Baldur's Gate Enhanced's new character, mission, and area revealed

Beamdog promised a new character for the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, and we have a first look at who it is. Also: details on the all-new stand-alone adventure, The Black Pits.

37
When Beamdog announced a new Baldur's Gate back in March, they promised the Enhanced Edition would offer a new character, a new area and a new adventure. Today, Shacknews reveals one of three new characters created exclusively for the Enhanced Edition: Rasaad yn Bashir. In addition, we take a look at the game's new area, the Cloud Peaks, and an all new stand-alone adventure called The Black Pits.

Rasaad's game portrait

The soft-spoken Rasaad is a Calishite from Calimport and covered in tattoos. He can become a member of your party, and his story line is part of the new Cloud Peaks area of the game. Rasaad's official story: "For a young man, Rasaad yn Bashir radiates an uncommonly mature aura of calm and wisdom. After a disastrous mission to a monastery in Athkatla, he now wanders the Sword Coast in search of enlightenment. "Orphaned on the streets of Calimport, Rasaad and his brother, Gamaz, barely survived by begging and theft. Caught in the act by a monk of the Order of the Sun Soul, the boys received not punishment, but their first instruction. Soon, the brothers excelled in the physical, mental, and spiritual training of the monastery devoted to Selûne, goddess of the moon. "In the aftermath of his brother's death, Rasaad has left his order to seek his own solace. If he can also find opportunities to reflect his inner light on those in need, he is eager to do so." The Cloud Peaks will add four additional hours of gameplay that wasn't available in the original Baldur's Gate. Rasaad can be a romantic interest for female characters in the game. Other characters coming include Dorn Il-Khan, a Half-orc Blackguard, and Neera, the Wild Mage. Dorn adds the Blackguard kit to the game, while Neera's new area is a secluded hideaway northeast of Durlag's Tower. Also, a ton of improvements have been added.

An artist's sketch of the new Cloud Peaks area

Beamdog also revealed The Black Pits, where the player is lured to the Underdark by an invitation from the mysterious Baeloth the Entertainer to witness mortal vs. mortal in a battle to the death. Unfortunately, it's the player's party battling to escape the arena-style encounter--15 levels to be exact. Apparently, Baeloth is a mad drow who has enslaved some dark Dwarves to create the "entertainment" maze he designed for visitors eager to witness the life-and-death spectacle. The Underdark adventure should add at least six more hours of gameplay, although Beamdog President Trent Oster told us: "I think the Black Pits will take a lot more than six hours, but that is where we've ballparked it." Art Director Nat Jones created the images of Rasaad and The Black Pits, while the Cloud Peaks concept art was drawn by John Gallagher, the original concept artist for Baldur's Gate.

Welcome to The Black Pits, hosted by Baeloth the Entertainer

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is expected to come out on September 18. The game will cost $20, however the official site is now accepting pre-orders for a $2 discount at $18.
Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 26, 2012 12:00 PM

    John Keefer posted a new article, Baldur's Gate Enhanced's new character, mission, and area revealed.

    Beamdog promised a new character for the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, and we have a first look at who it is. Also: details on the all-new stand-alone adventure, The Black Pits.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:00 PM

      Here it is, as promised ...

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:01 PM

      YEEEEEEEEEEAH!

      Thanks.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:12 PM

      Awesome.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:20 PM

      Sick. As. Balls.

      That is all.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:22 PM

      I'm stoked. Three new characters. 10 moire hours of gameplay. I'm in ...

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 12:38 PM

        Me too, I don't know why more shackers aren't losing their shit over this. It sounds pretty awesome

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 1:14 PM

        10 more hrs, damn! That brings the total gameplay up to 510 hrs!!!

        • reply
          July 26, 2012 9:16 PM

          BG1 isn't really that long though. BG2 is huge, as is ToB, but the first game was a pretty normal length.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:30 PM

      so awesome

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:33 PM

      This sounds fucking awesome

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:40 PM

      But no release date?

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:44 PM

      Do we have any info about multiplayer? I'm assuming it has to be revamped at least a little, as old school BG was a little clunky.

      If they do modernize it up a bit, that will be awesome. Multiplayer in these games is so good.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:47 PM

      FUCK YEAH THIS IS GONNA 0WN! Time to start brushing up on the kensai-mage build.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 12:55 PM

      I really can't wait to replay this. One of my favorite games of all time!

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 1:09 PM

      Aww yeah

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 1:10 PM

      $20 price point, but preorders get $2 off at their site!

      I will gladly give them my $18 to support more of this!

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 1:13 PM

      Fuuu-

      I want this so bad.

      But, just looking at the screenshots, the environments kind of look weird. Like...blurry-like.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 1:28 PM

        Where are there screenshots?

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 1:40 PM

        To me it looks just like the original game...maybe the original game looked worse than I remember? Not that I am disappointed but I thought this was giving it a graphical overhaul.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 3:36 PM

        As long as it doesn't crash all the time (as the game did the last time I tried playing it on Win7) I'm in.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 4:38 PM

        From what I gather not all the original source was available to them so they had to up-res some of it. New stuff should be rendered at the new higher resolutions.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 1:29 PM

      Now give Planescape Torment the same treatment!!

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 2:09 PM

      I wish they would show us some high resolution screenshots.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 2:43 PM

      Pre-ordered.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 3:15 PM

      A calishite with a jeweled dagger at his waist? :)

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 3:50 PM

      Anyone else thing the screenshots look a little weird? The characters don't mesh with the environments. Disappointing.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 4:39 PM

        Looks like BG to me.

        • reply
          July 26, 2012 7:48 PM

          No, it really doesn't.

          • reply
            July 26, 2012 7:49 PM

            No, it really does. You realize they have a lot of the same artists working on it right?

            • reply
              July 26, 2012 7:58 PM

              No one is talking about the style of the art.

              http://www.baldursgate.com/images/neera/screenshot04.jpg

              ^ that is messy as hell.

              • reply
                July 26, 2012 7:59 PM

                I particularly love the floating robe to the top left, completely out of perspective.

                • reply
                  July 26, 2012 8:04 PM

                  It looks like it's floating because it has no shadow as many items in BG did not as well. Also, are you looking at new terrain or old terrain that was up-ressed?

                  • reply
                    July 26, 2012 8:27 PM

                    I don't know what I'm looking at, but it doesn't look good. I'll buy it, and play it, but I'm not getting a feeling of "enhanced" out of the look of it.

                • reply
                  July 26, 2012 8:08 PM

                  That's on the ground, dead persons loot

              • reply
                July 26, 2012 8:10 PM

                The environments look blurry while the characters look pixelated. I'd much prefer it to look uniformly pixelated like the original

                  • reply
                    July 26, 2012 8:27 PM

                    man that looks terrible

                    • reply
                      July 26, 2012 8:28 PM

                      It really does. I might skip this.

                      • reply
                        July 26, 2012 9:00 PM

                        Seriously? You are that much of an eye candy whore? This is a 13 year old game. What did you expect? For the money, the extra content and the ability to play cross platform co-op is awesome.

                        • reply
                          July 26, 2012 9:10 PM

                          Yeah, I know it's a 13 year old game because I pre-ordered and played this shit out it's original incarnation. Sadly, I threw away the spiral bound manual, cloth map, and character cards.

                          I expected this to look as good or better than the original. The characters look oddly removed from their environments, and on the whole I prefer the original aesthetic. If this version does not look better to me than the version I already purchased, then yes... I am FOR SERIOUSLY THAT MUCH OF AN EYE CANDY WHORE.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 7:39 PM

        Characters look off :-(

        • reply
          July 26, 2012 8:10 PM

          I think it's actually the environments.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 5:50 PM

      It's gonna be 20 on the iPad as well? That would be the most I've ever spent on my iPad.

      • reply
        July 26, 2012 7:48 PM

        $10. But dlc will cost $3 for each character so if you want it all, roughly the same. All dlc is included in the pc price.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 7:46 PM

      I am so excited. Somehow I will find the time.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 7:46 PM

      The dlc character stuff is free on pc and mac but $3 for each character on tablets, per Trent osters Twitter. However, the game itself is only $10 for iOS.

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 8:51 PM

      Can't wait to rock this on the ipad 3. Retina UI? Control scheme? Sex

    • reply
      July 26, 2012 9:38 PM

      The screenshots don't look very enhanced to me...

    • reply
      July 27, 2012 6:27 AM

      TAKE MY MONEY!

Hello, Meet Lola