions about the latest expansion of the RPG realm.

Question:  From what I've seen, the expansion for BGII not only takes the game forward, but actually adds another "level" (Watcher's Keep) to the original game. Why add to Shadows of Amn in addition to moving forward into the Bhaal regions of the realm? Are you setting the stage for something completely unexpected in the expansion pack? Or is this a case of wishing this dungeon had been available the first go-round, and now, with a little more time, you can put it in?

Kevin: “I think it’s a case of wanting to appeal to everyone. The Watcher’s Keep is massive and equals about half of the expansion pack. For this people who are still playing Shadows of Amn (Hey! It’s a big game) our expansion can improve their experience. Likewise, for those who have finished Shadows of Amn, they have 3 more chapters to play and get to conclude the whole trilogy/saga! We realize that Shadows of Amn is a big game and we wanted the expansion pack to have something for everyone.“

Q: Explain the base plotline of this expansion pack, in a nutshell, please.

Kevin: “The time of Alaundo’s prophecy has come. The dark machinations of your death father are reaching their culmination, leaving the Sword Coast ravaged and drawing you towards your inevitable fate. Five powerful Bhaalspawn have arisen, leading their armies across the Sword Coast, slaughtering their weaker siblings and innocents alike in a wave of massive destruction.

“Throne of Bhaal is the final chapter in the Bhaalspawn trilogy that began in Baldur’s Gate, continued through Tales of the Sword Coast and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and reveals itself fully in this game. It is the culmination of all that you have experienced in the previous games. I don’t want to say too much and spoil it for everyone so if you want to find out exactly what happens, you’ll have to play the game.”

Q: Let's backtrack just a bit: BGII is a game of complexity. It combines the best elements of real-time strategy and role playing. However, there are subplots that evolve as the game moves forth that were unexpected. You have managed to convey real human elements with the characters. Can you describe the evolution of the characters, and how important it is to keep them real? Are they based on any real-life people, or did they create themselves as the game evolved? What new characters can we expect to see in the expansion pack?

Kevin: “None of the characters are based on real people, but all of us draw from our experiences to make them real, rather than just bags of hit points. Some of the characters were taken from previous AD&D campaigns while others were made specifically for the games.

“The coolest thing about them is how they evolved on their own, like real people, without any of us directly pushing them in a certain direction. After writing up their initial bios and dialogue, everything else kind of fell into place. When we wrote later interactions and comments it was more a case of ‘That’s exactly what Minsc would say’ rather than the writer planning exactly where the conversation would go. It’s an interesting experience to write a dialogue but still feel like your listening to conversation between real people.

“As far as new characters go, your half-brother Sarevok, the villain from Baldur’s Gate, is the new NPC that can join your party. He is a super cool fighter with a special kit called the Deathbringer, a product of his dark heritage and super villain status. Sarevok is different than he was in Baldur’s Gate 1. He’s matured and examined his life in detail. There are some very interesting roleplaying routes that your character can take with Sarevok.

Q: Is this really the end of the Baldur's Gate saga? Or is the door left open for spin-offs or other expansions?

Kevin: “This is the end of the Child of Bhaal saga.This particular story has reached its conclusion but Baldur’s Gate is a big city. Who knows what the future will hold?”

Q:  When you work on a game like this, you must feel some pressure from the incredible fan base that has such expectations. Does that affect you in any way? Who puts more 'pressure' on you, the fans or yourselves in trying to actualize your vision for the program?

Kevin: “We are very happy to have fans who are so passionate about the source material. This gives us a very lively discussion and suggestion group on our message boards and in some of the RPG/BG newsgroups.

“We want every product to be better than the one before it and the fans want the same thing. We take their suggestions to heart and we hope that each game can improve their gaming experience by leaps and bounds.”

Q:  What part of the creative process brings you the most joy?

Kevin: “Personally, I love to design dungeons and build dungeons. My favorite thing about designing Throne of Bhaal was when we brought Watcher’s Keep to completion. It is our magnum opus of dungeon design.”

Q: What is your favorite part of the expansion pack?

Kevin: “I don’t want to spoil the plot but there is a certain dragon lair, with a certain mad wizard and a missing eyestalk. There is a way to solve the plot that will have RPGers laughing for a long time.

“Other than that, I’m very happy with the ending of the saga. There is more than one ending and some very cool movies at the end. Kudos to our animation and art departments for making so much beautiful art for the game!”

Q: How about a little background information? (Your influences, how you got involved in this industry, and other titles you have worked on, and what type of games you like to play.)

Kevin: “Like every self-respecting nerd, I’m influenced by Tolkein and AD&D. I’m a big fan of the early Ultima games and pretty much anything that Looking Glass Studios has done. I’ve recently enjoyed playing Chrono Cross, Undying, and Counterstrike.

“As to how I got into the industry, I spent many years as a Dungeon Master and a writer. I've made several games at home with a few friends. I got into the gaming industry as a Writer/Designer at BioWare in 1998, to work on Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast. Making games has proved to be a fun and challenging job. I've recently completed Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn as the Co-Lead Designer and Throne of Bhaal as Lead Designer.”

Q: You continually set new standards for these kinds of fantasy games? What is your goal for the near future? Where do you see the genre in 5-10 years?

Kevin: “Our next goal is to bring something new and very cool to the RPG genre, for both multiplayer and single player. That game is, of course, Neverwinter Nights. The game will not only have an epic BioWare crafted story to play in both multi and single player, but it will also put all the power of the engine and the tools into the player’s hands, allowing him to create his/her own levels

“We are also working on a Star Wars role-playing game called Knights of the Old Republic. With everything that we’ve learnt from our previous games, we intend to push ourselves to make an incredible game.

“In an industry that is so young and that is dependant on a technology that rarely stays current for one week, let alone five years, it is very difficult to know where we’ll be in five years. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that multiplayer will be a bigger part of both PC and console gaming. I think that genre crossover will have become an art so that we may have game that, for example, seamlessly meshes a driving game for when your character is traveling to a fighting game in fist fight, to a shooter during a gun fight.”
 

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---