Dragon Age: Origins Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on December 5th, 2009

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Whatever the game may lack in visual splendor it makes up for with a deep story and pure awesome fun. You'll spend close to sixty hours in this realm on your first time through, if you're like me and can't leave a stone unturned, but that still won't be enough. You'll keep coming back for more, and with the promise of downloadable content you'll be picking up your sword or staff once again soon enough. This is the kind of game that will keep you enraptured from start to finish, playing through the wee hours of the morning or standing around work saying (Man, all I can think about is Dragon Age.)

My first play through lasted 47 hours and I barely completed any side quests. However, not long after I was done I was itching to get back into the world of Ferelden and started my second play through. It's just as addicting as the first time I played it and can even foresee myself playing it a couple more times. Crazy, I know! You really do get your money's worth it with DA:O. Despite some technical nuances, this game really delivers an amazing experience. If you're a fan of RPGs, you should run out and buy this title. Um, like, right now. It will be the only game you need for the next couple months and I'm serious when I say that. Yes, it's that good.

Put simply, Dragon Age is just a very well made, engrossing, entertaining and thought provoking game. It tells a thrilling story and tells it well, you'll care about the characters, want to read every piece of info you come across and hunt down every last bit of treasure. There are more quests on offer than you'll ever get round to completing and replays often offer a very different experience. If it's good value you want for your forty pounds, then look no further than Dragon Age because given a chance, it'll gobble up your life for sure.

Dragon Age: Origins has sucked me in more than most other games this year. I find myself thinking about the game when not playing it, imagining other scenarios and different ways that situations could play out. The wonderful thing is that Bioware has designed a universe that is ripe with potential for sequels, prequels, spin-offs and expansions. Despite some technical flaws with the console versions, Dragon Age is a fantastic new IP that I can't wait to explore further. Whether you're a fan of classic PC RPG's in this vein or just a fan of getting lost in a fantastic story, you owe it to yourself to play this game.

It's not an abominable game at all, and people who lick up David Eddings-class fantasy will probably love it despite its faults. But if you enjoyed Mass Effect and were thinking of trying on some elf stuff for a while... rather wait on Mass Effect 2.

So overall, do I think Dragon Age: Origins is worth it? You bet I do! Especially now with gaming sales coming every which way, chances are you may be able to find this title for $40 in the very near future.

If it's obvious that I genuinely adore this game, it's intentional. There's such a wealth of quality gameplay to be found here that it's like stumbling onto a dragon's horde incidentally, in keeping with the name there are lots of dragons in it and it's hard to fault the evident care, attention and effort that has been lavished upon this title throughout every step of the development process no mean feat for a house also currently working on one of the most anticipated sequels of the current generation. In fact, some may have even forgiven Bioware for cutting corners with Dragon Age: Origins to work more single-mindedly on ME2, but it simply isn't the case. This is an absolutely fantastic game, easily the best fantasy RPG on the Xbox 360 yes even better than a certain Bethesda-produced game featuring Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean and while it's not open-ended or sandbox in terms of its world and story, it instead allows the player to carve their own path through the universe, structuring the narrative in any way they see fit. With an estimated 40 60 hours for a relaxed, fairly expansive playthrough, and the choices of origin, class and race to ensure at the very least two to four replays, Dragon Age: Origins may well be one of the most addictive, satisfying and life-swallowing RPGs that you can play offline. Absolutely immense.

So overall an excellent game from Bioware once again, remember though this is the PC version and is by far the best version of the game out there, the Xbox and PS3 versions have some control issues that would mark them down slightly, even though the basic gameplay is identical in each version. I've had loads of fun with Dragon Age: Origins and any fan of Bioware's previous RPG's will really enjoy this one, roll on Mass Effect 2!

While the Xbox 360 performed better overall, the Playstation 3 version had faster loading times and sharper visuals due to its filtering method. Based on our score system the PlayStation 3 wins this Head2Head. In the end it will be up to the consumer, is sacrificing frame rate worth the slight visual boost and faster load times? Either way, whatever console origin you take, Dragon Age: Origins will be an epic adventure that will keep you hunting Darkspawn for days on end.

It is a step in the right direction, Bioware looks like they will be supporting Dragon Age for a while with DLC. There are already two pieces of DLC with another one coming in the next month. The Warden's Keep may be small and short but it's a nice little addition that adds more to the Dragon Age world and there is nothing really wrong with it, it's just short and more of the same. The extra background and story is nice and you do get some decent perks for beating it. If you're into Dragon Age then you'll enjoy this, if not, skip it.

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