Baldur's Gate is good. In fact, it's very good.

Baldur's Gate manages to satisfy the old gamer's cravings while remaining distinctly contemporary. And it is, alarmingly, the first RPG to really take advantage of today's technology rather than merely elaborating on games past.

For example, RPGs were at one time meticulously planned, with every detail of a world included on a stack of floppy discs. This eventually changed (with the advent of faster processors and CDs), and seemingly limitless worlds appeared, stocked with randomly generated people, places and objects. The logic seemed simple enough: if earlier games with 200 NPCs were good, worlds with 10,000 NPCs (made using a random person generator) would be even better. If a nine-level dungeon seemed like fun, how about an infinitely deep dungeon -- or a game that generated new dungeons every time you played?

The problem was that the artifice was immediately apparent to the player. After talking to NPC number twenty, who was immediately recognizable as NPC numbers one through nineteen with a different name and a new hat, the player knew at once he was strutting his merry hours in a huge world burstin' with sound and fury, but signifying nothing. As a result, these gargantuan stale promontories were, inevitably, tossed and gamers began to yearn for the days when the Woodheads and Garriots of the world actually planned out every part of a game. In short, RPG fans begun to long for actual game design.

While Fallout set the stage for those players, it is Baldur's Gate that finally delivers what those disenchanted folks had been longing for. However, as we've said, it doesn't stop there. The game uses five CDs to deliver what ends up being a huge amount of gameplay, all in a beautiful world. Every map has pre-planned events; every area has quests, items, tricks, and traps. The game has been designed from head to toe. Stacked on top of that, though, is the ability to play the entire game with friends - an innovation that is entirely new for CRPGs.

We're not talking about a special "deathmatch mode," or a "multiplayer dungeon." Every second of Baldur's Gate that is available in the single player experience is available in the multiplayer. And while the game's core multiplayer design is at first confusing (not to mention distracting), a dedicated team working together will master it. For instance, whenever any PC talks to an NPC, the camera jerks everyone's attention to the conversation. This is at first chaotic, but parties that are properly cooperating will have no trouble.

In all honesty, the things that make Baldur's Gate great all seem obvious in hindsight. Use the enormous capacity of CDs to just pack a game with information: tons of NPCs, loads of gorgeous maps, and scores of items. Doing that, the game not only provides loads of detail for the hungry player, but also a surprising amount of replayability. It's unlikely that a player will see the entire game during his or her first play through. Add to that multiple ways to solve several of the problems in the game, varying from "playing spy" to "brute force," and you have a recipe for at least two complete times through.

The interface in the game is a melange of old and new. Point and click is the name of the game, with a clock running in the lower left corner. When you enter combat, you have the ability to stop the clock and meticulously plan your characters' moves. This should appease the graybeards of gaming who want turn based combat. At the same time, the game possesses a fluid and intuitive realtime mode of action that is very satisfying. You watch as your mages wave their hands and throw lightning at their opponents, then cringe as it bounces off the wall and hits one of your party members. Your warriors swing their blades on their turns, all regulated by the game's clock (which allows for one round every six seconds - the time system immediately familiar to any fan of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons). The game plays well both in realtime and in paused settings, though some battles are nigh impossible without pausing the game.

It is that clock which brings up one of the most admirable things about Baldur's Gate. It is a very good adaptation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The time system, for instance, is based entirely on AD&D;'s turn system, with each player getting one or two actions in a round, and each round taking six seconds. While some of the rules have been tinkered with (thieves don't have all the abilities thieves have in the paper game, for instance), BG brings this classic table top game to life in a way the old gold box editions from SSI never did.

And while the good interface, the excellent adaptation of AD&D;, the multiplayer functionality, and beautiful graphics all make Baldur's Gate stand out, it is the enormously satisfying role-playing elements that make it a real winner. The primary quests are engrossing, many of the side quests are amusing, and the story of who your character is and why he or she is on this journey keeps you guessing. We're pleased to say that the ending of the game manages to avoid inane fantasy cliché, and left us hungry for more.

If there are problems with the game (and there are) it's the few bugs that keep the game from running perfectly, and the absolutely awful pathfinding. If you tell your characters to move across the map, they will find something inconvenient to get stuck on, even if they have to run to the neighbor's house to borrow it. These flaws aside, the game never, ever becomes dull and every chapter (there are seven) is more exciting than the last. We can't imagine how Bioware will top it in future BG titles, but we can't wait to see.

In fact, we're so looking forward to new adventures in the Forgotten Realms (where the city of Baldur's Gate lies), that we've found ourselves no longer pining for the good old days of Wizardry, Ultima, and Bards Tale. The kings are dead. Long live the king.

The Bottom Line: We all knew the renaissance of CRPGs was on the way. For two years, RPG fans have been expecting that this game would be the new standard. Isn't it nice when something actually lives up to expectations?