Don't you just love stereotypes? For every pastime, sport and occupation, there's a public preconception to accompany it. And they are often quite accurate. For instance, few would dispute the beer-swilling lobster-skinned image of English football fans abroad. Unfortunately, although somewhat justified, the stereotypical picture of a Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast isn't among the coolest in the world. Beardy weirdies in their mid-20s, who really should know better, don't usually cut it with the ladies, do they?

But the fact is D&D paved the way for most of the RPGs we love today, and the basic gameplay mechanics still hold true. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is the follow-up to last year's Elite title. It continues to buck the RPG trend by substituting turn-based combat for more spontaneous, and far more interesting, hack 'n' slash action. However, all you stat fiends won't be disappointed because HP (Hit Points) and EP (Experience Points) all count for something here. Depending on your current attacking/defensive attributes, HP are tallied, virtual dice are rolled, and the probability and effectiveness of your blow is calculated before your sword falls. Hence, in varying degrees, identical enemies may take one, three or many more blows to be killed.

The entire game is heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. It's set in the Forgotten Realms world, which is the most popular campaign setting for D&D gamers, and uses the Third Edition rules set for combat. The basic storyline follows directly on from the first title, and we're brought up to speed by a short, if somewhat confusing, cutscene. The original three characters emerge after driving evil from the town, only to be imprisoned by a mysterious new foe. Players must come to their rescue, and along the way discover the whereabouts of the Onyx Tower and deliver Baldur's Gate from yet more impending evil.

First impressions are of a fairly run of the mill hack 'n slash. You make your way through the strange forest to the town, rescuing imprisoned civilians as you go.

Quests are received by speaking to various characters, though conversation with them is pretty limited and nowhere near as involving as that found in a full-blown RPG. There i aren't many options for responses to their questions, although you do have the relative freedom to pick and choose certain tasks the townsfolk ask you to carry out for them.

Initially this is pretty uninspiring, as wave after wave of goblins and other foul beasts move in to attack and, after a fair amount of attack button-bashing, things become quite tedious. However, as it progresses, the true - and very deep - nature of the game becomes apparent. Every character is completely customisable, from basic weapon and clothing upgrades (thus increasing your attacking and defensive capabilities) to the extreme fine-tuning of more than 30 other personal attributes, as Experience Points gleaned from defeating enemies accumulate and are used to level up. There are loads of items to pick up, and before long you'll be blinging in a whole manner of rings and amulets. But a great new feature lets you combine several items to make the holiest of magical artefacts, exactly tailored to your powers. This really does add tons of depth to the gameplay, and offers an intriguingly strategic side to the game. The combat system in particular benefits from this.

You choose from five slightly less-generic-than- usual RPG characters (Human Barbarian, Dark Elf Monlk, Moon Elf Necromancer, Dwarven Rogue and Human Cleric), and par for the course, each one has very different strengths and weaknesses. You know the score by now; the Barbarian is big on swordplay but limited with magic, the Elf is a weak fighter but a magical maestro and so on. The inclusion of multiplayer goes some way to remedy this, much like a magical vial of healing potion. It's great fun to team up with a friend and play through the game, after choosing complementing characters to provide a well-balanced mix of brawn and bewitchment.

So does the game improve on the original? Well, to be honest, not much. Granted, the levels are a lot bigger, and the water effects look just as nice as before, but the rest of the environments are pretty undetailed and bland. The enemies suffer from both bad characteristics (unimaginative, spitting balls of slime) and poor AI (goblins run in to attack, then carrying on running on the spot in front of you!).

However, the relatively free-roaming nature and successful blending of a combat-heavy RPG and traditional hack 'n slash more than makes up for this. There's loads to do, and the story does manage to be interesting without being overblown and tedious.

If you've always been strangely curious of role-playing games, but could never quite bring yourself to enter their weird and wonderful world, you should open this Gate and forge a new Alliance.

1. Good blend of action and RPG
2. Customisable characters
3. Thoughtful use of magical artefacts

1. Poor enemy AI
2. Repetitive quests

Power
Large environments and fantastic water effects, though the other landscapes look decidedly bland.

Style
The Middle-earth-esque world is dark and broody. The score is great but there's not enough of it.

Immersion
Initially a straightorward hack 'n' slash, the hidden depth gradually, and impressively, reveals itself

Lifespan
Each character has different capabilities, bolstering replayabiliy, but the quests remain the same.

Summary
Not drastically different from its predecessor, but this is a worthy instalment of the series, and a relatively accessible RPG.