Genre: Fantasy RPG

Content Rating: Mature (Blood, Violence, Sexual Displays)

Platforms: PC, PS3, XBox 360

Bioware has made yet another smash hit with Dragon Age: Origins. Three words Sex, Violence, and Action could be said to define this game. The game features great graphics along with an in depth and often funny dialog. The lore behind Dragon Age: Origins is interesting to say the least, while following a similar theme to other games. Dragon Age has an original and fresh background in its lore. The characters in the game contribute greatly to the storyline and are worth getting to know.

The characters are diverse in personality and have interesting backgrounds that are slowly revealed as you earn their approval. Approval of companions rises by giving gifts, dialog, and personal quests done for each companion. Approval can also decrease, which will prove to have negative consequences. Each class and race starts out differently until a certain point, and each class and race is treated differently by the NPC’s and your companions. A great example being Elves who are often slaves in the world of Dragon Age.

There are also several endings to this game. The choices you make throughout the game will affect how the storyline progresses and how it ends. While the occasional dragon does present itself to be slain, you will spend most of your time killing human bandits, demons, dark spawn, and other varying monsters throughout your explorations.  The game also involves a LOT of talking to characters and NPC’s this will most likely be the biggest time consumer if you like to talk to everyone, which you don’t have to.

The game follows a similar leveling scheme to World of Warcraft, but keeps things fresh with varying spells and talents. However, you must choose wisely. You will not be able to respec once the level is finalized.  Certain levels of skill and attributes are needed to unlock spells or talents.  Each base class Mage, Warrior, and Rouge can have up to two sub specializations. The character you create can choose up to two, while the companions you aqquire will have one specilization already picked. The game also offers specializations in skills such as crafting or combat training, which will support a certain abilities to aid your adventures.

DAO quests range from the seemly mundane to the 4 hour dungeon exploration. The game allows a player to choose what morals if any you would like to follow in your quest to defeat the dark spawn. You are not always rewarded for being the good guy in this game. Often, you receive no reward for helping a fellow and gain bigger rewards from just chopping their head off.

DAO also offers for PC user’s custom mod development kit available for download from the DAO website. You can make your own mods and share them with others. The mods can be equipment, new characters, or whole different dungeons made by a fan. You can also download mods to change the storyline completely if you wish. Bioware also expects to release DLC for Dragon Age over the next two years. Latest news suggest the next piece of DLC will be the Return to Ostagar, which was slated for Jan 5th release, but has been pushed back to late January earliest. Dragon Age has an expansion also due for release in march titled Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. Pre-order is now available here.

However, everything isn’t roses about this game. Some content shipped with the game new cannot be accessed in a used version of the game unless you pay an extra fee to download the content. While not essential to the main story line, I would recommend this content for an extra playable character, storage chest, and extra areas for exploration, which will explain the lore behind dragon age further. Overall I give Dragon Age: Origins 8 out of 10. One point knocked for the DLC right out of the box, which was just a way to make more money.

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