Dragon Age: Origins Preview: Violence, Lust And Betrayal
Dragon Age: Origins isn’t just a role-playing game, it’s a world of violence, lust and betrayal. Or so says BioWare lead designer Mike Laidlaw who walked us through the game last week at Electronic Arts.
Does spicing up an RPG with a trifecta of sins give the game enough to separate it from all of those other role-playing games out and coming out?
What Is It?
In role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins you play as a Grey Warden, an ancient order of warriors and mages fighting to stave off a demon invasion.
What We Saw
I played a section of the game that had my group taking on Uldred, a mage who has made a deal with the demons and is now converting other mages to his way. After an initial chat with Uldred he becomes a fairly large demon himself and begins laying down the demon hurt.
How Far Along Is It?
Due out later this year, the level we played seemed very polished.
What Needs Improvement?
Clutter: With four characters to control and plenty of spells to go around, the screen can get pretty packed when you throw in enemies. The different view modes help, but zooming back all of the way to a view reminiscent of Baldur’s Gate sort of defeats the purpose of all of those spectacular graphics.
Confusion: It was a little difficult in the heat of battle to figure out when a spell landed and what it did. Granted they dropped us into a very difficult level with four characters to control and a room full of demons. It still would be nice to amp up some of the spell effects though.
What Should Stay The Same?
Conversation System: Borrowing heavily from Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins conversation system has you selecting from a variety of choices displayed in a list. Your choices then trigger a fairly well voice-acted conversation.
Intuitive Controls: Character portraits are lined up along the left side of the screen and spells along the bottom, World of Warcraft style. You can switch characters on the fly by selecting a portrait. Movement is controlled with the keyboard and you can zoom in and out of the scene with the mouse wheel.
Spell Interaction: One of the cooler features of the game is the ability for spells to interact with one another and form new spells. In the demo I played, once you dumped the right amount of spells in an area you accidentally cast something called Storm of the Century which looked like a whirlwind of deadly magic. Once you discover one of those combo spells it is automatically added to your spellbook for purposeful use down the line.
Live Pause: The game can be paused at any time by pressing the space bar. Maybe after you’ve been playing the game for hours the pause button won’t be necessary, but it was invaluable while trying to learn the ropes.
The Look: Graphically, Dragon Age: Origins is amazingly slick. The detailed graphics were backed by a butter-smooth framerate. This was all on a high-end PC, not a console, so that may not be the case for PS3 or Xbox 360 gamers.
Final Thoughts
Dragon Age: Origins looks like a high-end blend of World of Warcraft and Baldur’s Gate, blending the best of both worlds in a dark heroic fantasy setting.
As with most role-playing games, the proof will be in the full-playing, but Dragon Age: Origins is off to a very solid start.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Archaotic: I still want this for the PC since it will likely grow a mod community that will make all kinds of awesome to squeeze in when the game becomes a little dry.
Sythlia
Patiently waiting for this one :) Go Bioware, go!
Probably a 360 purchase for me since my laptop isn't amazing. Definitely looking forward to this tho, Bioware makes amazing RPGs.
Can't wait.
@Shidori: :(
@postretro: Some of the interviews say it can be up to 80 hours of gameplay.
@Spenze: Yeah, no doubt you are 100% correct. I'm shopping for a new pc with a fairly large budget (it's time to upgrade), but Dragon Age is my most anticipated game this year and I'm really wanting to play it having everything maxed.
BattleBee
@SeraphX2: I didn't find the ME system all that special anyway. It's good, yes, maybe the best I've seen on consoles, but in the end it's essentially the same we've had for years if not decades, but on a joypad.
How about doing a story on why the Gutar Hero 3 in game online leaderboards are not working!
BA-BA-BOOEY-KJD
@Hyetal: Awesome, thanks.
Gray665
@BattleBee: nowadays, it all comes down to screen resolution.
curly haired boy
@BattleBee: I'd guess top of the line on every component. No reason for them not to do that.
Spenze
@Archaotic: I think you need to play Halo Wars and C&C RA3 on PS3 two prime examples of an RTS working excellently on consoles.
@DeathsVice: Does it have english?
@AncientUnknown1: I agree. Kinda sucks when you are a level 40 spellcaster for only the last few hours of the game. But, like Thriceborn said, NwN has an awesome toolset that many people have utilized to allow you to keep playing good settings, many times using your current character.
@syafiqjabar: I think you told him exactly what he already knew and he was simply stating his disappointment in the fact that they did so.
I like how he says borrowing from Mass Effect when this conversation system was touted to be in Dragon Age before Mass Effect existed. It just happens Dragon Age has been in development way longer and has yet to be completed.
@Gray665: Simultaneously.
@Archaotic:
There is no substitute for mouse/keyboard, but this game should still be a blast on consoles.
The graphics will take a hit, and the interface won't be as robust or quick to use. However, a liberal use of the live pause function should make it easy enough to navigate your options without getting slaughtered in real time trying to navigate the interface.
I'm hoping it gives the game an almost turn-based feel to it. I was all about the live pause in Mass Effect to cue up biotic, etc. . .
I have good reason to hope that the console version will deliver a satisfying experience.
Guys...if you are dying to play a "mature, dark, RPG" right now I highly suggest importing the Asian version of Demon's Souls for PS3...AMAZING!
@AncientUnknown1:
Get the pc version then; if Neverwinter Nigths is any indication, there should should be a whole lot of community content in the future thanks to the Dragon Age toolset.
JustAnotherFan
@Madeira:
I'm still not convinced it IS playable, and I have no intent to waste my time trying to find out. I'm not playing an RTS without a mouse. It'll just piss me off.
Bioware has me wrapped around their finger, that's for sure. I'm loving the character design on that demon, and I salivate at the mention of ME2.
the real qustion is..will be lesbian sex in this game??!
@AncientUnknown1: Perhaps they have learned something thanks to their faillure with Mass Effect DLC. I would like to think they have good plans for DLC for DA: origins.
If I were them, I would also be checking out market reactions to Fallout 3 DLC, GTA IV DLC, and other RPG (Tales of vesperia, Lost Odyssey).
I think good DLC is where the profit margins are for companies these days. Cheap to develop, short development cycle, rapid customer feedback...
Don't forget that the game also comes with a module making program similar to Neverwinter Nights. I am spending more time with the free nwn modules now than on Fallout 3 :o
Thriceborn
@BattleBee: Yeah me to, but I am guessing I will be able to run it smoothly.
99-Luft-Balloons
@postretro: It looks even better on PC with max settings at 1920x1200 resolution ^_^
99-Luft-Balloons
Definitely picking this up for PC!
99-Luft-Balloons
Hmmm, if the 360 version holds up this seems like a definite purchase to me. Is the PC version releasing first or are PC, PS3 and 360 releasing simultaneously?
Gray665
My knickers are in a real twist over the anticipation for this game. My only hope is that this game sells gazillions of copies so that we continue to see nods to old school CRPG style games.
@Archaotic: Obviously RTSs and CRPGs is better suited for kb/m- but that doesn't mean that Dragon Age won't have good controls with the controller. You also were adamant that Halo Wars would be flat-out unplayable in McWhertor's preview where he gave the controls a thumbs up...
Here's the dilemma I'm in. I like MMO's because they get continual content updates that allows me to keep using my character to explore new content but I hate having to rely on other people to form a strong enough group capable of completing that content. On the other hand, I like the convenience of single-player RPGs because I can play them on my own schedule when I want and how I want without having to make any compromises for group/guild who wants to do things I'd rather not do at times I'd rather not do them. But I hate the finite limit of content in single-player RPGs where after sinking hours of investment into a character building up their level, stats, skills, and gear I hit the end of the road where I've completed every quest and beat every boss. I'm left with no other option than to abandon all of that investment as I move on to the next game.
I hope. I really, really hope Bioware gives plenty of post-release support for this title.
AncientUnknown1
@Madeira:
Yeah...after having played a good dozen and a half PC RTS games I can safely say there is no substitute for mouse/keyboard controls.
Same way that this game will likely control like shit unless BioWare is smart and lets people use a USB mouse and keyboard.
@Archaotic: The controls will be fine, just as they were for Halo Wars.
@Archaotic: It's more the fact that ps3/360pad-combinations are offputting to casual gamers. Note that casual gamers are probably not the target audience here.. (FINALLY) Same goes for UFC, they could have made it a simple facebutton styled game such as tekken or that EA cartoony boxing game, but ufc actually has a fairly complex control-scheme, and i personally, love them for it.
Plus the fact that keyboards and mouses function on ps3 :) (if implemented)
D-K, Came for the punch, stayed for the band-aid
@Shredator: They delayed the original launch so that it will launch together with the console version.
syafiqjabar
@JustAnotherFan: I hear you man. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a game.
BattleBee
Any word on the specs of the machine you were playing on, Brian? Or what the required specs might be on the thing when it goes gold?
Werrick
Thanks for the write up, you totally just got me even more excited!
Convo System: Yay!, Spell Interaction: Double Yay!
Even though it might cut down on the pretties, I think I'll spend most of my time with the isometric view... :)
Ranged360
First day buy for me. I've been waiting for this game for years. Five years since they announced, now?
Bio has been exploring space and the oriental for a long time so it's nice to see them going back to a more old school setting.
JustAnotherFan
I know it has conversation options that depend on race and background. I hope it also have options based on your stats, skills and even spells like in the Neverwinter Nights series or Fallout 3.
syafiqjabar
@postretro: The FUN part of the game that is.
postretro
@Shredator: Last I heard, the console versions are being released the same day as the PC version.
BattleBee
Mass Effect looked great on the 360, I expect to be more than happy with the look of this one. I just hope it's longer than 16 hours like Mass Effect is (I don't consider the Mako exploration to be part of the game)
postretro
Hm, so you only played the PC version, then? Next time, you guys have to figure out how the console version controls. I'm still not convinced that Baldur's Gate-style gameplay could work, or even be fun, on a console. It's like trying to play an RTS on a controller.
This is a PC buy for me. Shame they delayed it for the console version.
God I can't wait for this game. I wish I knew the system specs of the PC they had this demo running on.
BattleBee
Looking forward to it. Bioware don't disappoint.
Winterbringer
@Archaotic:
"I don't know and I don't want to find out" is exactly the recipe for ignorance...
Enjoy!
kNZA
@Shidori: Yes it does, in the Asian version, but not in the Japanese version.
I bought it, but it hasn't arrived yet. I CAN'T WAIT!
@AncientUnknown1: With the toolset, people will be able to mod the campaigns, and design their own campaigns, items, etc.
Frankly, Bioware won't have to release new content, the community will likely enough to trump Mass Effect's seven times over within a month of the toolset being released.
For sure it is a PC buy. Dragon Age has PC written all over it. Specially if we take into account the community support we have seen in Neverwinter Nights, for instance. It grantes a lot more replayability.
Caddelin
@kNZA:
Sorry, I'm not wasting 60 bucks when I know I'll be disappointed.
@DeathsVice: Gotta admit, Demon's Souls is an awesome game. But so is any Bioware game... He he.
@Krackatoa or...: Yeah, the PC version is the real winner here. The toolset will keep things trucking along content wise for the PC well into the future (that's if the game is as popular as Neverwinter Nights). I foresee the console versions being forgotten, when it comes to extra content.
@Archaotic: Remember, the PC version has a different UI and control scheme than the PS3 & 360, they have their own dumbed down control scheme to deal with game pad restrictions.
Definitely a PC only purchase, Bioware are very good at making stable games that run on a variety of settings. It's also advantageous to have the mod options and I guess the PC will be swamped with new expansions and high level user created content, if they manage to sway the Neverwinter Nights mod community over to Dragon Age!
@Gray665: Its a simultaneous release across all three platforms. That is why the PC version was delayed, so Bioware could co-ordinate their marketing campaign.