So, my favorite RPG site, and site that I agree with 90% of the time have put up their review of BGEE!
Unfortunately the review is... Well, lukewarm. It could have been worse, but considering how much I respect these guys opinions I had hoped for better, though I want to draw your attention to what they consider the worst part of BGEE:
"What's perhaps the worst of all, though, is the way the game simply looks. Where the original version's graphics are sharp and pristine as ever, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is blurry and eye-straining when played in full-screen mode. As a result of adding the camera-zooming feature to a game with 2D artwork, the graphics have to be blown up to two, three or four times their original size. Not only is this feature near-useless because of how ugly it makes the game look, you also can't fully zoom the camera back out to regain the sharpness of the original graphics. The only way to get the game looking sharp is to play in windowed mode, which has its share of problems like difficulty in scrolling the screen using the mouse, and of course, the lack of resolution options that prevent you from resizing the window.
On top of that, the user interface and updated fonts have apparently been drawn at a low resolution, and are scaled up. This means that the brand-new interface, regardless of art style, simply looks bad, and on top of that, much of the game text is hard to read as well. Even the new environments added for the personal quests of the new characters are underwhelming too - they don't match the sharpness or painterly attention to detail in any of the previous Infinity Engine games, instead looking more like screenshots taken from an early 3D strategy title, complete with low-resolution textures. The brand-new cutscenes that replace the old ones are drawn well, but have stiff, barebones animation and don't mesh well with the game's established art style... and call me old fashioned, but I don't think the new interface colors suit the game either, as they're just too dark when put next to the bright, vibrant forests and cities. "
I have played bits of the EE since it came out but Im not going to play properly for a while for various reasons. I can understand some of the stuff in the 2nd paragraph, the UI does look a little blurry, which I hope can be fixed or helped in some way. But I dont really understand what they are saying in the first paragraph.. Are they saying the 1998 release in 640x480 looks better? Because to me, thats simply not the case (unless youre zoomed right in) and the general graphics look better. The widescreen mod might look better in some ways, but using my desktop resolution with that mod makes everything look tiny, and I do disagree with this part of their review in particular.
All in all though alot of the other stuff I do agree with, but Im still very much hoping that Trent and co can continue the lagacy of BG in some way, and that BGEE gets patched to become a better experience than BG with mods for the majority of people.
Edit: Oh, heres a link btw
http://www.gamebanshee.com/reviews/110209-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-review.html
Unfortunately the review is... Well, lukewarm. It could have been worse, but considering how much I respect these guys opinions I had hoped for better, though I want to draw your attention to what they consider the worst part of BGEE:
"What's perhaps the worst of all, though, is the way the game simply looks. Where the original version's graphics are sharp and pristine as ever, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is blurry and eye-straining when played in full-screen mode. As a result of adding the camera-zooming feature to a game with 2D artwork, the graphics have to be blown up to two, three or four times their original size. Not only is this feature near-useless because of how ugly it makes the game look, you also can't fully zoom the camera back out to regain the sharpness of the original graphics. The only way to get the game looking sharp is to play in windowed mode, which has its share of problems like difficulty in scrolling the screen using the mouse, and of course, the lack of resolution options that prevent you from resizing the window.
On top of that, the user interface and updated fonts have apparently been drawn at a low resolution, and are scaled up. This means that the brand-new interface, regardless of art style, simply looks bad, and on top of that, much of the game text is hard to read as well. Even the new environments added for the personal quests of the new characters are underwhelming too - they don't match the sharpness or painterly attention to detail in any of the previous Infinity Engine games, instead looking more like screenshots taken from an early 3D strategy title, complete with low-resolution textures. The brand-new cutscenes that replace the old ones are drawn well, but have stiff, barebones animation and don't mesh well with the game's established art style... and call me old fashioned, but I don't think the new interface colors suit the game either, as they're just too dark when put next to the bright, vibrant forests and cities. "
I have played bits of the EE since it came out but Im not going to play properly for a while for various reasons. I can understand some of the stuff in the 2nd paragraph, the UI does look a little blurry, which I hope can be fixed or helped in some way. But I dont really understand what they are saying in the first paragraph.. Are they saying the 1998 release in 640x480 looks better? Because to me, thats simply not the case (unless youre zoomed right in) and the general graphics look better. The widescreen mod might look better in some ways, but using my desktop resolution with that mod makes everything look tiny, and I do disagree with this part of their review in particular.
All in all though alot of the other stuff I do agree with, but Im still very much hoping that Trent and co can continue the lagacy of BG in some way, and that BGEE gets patched to become a better experience than BG with mods for the majority of people.
Edit: Oh, heres a link btw
http://www.gamebanshee.com/reviews/110209-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-review.html