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Here we go again... Bioware releases another game and I lose another 100+ hours of my life to gaming. After 11 hours of play (completing 8% of the story) I thought I'd share a few thoughts in case you're considering purchasing this game.
What's good:
Bioware RPG's always have great stories with deep background and entertaining character interactions. This one does not disappoint. New for this game are multiple character opening stories-hence the "origins" in the title. Depending on your class and race, you experience an extended opening that really sets the stage for your character and gives you something to think about. The opening for the mage included two quests to play through and a several difficult decisions to make before it merged with the main story line.
Voice acting is excellent, graphics are good and 1080p (though nothing like Metal Gear Solid or GTA4). Combat is fast, furious, and just a little out of control-and exciting.
What's bad:
I had hoped to see the next generation of RPG, but the game's architecture feels like reused modules from other Bioware games. Character gen is from Mass Effect, 3rd person view and movement from KOTOR, inventory mechanics and interface much like Baldur's Gate. It's all competently designed, but feels a little worn. But maybe Bioware is suffering from Pixar Syndrome if it doesn't outdo itself with each new release it seems plain.
My only real complaint is that character attributes and abilities are not sufficiently explained. The small paper manual says things are explained in detail in the in-game help but that is not the case.
Lastly:
Be aware that this game isn't suitable for kids. It's a mature game with some disturbing subject matter-that's why Bioware calls it a "dark fantasy." Kudos to Bioware for aiming for a serious game, but know what you're buying before putting it on the holiday gift list for your little ones. (Wait until after they're in bed and have an epic time playing it yourself!)
Click Here to Read More Reviews >>
I cannot praise this game enough! it will be one of those I play again and again!
the size and scope of the game is incredible. when I started off I'd wager I spent two hours learning about my character's background.
you pick one of many origins (i.e. elf, dwarf, human, etc)(I chose Elf Mage)
and then begin with your origin story (which is like watching a full length movie and so well written the time just flys by)
and then you're tasked with your first quest and the game begins.
this game has more freedom of choice then most, such as make a deal with a demon, or kill it to save a child. (it offers you Powers Not to kill it)
some of the quests have moral choices that will really pull on your emotions about people and things like power over friendship and the feel you have an impact upon the surrounding world.everything you choose to do has a "ripple effect" so your action will be known throughout the world. the characters control via one of two ways,
one is using the hack & slash method though this is harder then hitting pause so you can set all your mages attacks etc.
there's a lot of micromanagement in this but for loot mongers and rpg lovers this will be one of the years ultimate treats I assure you. there seems to be loot everywhere for those that search every area rather thourough. I also must say the amount of DLC available at this time for the collectors edition is amazing. (non collector edition owners will pay 6.99 and 14.99 for both dlc packs)
the graphics are excellent (though not mind blowing)
particle effects are wickedly done and the quests are crafted well enough to let you know you have many approaches to each "situation"
and will pull at your emotions. if you weren't lucky enough to get this collectors edition no worries I know the goodies will be released as DLC to everyone eventually since they listed prices (wardens keep 6.99 and the stone prisoner 14.99)
you have many abilities such as settinhg traps, stealing, dual wielding and so much more. while the game may be a bit "baldurs gat-ish) it's the BEST RPG on ps3 without a doubt.
the skill trees are similar to those you've seen in baldurs gate, diablo II and others. another thing is they must have over 200+ voice actors since I have not heard ANY voices repeat.
excellent actors such as Tim Curry, Kate Mulgrew, Claudia Black and more!
an excellent creature variety, large skill trees,
great loot and D&D style gameplay make this title
one of my all time fav's.
Graphics: Excellent and crispy. not mind blowing but perfect for me 4 1/2 stars great spell effects! excellent creature models and good variety of them.
Sound: the voice work is Top Notch and hundreds of actors
even the crickets put on a great perfomance! 5 stars!
the sound is a star here, the voice talent is top notch.
Gameplay: the micromanagement might put a few off but most will never let go of the controller since they got the controls so spot on for the ps3 on this title. it's amazing! 5 stars.
the controls are well mapped to the ps3 controller.
Fun: Yes Yes Yes! betray a friend or help him in a "forbidden" quest, help a grey warden or not?, kill a demon or trust the mouse? so many choices it's unreal! want to slay a dragon? you can!
want to go into dungeons and hack away, you can!
it's a Mature game so some of the things you can do are a tad graphic and as someone reminded me you end every battle absolutely painted in blood.
the game is brilliant what more can I say? 5 Stars!!
Overall: the package wraps up nicely into a 5 star Must Have!
the Gods at Bioware have greated the best "baldurs gate" style game yet! it's brilliant! you have to buy it asap if you don't you're missing THE BEST RPG experience of the year and possibly in my lifetime. (it's Very similar to Baldurs gate Dark Alliance)
this coming from a Hardcore
70's D&D player!!!
that's what I'd call an endorsement!
Dragon age origins is the RPG to buy.
EDIT: the Ultimate edition ships the 25th with ALL the DLC and the Awakenings disc!
Buy it here (ultimate edition)
Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition
Buy Dragon Age: Origins Now
The PS3 version is 17.3% better than the 360 version for 4.2 reasons.
The 360 version is 13.7% better than the PS3 version for 2.4 reasons.
Which version is better for you will be determined by your saving throw.
NO SPOILERS
I picked up both versions. I have two identical TVs, one bedroom, one den, both 50" 1080p Panasonic G10s. For this review I put them side by side in the den, PS3 hooked up to one, 360 to the other, and choose the same origin story. I played the PS3, my wife played the 360, we both took the day off of work, a "Bioware Holiday."
BIOWARE
The Bioware RPG is one of my favorite video game genres. KOTOR 1 is still my favorite story. I played through Mass Effect 7 times. If you like Bioware, you will like Dragon Age.
KOTOR 2 GRAPHICS
Bioware didn't make KOTOR 2. Until now. Dragon Age's graphics in general look like a last generation game, upconverted to HD. And why should they not? This game was 5 years in the making. Personally, if I could wave a magic wigglestick, I would magically wish the graphics into the year 2069, to play in my PS9 in my flying car. Unfortunately, I live in a condo that doesn't allow wigglesticking. So the choice is (A) Play the Bioware game. (B) Don't play the Bioware game. (C) Eat a cup cake. No one plays Bioware games for the graphics. You play for the CYOA storytelling.
6 COMPLETE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE NOVELS
Dragon Age is 10 Novels long. With 6 unique hero journeys. That can be twisted good or naughty. Warrior. Magic. Thief. Hybrid-Hybrid. Bioware is the only developer on the planet that makes this kind of beautiful uniqueness. This kind of awesomeness only comes around once every few years. Is this flavor of awesomeness perfect? No. Is amateur pornography perfect? No. Sometimes the pacing is off, or the dialogue excessive, but it gets the job done. The job is to experience a genuine human story--even if you're a lesbian elf. Dragon Age is fantastic video game storytelling. And better written than most fantasy novels.
BLOOD SPLATTER OR POTPOURRI?
I'm going to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt and believe that after battles my characters are splattered with blood and not potpourri. It's hard to tell visually, but I don't think they would censor themselves because this game is, like, totally Mature.
GAY SEX NO NUDITY
My wife likes lesbian threesomes. In books. In movies. In video games. In our kids' crayon drawings. She had never played a Bioware game before, but she likes role playing, and I told her Dragon Age has lesbian threesomes. Now, like with most video games, the depiction of sex isn't much more sophisticated visually than taking two barbie dolls and slapping them together. And there's no nudity. Because Bioware understands the genuine human condition--that people make the special love with their cloths on-even if you're a bi-sexual dwarf. So if you like realisticly-sized breasts well-covered with beige felt bikinis, then you, my friend, are in for a PG-13 flavored treat.
CASUAL VS HARDCORE
My wife played on easy, I played on normal. If you're an uber-genius, like me, who enjoys micromanagement, obscure RPG tactics, and general strategery... Then prepare to spend a lot of time, with the game paused, in clunky interface menus, because that's how real men play. That's how my grandpappy played his Bioware games, and his grandpappy before him, back when Bioware wasn't even Canadian, when they were still French, and the TVs had 11" screens and were powered by fire--usually dry hickory. So if you want that kind of authentic gaming experiece, you can have it. But if you just want to enjoy the story, crank that menu to easy, slump back in the couch, and unbuckle your pants for a good time.
PS3 VS 360
Like with all games, it's a choice between graphics vs framerate. The PS3 has slightly better textures, color saturation, contrast level, resolution. The 360 is less pretty but smoother. The PS3 is the supermodel with arthritis. The 360 is a Ukrainian gymnast. You get to choose who you want to take to bed. But since all you're going to do in bed is talk... It's not such a big deal. Unless you put two 50" plasmas right next to each other, you're not going to see the difference. I'm going to keep the PS3 version (because I like the controller better) and give my 360 copy to my favorite charity FVGFBO that provides fantastic video games for blind orphans.
BUY IT, PLAY IT, LOVE IT
* UPDATE
I have played 115 hours, beaten the game twice, tried three of the six origin stories, watched every sex scene, won every topless hottie boss battle, and found "teh secret nipplz." Personally, I feel this is the best Bioware game to date, the best written video game of all time, and a genuine evolution of the Bioware formula. For those of you fleeing in terror from Adult Content, know that, like in real life, bi-sexual dwarf sex is awkward, optional, and over in less than a minute. You can get through the whole game without "going hairy."
Read Best Reviews of Dragon Age: Origins Here
PS3 owners have been dying for a good RPG to hit the console and Bioware delivers with Dragon Age: Origins. RPGs have become few and far between and it is nice to finally have a game that is defiantly worth the full $60 price tag.
This game has six different origin stories that you can choose when you create your character. Each origin story is a small little start to the game that basically explains where your character comes from, and why they are getting involved in the story's main plot. Each origin story is completely unique which gives some good replay value. The game play time of the origin stories is about 2 hours. It can be longer or shorter depending on the type of player you are. The six origins are: Human Noble, Mage, City Elf, Dwarf Noble, Dwarf Commoner, Daelish Elf.
As you can guess from the origin stories you have three races to choose from: Human, Dwarf, and Elf. The stereotypical three races in fantasy games. Mages can only be humans or elves. Your choice in race and origin story both have an effect on your characters base stats.
You also get the choice of three classes: Warrior, Rogue, or Mage. At first that sounds pretty crappy only having three choices, but there are specializations that you come across later in the game. For example a rogue can become a bard and a mage can become a shapeshifter. So as you play, the choices will begin to open up. You automatically get two specializations as you progress through the game. You can get more though depending on how much exploration you do in the game (quests and reading books).
Every origin story ends at the same spot; your character being recruited into the Gray Wardens. Gray Wardens are warriors who fight the darkspawn. This is where the main plot of the game takes off and your off to start your adventure. While the origin story is only a couple hours, you still get great replay value out of the game because everywhere you will come across choices where you have to make a decision that effects the game. Each time you play through you can choose different options and make the rest of the story different.
Combat in the game is highly customizable. The basic formula is your characters all auto-attack, so you only press the 'X' button once. It is not a hack and slash type game in this regard. While you are auto-attacking you can use spells or abilities to do more damage, do crowd control, or turn the tide of the battle. You can do combos, for example you can freeze an enemy then cast your stone fist spell to shatter them and instantly kill them. You can put an oil slick on the ground then use a fire spell to light the oil on fire for some extra damage. You need to use caution though, friendly fire is possible!
You have three basic options for combat. Full AI control where your party members act on their own. You can customize that AI in a rather extensive way, similar to Final Fantasy XII gambit system. The second way to play is to take direct control of your party members, switching from your main character to a party member to make them use a specific ability or spell. The third option is full control where you pause the game and issue specific commands to every character and they never do more than auto-attack unless you tell them to. The choice is yours on how you want to play.
The graphics in this game are to be honest kind of dated. They are not mind blowing and you will not go "WOW!" when you see them. That said, they are not horrible either. This game was in development for a very long time which probably contributes to them being dated. The PS3 version does have some frame rate problems, but they are not game breaking. It is enough to notice, but not really that bad and after awhile you stop noticing. It's really right on the line of being able to notice and not being there at all.
Character customization is as good as you can get. You get to assign your atribute points (strength, willpower, magic, constitution, etc) yourself, you get to pick skills however you want (some require minimum attribute points), and you get to pick the spells/abilities you want (again, some require minimum attribute points). If you don't like this level of control, you can press a button and the game will auto-level your character. This customization also extends to your party; you control how they level up and what they learn. In addition, your party will continue to gain levels even if they are not in your active party (you get more playable characters then you can use at one time) so you don't have to worry about leaving someone behind.
Initially when you create your character you can also fully change their looks. There are lots of sliders to play with, not just a couple like most games. You can also have any character be female or male.
This game has a HUGE story to it. There is lots of lore all over the place and you can spend hours reading it all. There is also romance for those who want to do that, your main character can get into relationships with other characters and there are some steamy scenes. It's PG-13, you won't find full up nudity.
With that I'll go into the pros and cons.
Pros:
+Great combat system play how you want!
+Several hours of gameplay
+Promise of two years of DLC support from Bioware
+Great replay
+Great character customization
+Great Story
Cons:
-Poor frame rate at times
-Jerky cutscenes
-Dated graphics
-Limited camera (3rd person only, fixed distance)
Scores:
Gameplay: 5/5
Graphics: 3/5
Sound: 4/5
Replay: 5/5
Overall (not an average): 4/5
I'm typically harsh with reviews and am a true believer of using the full scale. I consider 3 stars to be 'average' and not bad like most people. 5 stars is perfect, 4 is above average, 3 is average, 2 is below average, 1 is awfull. I would consider this game to be above average. It is not perfect, but it is really good.
Buy or rent? Buy!
Want Dragon Age: Origins Discount?
In brief: if you like role-playing, and you have a PS3, this is the game you've been waiting for. Don't hesitate. Get it.
Pros:
+ Role playing for real, here. Your character choices determine who you are and how you start, and your choices really do determine how things turn out, and what other characters think of you.
+ Beautiful graphics. In particular, the character appearance integrates perfectly into the gameplay. That's not just some random body-shape fighting or walking around out there, that's *you*, funky hair, interesting tattoos and all. No one looks weird or distorted either.
+ The automatic notes are the best I've ever seen. Quests are tracked carefully, and where you should be going is easy to figure out. Whole conversations are logged. A "Codex" keeps information about any new person, place, or thing.
+ Gets going fast. After a brief, skippable movie and personalized intro, you're into the game. No lengthy, boring tutorial.
+ There are a good number of character options, without being overwhelming.
+ Everything is so well done and realistic, it's highly immersive. Just what an RPG should be.
+ No DRM. Instead, each game comes with a unique code you can redeem for bonus equipment, through the Playstation Network. THIS is how anti-piracy should be done. (Though this hasn't been as big an issue on the PS3 as on the PC.)
Cons (all pretty minor!):
Not terribly original, at least as far as I've explored. The movie scenes look straight out of The Lord of the Rings movies. The story is interesting but not amazing. Gameplay is reminiscent of Bioware's D&D based games, like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights... but not exactly.
Dialogue is mostly played out by actors in real time -which is great! -only stopping on occasion to let you decide what you'll say. But there's no real pause button! The only way to pause a conversation if you get interrupted is to use the PS button, which is slow, a bit clunky, and not what it's really meant for.
The cut scenes, while beautiful, are a bit jerky, especially when they first load up.
Neutral:
* Very violent! Great if you like that sort of thing, not so good if you're squeamish. You're literally blood spattered after a big battle, and stay that way for a while. I imagine the settings can be tweaked, but that's the default.
* Everything is new, if, as I said, not especially original. This can be good or bad depending on how familiar you like your games. I found myself stumped on several occasions wondering what talent to pick or attribute to train, because they're all unfamiliar, and not explained all that well. And so often RPGs promise amazing skills that never turn out to be useful... though so far, they all seem well used.
* You must stay in a certain area until you complete certain storyline quests. You cannot wander freely. Some people like that, some people hate it. I'd rather wander freely myself, like Oblivion, but I'm fine with it.
* No multiplayer.
Overall: Really, really pleased with Dragon Age: Origins. I can't come up with a single significant complaint. Unless it becomes horribly buggy, I don't see coming up with one either.
