After being behind a countdown timer for seemingly forever, the new version of Baldur's Gate - Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition - has been detailed. Along with improvements to the engine and cinematics, three new characters have been introduced in the game along with almost 20 hours of additional content.

New characters

Rasaad Yn Bashir is a monk for a player's party, bringing a new playable adventure and a new area called The Cloud Peaks, with 4 hours of added content, where he faces an "unexpected nemesis." Bashir, found stealing as an orphan, excelled in the monk's training after being discovered.

The second character is Neera the Wild Mage, a "half-elf wild mage slowly coming to terms with her enormous magic potential." Along with being an NPC, to add to the party, she brings an "engaging romantic adventure," 4 hours of content, and a new area: a "secluded hallway" northeast of Durlag's Tower.

The final new character is Dorn Il-Kahn, a half-orc Blackguard with "terrible powers in the form of his black sword and unholy powers." He is also a party-supported NPC, with 4 hours of gameplay, and the Blackguard kit to create "your own champion of evil."

New adventure

A new adventure in the Enhanced Edition, called The Black Pits, is included and sounds like an arena-style, wave-based battle. A total of15 battles, set in the Underdark, are available. Up to six party members can be controlled and customized. It offers 6 hours of gameplay.

New code

Various graphical and behind-the-scenes improvements are included in the Enhanced Edition. There's a new, touch-friendly UI for iPads and Android tablets, and an interface with support for high resolution and widescreen displays; cross-platform multiplayer with matchmaking; features from Baldur's Gate 2, like class kits and classes, are included; hand-painted cinematics are replacing those from the original game; and 400 issues have been fixed, with faster and cleaner updated code compared to the original game.

Overall, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition seems more than a high definition re-release.

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition releases September 18 for PC for $19.99, September for iPad and Mac OS X, and is TBA for Android tablets. Prices have not been confirmed for the other three platforms.