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Product Features

Genre
Role Playing
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Release Date
November 20, 2009
Available Platforms
PC, PlayStation 3, XBox 360

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Dragon Age Origins

BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins is an epic, dark fantasy role-playing game with over 100hours of gameplay. In the magical land of Ferelden, a place inhabited by humans, dwarfs and elves, you must take the role of a Grey Warden, one of the last surviving members of the ancient guardian order. When life as you know it is threatened by evil forces known as Darkspawn, you must try and save the world by joining together and killing the Archdemon - are you up for the challenge?

  • Hannah March 12, 2011 360
    ****

    Dragon Age Origins, if by far one of the best games that you could play if you love all the fantasy side of things, such as elves, dwarves, and humans. Incredible graphics, and a wide range of choice for each of the characters. You can become you're own character with the choice you make. Definately a 10/10 and a 5 star ranking game

  • Anna Cliffen January 10, 2010 360
    ****

    I'm a huge Halo fan and generally more of a FPS player, but this game has surprised me - I can't stop playing it! There are 6 different 'origins' and the game can vary hugely due to the choices you make as you play through. Interaction between the characters is the funniest I have ever heard - Morrigan & Sten in particular have plenty of random banter including one involving a hot poker! In particular I like that you can save your game at any point, this is useful if you realise you've made a decision you'd like to change - so save frequently. There are a few 'bugs' in the game but nothing that's spoilt my enjoyment.

    Tip - Buy the game new and you get the code for dragon armour & the Stone Prisoner DLC free.

    The PC version has extra Achievements.

  • Paul Martin November 24, 2009 360
    ****

    Dragon Age: The Origins is much like Lord of the Rings. It's based in the land of Ferelden and like Lord of The Ring's Middle Earth it has all kinds of mythical creatures to encounter along the way such as Elves, Mages (Wizards/Witches), Dwarfs and even talking trees. The game is brought to you by Bioware who are famed for their fantastic story based role playing games (RPG) such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Baldurs Gate and Mass Effect.

    Let me start by saying this game is on par, if not better, than all the games mentioned above and is simply breathtaking, tense and is purely based upon a storyline that will make you think about the game even when you're not playing it. The game is aimed at an adult audience as there is a lot of blood/gore shown in many parts throughout the game, but Bioware have made no secret that their intention was to make Dragon Age a dark fantasy RPG from the beginning. You begin the game by choosing a character origin this will be referenced throughout the game whether it is by your party members or a random bystander in one of the many locations you visit. The different types of origins are a Human Noble, Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, City Elf, Dalish Elf. These origins will all begin the game in different ways and locations eventually to lead to a certain point where all the origins continue onto the same main quest/storyline.

    Like Bioware's previous games Dragon Age is a game that is full of choice. These choices will eventually determine how the game would conclude as they're several different endings the game provides depending on the choices you make throughout the game. The story begins stating that the land of Ferelden faces a threat of the Darkspawn, a past enemy (similar to the concept of Orcs in Lord of the Rings) that where defeated hundreds of years before the timeline of Dragon Age: The Origins occurs. The Darkspawn are gathering a force more powerful than anybody has seen and is set to unleash a threat across the lands that no one has experienced in person, but only in stories. The stories tell you of a legendary band of brothers known as the Grey Wardens who united the nations of Ferelden hundreds of years ago to fight back the Darkspawn. As stated many years have passed since this occurred and only a handful of this generations Grey Wardens are now left, yet it is still up to these Wardens to once again unite a broken Ferelden to stand against the Darkspawn. After your origin story concludes you will begin the main quest to help the Grey Wardens accomplish their ultimate goal to stop the Darkspawn.

    As you progress through the game you will gather a party of followers dedicated to your cause. Please be aware that some party members can be missed early on in the game if you don't seek them out, which will diminish your choices of selection later in the game. You can take up to 3 characters on the road to join you throughout the game at any one time. These characters are chosen by the gamer out of the party members that you have encountered and accepted their request to join your cause. The game feels a lot like Knights of the Old Republic in this sense as you can switch between all of the characters you have chosen. Bioware have sorted many issues out since Knights of the Old Republic as you don't have to wait for party members to catch up and I have not encountered any members being stuck on an object and having to return to get them. The game also plays a lot like Knights of the Old Republic, this means instead of hacking and slashing gameplay you get with the likes of Elder Scrolls series Bioware have chosen Dragon Age is to be played by selecting an ability from a selection of menus. After selecting this ability your characters animation will then automatically use it against the foe you selected on screen. There are a lot of abilities to choose from in the game and many to be unlocked as you level your character up. Each ability tree is different depending on what type of character you are and which weapon you choose to play the game with. This also goes for every other party member as you also have the ability to level up and customize their ability trees as well. Although the engine does sound old with it being compared to the likes of Knights of the Old Republic it had been modified and runs smoothly throughout. The menus are very accessible, but considering the options you have on screen and the number of buttons the Xbox 360 pad has at its disposal the game would no doubt be easier to play on the PC. The navigation however still works well with the pad after deep thought and approach from Bioware to make it as simple as possible. Each character also has a range of weapons and outfits to choose from there are thousands of variations mostly found by exploring the massive world that has been given to the gamer. The different types of armour and weapons used all have different abilities to go with them. The stronger the attack for example will make the players stamina decrease more rapidly, as a lighter blade will slowly decrease stamina but sacrifice strength. You can also modify your weapons with runes, which gives you the ability to add extra elemental attacks such as fire or ice on certain weapons. The armour is also used in a similar formula if you have heavy armour the character stamina lowers more rapidly, but your defence is increased therefore lighter armour has the opposite effect much like it does in the weapons scenario. This adds a huge amount of customization for the gamer and can be very addictive to try and find new and more valuable items.

    The graphics in the game are ok, meaning they are probably the biggest negative the game has. All things taken into account the graphics aren't bad, but they just aren't to the standard of modern games such as Fallout 3 and Mass Effect. Given the size of the game it's hardly a surprise that Bioware had to compromise somewhere along the line. Dragon Ages graphics aren't what you would expect in current generation console gaming. There is some issues with character clipping throughout the game especially in cut scenes when characters feet may sink into the ground, but taken an overall look at this side of the game and putting it into a realistic perspective it doesn't spoil the overall experience due to the quality of the gameplay and storyline it provides.

    The Audio side of the game is nothing short of spectacular. Bioware don't spare any expense in providing dialogue that is believable and this only increases their chances to suck the gamer into the storyline. There are literally thousands of lines of dialogue to experience in the game, although your main character takes a silent roll with a selection of text to choose from when you wish to speak. This again provides a similar link to Knights of the Old Republic, which is unfortunate after the connection gamers built with Sheppard from Mass Effect simply because the main character also had dialogue. This however doesn't seem to spoil the overall experience as the connection you gain through the game is with the party members that join you. This seems to replace that which you would build with your main character. Although the voice work is flawless, the game does have a rare issue of the audio going silent in some cut scenes. This can be annoying as you have to load a previous saved game if you wish to hear the voice work that should have been provided the first time round. Although this is rare, it is a small and silly problem and seems to give the opinion that the game is a little unpolished.

    The musical effort in the game can only be described as breathtaking, although they may as well have taken the music from Lord of the Rings as it is very similar throughout although this is not a negative thing. It provides the game a boost when it desires the gamer to feel the emotions on screen whether it be romance, action or drama it provides the final touch, which only speaks volumes for the praise the musical team should receive.

    Dragon Age: The Origins is a brilliant game with small issues that could have been resolved before release. Although the graphics aren't state of the art like many games on the market these days the audio and storyline certainly compensate and provides more depth than most games that have been released for the current generation consoles to date. There is a lot of emotions involved in Dragon Age and you will certainly bond with the characters onscreen, which was no doubt Bioware's intention. The game clocks in with over 40hrs gameplay if you wish to experience the different endings the game has to offer. This only increases the amount of replayability that many single player games don't/can't provide these days. The story is without a doubt one of the best I've played and many RPG fans and completionists will spend a lot more time on the game and will no doubt of this graphics the game provides. 8.4/10