Pretty decent RPG, worth your hard earned money.
Baldur's Gate is one of those games I replay every 3-4 years, because it's one of the best (RPG) games ever made. It's more action based then Planescape Torment, but just as great. In Baldur's Gate you create your own hero who lives a quiet live in Candle Keep. Untill mercenaries try to assasinate you within the monestary. You decide to run away with your foster father, who knows why all this is happening, but before he can tell you he gets killed by a masked attacker. From here on off you'll fight yourself away to the truth. Luckily for you, you don't have to undertake the quest for truth on your own. Baldur's Gate is filled with interessting characters which can join you in your quest for the truth. The characters all have their own background and own reasons to join you. BG probably intruduced some of the most memorable characters of all time like Minsc, Jaheira,... Like earlier mentioned in BG you create your own hero. Because BG is based on the D&D universe you get tons of races, classes and stats to choose from. At first this may all seem a little overwhelming and unclear. You won't understand what a dagger+1 does, but after a while all becomes clear. And even if you don't understand all the rules, you'll still get a solid gameplay experience only a few games have to offer. The combat in BG is a mix of Turn based strategy and realtime strategy. Bassicly this means combat is in real time untill you decide to pause the game. Once paused you're free to give orders to your party members; like casting a spell or using a potion. If you unpause again they will execute your last order. It may sound a little boring, but it's a really good system. I assure you; you'll fight some of the most intense and memorable battles ever. Important to know is that the combat is also based on the D&D rules, the most important consequence beeing that attacking someone does not garantee that you'll actualy hit that person. BG offers tons of quest and adventures besides the main storyline. Although they're not mandatory it is wise to at least take on a few dozen of them. Not only because else you'll have to fight overpowered enemies in the later chapters, but also because the story line of some side quest is truly art. If there is one downside to BG it's the first tough hours and the many bugs which you may encounter. To avoid this save regurarly and save every 5-10 hours in a different slot. In conclussion I advice everybody to buy this game! It got everything a game has to: solid gameplay, a good storyline, memorable characters and real value for your money.
