Monday, 9 November 2009
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon age origins, a fantasy based rpg from bioware has been released recently. The story is set in the land of fereldon, while the infamous blight is taking place again since the last one 100 or so years ago. The blight is a global fight between civilisation (i would call it good but the game doesnt depict it like that) vs evil. While creatures from the depths of hell, or darkspawn as there called, battle to wipe out the world, an organisation called the grey wardens swear to protect the world from evils wrath. As they have done for thousands of years. Now fate brings the grey wardens to a new recruit, one that will become, unknowingly, the worlds only hope.
So iv been playing playing away at this since it came out last week, and i cant begin to tell you how good of a game it is.
Although quite familar in idea, origins breathes much needed new life into the rpg scene. While the quest, loot, collect and level up systems are pulled from any slash and hack adventure, dragon age excells in other aspects.
Firstly is the world in bioware have created.... its quite literally jaw dropping. The pure depth & detail that the developers have gone into is amazing, and it doesnt just stem to visuals, a whole back story is created for this virtual world. One in which is mature, deep and highely exporable. Not only does everywhere in the game feel like a new world, but even characters have a feeling of belonging there, which in a game sense is really hard to do. For example there is huge tension between races (human, elf and dwarf) which makes the games quite nod at racism actually believable. Stuff such as this litters the in game world and you feel like YOUR an actual part of it, of a grand scheme so to speak.
One of the best things about the game is the idea behind it. The origins. You can select one of 6 bg stories for your avatar, 2 for each race. While there mostly noble or begger options, each one is entirely unique in its narrative. I have played as both a dalish (noble elf) and a elf in midst of poverty, each one giving me a complete new start to the game (approx 2 hours of 'tutorial quests'), each with its own story and reason behind the next part of the game. After you join the grey wardens ranks however, the origins merge into one and play out the same story, well more or less the same anyway.
You see bioware do like the whole consequence thing, and this time they have it down to a tee. There is no moral compass, no indication of whether or not you just killed that man for the greater good or not, no guide into the decisions you make. Instead your thrown into the 'wilds' so to speak to figure it out on your own, and mostly such game altering decisions are so morally grey its very easy to make a snap decision, good or bad. Personally i love this aspect, as i find im always on edge, looking for key info that will help in these decisions....... thats how a game should be played in my eyes.
Anyways if your a fan of kotor, or mass effect then this game will blow your tits off, just be prepared for the 150+ hour gametime (main plot and some side quest/exploring), my arse, fingers and eyes sure were not!
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