Format: Xbox 360, PC
Style: Third Person RPG/RTS
Modes: single player campaign only
Pros: Amazing graphics, epic story, gripping gameplay, top notch voice acting, good combat, great fun.
Cons: Difficult to pull the hair in some spots.
Introduction
Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. A company that puts all its heart and soul into its games, and the result is more than worth it. Dragon Age: Origins is a platinum among gold medal. With an expansion of RPGs in the last decade, it’s hard to narrow it down to the best. But what most gamers agree on is that DA:O is one of the best RPGs of this decade, if not the best.
Startup
Like any RPG, you get character selection/customization. First I tried to make a Dalish elf. These are the elves who have stayed in the isolated forests, hiding from humanity. It started with a good introduction to history and the Dalish Elves. After the video, I immediately made decisions, whether or not to kill some humans who were wandering around our forest. Of course I had to let them go, I know how humans are. They also briefed me on some ruins I’ve ventured into with an elven friend and delved into an easy, short introduction to combat. Easy switching between the far away, overhead zoom camera view and the up close “adventure” camera view with the scroll wheel makes switching between combat and walking a breeze. The first part of the game is very forgiving and eases you into the style that I wasn’t used to. It’s like a cross between real-time strategy and classic third person, packed with story, action, and quests. The cutscenes are absolutely beautiful and the voice acting is top notch. The second character I did was the generic Human Noble. I usually don’t like close combat in RPGs, but I decided to push this game to the limit. This turned out to be a great choice. Even the last thing I wanted to be was so much fun. You start with the choice to have your dog as a companion, and I don’t know how you can pass up an opportunity like that. During the game, you can only have 4 partners at a time, so you usually fight as a team. I decided to be a tank (defensive character) to help contain enemies and take the blunt part of the damage. The combat and tactics were easy enough to get used to, but the gameplay is incredibly difficult.
graphics
While gaming at max graphics with a new Radeon 5800 series GPU, it’s a stunningly beautiful game. The faces are the best I’ve ever seen, the armor and weapons are incredibly detailed, and the environment is beautiful to look at. The lighting and shadows are in perfect balance, each light has a nice glow and the darkness contrasts a lot. Even the fire alone is the best fire I’ve seen in a game so far. It has this warm, comforting glow to it, with a strong lick and… well, it’s a very nice fire. The detail in the game is incredible, after fighting your characters are covered in blood specs, unlike the usual clean heroes in most games. People will eventually notice that every location, every forest, every dungeon and cave they pass through is detailed and extravagant, along with its contents and enemies. The game is top notch for DirectX10 and only DX11 can beat it. However, it was a smart move to use DX10, as not everyone has a (recently released) DX11 GPU. Basically, the game is absolutely pristine.
how to play
This is one of the most difficult and frustrating games I’ve ever played, except for Street Fighter and Mega Man 9. The difficulty can be summed up like this: On the second mission, I had four characters, full health, and ready to fight. . There were only two enemies waiting by a bridge over the swampy waters of Wild. I thought “hey, pretty easy, just throw them and hit them”. But no, I was wrong, those two led us through bear traps and a multitude of other enemies. They hit us over and over again. It must have taken five tries to finally get through them. Within the first half hour of the game! On normal difficulty! It is a great challenge. One feature that really took some getting used to was the tactic. This menu pack determines what your character does when a certain event occurs, such as if your character is below 20% health, they will use a special block move. This really comes in handy for the big fights where you can’t really keep track of everything every second. Aside from the occasional jaw-gnashing tricky bits, the game is pretty straightforward and simple. Completing quests, continuing the story, gaining levels and skills, upgrading armor and weapons, is your RPG with no surprises. But what you don’t always come to see is the fantastic, unique and fascinating story. This rich story stands out in the world of RPGs because it is so original and detailed. The Blight (a bunch of ugly, grayish guys) come and try to kill everyone every two hundred years. They were old wizards who tried to take to the skies, but were defeated and cursed. There is an archdemon leading the plague and he must be defeated to end it. The Gray Wardens are a group of fighters who work to defeat Blight with the help of the people, and you become one of these last Gray Wardens. You must work with three other fighters/adventurers (whichever you choose) to delve into the world with quests, objectives, and fights. And yes, just like Mass Effect there is a sex scene involved, it probably won’t be in the news as much because there aren’t any aliens involved. But anyway, the gameplay is fantastic, easy to understand, incredibly challenging and fun, and the story is great. Every time you start a new character, you are thrown into a completely different beginning with different options and missions. As you progress, you choose your path depending on what you decide to do, so you could play the game twice in two totally different ways. The replay value is amazing, because there are not many other games that give you so much decision. Being single player doesn’t hinder the experience at all and is a better route to go in my opinion, it would just feel weird playing with other people. Compared to other RPGs, Dragon Age: Origins is a gem; has taken everything we love about RPGs and perfected it. BioWare knows how to make a great game and I look forward to the sequels to this fantastic game.
Ratings
Graphics – 9.5/10
Sound – 10/10
History – 10/10
Gameplay- 9/10
Replayability- 10/10
Final Score – 9.7/10
Required Specifications/Recommended Specifications (Vista/7)
CPU
Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6 Ghz or higher / Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz Processor or equivalent
RAM
1.5GB or more/4GB
GPU
ATI Radeon X1550 256 MB or higher / ATI 3850 512 MB or higher NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256 MB or higher / NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or higher
HDD
20 GB free or more