'Dragon Age: Origins' takes two steps back
Enhanced playing options fail to redeem poor visuals and power plays.
Published Nov. 13, 2009
When it comes to epic role-playing video games, Bioware has been on the nose for more than a decade and that does not look to change at all with the release of its new game, "Dragon Age: Origins."
The adventure takes place in the land of Ferelden, a country that is still trying to overcome turmoil from the previous generation in which the Orlesians invaded Ferelden. There are also complex social issues to deal with, such as the induction of elves, who were previously slaves, into society. All those factors have allowed only a fragile peace to exist amongst the people.
A 400-year-old enemy, the corrupted Darkspawn, have risen from deep underground to destroy everything. The only ones who can stop them are the famous Grey Wardens, enemies of the Darkspawn since they first arose. Unfortunately, the king's general Teyrn Loghain betrays the Grey Wardens, along with the king in a battle, which leaves only two Wardens. They survive to raise an army to defeat Loghain and the Darkspawn.
The player takes control of one of the two surviving Wardens to try and save the world. The player plays as a brand new Warden, recruited just before the battle that created the Warden shortage. Before all of this happens the player has a big choice to make. Many RPG's start with a generic beginning, no matter if the player is a mage, a rogue or an all out tanking warrior, but "Origins" brings something new to the table: the "origins" part of the title.
Depending on race and class selection there are six origin story lines that can occur: mage, city elf, Dalish elf, dwarf commoner, dwarf noble or human noble. Each origin begins in a different area of the land and requires the player to complete unique quests. They range from fairly generic and somewhat boring to quite interesting, but either way they'll help the player relate to their character and really immerse him — or herself in the game.
The gameplay in "Origins" is very reminiscent of "Knights Of The Old Republic," another Bioware-developed game. Like "KOTR" in "Origins" players can pause the game in order to find the appropriate skill or spell the player wants to use, and then switch to another of up to three party members and choose an action for them as well. Some who aren't used to this style might find it slows down the action too much, but it really is essential for utilizing the vast array of skills the game offers and for targeting many of the area of effect spells mages command.
Instead of the ability to select four actions for each party member, Bioware created an in-depth tactics menu, which allows the player to customize how party members act in either general or specific situations. It almost makes the game too easy. One downside is the AI uses mana too fast so players may find themselves babysitting their mages a lot because their ability to cast healing and damage spells is crucial.
There is a lot to love and be slightly disappointed with in this game. The Bioware team did a great job on making the story and the characters loveable. Some of my favorite parts in the game were found just walking around when two of my party members would start up a random and humorous quarrel. Part of this had to do with great voice casting throughout the game, even the most inconsequential non-player characters had a life of their own.
But I found the world of Ferelden to be a little too unoriginal at times. For one thing, the Darkspawn look a little too much like orcs. I noticed it the first time I saw them and it became more and more obvious from then on. I also was slightly unimpressed with the environments. Although cool-looking at the end of the game there wasn't one environment that really left a lasting impression on me, save perhaps the dwarven capitol.
Bioware, in some ways, took a step back from what it was doing in "Mass Effect," such as the quality of the facial animations and the removal of the talking hero, but it really is a very fun and enthralling game. It seems the producers went more for a solid hit than a groundbreaking RPG, but this game sure does hit its mark.
