Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
Encyclopedia
Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast is a computer role-playing game in a high fantasy
setting, developed by BioWare
and published by Interplay
in April 1999. Released as an expansion pack
for Baldur's Gate
from 1998, it adds about 20–30 hours of extra gameplay to the original game. Tales of the Sword Coast adds four optional areas to Baldur's Gate, but does not directly impact the original storyline.
The experience point
cap of the original game has been raised from 89,000 to 161,000. This allows players to reach higher levels of power, wielding more powerful spells
and better weapon
ry. The interface has seen a number of improvements, including automatic stacking of identical items for less micromanagement
, and the display of unidentified magic items in a blue tint. The thieving class has had its abilities somewhat toned down, requiring appropriate shadows nearby in order to vanish from sight, and thieves must now sneak behind opponents in order to attempt a backstabbing attack.
If the player has already finished Baldur's Gate, the game presents the option of loading a save game which places the player character (and party) in Ulgoth's Beard. Ulgoth's Beard acts as a hub for the new quests introduced by Tales of the Sword Coast.
island, an ice island, and the ruins of Durlag's Tower. These areas provide additional side quests and exploration within the main story line. If installed during an ongoing Baldur's Gate game, Tales of the Sword Coast will seamlessly blend into the main story line.
s the party to a desolate Ice Island, ordering the player to retrieve his cloak for him at the island. Player is forced to fight off other, already insane prisoners of the Island Dungeon in order to escape it.
At the docks of Ulgoth's Beard, the party encounters Mendas, who asks the party to accompany him in traveling the Trackless Sea.
The ship is wrecked on a mysterious island, which player is set out to escape. There are people on the island who are suffering from the werewolf
attacks. The player helps them, only to discover that these people are in fact Wolfweres, a vice versa-form of Werewolfs. The player fights through the island's lycantrophic population, including the greatest of Werewolves, Loup Garou. Upon the return to Ulgoth's Beard, it is revealed that the men who sent player on journey are Loup Garou too, and they are about to avenge their brethren.
In the inn of Ulgoth's Beard, the dwarf Hurgan Stoneblade approaches the party, asking the player to find the Soultaker dagger at the bottom of the dungeons of Durlag's Tower. Several other characters implore the player to visit Durlag's Tower, including a mother looking for her missing son, and Ike who offers a guided tour of the dungeon complex. The Durlag's Tower proves to be a dangerous place full of traps, monsters and loot. There, the party has to defeat a powerful Demon Knight in order to complete the tasks.
The final task in the Ulgoth's Beard is to stop a cult that recaptured Soultaker dagger from summoning a demon from the Abyss. Arriving in the cult's hideout, the player party is, however, too late, and the only option left is to destroy already summoned demon, Aec' Letec.
, the game was found to feature "some occasionally frustrating battles, adds only minor gameplay enhancements, and takes a few additional liberties with AD&D rules," but the new areas and game content were found to be well-designed and interesting. Computer Games Magazine
called it "a solid add-on to an excellent title", but complained that glitches occasionally caused the game to crash
. Moby Games lists blurbs from a number of reviews, whose assessing of Tales of the Sword Coast ranges from 71 to 90 out of 100.
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
setting, developed by BioWare
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
and published by Interplay
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
in April 1999. Released as an expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
for Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using modified Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules...
from 1998, it adds about 20–30 hours of extra gameplay to the original game. Tales of the Sword Coast adds four optional areas to Baldur's Gate, but does not directly impact the original storyline.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Tales of the Sword Coast remains fundamentally unchanged from that of Baldur's Gate. The game mechanics are the same, and the new game areas of the expansion are placed in the same world map as the original game. However, the expansion pack introduces minor tweaks both to game mechanics and interface.The experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
cap of the original game has been raised from 89,000 to 161,000. This allows players to reach higher levels of power, wielding more powerful spells
Spells of Dungeons & Dragons
Magic of Dungeons & Dragons consists of spells used in the settings of the role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons . There is little if any similarity between these fictional spells and any actual historical mythology. D&D defined the genre of fantasy role-playing games, and remains the most...
and better weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
ry. The interface has seen a number of improvements, including automatic stacking of identical items for less micromanagement
Micromanagement
In business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of her or his subordinates or employees...
, and the display of unidentified magic items in a blue tint. The thieving class has had its abilities somewhat toned down, requiring appropriate shadows nearby in order to vanish from sight, and thieves must now sneak behind opponents in order to attempt a backstabbing attack.
If the player has already finished Baldur's Gate, the game presents the option of loading a save game which places the player character (and party) in Ulgoth's Beard. Ulgoth's Beard acts as a hub for the new quests introduced by Tales of the Sword Coast.
Background
The four new areas added to the Baldur's Gate game map are the small town Ulgoth's Beard, a werewolfWerewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
island, an ice island, and the ruins of Durlag's Tower. These areas provide additional side quests and exploration within the main story line. If installed during an ongoing Baldur's Gate game, Tales of the Sword Coast will seamlessly blend into the main story line.
Quests
Ulgoth's Beard is a small town with great adventuring possibilities. Outside the inn of Ulgoth's Beard stands a mage called Shandalar. Shandalar forciblly teleportTeleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
s the party to a desolate Ice Island, ordering the player to retrieve his cloak for him at the island. Player is forced to fight off other, already insane prisoners of the Island Dungeon in order to escape it.
At the docks of Ulgoth's Beard, the party encounters Mendas, who asks the party to accompany him in traveling the Trackless Sea.
The ship is wrecked on a mysterious island, which player is set out to escape. There are people on the island who are suffering from the werewolf
Lycanthrope (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lycanthrope is a humanoid shapeshifter based on various legends of lycanthropy.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
attacks. The player helps them, only to discover that these people are in fact Wolfweres, a vice versa-form of Werewolfs. The player fights through the island's lycantrophic population, including the greatest of Werewolves, Loup Garou. Upon the return to Ulgoth's Beard, it is revealed that the men who sent player on journey are Loup Garou too, and they are about to avenge their brethren.
In the inn of Ulgoth's Beard, the dwarf Hurgan Stoneblade approaches the party, asking the player to find the Soultaker dagger at the bottom of the dungeons of Durlag's Tower. Several other characters implore the player to visit Durlag's Tower, including a mother looking for her missing son, and Ike who offers a guided tour of the dungeon complex. The Durlag's Tower proves to be a dangerous place full of traps, monsters and loot. There, the party has to defeat a powerful Demon Knight in order to complete the tasks.
The final task in the Ulgoth's Beard is to stop a cult that recaptured Soultaker dagger from summoning a demon from the Abyss. Arriving in the cult's hideout, the player party is, however, too late, and the only option left is to destroy already summoned demon, Aec' Letec.
Critical response
The expansion was critically well received. In the review from GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, the game was found to feature "some occasionally frustrating battles, adds only minor gameplay enhancements, and takes a few additional liberties with AD&D rules," but the new areas and game content were found to be well-designed and interesting. Computer Games Magazine
Computer Games Magazine
Computer Games Magazine was a computer gaming print magazine. It was formerly Computer Games Strategy Plus, and before that, Strategy Plus, which had been founded as Games International in the UK in 1988. While its initial focus was on strategy games, it covered a wide range of game genres...
called it "a solid add-on to an excellent title", but complained that glitches occasionally caused the game to crash
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
. Moby Games lists blurbs from a number of reviews, whose assessing of Tales of the Sword Coast ranges from 71 to 90 out of 100.
External links
- Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast at BioWareBioWareBioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
website - Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast covered by Planet Baldur's Gate, part of the GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
network