Dragon Age review (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC)

November 9, 7:30 AMBaltimore Video Game Lifestyle ExaminerTravis Timmons

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Dragon Age box art
Box art by Bioware

If you’re a fan of role playing games, then chances are you’ve experienced a Bioware title. After all, they are responsible for classics such as Baulder’s Gate, Mass Effect, and Knights of the Old Republic. Those are all quality titles. In fact, they are considered by many to be some of the best games of their kind.

Unfortunately, expectations such as these may hinder a game like Dragon Age. While there are many things to love about Dragon Age, there are also some issues that cannot be ignored.

Let’s begin with the positive. The story is the best thing going for Dragon Age, it is deep and often times moving. And it’s Bioware, so there are twists and characters that are deep and interesting, each with his or her own story and background. If nothing else, the story will keep you interested, often leaving players wanting to know what will happen next, the sign of a well crafted tale if ever there was one.

While the story itself is very good, the setting is as generic as they come. You have humans, elves, and dwarves. Enemies are wolves, giant rats, giant spiders, bears, humans, and walking, talking trees. While this isn’t too distracting, a little bit of originality would have gone a long way. Instead, it honestly feels like you’re playing through a Lord of the Rings role playing game. And honestly, that won’t be seen as a negative to many people.

In terms of gameplay, this title fits more in the line of Knights of the Old Republic than Mass Effect. Where Mass Effect was essentially a third person shooter with cover, Dragon Age allows you to run freely and attack enemies on the battle field. However, once you reach the enemy, the dice begin to roll, and the outcome is removed from your hands. Sure, there are special attacks that you can input that will spice up the fight and give you more damage for your buck, but don’t expect the same level of direct control over combat as was available in Bioware’s previous effort.

Leveling up is similar to both Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. There are certain skills players can learn as well as the usual things to power up such as strength and defense. The single and dual wielding of swords definitely gave me a few flashbacks of Knights of the Old Republic.

While leveling up is always fun, the menus for leveling, equipping items, and so on, can be somewhat confusing. In fact, the menu system is downright counterintuitive. It also feels slow and clunky. While this doesn’t affect the gameplay at all, it is bothersome, and it would be nice to have menus that are more streamlines. Games back in the NES days has menus that made more sense than these for putting on a helmet, for example.

However, the biggest weakness for Dragon Age are the graphics. While they are serviceable, they definitely don’t come across as impressive. The frame rate feels low at almost any point in the game, and the geometry of the world looks sloppy and underdeveloped. Things like trees and rocks look like they were modeled for the Playstation 1. The characters themselves look good enough, as do the enemies (though, again, nothing looks outstanding). However, when combat begins, may of these technical issues are forgotten as you are trying to win a fight.

The graphics, in fact, are my biggest gripe with Dragon Age, and if you can look past what feels like an unfinished product with no polish, you will find a very rewarding game experience.

Sound is a mixed bag. The music that plays is good, but it only plays during fights and major events. Otherwise, only the sounds of the world itself play. The talking is also somewhat mixed, with some actors outdoing others. Speaking of actors, many characters often sound similar to ones you’ve met before, giving the feeling that many of the actors are recycles for various parts again and again.






Dragon Age is a difficult game to look at objectively. It does many things right, such as the engaging storyline and the fun combat, but it also suffers from some fairly major issues. The graphics and sound are uneven. The interface and menus could be smoother. And the world is as generic as they come. But having said all of that, I can honestly say that I’ve been playing this title non-stop since it arrived, saying a lot for how much fun it is in general.

Out of a score of 1 to 10
Grapics: 5
Sound: 6
Gameplay: 8
Replay: 9
Overall: 8.2