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Dragon Age Origins
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If you happened to come across the previews for Dragon Age Origins, you probably fell in love on the spot. So the question is, does the game live up to all of the hype? It all depends. Perhaps you will be so pleased, your heart will explode in pure delight. Perhaps you will play for a couple of hours, feel like something is missing, then walk away from the game for a while. Perhaps you will start playing, realize it isn’t your thing, then indulge in something more worthwhile, like build a tower out of Twinkies. With the way the game is designed, it will not appeal to everyone.
First the essential information, and then on to the gameplay itself. Most people are simply confused on what kind of game Dragon Age Origins is, and the rock music-infused trailers didn’t do that good of a job telling people what exactly they’re looking at. Though the trailers emphasize action, without watching the gameplay demonstration videos, you wouldn’t know that this game is a pure-bred RPG through and through. You are allowed to customize your character’s race (Human, Elf, Dwarf), class (Warrior, Mage, Rouge), attributes (strength, dexterity, cunning, magic, willpower, constitution), starting skills, face, and voice.
Dragon Age Origins is strictly a single player experience. The only time the internet is involved is if you want to upload your player profile, or if you want to download extra content (more on that later). Many folks thought Dragon Age could have been an MMO, but that’s only because it rather resembles one, right down to the vast array of menus and windows, the way skills are used, and the one-click-combat (Wait...did you hear that? That was the sound of hundreds of potential players turning their backs to this game). Imagine your typical MMORPG without the “MMO” part, but with a lot of other factors to make up for it. And you had better believe me when I say “a lot”. I will try to discuss the most important points first so that more practical readers can make a decision on whether or not to purchase this game without having to read too much.
If I can choose one word to describe this game, I’d say this game was “epic”. I realize that word had all but lost its effectiveness due to its ridiculous overuse these days. In all seriousness though, this game really is epic, especially in scale. You can say that it’s the fighting or cinematic sequences that are epic, but really, the amount of content in the game is boundless. I cannot stress that enough. Though the explorable game world might not be the largest ever (the world is not even completely open), it is extremely detailed, and in a given region, there are an incredible amount of things to find and do (provided you like to explore). It is obvious a lot of work went into the creation of the world. It is about as immersive as one can get.
And what do you get to do in this world? Why, you get to rip things apart in the glorious art of combat, of course. You, and whoever your party members are. As previously mentioned, combat is initiated by simply clicking once on the enemy. A typical fight looks like its straight out of an MMO: everything is performing its own looping attack animation, and damage numbers and skill names flash everywhere. It gets considerably more complicated, though. The defining quality of combat in Dragon Age Origins is that it has a lot of room for strategy to be applied. At any time, you can take direct control of any party member, and tell them where to move, which target to attack, and which abilities to use. You can also outfit and arm any of your party members as you see fit. In addition, you can also “program” combat behavior. Party members that are not currently under your direct control will follow a series of simple “if-then” commands under the Tactics menu that you get to work with. Though this system is inherently complex, players will quickly realize that the best strategies are quite simple. And besides, the micro-managing gamer will quickly switch from character to character to give the best orders, anyway. To prevent you from being overwhelmed, you are allowed to pause the game at any time to issue commands.
Aside from the unavoidable business of killing, there is the story and plot development to look forward to. Though the main story is rather simple and typical of an epic medieval fantasy, it is the presentation and well-written dialogue that makes the story so appealing. In fact, very few of the stories in the game are particularly captivating, but they are paced and presented so well, they become engaging. All this is supported with full voice acting. Every line of dialogue (except for the main character’s) is spoken, and quite well I might add. Dragon Age Origins features some of the most superb voice acting I have ever heard, and the use of body language, lip-synching, and facial expressions are highly refined. It’s almost like a movie. You’ll find this game to be highly cinematic. Make no mistake though—your involvement in the game matters a lot. Many of the choices you make will have immediate, short-term effects, but a few of them actually affect some part of the story way down the line. Generally speaking, your actions (or lack of actions) speak louder than your words, but your choice of words determines how well a character may like you and in certain cases, can help you avoid an unnecessary fight (the death of a character can affect the story, too). However, no matter what you say or do, the main character will save the world, anyway.
Another important thing to mention is that you can also have conversations with the members of your party, and in doing so, improve your relationship with them, not to mention you’ll get a bit of intriguing backstory. Say and do the right things with a party member, and the two of you will have rockin’ sex—uh, I mean both of you will enjoy a meaningful, romantic bond. Right. Out of the eight characters (one is a dog), there are four potential romance options, two of whom are bisexual. How adventurous.
So what we’ve got here is an RPG that is so much of an “RPG”, despite the huge amount of fighting and violence, it’s not even referred to as an “Action-RPG”. Regardless, it does focus much on combat, though in its own special way. It is a game that doesn’t clearly state its target audience. The trailers suggest one thing and the game itself suggested something else. RPG fans don’t need to be shown how much action or violence a game has—just the immersion and spirit of adventure it offers (something this game excels at). Action gamers don’t care much for story—just solid, straight-forward gameplay mechanics and the visceral pleasure of highly interactive head-smashing (something this game is arguably lacking). RTS fans will probably admit that the potential for strategy in Dragon Age is good, but…only for an RPG. Casual gamers will find the game difficult and overwhelming and unless they’re naturally focused and organized, their heads will explode, much to the delight of the Action gamer.
With all this in mind, who is this game really for? Naturally, it is for the dedicated RPG fan, or even those merely interested in experiencing a “true” RPG. The qualities of the game point to this. Though the developers didn’t stress this point, the undeniable fact is that an RPG gamer will be able to appreciate this game more than say, an FPS or RTS gamer. If you are one of those RPG gamers, congratulations, because you might have just stumbled across “the RPG of the decade” as PC Gamer so boldly stated. And for 50 USD, it can all be yours (60 USD for Xbox 360 or PS3). If however, you are an FPS gamer, you might be inclined to invest your precious USD in something more your style, like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which is due to arrive in a few days. If you are an RTS gamer, you’ll probably feel much happier saving up for Diablo III and Starcraft II, both of which may arrive as early in Christmas of 3050.
Now for the details…
It’s a little difficult to shake the feeling that this game seems like a beefed-up MMORPG with the multiplayer aspect eliminated, but only because it has so many elements typically found in an MMO. Hey, if it swims like a duck and walks like a duck…Who’s to say that a duck with missing wings isn’t a duck? Stupid duck metaphors…
You move like an MMO (using the WASD keys are an option, but you learn to move by using the right mouse button first), attack like an MMO (one-click), use skills like an MMO (gain abilities and click to use them, potentially turning the tide of battle), not to mention that you are introduced to a mother-load of windows like an MMO. My God, you’ve got your character screen, your talent screen, your skill screen, your inventory screen, your map, the tactics screen, and your journal (which contains the quests screen, the codex screen (every book and note you’ve read), and the conversation history screen (transcript of the last dozen or so conversations you had)). If you want to make potions or poisons, you’ve got a screen for that, too. There are also names hovering above everyone like in an MMO, and if you hold the Tab key, you’ll see names above absolutely everything you can interact with, which makes search-and-acquire quests a snap.
You know what isn’t a snap, though? Getting money. Items from merchants are expensive, and you sell your own items at pathetic prices. The currency in the game is coinage: copper, silver, and gold. 100 coppers to a silver and 100 silvers to a gold. I gave an NPC the locket and letter of his dead friend, and I got 20 silvers as a reward. For wiping out three encampments of bandits (that’s about 30 fully-equipped foes), I was rewarded three gold, and the total healing items I used for that battle were worth a third of that. Weapons and armor can easily cross into the one gold plus range, enchanted accessories routinely cost over four gold, and a single fire arrow costs 15 silvers. A prostitute costs 40 silvers (30 if you have a high Coercion skill). There are no benefits to using a prostitute, by the way. You gain no items, no Achievements, and no experience points. Speaking of which…
As your characters gain experience points, they will increase in level. Each time a level is gained, you get to distribute three attribute points and choose one new Talent from the tree, which vary depending on the class. You can also choose and upgrade Skills like “Coercion” and “Combat Training”, which are available to all classes. After a certain level, a character can choose to be a specialist and gain additional benefits. For example, a Mage can eventually become a Shape-shifter, Spirit Healer, Arcane Warrior, or Blood Mage. There are several ways you and your party members can turn out, but no single person will be able to become all-powerful in every aspect. This is why the game emphasizes coordinating the efforts of a full party. Leveling is quite slow, and combat is difficult (especially on Hard and Nightmare mode), but that makes you appreciate every single level-up and put serious thought into what to upgrade.
This is a highly personal viewpoint, but the stealth aspect is sorely underdeveloped. Picking the so-called “Stealth” talent allows you to turn invisible, no less. Attacking while invisible makes every attack a critical hit, but the enemy will know where the hits came from (making you visible again). You can’t sneak past enemies without fighting them unless you’re alone (your un-cloaked companions force the party to engage the enemy), and you become visible when you reach a cutscene trigger, which is stupid because many cutscenes are followed with combat (you can't cloak during combat). The lockpicking skill is available to Rouges only, which is understandable, but the “Steal” skill is available to every class, which is a strange move. One thing I like though, is that if you maneuver your Rouge behind an enemy, he or she will automatically make every attack a backstab attack, making every hit a critical one.
Ah, and what of the downloadable content? Well, the developers were kind enough to make a Development Kit available for PC versions of the game, which means I smell a thriving modding community cooking, and therefore a lot of wonderful, home-made content to be downloaded. The Development Kit is supposed to be powerful, and can create everything you see in the official game, though I doubt we are using the same Kit the developers used. Aside from that, there are also the official downloads, which actually cost money. Not only that, but in the original game, there are certain quest-giving NPC’s, and if you don’t have any of the official extra content that corresponds to them, there is a dialogue option for you to buy it. That means that the developers first created the game in its entirety, and then sectioned off certain parts of it to be designated as “downloadable content” that players will have to pay extra money for. I’m thinking of a word, and it’s one letter off from “bull-spit”.
Whatever comes out of the box should be enough to keep you busy for a long, long time though, provided you are the right kind of person. I’ve made my point six paragraphs ago, but here it is again: The bottom line is that every game is made with a certain demographic in mind, and it follows that said demographic will be pleased with games made for them. It is possible for gamers to like a game outside the genre they are familiar with, of course. At any rate, you already know what type of game you prefer, and now you know what kind of game Dragon Age Origins is. What will you do now?
1. ‘Tis good. You have convinced me to buy the game!
2. (Persuade) (Lie) ‘Tis good. You have convinced me to buy the game!
3. (Cunning) Thanks. I’ll “obtain” this game one way or another.
4. (Intimidate) How about I smash your face unless you give me your copy?
5. (say nothing)
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