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So lately I have 4 games that need playing…Borderlands, Torchlight, L4D2 and Dragon Age: Origins.

I’m going to blog about DA:O first, simply because after 30 hours of it, I know it best

So what is Dragon Age?

Well, its listed as the “Spiritual Successor” to the extremely popular D&D based Baldurs Gate which is rather ancient as far as performance standards are involved…however as far as gaming is concerned, its Immortal…just like Diablo 2 and whatnot.

Now, to simply say: “Yea man, this game is like Baldurs Gate but newer” is a MASSIVE claim…to me it was an almost cocky and outlandish statement but nevertheless I bought the game through steam.

So…seeing as most people hate my tl;dr reviews, I’ll write the short version of it here: “You want this game…”

Seeing as its Single Player only (so far…man even if there was just LAN coop support this game would be one of the best ever played) its bound to be pirated left, right and centre…which is a shame really because this game was well worth the money I paid for it…sure it doesn’t quite have the playability of online RPG’s, its still addictive. I honestly would be happy to keep paying slightly larger amounts for games if they keep at the calibre that DA:O shows.

Ok so, quick run down on the game as usual:

Firstly, its an immersive Role playing game, that is to say: Dont play it unless you have spare time.

Secondly, its a team based RPG. You command 4 different characters at any given point, first is your protagonist with 3 supporting characters that you can choose for your party. You find more and more allies as you go along and they all have their own angsty personalities so you have to be careful when mixing violent types with hippies…I shit you not all hell breaks loose and they turn emo and leg it back to where they came from. I’ve had 2 rogues to date, one ran off crying and the other tried to kill me….stupid prick got taken out before he even drew his swords.

Each character has “tactic” slots, as they level up they gain more or you can upgrade them to have more. Initially you dont really need them, but later on in the game they are absolutely essential. You basically “program” your allies to attack how you want, so for example…I have a warhound that I occasionally use as mage support…I program him so that if someone makes it into melee with my spellcaster, I send him charging in to maul him and pin him to the ground while my spell caster makes her speedy retreat. Its a wonderful addition to the game over the usual: “be an attacking person” which typically makes bots entirely retarded.

Story time:

I honestly wont be able to write the entire story as it changes for every character, so I’ll give you a brief overview:

Whatever race you choose determines where you start and what issues you will have with your life that you will need to overcome in the future. You eventually will be recruited into a secretive yet highly powerful society of specialised knights known as “Grey Wardens”. The sole purpose of Grey Wardens is to defend the land against “blights” which are essentially organised armies of undead and demons that arise from underground to assault the surfacers. The Wardens themselves are more or less cultists as they have to meld their blood with demon blood so that they can feel their enemies.

“So wait” I hear you say, “you’re saying that the Wardens alone stop the blight?”. Well, no, the wardens simply are the experts in demonic issues. They support the other races around the place in dealing with blights and issues beyond common knowledge. “Hang on then” I can still hear you saying, “Why the hell dont the rest of the races simply gang up and nail the demon homos?”. Heh, well lets keep this short: Dwarves are about the most dramatic creatures known to man, they have SO MANY GODDAMN political problems that need fixing before they unite. The elves have been split between city-born and woodland races but both of them have been enslaved and had their cultures destroyed by humans…so god forbid they’ll help out. They mages around the places are pussies who always need supervising by templars lest they lose the plot and summon demons. Humans themselves are all trying to do the usual greed thing and take over the world and shit…so they’re about as useful as tits on a bull.

So guess who’s job it is to sling all the turds out of the way and unite the country against the coming blight?!

Yes, its your job…for some odd reason…You can do it the nice person way or just kill everything.

Personally, more things dead = less problems …in my mind at least.

More towards technical aspects however, this game has been getting a lot of flak over its bugs…and yes they are many. There are graphic glitches everywhere, mission glitches (like infinite loops), infinite xp missions (hehehe), speech glitches, texture mapping issues etc. Its by no means unplayable…but get used to the quick save key,…for some reason it doesnt like working occasionally and just says “Nah bro” and turns itself off.

On the flipside, theres no “movie” graphics as such…all cinematics in game are made purely from game renders. All speech is lip synced to look somewhat realistic if not over-exaggerated, and all the voice acting is to a high standard which is pleasing.

Anyway I wont ramble on too much longer. Basically if you want an RPG thats highly immersive, well thought out and has content from here to buggery then Dragon Age: Origins is for you. If you simply want a hack and slash game, then look elsewhere.

If you have played Baldurs Gate before and enjoyed it, then get this game…you will not be disappointed.

Screenshots!

My preferred party consisting of Assassin (left), Golem Warrior (booyah tank), Me as Dual Wield Warrior and a Shapeshifter.

Ready to enter hell and meet a deity.

Dropped my golem for a dwarf warrior to mash my way through the dwarven underground tunnels.

She’s still warm so its all good right?

Alistair is back in my party and dancing for joy.

Oh…this is fair…needless to say in about 20 seconds they’ll all be dead.

Black armour, an axe and a long sword…bring the pain!