"Since we started with such a great setting, we were able to spend more time developing a rich storyline and action-packed gameplay for Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance," stated Feargus Urquhart, Black Isle Studios President. "The game incorporates Dungeons & Dragons elements with fast-moving action which allows for an original gameplay experience that both RPG fans and console gamers will enjoy."

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance will be an entirely new action adventure experience opening the Baldur's Gate franchise to a much wider gaming community. Faithful adaptation of the new Dungeons & Dragons rules set, customizable player characters and character development allows for an engrossing gameplay experience new to console gamers. Dramatic new spell effects and powerful new abilities have been included to add to the flavor of the action-packed game and assist the player in combat against the terrifying monsters found in the adventure.

"We developed the game from the ground up to take full advantage of the sophisticated PlayStation�2 technology," stated Ryan Geithman, Director of Snowblind Studios. "Our goal was to push the hardware to its limits thus creating stunning environmental effects and highly detailed characters never before seen on the console. We feel we have achieved that goal with Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance."

Played from a third person perspective, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance immerses players in the port town of Baldur's Gate. Darkness has fallen upon the town and rumors of a Thieves' Guild civil war brew beneath the streets of the city. Entering this desperate situation, the player finds himself fresh to the city of Baldur's Gate and new to the world of adventuring. He soon learns that he stands in the way of one of the greatest threats ever to strike the town of Baldur's Gate and The Sword Coast.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is available now for PlayStation�2. More comprehensive information about Black Isle Studios and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance can be found on the official Black Isle web site, located at http://www.blackisle.com.

Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro and the worldwide market share leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, is a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products as well as the owner and operator of one of the nation's largest specialty game retail chains. Producing both the Pokemon(TM) and world's best-selling Magic: The Gathering� trading card games, the company holds an exclusive patent on the play mechanic of trading card games. Publisher of adventure games such as the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, family card and board games and electronic media products, Wizards of the Coast is also one of the world's leading fantasy and science fiction book publishers. The company's retail locations, many of which provide game-play areas, include a growing chain of Wizards of the Coast� specialty game retail stores as well as 53 The Game Keeper� stores. Headquartered near Seattle, Washington, Wizards of the Coast has international offices in Antwerp, Paris, Milan, London and Beijing. For more information on Wizards of the Coast, visit the company's web site and electronic retail store at http://www.wizards.com.

Black Isle Studios is a division of Interplay Entertainment Corp., a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for both core gamers and the mass market. Interplay currently balances its development efforts by publishing for personal computers as well as current and next generation video game consoles. Interplay releases products through Interplay, Shiny Entertainment, Digital Mayhem, Black Isle Studios, its distribution partners and its wholly owned subsidiary Interplay OEM, Inc. More comprehensive information on Interplay and its products is available through its worldwide web site at http://www.interplay.com.

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