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 throughout the centuries. Betrayed by a trusted general in a critical battle, you must hunt down the traitor and bring him to justice. 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 disparate peoples of a world at war. A romance with a seductive shapeshifter may hold the key to victory, or she may be a dangerous diversion from the heart of your mission. To be a leader, you must make ruthless decisions and be willing to sacrifice your friends and loved ones for the greater good of mankind.
From BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur’s Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins. An epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal, Dragon Age: Origins is a single player role-playing game (RPG) set in a fantasy game environment, and featuring three playable character classes, accessible in the form of three races. In addition, the game features extreme character customization, a new game engine, party-based gameplay utilizing non-player characters and a built-in personal history system for each hero character rooted in a variety of possible origin stories.
Story 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 subtitle “Origins” in the game’s title refers to the six unique origin stories available to new heroes as a new game begins. 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 story of the character and the choices you make as you play through the game. The game features three character classes–warrior, 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 available to any character, 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, control 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 necessary 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 story 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 inventory levels, equip a character, 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 character customization functionality; the use of poison, traps and herbalism; dual-wielding skills; and “spell combos,” which allow players to chain together different spells to create a unique effects. Key Game Features
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- Scalable combat options that let you decide the level of control you have over your party, including NPCs. Issue orders, set your own tactical AI, or take control of any party member to lead the charge.
- 6 possible playable preludes known as ‘Origin Stories’ which along with your play, define how your hero character will see the world, how it sees you and sets the tone for the entire story.
- Travel across the vast and varied lands of Ferelden; from the conspiratorial halls of the last great dwarven city, Orzammar, to the untamed snarls of the Korcari Wilds.
- Dragon Age: Origins will give you deep character customization options including: class, race, appearance, abilities, and equipment.
- At the heart of the storm sweeping across Ferelden. Decide the fate of nations, people and, ultimately, yourself. Just remember: for every choice, there is a consequence.
List Price: $ 29.99
Price: $ 16.47
So what if the graphics aren’t perfect? Highly recommended!,
So I purchased the Xbox 360 version of Dragon Age: Origins yesterday and have spent WAY too many hours in Ferelden when I should be doing far more constructive things.
Is it too much of a stretch to think that someone who names their blog after semi-mystical airships might enjoy a roleplaying game or two?
The game is not perfect. The graphics are decidedly sub-par, audio glitches occur far too frequently, and on a regular basis I notice tiny white specs, which are the “seams” showing between some images that display environmental graphics. Screen tearing, I think it’s called. The latter wouldn’t be so bad, if I didn’t also have to look for a similarly white-ish graphic that indicates a chest or box or crate or body requires ransacking for the requisite reward. I’m always rotating the camera back for a quick second to be sure I’m not missing out on some loot.
But so what?
The game is deep, the voice-acting well done over all, and this may be the best WRITTEN roleplaying game of the current generation, even if the story itself seems safely (perhaps too safely) rooted in standard RPG conventions. Not even Mass Effect has dialogue options that are as “realistic” and rewarding to hear as what can be found in Dragon Age.
But, just to meet my “geek” and “nerd” quota for the day, I read some reviews. I’ve never seen so many one-star “reviews” based on just one or two aspects of what is otherwise a fantastic game — one-star bashing based on (you guessed it) the graphics or the heavy (oh so time-consuming) dialogue.
My take is that this phenomenon exposes a fundamental shortcoming of this particular generation of games — there simply aren’t enough good RPGs that elevate story and dialogue as THE fundamental pillar of the game’s success.
In just one short decade, gamers have forgotten how story-heavy games like Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, KOTOR, and other RPGS really were.
In just one short decade, everything is about graphics.
What a tragedy.
Gaming has gone from a hobby filled with gaming enthusiasts with imagination and open-mindedness (in terms of what can be considered a successful kind of game), to a hobby filled with mindless addicts seeking the nearest, the quickest possible thumb-twitch to get their needed dose of adrenaline.
And the internet is such a “perfect” forum for them to express their distaste. Twitchers with short attention spans “write” quick, twitch-like reviews that say GRAPHICS SUCK and FAIL and give one star reviews, as if that’s all that matters in a game.
Hardly.
Rather than pay attention to either the mostly positive or mostly negative reviews, rather than pay attention to the polarization that can occur in the review sections of buy-sites, be sure to check out Metacritic or GameStats or other sites that organize and collate reviews from ACTUAL CRITICS.
There’s a concept.
Dragon Age is a fantastic game. Deep characterization and playing fundamentals/strategy (on higher difficulty levels), lots of looting and blood and gore, romance with a pretty guy or girl, long-term support from Bioware (hopefully) as evidenced by the downloadable content available on the day of release, and huge “bang for your buck.”
Even at 60 dollars retail, that averages to at the very least a dollar an hour in terms of value, for anyone who completes the game. And this isn’t 60 dollars of sandbox. Dragon Age doesn’t appear to be as much of a “sandbox” game as Morrowind or Oblivion. While great games themselves, they left some players feeling a little left out in the cold, wandering around without enough of story-driven momentum to sustain interest. One can only loot so many caves, kill so many monsters, close so many gates, that don’t have significant impact on finishing the game.
And did I say dragons, arch demons, and dark fantasy elements?
Anyone who enjoys RPGs should buy this game. Now.
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|Ignore the naysayers, THIS is the RPG experience of a lifetime,
I am astounded at the backlash against the game, mostly due to the graphics. So it’s not incredible detailed and brilliant as people want, so what? KOTOR wasn’t exactly top-notch in graphics either but it didn’t matter. It was the story and gameplay that counted and that’s the same here. From what I’ve seen, the PC version isn’t massively different, a bit sharper but not by that much.
What counts is the story and gameplay and man, BioWare have outdone themselves on this. The brilliance is how it overturns the classic cliches of fantasy adventures. Elves aren’t superior beings but divided, the city elves second-class citizens in slums while wood elves are wild and considered myth. Dwarves aren’t drinking comic relief but hold to ideas of honor while in truth holding to an ultra-rigid class system that keeps the commoners down. And magic is considered something to be feared rather than used. Twists like that give the entire genere a nice kick.
As for complaints about how it starts slow, that’s tradition for BioWare. Hell, it took KOTOR four or five hours on one planet before things got kicking and same with Jade Empire and Mass Effect. After you get through the origins and to the main story, things take off huge and the game is amazing to play. Each origin is fantastic to see and leads to different experiences and the combat is good too. I admit the PC may have an edge with the birds-eye view thing but this is still a great way to make it work.
So ignore those hung up too much on how it doesn’t look utter perfection. If you want a game with PLENTY of replaybility, epic story, great characters, good combat and a rewarding play experience, this is it. Bravo to all involved creating it, you’ve made a true classic.
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