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Let me just start off by saying
that I don't have any sort of control over my wallet. When I see a
collector's edition, BAM-I buy it. Hell, just to let you know how far
this Collector's Edition thing goes, I traded in the regular version of KISS:
Psycho Circus for the "Special Edition." And just to prove to you how
little control I have over my wallet - just remember that I actually bought
KISS: Psycho Circus in the first place.  So it's a crappy image. Deal with it! I spent all my money for a new digital camera on Special Editions. I even bought Tomb Raider Last Revelation Millenium Edition. I HATE Tomb Raider! That's right - the highly coveted Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 Collector's editions! These two games are probably the best contenders for the 2000 "RPG of the year" award, and by the end of this article, I shall tell you which deserves it the most. Onward! The Box: Video game boxes aren't made just to kill helpless trees. They serve a more important purpose - to sell you the game. The Diablo 2 Special Edition Box is flashier than a pervert in downtown New York during rush hour with nothing but a trench coat on. It's also quite big. Throw in red undead guy grinning at you, lots of fire, a front cover fold out with screenshots of the game, and the number out of 70,000 your box was, and you've got Blizzard's surefire way to either scare the living daylights out of children, or crush them with the boxes immense weight. The Baldur's Gate 2 Special Edition box, however, seems to be pretty skimpy on its pizzazz. If you had never heard of Baldur's Gate before, with this box, you'd probably be lead to believe that Baldur's Gate 2 was just some new firewall software. In fact, aside from the words "Collector's Edition" on the box, and the number out of 62,000, it doesn't seem all that special at all. The Rating: Diablo 2 received the "M" (Mature) Rating. To quote the Stop-n-Save salesman: "Now you know this game is rated M because it contains gratuitous blood and violence...but that's probably the reason you're buying it." This game contains what can only be described as an ungodly amount of violence. Before the game is over, you'll probably have killed an uncountable number of Diablo's minions. Oh Hell, You'll probably accomplish that before you find the first dungeon. Even then, just to show you how serious Blizzard was about cementing down that M rating, they even put nipples on the topless female hellspawn. Baldur's Gate 2, on the other hand, managed to escape with a T (Teen) Rating. Apparently, Black Isle Studios somehow managed to dodge the ominous M, by putting in even more of the violence than Diablo 2, but making it optional. In fact, one of the things that I personally loved most about this game, is that while lots of people love you and you can be considered a hero, you always have at least one option in the conversation which leads to an all out brawl. Example: Father Druid: Welcome my sons, to our temple of healing. You look injured. How about I heal your wounds for a price of 50 Gold? Your options: A: But of course Father. We can not carry on into battle like this. B: Nay, Father. At the current time, our funding is too short. C: Highway Robbery! How about I behead ye and pull my own healing out of your holy arse! D: We are not in need of your assistance at this time. With conversation options such as C, it's a wonder I made it out of the first town. Collector's Edition Goodies: As mentioned before, it seems to have become an unspoken rule that special/collector's editions must come with at least one totally useless trinket. Whether it be a pewter figurine of Lara Croft, or a Voyager Elite force lapel pin so obscene looking that even Star Trek fans would make fun of you for wearing, it can be yours for only ten dollars more. Here's what you would get in the Collector's Edition that wasn't in the original: Diablo 2 Collector's Edition: Collector's Edition CDs/Manual, Soundtrack, DVD, Diablo 2 Dungeons & Dragons RPG. Baldur's Gate 2 Collector's Edition: Collector's Edition Gold CDs, Bonus Disc Containing Extra Weapons/Armor for the game & Music from the soundtrack, Cloth Map, Set of 8 Collectible Character Cards, Black Isle Notepad. Let me begin by saying that none of this is even remotely useful. The soundtracks are the equivalent of Louie Anderson singing to nails on a chalkboard, backup vocals courtesy of Yoko Ono. The Diablo 2 DVD is little more than cuts scenes from the game. The D&D RPG is bland and uninspired. I'm not even going to think about what you would do with a cloth map, but for some odd reason, its texture is similar to that of cheese cloth. The Game Itself: Both Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 bear a striking resemblance to their predecessors. The gameplay looks and feels almost exactly the same, giving you the feeling that you're picking up the game exactly where you left off in the first one. This is not necessarily a good thing, especially in Diablo 2's case. The game was years in the making, yet looks exactly like the original with a few bells and whistles. In fact, within 15 minutes of playing Diablo 2, you'll wonder how Blizzard managed to con you into buying the original Diablo in a different box. One must take into consideration, however, that the original Diablo was an excellent game, and putting out the same tried-and-true formula may not have been such a bad idea. Though, updating the graphics wouldn't have been either... Essentially hack-and-slash clickfests, neither Diablo nor Diablio 2 had much role playing involved. In fact, character development was pretty much the only RPG element in the game. This caused both of the games to grow stale as a Mr. T air freshener after a couple of hour's play, because the games lacked variation. While Diablo 2 showed some differences from its original, Baldur's Gate 2 shows very little, if any. It looks, feels, sounds, smells, and tastes just like the original. But once again, I'd like to say that the tried-and-true method is not without it's perks. Many sequels that looked like the original were quite good - Doom, Fallout, Command & Conquer, and many others had prequels/sequels which looked exactly the same but were just as fun to play. Baldur's Gate 2 is based in the AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and is one of the most in depth RPGs I've ever played. You can choose what quests you go on, what you say, who joins your party, what they do/equip, etc. You also tend to meet an array of well scripted, interesting characters, who always have something to say - "Jump on my sword while you can evil...I will not be so gentle!" Characters will also leave your party on a whim, if you start doing things that don't suit them, or they are near death in battle. They also tend to speak their mind freely, which tends to break up the monotony while crawling through a dungeon. Overall: Both Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 are both, in their own respect, excellent games. While Diablo 2 is more of an "Everything must die" Dungeon Crawl, Baldur's Gate 2 is more of a "Choose your adventure" RPG. As to which is the better game, it depends on the mood you're in. If you're looking for a vast world to get lost in and never find your way out of, pick up a copy of Baldur's Gate 2. If you don't want to spend 10 hours wandering around trying to find out what to do, and just want to see Hell's minions dead at your feet, then pick up a copy of Diablo 2. As to which should win RPG of the year? Baldur's Gate 2, hands down. And remember - Friends don't let friends by Collector's Editions. - Ray davdlister@aol.com | |||