Dragon Age: Origins

By Reuben Ellett

Dragon Age: Origins – the name almost completely gives the game away as being “Yet another RPG for the PC”. Upon the surface the game does represent an era of games that has spanned the past fifteen years. The attraction is the classic formulae that Dragon Age: Origins represents: take a party of four; add swords and magic; dip it in a fluid combat system; and dry out among in-depth conversation trees. Behold the reincarnation of the BioWare role-playing game.

DAO looks drop dead gorgeous in all of its tasty high-definition visuals. The game engine is totally new and shines of character detail and animation sensationally but draws back to a more classic looking environment. DAO can be viewed in either a birds-eye view or shot down to a third person perspective. This differentiation in camera views guarantees the player can engage in tight combat and important dialogue put also pan out to a view where a large battle is better observed.

The combat system in DAO is based upon the old style of spell and ability use and enemy selection. The mouse is used for direction and primary attack whereas the keys (For example 1,2,3,4 etc.) are used for unleashing magic or melee energy. This quick-fire system can also generate a combo such as a stun followed up by a long-charging killing blow – it can even relate to the environment. Certain situations such as enemy frost mages can be simply overcome by using a logical weakness like fire. If your Warrior is held in place by blocks of ice, a simple flick of incineration can melt away the cold and return your fighter to a maneuverable position.

Conversation between characters also looks like something you would expect from BioWare. A friendly chat with a non-playable character can split off in a few directions: good, bad, and something in between. This creates a diversity in character interaction and player development. Players will follow a path of either good or evil in the quest to complete the game; however, multiple endings have not yet been confirmed. This element of gameplay is to be expected from a traditional style of RPG but BioWare still has a few months to pull out a few new ideas to add to the game.

In summary Dragon Age: Origins is compiling into a nice heap of good ol' RPG fun. The combat and character dialogue system is nothing new but could show new gamers what the elder games were like. It is expected to be released early next year so hold out for that upgrade until closer to release. Keep your quest-log open to NZGamer.com for a future review!

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ReplyPosted by Ruptunex on 9 August 2008, 05:13PM

Hmmm. A BioWare creation eh? Could be worth a look