I'm NOT an RPG fan. The occasional one may catch my interest, but they really are few and far between. I'm more of the hack/slash/kill repetitively type. Hence why I'm so infatuated with Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance here on the X-Box. There are a few instances where you'll be annoyed, but most of this 8-hour romp should be a highly enjoyable experience.

As most of you probably know, this game is based on Dungeons & Dragons, a pen and paper game that would most likely get you beaten up back in high school. This game is based on the 3rd generation of rules (or something like that since I know nothing about D&D), so for those of you who needed to know that, you're welcome. You have 3 choices as far as characters go: An archer, dwarf, and sorceress. Each one of them should affect the way you play, though the archer and the dwarf could be played in the same way if you so desire.

There are numerous ways to upgrade your character. As always, experience is a key. Weapons, armor, and shields can be purchased or found as the game progresses. If you find something you already own, sell it off for more cash to buy yourself some better items. You'll need to be careful as your character can only carry so much weight and deciding what to keep/sell/buy is a major part of the game. Potions of course are also available which can heal, restore magic, or take you back to a previous "safe" area, without having to walk back through who-knows how many finished rooms, a feature that this game simply wouldn't be the same without.

The meat of the gameplay is a basic hack and slash, filled with the usual assortment of blobs, the undead, rats, spear flinging skeletons, lizards, and a few others. There is very little speaking (a rarity for the genre), but even these segments are interactive. Your allowed to choose how to respond to each character which could very well change the story of the game, albeit only slightly.

Each of this generation of consoles can show off some great water effects, but Baldur's Gate's is amazing. The water moves so, uh, "fluidly" that you can hardly tell it's being rendered in real time. The game is presented in a 3/4 overhead view (with a fully adjustable camera most of the time), which doesn't allow player to see a lot of the details put into the characters (though you can obviously see the armor change when you equip a different style), but the environments look outstanding. Also, when speaking to a character, the camera will zoom in to give you a close up view. These guys/gals actually act with their hands and facial expressions. It's simply something you have to see. Oh, and for a Teen rating, this one is damn bloody.