Curious what BioWare's Baldur's Gate II might have looked like had it released in full 3D way back in 2000? Well, it would look like Baldur's Gate II Redux, a fully converted mod project that aims to port the entirety of Baldur's Gate II over into the Dragon Age: Origin Eclipse Engine. The newest trailer for the project proves it's absolutely amazing and worth keeping an eye on.
The project is being headed up by a community of modders who have worked their butts off to do the total conversion, which actually features the full visual aesthetic of the game with re-textured and re-modeled assets from Dragon Age: Origins. The cinematic you're about to watch below is taken directly from the early part of Baldur's Gate II after having escaped the torture dungeon of Jon Irenicus following the death of Jaheira's husband, one of your loyal teammates from the original Baldur's Gate.
I can't even describe how amazing that was. The team used all the old sound bits and music from the original Baldur's Gate II. Simply amazing. I mean, it's a real testament to BioWare's writing and storytelling prowess back in the day when characterization wasn't about cliches and tropes and was more about establishing a stable sound board in which to launch player's on an epic quest of redemption, discovery and depending on your play-style...revenge. It's also such a refreshing sense of appreciation that with a graphical makeover Baldur's Gate II could be just as relevant now as it was back in 2000.
According to one of the project members, Dahlia Lynn, the total conversion is making sound progress and is being headed up by a large group of dedicated and talented artists, engineers, level designers and modelers. It sounds almost like a big budget game production, eh?
If what you saw above got your intestinal cogs glistening with excitement, then feel free to stay tuned in with more information and updates regarding this ambitious project – which I hope won't be shutdown by EA or Interplay – by visiting their Official Facebook Page. Again, I've got to give a huge salute to the talented folk to made this happen because it really, really is amazing. Such a fine job.
