LONDON: Pillars Of Eternity may well have the most generic name in video game history. It’s so completely forgettable that we even found ourselves double-checking it before this review, but there’s a good reason for that: its real name is Baldur’s Gate III. In all but trademarked title this is the second sequel to BioWare’s classic series, that fans have been demanding for over a decade.
Developer Obsidian might be better known nowadays for South Park: The Stick Of Truth, but in their previous incarnation as Black Isle Studios they worked on many of the original games that used Baldur’s Gate’s Infinity Engine technology – most notably Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale I and II. Pillars Of Eternity attempts to recreate the look and feel of those old games, and without any concessions to modernisation or current fads.
Since this isn’t an official Dungeons & Dragons title the game takes place in the land of Drywood, which is suffering from a curse where babies are being born without a soul. There’s an awful lot more to it than that, but one of the major tensions in the game comes from the animancers who claim they can solve the problem but are, quite understandably, seen as a serious menace in themselves – what with all their soul-powered robots and heretical experiments.
The main character also has some interesting special abilities, including psychometry and speaking to the dead. This is all a clear attempt to add in some of the occult elements from Planescape: Torment, but although the extra gameplay elements are welcome it doesn’t really mix with the otherwise straight-laced Tolkien-esque fantasy. Pillars Of Eternity not only takes itself incredibly seriously but revels in the fact that there’s so little voice-acting, by presenting reams of text for even the smallest item description or obscure historical footnote.
BioWare have some good comedy writers amongst their ranks, and Minsc and his pet hamster were one of the most iconic parts of the real Baldur’s Gate series, but Pillars Of Eternity struggles to provide an alternative. In fact despite strong writing most of the characters make disappointingly little impact, with many becoming as interchangeable and forgettable as The Hobbit dwarves.
We can’t believe that fans wanted things to be quiet this dry and stuffy, but we’re sure the combat is exactly what they were after. It follows the original games very closely in that although it takes place in real-time you can pause it at any moment in order to issue orders. Which is basically every few seconds as there’s no artificial intelligence for your characters and they’ll happily wander in the way of not just enemies but each other’s friendly fire.
Pillars Of Eternity is brutally, and purposefully, difficult and if you’re anything other than an Infinity Engine veteran we advise playing on Easy – because even that is anything but. Especially when you consider that recovering after a battle is almost as complicated and stressful as the fight itself, as you need a proper rest at a well supplied camp to completely rerejuvenate yourself. (Or ideally your own customisable Suikoden II style castle, which you get access to fairly early on in the game.)
