From BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Ancient Republic, and Baldur's Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins. An epic tale of violence, lust, and duplicity, Dragon Age: Origins is a single player role-before a live audience game (RPG) set in a fantasy game background, and featuring three playable reputation classes, reachable in the form of three races. In addition, the game features extreme reputation customization, a new game engine, party-based gameplay utilizing non-player characters and a built-in private history system for each hero reputation rooted in a variety of possible origin tales. 
6 possible hero Origin Tales.
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3 classes and 3 races to play as.
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Stunning 3D environments.
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Spell combining abilities.
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In Dragon Age: Origins the survival of humanity rests in the hands of those chosen by fate. You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians who have defended the lands on the continent of Thedas throughout the centuries. Betrayed by a trusted all-purpose in a vital battle, you must hunt down the traitor and bring him to Evenhandedness. As you fight your way towards the final confrontation with an evil nemesis, you will face monstrous foes and engage in epic quests to unite the unequal peoples of a world at war. A romance with a seductive shapeshifter may hold the key to victory, or she may be a treacherous diversion from the heart of your mission. To be a leader, you must make uncaring decisions and be keen to sacrifice your friends and loved ones for the greater excellent. Gameplay
Dragon Age: Origins is a 3D oriented RPG based in a dark, heroic, fantasy realm where moral choices have a lasting impression on the people you meet, the members of your own party and the world around you. The inclusion of header "Origins" in the game's title refers to the six unique origin tales unfilled to new heroes as a new game starts. Each of these has an impact on the player's motivations and his or her experience, and renders a unique prelude, path, and possible ending(s) to the game. There are many different endings to the game based on the origin tale of the reputation and the choices you make as you play through the game. The game features three reputation classes--fighter, mage, and rogue--and three races of being--Human, Elf or Dwarf--that can assume these classes. Although most game elements, such as weapons, magic, etc., are unfilled to any reputation, each class and race has different strengths, abilities and affinities which lend themselves to better utilizing different elements. Dragon Age: Origins is a single player game based on party-based gameplay and combat where the player can join, power and quest with up to three non-player characters (NPCs). Players can also quest alone if they so choose, but with the chance of survival are slim. Convincing NPCs to join you, and treating them well may be de rigueur depending on the varying sentiments between the player and the NPC, or between the NPC's in the party based on the chosen history written into the origin tale accepted at the beginning of the game. This uncertainty allows for a variety of possible dynamics within the party ranging from open hostility, all the way to romance. The game progresses in real-time via a pause-and-play tactical combat system that allows the player to check supply levels, equip a reputation, etc. in a slight vacuum. Additional features found in the game include: a combination of a standard loot system and a currency system based on gold silver and copper; advanced reputation customization functionality; the use of poison, traps and herbalism; dual-wielding skills; and "spell combos," which allow players to chain together different spells to make a unique things. Key Game Features - BioWare’s deepest universe to date with over 80 hours of gameplay and more than double the size and scope of Mass Effect.
- Travel throughout dozens of environments and fully throw yourself into yourself in a shattered world that is on the brink of utter annihilation.
- An epic tale that is absolutely shaped and reactive to your play style.
- Complex moral dilemmas donation no simple choices.
- Tailor your Dragon Age: Origins experience from the very beginning by choose from six different origin tales.
- Choose how to handle complex issues like murder, genocide, duplicity, and the possession/sacrificing of family lacking the wellbeing of a excellent/terrible slider to tell you what to do.
- Full reputation customization allowing the player to sculpt a hero in your own image or fantasy.
- Elaborate reputation creator allows you to make your own hero unique from anyone else.
- Shape your reputation’s personality and morality based on the choices you make throughout the game.
- Engage in bone-crushing, visceral combat engaging in battle hostile to massive and terrifying creatures.
- Unleash legendary powers and choose from over 100 different magical spells and skills.
- Experience the adrenaline rush of brutal combat, beheading your foes or casting spells that make enemies explode from within.
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 Kind of like a cross between Witcher and KOTOR 2 |
| Review Date: November 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: sporked, Berkeley, CA USA |
Dragon Age is a kind of game that is becoming increasingly rare: a deeply immersive single-player RPG with an boundary clearly designed for the PC. It's simple to sling around the word "immersive" at any game that looks pretty, but DA isn't messing around - the world of Ferelden shows a unified sense of design and depth that blows even above all vast games like Oblivion out of the water. Coupled with consistently brilliant writing and across-the-board quality reputation design even down to moderately unimportant NPCs, the game truly does feel like it's reacting to your choices dynamically from the very beginning, and how you play your reputation can have amazingly subtle things on the way the tale unfolds.
Graphically, the game's a small uneven. All the design elements are there, and it has plenty of high-quality textures and strong environmental visuals - above all fire things. The polygons themselves, above all on reputation faces, are a small simpler than you'd expect from a 2009 game. Overall, the game looks about on level with Oblivion, although the visual distinctiveness and design ethic of areas and characters are significantly better. Animation stands out as a strong suit here, above all during the game's frequent dialog sequences, with none of the dead-eyed staring or bizarre walk cycles that plagued other RPGs like Fallout 3.
Gameplay is pretty straightforward, and very much in keeping with before Bioware titles like Knights of the Ancient Republic and Mass Effect. You power a party of up to four characters, each of whom develops a superfluity of useful abilities to keep track of. The inclusion of a minor programming constituent (very much in keeping with the gambit system from Final Fantasy XII) will let you set up a few defaulting events on each reputation so you're not stuck frantically switching between them to make sure they drink their healing potions, but battles frequently demand some degree of tactical preparation. Background up ambushes and preparation your party strategy to play to strengths is de rigueur to get through some tougher areas. The boundary is, dreadfully, clearly tailor-made for the PC (the console versions have their own interfaces designed from the bottom up and are rumor has it that simpler games to allow for the sacrifice in simple access to skills). You have an insane number of quick-access slots, and nearly the entire keyboard is bound to one thing or a further. It's the kind of boundary that hasn't been in vogue since before the PS2 came out. The game is exceptionally linear, although the frequent and varied dialog options give it the feel of a more free-roaming game, and it's very tempting to go back and replay huge chunks of the game just to see how the complex and dynamic conversations will play out. The main downside is that there's no simple way to level-grind, which is to the game's financial support to a point (no tedious circling around butchery wolves) but occasionally means you can get in over your head.
What the game sacrifices in terms of sandbox free-roaming it more than makes up with in the brilliant writing and characterization. An absurd attention to detail and across-the-board brilliant voice acting breathes a lot of life into the game's conversations, which make up a significant chunk of gameplay. Characters are exceptionally varied and the interplay between them is a major draw, a brand of Bioware's games, but Dragon Age has some of the most agreeable characters I've ever seen in a video game and the brilliant performances from talents like Tim Curry, Kate Mulgrew and Claudia Black really place the game a notch above. Even the game's honestly generic-on-the-surface fantasy world is livened up by a few vital fine points - for example, the elves in Dragon Age are a massive underclass of servants.
It's in fact hard to find things to level complaints hostile to in this game. One petty gripe is Morrigan's visual design - her reputation is one of the game's strongest, and she has fantastic personality and some very clever writing, but visually she's a pair of giant breasts with a cloth draped improbably over them. Other women in the game are treated with a bit more restriction, though, and female armor is gratifyingly sensible. A further issue is that it can be hard to manage battles on the glide, and accurately targeting enemies with skills frequently requires tactical pausing just to line the cursor up over their moderately small active areas. It's a petty annoyance, but the game clearly wasn't meant to be played Diablo-style anyway.
A few other things to know about the game:
-The game is mostly DRM-free, and ships only with a simple disc check. EA has a reputation for fouling up its customers' computers with DRM malware, but DA seems to be free of those problems.
-If Dragon Age were a movie, it would be rated R. I don't remember ever seeing any swearing, oddly, but the game is rife with violent imagery, exceptionally dark themes and frank sexuality (counting a handful of moderately tasteful sex scenes and occasional demonic nudity). The game handles all of it with maturity and depth, but it's clearly not meant for family, and even parents of younger teens should be cautious.
Overall, Dragon Age is one of the strongest games to come out in recent memory, and is a further installment in Bioware's increasing resume of superbly-written RPGs. Players looking for a quick-paced hack-and-slash "rpg" should look somewhere else, but anyone who likes deep and elegant plot development, memorable characters and brilliant role-before a live audience will like this game. |
The best RPG of 2009
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| Review Date: November 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: VA Gamer, Norfolk, VA |
Before diving into the review, a brief synopsis: Dragon Age Origins is the epic role before a live audience game that many of us have been waiting for since we first fell in like with the genre with the classic Baldur's Gate. It drops the player into an immersive fantasy world rich with lore and compelling settings. The aesthetics and score are as pleasing and engrossing as a excellent cinematic feature or novel. And while it is spectacular in just about every way, it is not lacking its faults (mostly technological in nature, and affects players with very specific computer hardware as far as I can tell - I'll clarify more later). In small, if you're a fan of the genre you will do yourself a favor by purchasing and experiencing this game. I have never felt more comfortable signifying a RPG to the Internet-at-large as I do right now with Dragon Age. I will swear upon no matter what holy text you prefer that it's the best single-player RPG to come along since Fallout 3. If you're not a theist, I infer I could place my hand upon a photograph of Carl Sagan before making the same solemn vow. But I digress. Onto the review. Aspects I found positive are preceded by a (+), negative aspects a (-).
GAME PLAY
(+) Dragon Age (hereby referred to as "DA") plays like a perfect hybrid of turn-based and real-time RPGs of yore. The controls are a mash up of overhead tactical direction ala Baldur's Gate and the third-person RTS-like technicalities found in Knights of the Ancient Republic. You power reputation movement with either the WASD keyboard in rank familiar to MMO and FPS players, or via mouse-click navigation (concurrently). You can play from a third-person perspective to get a full view of the world around you, or zoom out into an overhead tactical view to aid in unit placement and positioning (in which the graphics take on the painted look and feel of Baldur's Gate - a nice touch). The camera may be proscribed with either the keyboard or mouse. All around, planetary.
(+) The UI makes a powerful and elegant use of economy of space (it fits a lot into a small, all while looking and before a live audience exceptionally well)
(+) Reputation customization is as rich if not richer than any other RPG hybrid or pure RPG on the market - past or present. You have standard archetypes (fighter, mage, rogue) which alone have various "trees" or avenues of advance focusing upon things like weapon inclination (sword + shield, dual wield, two-handed, etc) or all-purpose and crafting skills. In addition there are specialist classes that excel at specific vocations (such as the mage-nullifying Templar, shape shifting mage, or crit-pleased Gunfighter - to name a few). On top of this, special abilities and vocations may be unlocked by finding rare items or special quests (often a combination of both)
(+) Combat is highly tactical, taking into tab elevation, range, "crowd power" technicalities, and vast synergy between the abilities of your party members
(+) A deep tactics system can be utilized, in which you assign a custom AI to each of your characters based upon a variety of criteria and situations. For example, you can tell your mage that every time they're surrounding by two or more melee mobs, they cast a particular crowd power spell. If a party member has less than 50% health, heal them. Or have your tank taunt mobs that attack the mage. Or have the rogue stun the mobs your main reputation is fighting. Etc.
(-) Melee-centric characters draw from a pool of resilience to perform their various abilities and group-enhancing skills. This pool feels very restricted, even when you invest like a log into the stat that grants more resilience. It's further hampered by injuries that your characters will sustain, on occasion, while fighting (which are treated with injury kits or by resting at your camp). Hopefully this will be tweaked in a future patch.
Tale, PRESENTATION, & Background
(+) The seemingly worn-out tale (you`re the last in a long line of sacred warriors who's mission is to vanquish a very particular foe) promptly unfolds into a compelling, immersive, and appealing tale that rivals those found in quality fantasy novels and movies. Each race, town, city, and region are wholly unique and diverse - from the political intrigue of Dwarven the upper classes to the juxtaposition of the city and forest Elves (and the layers of complexity caught up therein). I can't go too much into this lacking potentially spoiling the many brilliant tales. Be enough to say, it's superb.
(+) While the world isn't technically "open", being on terrible terms into many instanced zones (if you will), it is on the other hand truly vast. Most areas are substantially large. There is no limit to draw space: your viewing space is essentially to infinity, and most zones can be fully explored to the smallest nook and cranny (and it pays to do so). You unlock more areas as the game progresses (and the areas vary depending upon your origin and choices), and there's a complete underground zone in addition to the zone all non-Dwarves start within.
(+) The tale is always evolving and changing. Your most minor, or major, decisions a propos plot or reputation interactions will have lasting repercussions that may not come to fruition for some time. You can build intimate relationships with characters, and being an active participant in the dialogue and lore pay huge dividends in the end
(+) Replayability is very high - due fundamentally to the aforementioned dynamic tale, as well as the "Origins" part of the DA title: different race and class combinations have different starting tales, and merge into the overall arc in different ways and at different times
Normal
(+) The games looks, sounds, and plays perfectly well on middling hardware
(-) If you own a dual or quad core AMD CPU, expect increasingly increasing load times as your session time increases (the longer you play and the more you transition between zones, the longer the load times become). From 5 to 7 seconds at first, upwards of 5 synopsis after 45 synopsis to an hour of play. This can be resolved by restarting the game, which literally only takes about 20 seconds. But still, it's frustrating, and many people are exposure it on the official forums. Hopefully it will be patched.
(-) The first PC patch was a bit of a goof: the new build built-in a newer version of the Visual C++ 2005 runtime, while the retail version had an older build. The result was that many people couldn't launch the game after patching. A trivial issue for the computer savvy (I just checked my event logs and saw the issue then patched), but the lay person would have no thought what's going on. After days Bioware has yet to answer officially with the obvious fix, leave-taking it to the convergence to resolve. That actions and communication casts doubt upon the level of stanchness Bioware has in regards to DA from a technological support perspective.
Overall, the few technological issues are far outweighed by the overall quality of the game. I would grant a more in-depth review, but I am honestly worried that I'll fortuitously spoil a touch, as this game is ridiculously vast. Buy this game. You will not be disappointed.
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Let the Dragon Age Start!
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| Review Date: November 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: That Review Guy, Florida, the sunshine state. |
I cannot praise this game enough! it will be one of those I play again and again!
the size and scope of the game is incredible. when I started off I'd wager I spent two hours learning about my reputation's social class.
you pick one of many origins (i.e. elf, dwarf, human, etc)(I chose Elf Mage)
and then start with your origin tale (which is like surveillance a full length movie and so well written the time just flys by)
and then you're tasked with your first quest and the game starts.
this game has more frankness of choice then most, such as make a deal with a demon, or kill it to save a child. (it offers you Powers Not to kill it)
some of the quests have moral choices that will really pull on your emotions about people and things like power over friendship and the feel you have an impact upon the surrounding world.all you choose to do has a "ripple effect" so your action will be known throughout the world. the characters power via one of two ways,
one is using the hack & slash method though this is harder then striking pause so you can set all your mages attacks etc.
there's a lot of micromanagement in this but for loot mongers and rpg lovers this will be one of the years ultimate treats I assure you. there seems to be loot everywhere for those that search every area rather thourough. I also must say the amount of DLC unfilled at this time for the collectors edition is incredible. (non aerial edition owners will pay 6.99 and 14.99 for both dlc packs)
the graphics are brilliant (though not mind blowing)
particle things are wickedly done and the quests are crafted well enough to let you know you have many approaches to each "situation"
and will pull at your emotions. if you weren't lucky enough to get this collectors edition no doubts I know the goodies will be released as DLC to all eventually since they listed prices (wardens keep 6.99 and the stone prisoner 14.99)
you have many abilities such as settinhg traps, stealing, dual wielding and so much more. while the game may be a bit "baldurs gat-ish) it's the BEST RPG on ps3 lacking a doubt.
the skill trees are similar to those you've seen in baldurs gate, diablo II and others. a further thing is they must have over 200+ voice actors since I have not heard ANY voices repeat.
brilliant actors such as Tim Curry, Kate Mulgrew, Claudia Black and more!
an brilliant creature variety, large skill trees,
fantastic loot and D&D style gameplay make this title
one of my all time fav's.
Graphics: Brilliant and crispy. not mind blowing but perfect for me 4 1/2 stars fantastic spell things! brilliant creature models and excellent variety of them.
Sound: the voice work is Top Notch and hundreds of actors
even the crickets place on a fantastic perfomance! 5 stars!
the sound is a star here, the voice talent is top notch.
Gameplay: the micromanagement might place a few off but most will never let go of the controller since they got the controls so spot on for the ps3 on this title. it's incredible! 5 stars.
the controls are well mapped to the ps3 controller.
Fun: Yes Yes Yes! betray a friend or help him in a "forbidden" quest, help a grey warden or not?, kill a demon or trust the mouse? so many choices it's unreal! want to kill a dragon? you can!
want to go into dungeons and hack away, you can!
it's a Mature game so some of the things you can do are a tad graphic and as someone reminded me you end every battle absolutely painted in blood.
the game is brilliant what more can I say? 5 Stars!!
Overall: the wrap wraps up nicely into a 5 star Must Have!
the Gods at Bioware have greated the best "baldurs gate" style game yet! it's brilliant! you have to buy it asap if you don't you're gone THE BEST RPG experience of the year and possibly in my time. (it's Very similar to Baldurs gate Dark Alliance)
this coming from a Hardcore
70's D&D player!!!
that's what I'd call an backing!
Dragon age origins is the RPG to buy. |
THE RETURN TO THE AGE OF THE CLASSICS!
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| Review Date: November 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: NeuroSplicer, Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit |
First things first: in the past I have chastised EA a number of times for its relief of cookie-cutter games, crippled with terrible DRM schemes. So, in all fairness, I now have to say this: DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS IS A GAMER's DREAM! It is an brilliant game - and it comes FREE of any DRM madness. So, thank you EA for listening to your customers (let's only hope this new trend holds...).
This is one of those games that are simple to power, a joy to roam through and fun to play at no end.
I am a huge cRPG fan and cannot remember such a fantastic companion/squad cRPG ever since the Baldur's Gate Saga. And to tell you the truth, this is the game I was dreaming of being able to play one day while before a live audience BG (yeah, by now we all know that NEVERWINTER NIGHTS never delivered).
There are about a dozen gender/race/class/social class choices and a fantastic many combinations in forming your party. The armor and the weapons are exceptionally made and all shows on your characters. And the graphics are truly gorgeous! You have to see the rendering of flames to judge them.
On the other hand, what really stands out is the gameplay. Every battle is a puzzle to be solved, pausing ever so often to reallocate enemies to the best suited party members (a feature I loved in BG!). Of course one can always turn off the autopause feature and let the AI take over the rest of your party and turn the game into an hack&slash action RPG (not just so my cup of tea but, hey, it's still nice to know it's there).
Finally, this is a game made just like the classics in many ways, counting duration. I am now before a live audience the game for over 20 hours and I feel that I barely shabby the surface! DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is one satisfying RPG!
My only gripe is this: I did not appreciate such small dialogue options. Most fit a single line and more often than not they consist of a couple of words. I like my RPGs to be wordy and challenging to my verbal imagination as well - and I want my characters to participate in the humor, not just provoke it or react to it. Remember the long dialogue options in BG? Well, expect to find DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS much more economical.
I guess 10 years of quick-paced FPS and blitzkrieging RTS do take their toll...
The blood sprays, the swords clang and the spells explode. The animations are perfectly made and add a lot to both enjoyment and immersion. There is a verse in Homer's Iliad I like: "the fighter fell and his armor echoed around him" - and I was reminded of it many a times throughout the game.
This game will stay with you. Do not miss on it.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! |
PS3 vs XBOX 360 Review of Dragon Age (Bioware's KOTOR 2)
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| Review Date: November 4, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Adventure Fan, |
The PS3 version is 17.3% better than the 360 version for 4.2 reasons.
The 360 version is 13.7% better than the PS3 version for 2.4 reasons.
Which version is better for you will be determined by your saving throw.
NO SPOILERS
I picked up both versions. I have two identical TVs, one bedroom, one den, both 50" 1080p Panasonic G10s. For this review I place them side by side in the den, PS3 hooked up to one, 360 to the other, and choose the same origin tale. I played the PS3, my wife played the 360, we both took the day off of work, a "Bioware Holiday."
BIOWARE
The Bioware RPG is one of my favorite video game genres. KOTOR 1 is still my favorite tale. I played through Mass Effect 7 times. If you like Bioware, you will like Dragon Age.
KOTOR 2 GRAPHICS
Bioware didn't make KOTOR 2. Until now. Dragon Age's graphics in all-purpose look like a last age group game, upconverted to HD. And why should they not? This game was 5 years in the making. Personally, if I could wave a magic wigglestick, I would magically wish the graphics into the year 2069, to play in my PS9 in my flying car. Sorry to say, I live in a condo that doesn't allow wigglesticking. So the choice is (A) Play the Bioware game. (B) Don't play the Bioware game. (C) Eat a cup cake. No one plays Bioware games for the graphics. You play for the CYOA storytelling.
6 COMPLETE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE NOVELS
Dragon Age is 10 Novels long. With 6 unique hero journeys. That can be twisted excellent or naughty. Fighter. Magic. Thief. Hybrid-Hybrid. Bioware is the only developer on the planet that makes this kind of gorgeous uniqueness. This kind of awesomeness only comes around once every few years. Is this flavor of awesomeness perfect? No. Is amateur pornography perfect? No. Sometimes the pacing is off, or the dialogue excessive, but it gets the job done. The job is to experience a genuine human tale--even if you're a lesbian elf. Dragon Age is fantastic video game storytelling. And better written than most fantasy novels.
BLOOD SPLATTER OR POTPOURRI?
I'm going to give Bioware the financial support of the doubt and judge that after battles my characters are splattered with blood and not potpourri. It's hard to tell visually, but I don't reckon they would censor themselves because this game is, like, perfectly Mature.
GAY SEX - NO NUDITY
My wife likes lesbian threesomes. In books. In movies. In video games. In our kids' crayon drawings. She had never played a Bioware game before, but she likes role before a live audience, and I told her Dragon Age has lesbian threesomes. Now, like with most video games, the depiction of sex isn't much more refined visually than taking two barbie dolls and slapping them together. And there's no nudity. Because Bioware understands the genuine human condition--that people make the special like with their cloths on-- even if you're a bi-sexual dwarf. So if you like realisticly-sized breasts well-covered with beige felt bikinis, then you, my friend, are in for a PG-13 flavored treat.
CASUAL VS HARDCORE
My wife played on simple, I played on normal. If you're an uber-genius, like me, who enjoys micromanagement, obscure RPG tactics, and all-purpose strategery... Then arrange to spend a lot of time, with the game paused, in clunky boundary menus, because that's how real men play. That's how my grandpappy played his Bioware games, and his grandpappy before him, back when Bioware wasn't even Canadian, when they were still French, and the TVs had 11" screens and were powered by fire--usually dry hickory. So if you want that kind of authentic gaming experiece, you can have it. But if you just want to delight in the tale, crank that menu to simple, slump back in the couch, and unbuckle your pants for a excellent time.
PS3 VS 360
Like with all games, it's a choice between graphics vs framerate. The PS3 has slightly better textures, color saturation, contrast level, resolution. The 360 is less pretty but smoother. The PS3 is the supermodel with arthritis. The 360 is a Ukrainian gymnast. You get to choose who you want to take to bed. But since all you're going to do in bed is talk... It's not such a huge deal. Unless you place two 50" plasmas right next to each other, you're not going to see the difference. I'm going to keep the PS3 version (because I like the controller better) and give my 360 copy to my favorite charity FVGFBO that provides fantastic video games for blind orphans.
BUY IT, PLAY IT, Like IT
* UPDATE
I have played 115 hours, beaten the game twice, tried three of the six origin tales, watched every sex scene, won every topless hottie boss battle, and found "teh secret nipplz." Personally, I feel this is the best Bioware game to date, the best written video game of all time, and a genuine evolution of the Bioware formula. For those of you fleeing in terror from Adult Content, know that, like in real life, bi-sexual dwarf sex is hard to maneuver, discretionary, and over in less than a minute. You can get through the whole game lacking "going hairy." |
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