Bioware’s new epic, dark fantasy RPG has been receiving a lot of attention lately. The game’s marketing team has hit the internet hard and you would practically have to be blind to miss all the online ads for the game. This is a special case in which all the hype and pomp is very much deserved.
The game is truly epic in scale. The game lasts a solid 50 hours — a lot longer if you’re into side quests. The basic plot is simple. You are a Grey Warden, a member of an elite group that has one purpose: to defeat the Darkspawn (read: bad guys) who are amassing a powerful army in order to conquer Ferelden. This game is very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, which is a great thing. However, along the way you must make a series of choices that allows you to affect the final outcome of the story. For example, as you evolve through the plot, you can determine what type of army you want to amass against the Darkspawn during the final battle — armies you will be able to control at that.
As far as the main playable character goes, you get to customize your gender, race (human, elf, or dwarf), and specialization (warrior, rogue, mage). Each race and specialization comes with their own unique origin story so you can imagine the replay factor is huge and the origin story affects how the world will interact with your character. As you progress through the plot, party members will eventually join you in your quest. Each character has an approval rating dependant on your actions. If the approval rating is low, they will most likely leave your group. If high enough, you could possibly have a special relationship with them and by this, yes kids, I do mean sex. As a party member’s approval rating increases, specialization bonuses become unlocked and it’s relatively easy to win over approval by giving characters certain gifts. Not all gifts will generate a high approval rating so make sure you match an appropriate gift to each character.
You can control up to 4 party members at any one time. There are more than double that number of characters that could potentially join your party. Some characters will join your group no matter what: Alistair and Morrigan. Others require some special actions on your part in order to win their allegiance: Sten, Dog, and Zevran.
The combat system is different depending on whether you play the PC or one of the console versions (Xbox360, PS3). The game is more fluid on the PC but I played it on the PS3. There is a steep learning curve involved in learning the battle mechanics, however once mastered, it becomes second nature. There are three ways to battle: you can program tactics for each of your characters and let the AI take over, you can pause the battle action and toggle between each party member controlling their next attack, or you can fight in real-time. When encountering an elite or boss-ranked opponent, you’ll most likely want to use the second method. Trust me, pausing the battle action and rotating the camera at the height of the melee, never gets old. Ever. It’s also worth noting, you have 4 difficulty levels to choose from: casual, normal, hard, and nightmare.
The music and voice acting are both top-notch. The game developers used 144 unique voice actors in the game and includes such stars as Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager), Steve Valentine (Crossing Jordan) and Claudia Black (Stargate: SG1). There are also tons of in-game dialogue that add to the humor and lovability of some of your companions without taking away from the action.
As far as graphics go, they appear best on the PC from what I’ve seen. However, they are decent on the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well. Some of the more annoying issues I encountered were frame rate lagging, random pauses before or after dialogue scenes, and dialogue audio fading in and out on a couple occasions. These issues, while annoying, aren’t enough to impact the game’s overall experience.
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.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||