Dragon Age: Origins

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Dragon Age: Origins

Monday, March 01, 2010

At first I thought Dragon Age: Origins looked kinda bland and boring, but then I remembered that BioWare created it and I realized it was probably just my preconceptions about it. David risked life and limb to confirm that this game is amazing.

Reviewer
David
Categories
Games

Reviewed by David Woolridge

David Woolridge

Alright, alright, let's face facts. You know this is a great game, I know this is a great game, we all know it's a great game. BioWare hasn't ever disappointed us with an RPG (Anyone who says Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate, and KotOR weren't good games clearly knows nothing about the topic), and this is absolutely NOT an exception. I'm not even going to try sugarcoating it. Come, sit by the fire, and let's dive right in to Dragon Age: Origins.

First things first, I'm not going to do a full-on plot summary of this game. Why? It'd take entirely too long. You see, there are six different openings to the game (seven if you count the DLC character) and going over each and every one of them would add maybe two paragraphs each to my already way-too-long reviews. Let's leave it at this: after each respective character's origin story (yes, that's where it comes from!), you'll encounter a dude named Duncan, leader of the Grey Wardens, an elite group of soldiers. From there, you'll join up with them and fight together to quell the looming threat of the Darkspawn, demonic foes said to swarm in mass numbers and kill things in movements known as Blights. Of course, that's not all, as the real threat takes you all over the gargantuan land of Thedas, and ends with an epic showdown for the fate of the world. So, in other words, it's your typical RPG storyline, but told in a dark'n'gritty way that should please those looking for a mature edge.

Next up is gameplay, and it's very comprehensive, so I'll start at the beginning. The "origin" of your character is very important, and it affects how every NPC acts toward you and where you start out able to go. For example, a Dwarf Noble will begin the game as part of the royal family in one of the dwarven cities, and people will confer great respect to him. Conversely, a Dwarf Commoner origin story puts him on the streets of the city, where he'll be treated like any regular old Joe Shmoe. Your origin, as its namesake implies, also determines your character's backstory, and provides you with several hours of opening gameplay while your role in the game fleshes itself out. Moving on, unlike most BioWare games, there's no moral tracking, but what decisions you make will affect the story as you progress. Don't get me wrong, you still end up being a hero (You'll go out there and save this world, and you'll LIKE IT), but everything you decide on, good or evil, will change the game's world reflectively, even as far as having NPCs abandon you or, if you REALLY rub 'em the wrong way, taking up arms in an attempt to kill you! Yikes, so I beheaded some dude trying to get in our way, no big de-- *splortch*

The battles are pretty straightforward: you run up (or sit back, if you're a Mage or Archer), you hit a command, you swing your sword/axe/fire your bow/magic missile/whatever. You have three classes to choose from: Warrior, Mage, and Rouge, and each of those change into a specialty class later on. Leveling up gives you points to spend on learning new passive and active skills, such as learning how to pick locks better or learning how to twirl your sword(s) and stab your foe(s) in the eye(s). Spells interact with everything else, even each other; a fireball can ignite an oil slick, then be put out by a blizzard. These interactions end up being key to avoiding heavy fire and knowing what spells and environments to use them in can give you a distinct advantage.

I don't have any real miscellaneous notes about this game, only that it's really, really, REALLY long; as in, grab a strat guide and a sandwich, and clear out your next half a year's worth of weekends. In order to do everything, you have to play as all the characters, giving this game some sick replay value. The musical score is a bit bland to me, but still absolutely amazing as far as fitting the game. The animation seems stiff and kind of pre-set when watching, but it's something that's easily overlooked due to the fact that the graphics are gorgeous and the game is HUGE. I very seriously doubt there's anyone who has traversed the entirety of Thedas yet. Battles often get huge and chaotic, and your character often (very often) gets completely splattered in blood. So does your dog (I -did- mention you get a dog, right? No? Oh well). And all the NPCs. To be honest, this kind of RPG is really not my strong point, so I tend to not like it as much as I probably should, but I acknowledge and accept that it is a beautiful game, with lots of gameplay, interesting characters, and a solid real-time battling system that definitely makes it worthy of the highest praise, my personal preferences aside (I'm sorry, Japan, I'm going back to Tales of Vesperia and Persona 4 soon, please don't hurt meeeeee).

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