Dragon Age: Inquisition Preview
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In this first look at BioWare's next-gen RPG, we choose to leave both the wounded soldiers and the village behind, much to the consternation of our party members. It's a pragmatic decision, motivated by a desire to defend the keep and maintain control of the region, but as we crest a hillside and see Templars razing Crestwood to the ground, you could hardly call it the right one.
We can't stop to aid Crestwood because we're in a hurry: Inquisition's maps are sprawling and expansive, thanks to DICE's Frostbite engine, and the (medium-sized) area we're currently viewing takes at least 15 minutes to cross on foot. Along the way we see another advantage of using Frostbite: destructibility. We spy some of the longboats the Templars have been using to cut short their journey to the keep and, with the aid of a few firebombs, torch the lot.
Fantasy worlds can often feel like static, sterile (if gaudily themed) arenas for numbers-based contact, so this physicality is intriguing, and should dovetail effectively with the tactical view, which gives players time to properly scrutinise the battlefield.
At one point a battle is swiftly ended when the player orders a party member to send a jolt of icy magic into the foundations of the rickety structure some archers are perched on.
