Monday, September 8, 2008

Beyond PAX: EA’s, Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins

gamertell penny arcade 2008 bioware dragon age origins boothI believe that I promised a follow-up about Dragon Age: Origins, a soon-to-be released game from EA and Bioware. I briefly mentioned in another article that the Bioware booth was devoted to Dragon Age: Origins, and it was completely enclosed. PAX attendees had to wait in line to enter into a miniature movie theater that was designed to look like a medieval dungeon, only with a large LCD screen.

Much of what I saw on the on-screen demo was a chance to see how the game is played. This RPG has a lot of choices that a player can take, and many of these choices are dependent on what character class you are.

For example, if you approach a blacksmith as an elf, you will be treated a lot differently than the other classes. By the way, I found out that Elves are second-class citizens in the world of Dragon Age: Origins, unlike the revered race that you see in Lord of the Rings.

The storyline of Dragon Age: Origins is one of the biggest Bioware has undertaken since Baldur’s Gate II, and many professional writers were brought in for the back story.

As for the fighting, it appears that players can fight in a party that is entirely under their control, and can switch to different characters in combat. Expect an M rating on this game, as the blood flies like waves on the ocean. Some of the killing blows are done in an interesting, slow-motion “bloody bullet-time”.

In a recent Press Release, Bioware revealed some exciting new features from the Toolkit of Dragon Age: Origins. It gives the user the opportunity to create their own adventures, quests, characters, scripting, adventures, conversations and even cut scenes.

The game is scheduled to be released Spring 2009 and, so far, I’ve only heard it being available for the PC.

Site [Dragon Age: Origins] Read [Gamertell] Also Read [Gamertell]

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