Dragon Age Origins could be the first game in awhile that is living up to the unrealistic expectations that the video game industry hype machine creates in our opinion.  What was expected and what was actually unfolding infront of our  eyes, was actually near parity for once.  Dragon Age Origins is an RPG mashup of sorts.  With elements from many previous creations from Bioware, I think they picked the best elements from their stellar catalog of titles.  A little dash of Mass Effect, plus a pinch of Kotor, and a cup of Baldurs Gate, plus a little story stealage (not a word) from the LOTR and you get Dragon Age Origins.

First and foremost if you are an RPG fan, you are going to love the story in Dragon Age: Origins.  I am not going to spoil any part of the story for you here, but at the onset of the game, you are asked to choose a character class.  Depending on the class chosen you will embark on one of the Origin stories. The Magi, Human Noble, Dalish Elf, City Elf, Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, are possible choices at the start of the game.  You will earn an achievement for each Origin story line that you complete, and being that it took a short amount of time to complete each I went ahead an did so.  I was also taken in by the story of my original character so much so that I wanted to see the others perspectives.  Once your Origin story is completed you will be tied into the main story line, and your true quest will begin.  While the Origin stories are the hook, the actual main quest are the line and sinker.  You will be drawn in by the emotional attachment to the characters from the onset, and this carries through to main quest.  With the story  mostly delivered through a blend of interactive conversations with dialogue options a la Mass Effect, and cinematic sequences.

Story 5/5

For the most part, your time in the Dragon Age world will be following maps to way-points, and significant landmarks.  These direct your character to  locations of importance which will further  your quest.  Much like many RPG’s one quest may lead to several others within the larger quest in an attempt to complete a main objective.  While not engaging  in conversation with important persons you will be scouring your environments for sparkling items that you are able to examine.  These will be items you can take with you, XP points earned, or other goods.

The combat system I found to be simplistic enough to catch on very quickly and as the game progressed became as complex and detailed as the user sees fit.  In all cases you will be questing with a party of four players.  One human controlled player, and three AI controlled units.  You can toggle between units by pressing the bumper and coordinate attacks that way.  Or you can delegate how you would like your computer allies to fight.  Would you like them to attack the strongest enemy first then work their way down there’s an app for that.  Any number of modifications can be applied to your computer allies and it helps especially when fighting the stronger enemies when they have their less skilled counterparts with them.  Regardless of whether you choose to have a hands on approach to your allies combat movements or not, the controls are the same for each party member.  With the A button being the main attack key, you can assign other actions to each of the buttons.  X,Y,B.  Once earned you can also assign a second tier of attacks  which can be performed by holding the trigger and the corresponding button.

While different in their own unique ways, the combat for all classes comes off as smooth and straightforward.  Mages can fire elemental attacks from a distance, where warriors will hack and slash their way to victory.  Each is rewarding and effective in the right situations.  As game time progresses and more battles are won, you character will earn skill attributes and slots where which spells or actions can be placed.

Fighting is a big part of Dragon Age but its not everything, your actions have consequences.  These lines of consequence are somewhat blurred as to what the outcome will be to your actions but know that somewhere, someone, or something is being affected.  The character that you choose to play with, the way this character interacts with his party members, dialogue choices, all have  intended consequences whether realized at the time, or not.  The way with which you handle your character can weigh heavily on the outcome of your game.  Your popularity meter with each of your party members will play a large part in this.

There were a couple of hiccups in the gameplay for me, as problems did arise when trying to do too much micromanagement of my party.  Inventory management and some  menus and navigation of these menus are a little unclear and can take some time to get accustomed to.

With all of the Plots, Subplots, Battles, and Lands to explore there is more than enough gameplay in here for everyone.  You could cruise through the game in around 40-45 hrs, but with all of the extras don’t expect to spend less than 70 if you want to see everything.

Gameplay 4/5

The graphics in Dragon Age Origins are at times phenomenal, and others substandard.  There is the inherent bad lip syncing and synthetic emotionless faces in alot of the  cutscenes. Though the character models are good, a little of the fantasy is lost when your character is engaged in an emotion less discussion.  The art direction of this game really does a great job of creating the fantasy for the player. In what seems to be taken from the imaginings of  Peter Jackson, the graphical depictions you will encounter from the lands you are exploring to the creatures you are fighting are diverse, in their natures. The combat sequences are well done with some minor camera angle issues, but for the most part the variety and design of the bloodspawn and the animals you encounter are well done.

I can’t say the same for some of the dialogue sections.  Since the game has a lot of dialogue sequences you will notice that the characters aren’t poorly modeled but they are a little blocky.  You can actually see the lines connecting an arm to a torso in some instances and it just looks a little rushed.  Hair and other textures just seem matted and unrealistic in some cases.   Its very easy to notice some of these things in certain instances in the game, but I can say that it is not for all dialogue scenes just some.  For each that are subpar there are an equal amount that are exceptional.  Overall though I would like to see some games take the approach that Brutal Legend did, which really brought the games characters to life.

Some of the cut-scenes will absolutely blow your mind with the amount of blood and gore on the screen.  Characters will be bloodied after a battle and this will carry on to outside of the cut-scene and adds a great deal of realism and believability to the game altogether.  Overall,the games graphics are good.  You aren’t going to be blown away by any of them per say but you will pleased, and the few problems that you will encounter are minor.  Bioware does a great job of balancing the give and take in the graphical department.

Graphics 3.5/5

With any RPG that delivers a large part of its content in the form of conversations you need to have great voice acting, to keep the player from becoming bored with the dialogue.  Dragon Age overcomes some of the graphical mishaps in the conversations by using the top notch voice acting to convey emotion where the character models lack.  Environmental, Combat, and Character noises are well done for the most part and I didn’t have any complaints at all.  Though for some of the writing, I found to be a little cheesy for my taste after battling through a forest of werewolves I encountered a rhyming tree, while funny, it didn’t seem to fit the bill.  But, it gave some uniqueness to the characters and you will find this uniqueness throughout the world.  The soundtrack is atmospheric for the most part, and sets a nice tone for what is occurring on screen.

Sound 4.5/5

In reviewing Dragon Age Origins, I found myself really thrown into the plot.  The characters, the story, it all comes together to make a great game.  It’s one of those games where you weigh the costs of  putting down the controller for a few hours. With each new quest being a new and exciting piece to the overall puzzle that is the game. Dragon Age Origins is set to deliver a great deal of gameplay to the player.  With the story so open ended and dependant on the actions and class of your character I see myself playing this at least once more.   While the game is not perfect in many areas, the total package is engrossing and fun.  Though, I would have loved to tackle this with a friend Dragon Age is my new Oblivion and one that I am sure will continue to entertain in this age of Downloadable Content.  For the RPG fan this is your GOTY to all others it may be the one that gets you hooked.

The Good:

The Story will Hook you From Start to Finish independent of what character you select.

Great Voice acting really brings the story to life.

Intuitive Controls plus options give the player freedom to play how they want.

Tons of Replay value

The Bad:

Some Camera angle issues

Sub par graphics at times

Inventory interface confusion