TheGameReviews recently received the opportunity to visit Bioware’s Edmonton Studio. For the sake of full disclosure, we have opted to let our readers know that we were flown up there on behalf of Bioware and did not pay our airfare, hotel, or food. We feel that this has in no way compromised our judgment about Dragon Age: Origins and will be presenting what we hope will be a fair, unbiased, and informative look into the game. Check back throughout the week for an in-depth look into Dragon Age: Origins.
Don’t let the marketing behind Dragon Age: Origins fool you. Yes the game is a dark, mature fantasy; however, it’s not all violence, sex, and blood. Those elements may be what you first notice, but the game boils down to one word: roots. With Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware has returned to the past and embraced their own origins (Ed note: ouch). They have built a clear foundation from which to move forward, and turn Dragon Age into a marketable franchise. Players will embrace their character’s own (say it with me now) origins, as they each develop their own roots, and from there, like a tree, the game will branch out; each experience different from the next.
With Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware has made a clear and calculated choice to travel back to their roots in hopes that the gameplay of old still holds water. In a cyclical industry such as gaming, this should be no such surprise. Turn back the calendar a decade or so, and three of the most important computer RPG’s were Fallout, Diablo and Baldur’s Gate. Replace Baldur’s Gate with its spiritual successor, Dragon Age: Origins, and you’ve described many RPG fans’ current obsession and wish list: Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origins, and Diablo 3. Gamers are growing up, but that doesn’t mean that the core gameplay of their youth should be left out in the cold.
As with traditional Bioware games, such as Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age: Origins bases its combat around Dungeons and Dragons’ style die rolling. As with such games, character progression and development plays a large role in the game. Players click a command and that command is then preformed on screen. The effectiveness of this is largely based upon the character’s statistical data. During combat, players can pause the action and switch between any party member, adding strategy and planning to the mix.
For many of you, this will sound largely familiar. This makes sense, as Creative Director Mike Laidlaw, made it clear they saw no need to reinvent the wheel. According to Laidlaw, “The key is that we’ve modernized [the game] and that we’ve shaved off a lot the rougher bits and made the combat more real-time.” From my experiences with the game, it looks as if the team has accomplished their goal. Combat is very fluid. While some battles can be rushed into, others rely on taking a more tactical approach. Perhaps, the mage should drop back and use a spell to create an earthquake dropping all the oncoming foes to their knees. Or maybe the tank will need to draw oncoming fire while the rest focus on ranged attacks.
These are just simple tactics that can easily be controlled by the player. In order to develop more complex strategies, Bioware has built in an entire tactical interface. Not only can players select an attitude or stance- such as defensive, ranged, aggressive, etc.- but players can create a unique and highly specific list of guidelines for how each character will act in response to the situations around them. For example, you can set your mage up to automatically heal your tank should his health reach below 50%. This allows players to stay in the action, as they can create a battle plan that the computer will enact for them.
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