[HEADING=3]It's About Time! reviews by a Stranger of Sorts...[/HEADING]
[HEADING=1]Dragon Age: Origins[/HEADING]
Hey, what a surprise I actually got round to writing another one of these! Well, to be honest I haven't actually written it yet, all that's on my screen is the title, the box art and these words... pretty though isn't it?
For the hard of thinking amongst you, the point of this review series is to review slightly older games for two principle reasons: firstly I have had time to play the game, as in a lot of time so I will have found all the flaws and hidden goodies that would otherwise go unnoticed and secondly, it's just an excuse for me to review older games as I don't own any new ones.
Dragon Age: Origins is a third-person role-playing game developed by Bioware that takes heavy influences from online RPG's such as World of Warcraft. What this game does bring to the table is its heavy emphasis on both the story and the effects of the choices your character makes on the story. The sub-title itself highlights the biggest choice you're going to make in the game and that is what starting origin your character will come from; whether that be a City Elf or a Mage serving out their life in solitude in the Circle Tower. Whatever origin you pick will have a huge effect on how others treat you throughout the game, for example an Elf will be looked down upon by the majority of humans and it will be harder for them to gain information as a result.
Sounds pretty good doesn't it?...
_
_
I went into Dragon Age: Origins on the promise of an epic story, engaging combat and the hope that it would take hours out of my miserable and vacant life. And I am afraid to inform you that I left feeling sickened and just the slightest bit confused, what I had purchased was not epic, nor engaging and it didn't waste the best years of my life nearly as much as I hoped it would.
It is funny (to me) that as a game sold on its story telling, Dragon Age: Origins fails on the one thing that, if anything, should have been the best feature in this game. The only twist in it comes at the beginning of the game, in fact it comes so near to the beginning that I can tell you what happens; your mentor and leader Duncan, the character that saves your skin in all the origin stories gets killed in the battle ofHelm's Deep Ostagar by Orcs Darkspawn, along with the rest of your order apart from the shy, boyish Alistair. After this rather joyful and entertaining moment you are told that it is up to you and Alistair to gather the armies of Ferelden and lead them in battle again Sauron the Archdemon. As you can probably tell, Dragon Age: Origins does not exactly redefine, or even attempt to redefine, the RPG genre.
This game also manages to fall flat on its face when it comes to combat, when you see an enemy you want to kill you press a button and your character goes zooming off and proceeds to hit the creature you pressed your button at until the creature has liquefied into a crudely animated pool of blood on the floor. Granted, if you choose you can use an ability and to do this you press another button, your character performs said ability and then carries on hitting the creature. This is by no means engaging at all and it seems to go against the whole point of a game, it gives you the feeling that it is not you attacking the enemy, you are just watching someone attack an enemy. The people at Bioware have obviously said to themselves "Hey, look at World of Warcraft, that seems to be doing pretty well but what makes it good? Is it it's gameplay? Or is it the fact that your character is in a world with lots of other player characters and the interaction and competition forces the player to come back every spare minute just to try and be the best? Must be the first one." No! Bad Bioware!
And the length of the game? I did mention that, well at least I hope so, this game is pathetically short as far as most other RPGs are; while Oblivion had me playing for over 100 hours without even touching the story quests, I had completed Dragon Age: Origins within 20 hours.
But I have to admit that after I finished I started a new game and did it all again, then I completed it, then I started again and so on. This game just has so many possibilities, every time you play you will have a different experience. You will play differently, you will be a different race, a different class, you will have different party members, you may bully your way through every situation or talk your way through it or you will choose different dialogue options. The possibilities are very close to becoming endless.
The whole dialogue system is very interesting, in theory every option you take will change the characters feeling towards you and whether or not they will help you. I say in theory as if you play the same section more than once you realise that some of the options receive the same answer and it feels a bit like they've cheated.
One thing Dragon Age: Origins does very well is creating a world that you can become completely and utterly absorbed in, there is a back story to almost every element of the game even when there doesn't need to be one. For example the Legions of the Dead are a group of dwarves who go deep into the earth to fight the darkspawn, knowing that they will someday die. You meet this group once but there are pages and pages of lore about them that is really unnecessary but it helps give the game depth.
Overall I can tell you that yes, this is a good game that does deserve some credit but it could have been so much better! The inclusion of things like proper gameplay and a lot more side missions would ascend this game into greatness.
- Thanks for your time, when I ask for feedback this time I want it to be as harsh and nit picky as possible, cheers!
[HEADING=1]Dragon Age: Origins[/HEADING]
Hey, what a surprise I actually got round to writing another one of these! Well, to be honest I haven't actually written it yet, all that's on my screen is the title, the box art and these words... pretty though isn't it?
For the hard of thinking amongst you, the point of this review series is to review slightly older games for two principle reasons: firstly I have had time to play the game, as in a lot of time so I will have found all the flaws and hidden goodies that would otherwise go unnoticed and secondly, it's just an excuse for me to review older games as I don't own any new ones.
Dragon Age: Origins is a third-person role-playing game developed by Bioware that takes heavy influences from online RPG's such as World of Warcraft. What this game does bring to the table is its heavy emphasis on both the story and the effects of the choices your character makes on the story. The sub-title itself highlights the biggest choice you're going to make in the game and that is what starting origin your character will come from; whether that be a City Elf or a Mage serving out their life in solitude in the Circle Tower. Whatever origin you pick will have a huge effect on how others treat you throughout the game, for example an Elf will be looked down upon by the majority of humans and it will be harder for them to gain information as a result.
Sounds pretty good doesn't it?...
_
_
I went into Dragon Age: Origins on the promise of an epic story, engaging combat and the hope that it would take hours out of my miserable and vacant life. And I am afraid to inform you that I left feeling sickened and just the slightest bit confused, what I had purchased was not epic, nor engaging and it didn't waste the best years of my life nearly as much as I hoped it would.
It is funny (to me) that as a game sold on its story telling, Dragon Age: Origins fails on the one thing that, if anything, should have been the best feature in this game. The only twist in it comes at the beginning of the game, in fact it comes so near to the beginning that I can tell you what happens; your mentor and leader Duncan, the character that saves your skin in all the origin stories gets killed in the battle of
This game also manages to fall flat on its face when it comes to combat, when you see an enemy you want to kill you press a button and your character goes zooming off and proceeds to hit the creature you pressed your button at until the creature has liquefied into a crudely animated pool of blood on the floor. Granted, if you choose you can use an ability and to do this you press another button, your character performs said ability and then carries on hitting the creature. This is by no means engaging at all and it seems to go against the whole point of a game, it gives you the feeling that it is not you attacking the enemy, you are just watching someone attack an enemy. The people at Bioware have obviously said to themselves "Hey, look at World of Warcraft, that seems to be doing pretty well but what makes it good? Is it it's gameplay? Or is it the fact that your character is in a world with lots of other player characters and the interaction and competition forces the player to come back every spare minute just to try and be the best? Must be the first one." No! Bad Bioware!
And the length of the game? I did mention that, well at least I hope so, this game is pathetically short as far as most other RPGs are; while Oblivion had me playing for over 100 hours without even touching the story quests, I had completed Dragon Age: Origins within 20 hours.
The whole dialogue system is very interesting, in theory every option you take will change the characters feeling towards you and whether or not they will help you. I say in theory as if you play the same section more than once you realise that some of the options receive the same answer and it feels a bit like they've cheated.
One thing Dragon Age: Origins does very well is creating a world that you can become completely and utterly absorbed in, there is a back story to almost every element of the game even when there doesn't need to be one. For example the Legions of the Dead are a group of dwarves who go deep into the earth to fight the darkspawn, knowing that they will someday die. You meet this group once but there are pages and pages of lore about them that is really unnecessary but it helps give the game depth.
Overall I can tell you that yes, this is a good game that does deserve some credit but it could have been so much better! The inclusion of things like proper gameplay and a lot more side missions would ascend this game into greatness.
It's About Time! Little Big Planet [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.184065-Its-About-Time-Little-Big-Planet]
Games The Fall(en) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183414-A-Stranger-reviews-The-Fall-en-updated], Plants Vs Zombies [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183040-Plants-Vs-Zombies-In-a-Nutshell], Borderlands DLC: Secret Armoury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.179437-A-Stranger-Reviews-Borderlands-Secret-Armoury-Get-you-one],Cod: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181561-A-Stranger-reviews-CoD-Modern-Warfare-2-a-review-to-end-all-others-well-hopefully], B:BC2 demo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.176510-Review-Battlefield-Bad-Company-2-multiplayer-demo]
Movies 2001: A Space Odyssey [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.179870-2001-A-Space-Odyssey-A-Strangers-verdict]
Music [url-http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183857-Music-for-Dummies-A-collection-of-music-reviews-7-Technicolour-Health-by-Harlem-Shakes]The Music Thread[/url] My Dinosaur Life [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182845-A-Stranger-reviews-music-My-Dinosaur-Life-by-MCS], Cajun Dance Party [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181141-Cajun-Dance-Party-A-Strangers-Music-Review], Bloc Party [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.178462-A-Music-Review-Bloc-Party]
Random The Escapist forums [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182355-A-Stranger-reviews-The-Escapist-Forums] Progress Wars [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.185328-Poll-A-Stranger-reviews-Progress-Wars]
Games The Fall(en) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183414-A-Stranger-reviews-The-Fall-en-updated], Plants Vs Zombies [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183040-Plants-Vs-Zombies-In-a-Nutshell], Borderlands DLC: Secret Armoury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.179437-A-Stranger-Reviews-Borderlands-Secret-Armoury-Get-you-one],Cod: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181561-A-Stranger-reviews-CoD-Modern-Warfare-2-a-review-to-end-all-others-well-hopefully], B:BC2 demo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.176510-Review-Battlefield-Bad-Company-2-multiplayer-demo]
Movies 2001: A Space Odyssey [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.179870-2001-A-Space-Odyssey-A-Strangers-verdict]
Music [url-http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183857-Music-for-Dummies-A-collection-of-music-reviews-7-Technicolour-Health-by-Harlem-Shakes]The Music Thread[/url] My Dinosaur Life [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182845-A-Stranger-reviews-music-My-Dinosaur-Life-by-MCS], Cajun Dance Party [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181141-Cajun-Dance-Party-A-Strangers-Music-Review], Bloc Party [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.178462-A-Music-Review-Bloc-Party]
Random The Escapist forums [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182355-A-Stranger-reviews-The-Escapist-Forums] Progress Wars [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.185328-Poll-A-Stranger-reviews-Progress-Wars]
- Thanks for your time, when I ask for feedback this time I want it to be as harsh and nit picky as possible, cheers!