Well, it’s December and that means we’re being bombarded with more games, gadgets and gizmos than you can shake a stick at. And leading the charge for the RPG genre is Biowares’ latest fantasy epic: Dragon Age Origins. Now, the reason why this is a first impressions rather than a review, is that I haven’t finished the game yet…after 70 hours. I haven’t even got a 3rd of the way through what the game has to offer in its total content. This, ladies and gentleman, is a serious RPG…even if it is so cliched as to be amusingly predictable.
You have your standard run of the mill character creation. You can choose to be male or female, human, elf or dwarf and then a warrior, rouge or mage with a background to suit you. There are also subclasses for each like a rouge Ranger or a Warrior Paladin. I played a male human rouge with a background as a former Noble; and my back story? Lord Howle took my land, killed my family and striped me of my title…and by my father’s sword, I will have my vengeance! *ahem* Needless to say I got fully into the swing of my chosen character.
From your origin story, you’re plunged straight into the main storyline with one immediate goal: pass the trials to become a Grey Warden. Who are the Grey Wardens? Well, they’re basically the fantasy equivalent of Jedi’s, just without the lightsabers and force powers. Their role is to stop an invasion of hellish creatures called the Darkspawn who cause a ‘blight’, being lead by an Arch-demon, what looks to be a big black dragon. So, a nice big epic storyline set up, you have to unite the land to defeat a terrible evil, facing overwhelming odds with only a ragtag band of mismatched adventurers to help get you there.
So yeah, this isn’t anything an RPG fan hasn’t seen before, especially in a Bioware game. Some RPG fans expected more from this; fresh ideas that weren’t too similar to their previous work. Dragon Age is not revolutionary, it is not the next stage of the fantasy RPG genre, but it is bloody good! And Dragon Age does enjoy a lot of blood…maybe a little too much.
The storyline may be a standard fare, but it’s the presentation and delivery that make it an enjoyable play. The world is beautifully created and rendered, on a decent PC at least, 90% of the NPCs are voiced and all the major ones are brought to life with solid voice acting and emotions. Even if they do look a bit plastic at times. While all the PC characters get generally the same storyline, even the slight variations are enough to intrigue the player and get plenty of replay value.
The various companions you pick up, clichéd as they are have interesting and likeable personalities and you do start to get used to having them around. From Alistair’s wry wit to Stern’s stoic one liners, you want to see what secrets they hide and who they really are. Except Morrigan, she’s just a whore. The gifting system allows you to curry favour with you companions and make up for any…inappropriate decisions you made in their presence. And yes, you can have sex with the various ladies and gents who fight alongside you. Well, not so much sex as a barely clothed writhing about for 30 seconds. An adult RPG indeed…
The combat is well managed, thanks to the ability to pause the action to issue orders. You can also take a bird’s eye view of the action to better adjust your strategy. That said, it will take you a while to adjust to using the various classes and combat tactics to defeat the various hordes and bosses you come across. At times it can be extremely frustrating and uneven, especially if you don’t have the right mix of party members to take on your foe. The slimming down of the character classes and specialisation does make it easier for a player to adjust the way they play and the party you use; though you will most likely end up with two warriors a healing mage and a damage mage to cut the Darkspawn into chop seuy.
The lore and history of Fereldan is a nice departure from the Dungeons and Dragons universe in Baulders gate, familiar yet alien. For example there are no dwarf mages due to the lyrium (magic infused rock) that they mine makes them unable to control it. The humans are, of course, despised by the other races for being dicks in the past and having the audacity to have empires and a superiority complex to rival the most egotistical elf. The Dwarfs live in a strictly Platonic caste society, the humans with their feudal lords and ladies and the Elves in their various tribal societies. Oh and not forgetting the thinly veiled Chantry standing in for Christianity.
So for fans of the old school fantasy genre you have a nice mix of the mostly old with some new features. It won’t make any conversions for the RPG uninitiated, but they are not its target audience so that’s unsurprising. This is a very able and solid game but it will occasionally leave you with frustrations with combat hardness and glitches. The story while solid, is nothing new, but entertaining none the less. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a land to rescue and a family to avenge. For Ferelden!
ya u r right its a great game i finished it with in 82hrs but still not satisfied i wished more of it.more advanture which could have include the finding of morrigan and her little secret its funny but i cant sleep due to the ending……the story is one ofthe best till now better than fabel…..i only wished a happy ending until than the game will hunt me for many days to come……..