7comments Posted Fri 21st May 2010 5:23pm by Gavin Lowe

Dragon Age: Origins is a collision of Western story-driven and Eastern combat system-driven RPGs with a traditional, Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy backdrop. Bioware have pulled out all the stops to show that they not only the lead in the modern RPG genre, but can also reinvigorate the stalwart basics of the RPG, however certain presentational values hold this game back from greatness.

 

 

Bioware, the masters of the RPG, have created an enthralling, engaging, story driven, action packed delve into the genre: Dragon Age: Origins. Like many RPGs, Dragon Age follows the route of the fantasy epic but with a focus on the background, or Origin, of the character that you play. Players are offered to start the game from one of six very different backgrounds, covering a variety of races, social backdrops, and genders. The player’s start position in the game greatly effects how the game will unfold as you are ferried along the storyline, and your choices and moral decisions affect the game world and how characters interact with you. The initial part of the game is unique to each character type and, unless you choose to play the game through six times, players will experience only one Origin story before the game properly begins.

 

It doesn’t take long before the depth of the storyline is hinted at, with a rich back-story unfolding that includes suggestions of deep class and racial divides throughout the land of Ferelden. This complex background is the canvas upon which the main plot is painted. A dark threat to all living creatures, in the form of the demonic Darkspawn, is unleashing a Blight upon the land. Not long into the game we see humanity’s big stand against the monsters, and it goes horribly wrong. Unsurprisingly, despite the player character’s age and inexperience, we soon discover that you are the only person who can unite the divided lands to make a final heroic stand against the Arch-demon (a Dragon). Made a member of the Grey Wardens, an elite group of warriors sworn to destroy the Darkspawn, you and your band of warriors, mages, war dogs, Elves, Dwarfs and Golems and sent off to finish what the armies of men could not.

 

The game is very long and engaging. Expect to lose tens of hours to the intricacies of the storyline, combat and character customisation.

 

"You got my back, right?"

The combat system seems to breach the gap between the needs of the hardcore RPG fan and those of the part-time gamer, with real-time fighting that can be paused to choose and customise attacks and other actions from any of your player characters in order to achieve a victory. Moving away from the usual turn-based combat that RPGs have used in the past, this form of combat interface allows gamers who are new to the genre to enjoy the game without loosing interest due to the intricacies of the character profile and the effects of attack, defence and chance upon the successful outcome of any action. It is all there for gamers who want it, and can be ignored by those who don’t. The pause and dial combat menu is complemented by a hack and slash real-time attack mode and shortcut buttons that can be customised to select specific powers, effects and spells with a quick tap.

 

 

Largely in keeping with most modern games, the graphics are of a decent standard, but are not ground breaking. Some of the vistas and cut scenes border on stunning, but for the large portion of the game the visuals are simply average. The game suffers slightly from long loading periods and on the Xbox 360 version some of the more blocky graphics and background textures can detract from an otherwise excellent gaming experience. On occasion some of the cut scenes suffer from glitches (although these issues do not seem to affect the PC version).

 

 

With an original score, the soundtrack is typical of the RPG fantasy epic, but fits in perfectly with the themes of the game. One of the tracks “I am the One” won best original song in a video game at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The voice acting is of good quality (with stars such as Tim Curry and Kate Mulgrew among the cast) and doesn’t feel forced, but on occasion there are missing segments of dialogue in cut scenes, but these are very few and far between. Re-playing the section concerned often fixes the problem.

 

Dragon Age: Origins is, overall, an RPG fan’s dream and Bioware’s efforts to make the genre more accessible to gamers not usually drawn to such titles is noteworthy. With a long primary story and hours of side quests, Dragon Age: Origins is great value for money, though it does fall short in other areas, such as the graphical department. Fans of the genre should definitely give Dragon Age a spin, and it's also recommended those who aren't too familiar should also at least give it a rental.

 

The Lowdown

Single Player: 8/10 Originality: 7/10 Story 8/10 Value 7.5/10 Visuals 7/10 Audio: 7.5/10

Total Score: 7.5 / 10 Standard Score Single player Genre fan Casual Gamer Graphics Focused Old school RPG with a modern, real time twist

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