fangedwolf
22nd February 2010, 02:27
Title - Dragon Age: Origins
Platform - Pc / Mac / PS3/ Xbox 360
Game Type - RPG (Role Playing Game)
Rating - 93%
Plot Summary
You are being recruited as a Grey Warden, a type of fighter that is trained to tackle the Blight, a sort plague of evil creatures. Your task is to raise an army by visiting different races and cultures and gain their support to defeat the Blight.
RPG Summary
This game is based on the old RPGs such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and others that many on this forum may never have heard of or known existed. The easiest way to describe a rpg is that instead of being given a pre-made character that you have to play their story as the game designers have set out, a rpg generally lets you make up much of this yourself. This allows you to have a far greater diversity of choices of what your character is, where they come from, even what they look like as well as choosing what sort of background history they have, and whether they are a very nice person, or perhaps you want to play a nasty piece of work that takes advantage of people. A rpg lets you do this which can make a game far more engaging.
Customisation
At the beginning of the game, you make your choices as to where your character is from (elf, dwarf or human) and what sort of class they will be (warrior, rogue or mage). Once this is done, you choose what your character will look like, either by picking pre-made faces, or by using tabs to make them look however you want them to using sliding tabs. This is remarkably simple to do.
Youtube video of Char Creation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vhPq7UqKmk
Story
Once you have chosen the character you want, the game begins and your game ends up tailored around the background you chose, so an elf will have a different starting story to a dwarf. And as you go through the game, your choices will also make the story change a little depending on what you do. The gameplay itself allows you to decide where to go, who to speak to, perhaps even if you want to go sneaking around and stealing from people that annoy you if you are a rogue, or doing good deeds for people. The game is incredibly flexible, and while there is fighting, there is far more to do than merely kill ugly monsters.
Characters
On your travels, you will come across different people that may join your party/group. This will make battles a bit easier, and give a wider range of skills. More than this however each character that joins your party has his/her own personality, and they are written extremely well. The first one you will come across is Alastair, who is a former Templar (holy knight) and is very moral, while later in the game you could end up with mages, an assassin and others whose presence your knight will not like very much. The dialogue between these different party members can be highly amusing. It is even possible to woo (or be wooed) by different party members, which is always fun, especially since it is possible to say the wrong thing to them and then get just as snappy a comeback as you might expect from someone in real life.
In-game cutscene interaction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0VhFqDIZM
In general though, all the different people (and there are plenty) that you will come into contact with are very different and varied, with their own personalities and depths. Some you will only meet briefly, while others you will get to know better if you choose, but they are very well written and actually believable. They also do not all look alike, as many characters can do in computer games.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonage/images/3/31/Morrigan_and_alistair.png
Controls
The controls in the game are actually varied depending on which platform you are playing on. The PC/Mac is perhaps the more complex because of the flexibility the mouse and keyboard give the user, but it is by no means too difficult once you get used to it. The good thing is that you can pause the game to give orders to different party members, drink potions, or check/change armour etc, which is highly useful and gives a far greater feeling of control.
Youtube video on combat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMcjyHnzg60&NR=1
Settings
The game has a good feature that many may well find useful, and that is the ability to change the difficulty setting, from easy/casual all the way up to Nighmarish or Insane. This allows even those who have never played a game like this before to play with confidence.
Graphics
I was actually very pleased with the graphics in the game. It is pretty smooth with lots of different textures etc. The special effects are pretty good. What is better than some slightly older games is the 3d is well rendered, so it doesn't look quite so stuck on since the lighting is more natural looking.
http://www.breakitdownblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/dragon-age-origins-screenshot-final-stand-battle.jpg
Playability
For me this game has a vast well of playability due to the fact that it is both quite a long game to begin with (most new games can be completed in under 10 hours of play), but also because of the variety of different options, playing the game over using different options and choices can give the game a whole new dimension and feel.
Addons and Expansions
There have been some addons you can purchase that tack onto the game. They add a new area, and sometimes extra armour or weapons to get etc. Depending on what you are looking for in the game, some people will find these a fantastic addition, and others will not be bothered. They are certainly not needed to play the game, but can be a nice extra if you want to pay for them. There is a new expansion coming out in the middle of March, but the support for addons and expansions has been very limited, and not all the different gaming platforms have been released for them at the same time. This is perhaps one of the only flaws in this game, and it is only dealing with the lack of addons and news about their release.
Summary
Overall I would say this game has definately been the highlight of the year, and last year. It has an extremely well thought out plot, and unlike other game developers Bioware, the company who made Dragon Age, put the story as core to the game, rather than a badly pasted on afterthought. It has a great deal of playability and delight, it flows well both inside and outside of combat and is varied and very well thought out. I would certainly recommend this to other people.
Links
Dragon Age Website - Now it is mainly information about the upcoming expansion "Awakening"
http://dragonage.bioware.com/
Bioware's Social Site - Players link this to their game via online and so can talk to others on forums, and show their achievements in game to friends. Bioware's other new game Mass Effect 2 is also catered for on this.
http://social.bioware.com (http://social.bioware.com/)
Introductory Cinematic to the game giving an overview of your task
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q94rdV9M1M4
Trailers on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKeEsG6mmHg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWppHev3ZA
Platform - Pc / Mac / PS3/ Xbox 360
Game Type - RPG (Role Playing Game)
Rating - 93%
Plot Summary
You are being recruited as a Grey Warden, a type of fighter that is trained to tackle the Blight, a sort plague of evil creatures. Your task is to raise an army by visiting different races and cultures and gain their support to defeat the Blight.
RPG Summary
This game is based on the old RPGs such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and others that many on this forum may never have heard of or known existed. The easiest way to describe a rpg is that instead of being given a pre-made character that you have to play their story as the game designers have set out, a rpg generally lets you make up much of this yourself. This allows you to have a far greater diversity of choices of what your character is, where they come from, even what they look like as well as choosing what sort of background history they have, and whether they are a very nice person, or perhaps you want to play a nasty piece of work that takes advantage of people. A rpg lets you do this which can make a game far more engaging.
Customisation
At the beginning of the game, you make your choices as to where your character is from (elf, dwarf or human) and what sort of class they will be (warrior, rogue or mage). Once this is done, you choose what your character will look like, either by picking pre-made faces, or by using tabs to make them look however you want them to using sliding tabs. This is remarkably simple to do.
Youtube video of Char Creation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vhPq7UqKmk
Story
Once you have chosen the character you want, the game begins and your game ends up tailored around the background you chose, so an elf will have a different starting story to a dwarf. And as you go through the game, your choices will also make the story change a little depending on what you do. The gameplay itself allows you to decide where to go, who to speak to, perhaps even if you want to go sneaking around and stealing from people that annoy you if you are a rogue, or doing good deeds for people. The game is incredibly flexible, and while there is fighting, there is far more to do than merely kill ugly monsters.
Characters
On your travels, you will come across different people that may join your party/group. This will make battles a bit easier, and give a wider range of skills. More than this however each character that joins your party has his/her own personality, and they are written extremely well. The first one you will come across is Alastair, who is a former Templar (holy knight) and is very moral, while later in the game you could end up with mages, an assassin and others whose presence your knight will not like very much. The dialogue between these different party members can be highly amusing. It is even possible to woo (or be wooed) by different party members, which is always fun, especially since it is possible to say the wrong thing to them and then get just as snappy a comeback as you might expect from someone in real life.
In-game cutscene interaction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0VhFqDIZM
In general though, all the different people (and there are plenty) that you will come into contact with are very different and varied, with their own personalities and depths. Some you will only meet briefly, while others you will get to know better if you choose, but they are very well written and actually believable. They also do not all look alike, as many characters can do in computer games.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonage/images/3/31/Morrigan_and_alistair.png
Controls
The controls in the game are actually varied depending on which platform you are playing on. The PC/Mac is perhaps the more complex because of the flexibility the mouse and keyboard give the user, but it is by no means too difficult once you get used to it. The good thing is that you can pause the game to give orders to different party members, drink potions, or check/change armour etc, which is highly useful and gives a far greater feeling of control.
Youtube video on combat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMcjyHnzg60&NR=1
Settings
The game has a good feature that many may well find useful, and that is the ability to change the difficulty setting, from easy/casual all the way up to Nighmarish or Insane. This allows even those who have never played a game like this before to play with confidence.
Graphics
I was actually very pleased with the graphics in the game. It is pretty smooth with lots of different textures etc. The special effects are pretty good. What is better than some slightly older games is the 3d is well rendered, so it doesn't look quite so stuck on since the lighting is more natural looking.
http://www.breakitdownblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/dragon-age-origins-screenshot-final-stand-battle.jpg
Playability
For me this game has a vast well of playability due to the fact that it is both quite a long game to begin with (most new games can be completed in under 10 hours of play), but also because of the variety of different options, playing the game over using different options and choices can give the game a whole new dimension and feel.
Addons and Expansions
There have been some addons you can purchase that tack onto the game. They add a new area, and sometimes extra armour or weapons to get etc. Depending on what you are looking for in the game, some people will find these a fantastic addition, and others will not be bothered. They are certainly not needed to play the game, but can be a nice extra if you want to pay for them. There is a new expansion coming out in the middle of March, but the support for addons and expansions has been very limited, and not all the different gaming platforms have been released for them at the same time. This is perhaps one of the only flaws in this game, and it is only dealing with the lack of addons and news about their release.
Summary
Overall I would say this game has definately been the highlight of the year, and last year. It has an extremely well thought out plot, and unlike other game developers Bioware, the company who made Dragon Age, put the story as core to the game, rather than a badly pasted on afterthought. It has a great deal of playability and delight, it flows well both inside and outside of combat and is varied and very well thought out. I would certainly recommend this to other people.
Links
Dragon Age Website - Now it is mainly information about the upcoming expansion "Awakening"
http://dragonage.bioware.com/
Bioware's Social Site - Players link this to their game via online and so can talk to others on forums, and show their achievements in game to friends. Bioware's other new game Mass Effect 2 is also catered for on this.
http://social.bioware.com (http://social.bioware.com/)
Introductory Cinematic to the game giving an overview of your task
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q94rdV9M1M4
Trailers on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKeEsG6mmHg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNWppHev3ZA