If you loved the Diablo series, then this game is for you. It combines D&D items and monsters with hack and slash action.

At the beginning of the game you pick one of three classes. There is a elven wizardress who casts powerful spells to blast away her opponents. The dwarf fighter is the classic warrior, he can use any weapon and armor while having the highest hit points. The human archer is a little more unique than the previous two. His main weapon is his deadly bow, and he gets a multitude of skills to improve the damage.

The point of the game is to do quests for the townsfolk, leading up to a final boss for each "act". In the first act you start out in the town "Baldurs Gate." You must venture into the sewer system to defeat an entrenched thieves guild. To beat the area you must kill the beholder boss, a monster taken straight from the D&D game.

You are immediately teleported to the Sunset Mountains where a village of dwarves need a ton of help. First you must stop a drow (dark elf) invasion in the underground mines. From there you venture to the icy mountain tops to kill the ice dragon boss. The story continues in much the same way, going to a new village and defeating the boss, for another few acts.

One of the coolest parts of this game is the customization that you are allowed. Will you train your wizard into a skilled with fire, or do prefer to zap them with lighting bolts. Do you want your archer to shoot a barrage of arrows or really powerful arrows one at a time. Is your dwarf going to be defensive or do wish to go toe to toe with the nasties? This customization occurs whenever you gain a level. You are given skill points which you can divvy up among your skills and stats to make your ideal character.

Also if one player is too boring for you, call over a friend and play together for more fun and faster play.

I only found a few problem with this game. The first is that fans of the Baldurs Gate games for the computer will not find this game to their liking. It is almost an entirely new game. Also if you have played hack & slash games like this before you will know that they can get quite repetitive, Dark Alliance is no exception. The biggest problem I found with this game is that it was too short, but most new games seem to have this problem.

So if you are looking for a great game to spend some time on, pick up Dark Alliance, if only to rent.