While D&D fans anxiously await the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance reboot, Interplay, and Wizards of the Coasts announce a surprising twist: the original game is being re-released on current-gen consoles. It has been nearly two decades since the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance revolutionized couch co-op, and now both old fans and new ones will get to try the RPG like never before.
The surprise announcement comes only a month before the reboot of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is set to release. The original game released in 2001 on the PS2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox, receiving rave reviews for its top-down, action-adventure concept. Much like the Diablo franchise, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance helped to solidify the top-down dungeon looter as a gaming mainstay, bringing together friends to hack and slash rats, kobolds, and lizardmen in widely praised co-op multiplayer. Though the re-release of Dark Alliance isn’t being advertised as remaster, it will come with various graphical improvements and the ability to play on both last consoles.
According to IGN, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is being re-released tomorrow, May 7, for PS4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and it will reportedly be supported on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility. The PC and mobile ports will arrive later this year, but no official release date has been announced. The re-release will cost $29.99 per system, and it will have 4K support for the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro versions.
The re-release is likely an attempt to build excitement around the upcoming Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance reboot set to release in June, based on R.A. Salvatore’s novels. The original game only supported two-player couch co-op, while the reboot will allow up to four players to play together. However, it’s unclear whether or not the re-release of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance will feature online multiplayer, but it seems like a given in 2021. Still, fans are likely thrilled to hear that a classic Dungeons & Dragons game is coming to modern systems for the first time.
There is no telling if Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 will also get a re-release, but it will likely depend on the success of the original’s port on PS4, Xbox, and Switch. The sequel was not reviewed as highly as the original, but it was still well-regarded among hardcore players. Now, fans will get to play the 2001 version of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance as they prepare for the full-blown reboot next month.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance will be available PS4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on May 7, 2021.
