Like blood? No… I mean, do you REALLY like blood?

If you answered yes, and also have a fancy for dragons, fantasy, compelling story, in depth character evolution, complete voice acting, and a really really long story that I believe Bioware’s Edmonton office has created the perfect game for you.

Dragon Age: Origins developed by Bioware (the same fine folks who brought us Mass Effect) have taken the next evolutionary step in interactive story telling in both intensity, depth, and fantasy. Moving back to their Baulder’s Gate style roots and away from the sci-fi they recently gained fame for, Dragon Age: Origins has you starting out in one of six origin stories (as a noble human, peasant human, wood elf, city elf, noble dwarf, or casteless dwarf) but have you essentially fighting to save all races and creeds against the Archdemon and the Blight. However the story begins, it provides insight and a background to where you came from, how you became a Grey Warden (a group of soldiers whom can sense evil and are tasked with defeating the Blight) and sends you off on your merry adventure where you meet dozens of characters who with a little finesse can become invaluable allies in your battle (letting you control up to four characters at one time) or… with a little fast clicking can have you killing them on the spot (trust me, I’ve killed at least two potential allies so far).

He's right behind me... Isn't he?

The game is all about choices, much like other Bioware favourites, but for this one, they go deep in morality it goes beyond just deciding if you want to be greedy, evil, good, or psychotic. For example, a simple choice in the game is whether you want to call down a massively strong dragon to fight against you or just sneak by… easy enough. How about choosing a side between two equally capable and equally evil dwarfs to take the throne as dwarf king? How do you know you’re making the right choice, how will the story evolve if you make one decision over another? So far the hardest choice I made in Origins beyond deciding how to level up my characters was to kill a young innocent boy harbouring a demon inside him, or find a way to exorcise the demon and save the boy… unfortunately for the boy, I have been on a tight deadline to write this review… so he died. Speaking of tight deadlines, since getting my grubby little paws on this title I’ve pretty much done nothing but play, and with well over 24 hours under my belt, I still feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of this massive game, which touts over 80 hours of gameplay.

Aside from decision making, gameplay within Origins can be utilized in two different ways. Players have the option of setting a basic set of guidelines their AI companions can follow much like the Gambit system in Final Fantasy 12. As your characters get stronger, more rules can be set for them (such as if an ally has 50% less health, use health potion on them), while the player controls the main character from an over the shoulder view in a more action type manner. Alternatively, players can change the view to a top down approach (like Baulder’s Gate), pause the game at any time and assign actions to all characters, unpause and watch the mayhem. Combinations of spells as well as elements also provide a deeper sense of customization (throw grease on a bad guy, then cast a fire spell and see what happens).

Graphically, Dragon Age: Origins uses a new engine called Eclipse, and while I’m not sure exactly what it does better than other engines, I do know this… it makes Origins pretty. With plenty of characters on the screen at once, all doing god knows what in the form of attacks, spells, and other abilities, I was amazed that the detail and effects that would be shown on screen without a lick of slowdown. As well, I was intrigued by the blood system. There is A LOT of blood in this game, and often after a battle, that blood will be left on you and your party until either your wardog cleans it up, or after a good rest. The character and location designs are all extremely unique from the DarkSpawn, to demons, to the dragons themselves; they’re all just as varied and detailed as the forests, cities, and caverns you visit along the way. The only instance where I felt a little cheated was in the Dwarven city that looked a heck of a lot like the Dwarven city in World of Warcraft.

I think my favourite thing about Dragon Age: Origins has to be the voice acting. With tons of dialogue between characters, and multiple decisions about what to respond with I was amazed with the amount of voice acting to be found in this game. Aside from your main character (most of the time) every peice of dialogue in the game is voice acted. Consider for a moment how long this game is, over 80 hours long, and with very busy cities and many people to talk to, the amount of voice acting is at such a high number that I cannot even wager a guess to how much hours of speech are included in the game. Music, slicing, and grunts are all included and play well within the game, however I find that the musical change right before battle takes away from the surprise element of it.

Equal rights.

In terms of lasting appeal, while Origins has no multiplayer, the game itself is ridiculously long, and addictive! In a time where I have Borderlands, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 sitting on my shelf; I find myself playing this title more than all four of those combined. That being said even if you do complete the story and all side quests, Bioware has guaranteed over 2 years of post launch content. They even tout that they will be providing more post-launch content than all other Bioware titles combined.

So overall, do I think Dragon Age: Origins is worth it? You bet I do! Especially now with gaming sales coming every which way, chances are you may be able to find this title for $40 in the very near future.

Gameplay:      4.5/5

Graphics:        4.5/5

Sound:             5.0/5

Replay:            4.0/5

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The collectors set

The most anticipated scifi game will finally be released January 26 2010 in North America. As is the standard these days, a collectors edition has already been announced.
The Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition comes in a tin case, a beautiful 48 page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2″ book, Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with the making of videos.
Adding to the mix are going to be exclusive armor and weapons that cannot be purchased anywhere else.
This remarkable set will retail for $69.99 on the Xbox 360 and $59.99 for the PC.
If you ask me this is one sweet deal.

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Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins will give Thirty Seconds To Mars fans a sneak preview of the title song to their upcoming album ‘This Is War’.

The new album (which drops December 8th, 2009) also entitled, ‘This Is War’ will be the flagship song on the Dragon Age: Origins sound track.

After the break fans of both Origins and Thirty Seconds to mars can check out the trailer showcasing ‘This is War’ co-produced by leading front-man Jared Leto.

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Yes, that’s right folk. The wait to know when you can re-join Commander Shepard and his crew has finally been announced, and that date? January 26th in North America and January 29th in Europe.

But wait, that’s not all, with this announcement comes bonus goodies to those that pre-order the title. If pre-ordered in North America at GameStop you get a special code to download the Terminus Armor which is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields as well as augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of ammo. As well, those people who act early get the M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon which generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass.

Those who pre-order at other retailers in North America will get the Inferno Armor, which is used by officers to monitor the battlefield conditions by recognizing elevated heart rates, and regulates sub-systems with extreme efficiency to allow for greater response times. These bonuses will translate into greater negotiation skills for Shepard and increase run speed and augmented damage from combat powers.

“Our fans are in for a genuine thrill in the New Year with Mass Effect 2 – the
second installment in the trilogy will be of amazingly high quality,” said Dr. Ray
Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA.
“BioWare’s fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this epic sequel, and we
couldn’t be more excited to reward them for pre-ordering by delivering some awesome
bonus content!”

Drop with Commander Shepard this January!

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Yes, comics and video games are not strange bedfellows, but EA is taking the next step and releasing (through IDW Publishing) comics revolving around their popular Army of Two franchise, as well as the Bioware RPG inspired Dragon Age. These comics will be available for purchase as hard copy, as well as digital versions for the iPhone, iPod Touch and “other emerging digital platforms”.

Interesting, to be sure. But what is perhaps the coolest thing about this announcement is that Orson Scott Card, author of the eternally awesome Ender’s Game will be involved with the Dragon Age comic. Booyah!

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Looks like CAPTAIN Shepard is searching for new recruits, and if this video is any indication, he’s going to have quite the gang of space ass-kickers!

It seems from the video below that Mass Effect 2 brings into effect personalities of those involved in the battle beyond just the skills and techniques of those in Mass Effect 1. Case in point is the introduction of Grunt, a blood-hungry Krogan. He is violent, he is unpredictable and he has never been truely defeated in battle. He’s dangerous, and he’s on your side.

Enjoy the video after the break as more are expected in the future before Mass Effect 2‘s release.

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EA announced in October that it would be purchasing VG Holding Corp., owners of BioWare (Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic) and Pandemic studios (Star Wars Battlefront, Mercenaries), pending FTC approval. Today the $860 million deal was finalized as BioWare and Pandemic join the world’s third largest video game publisher.

According to a press release, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck of BioWare and Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick of Pandemic were given VP positions at EA as well as co-General Managers of their respective studios. Frank Gibeau, president of the EA game label, will oversee the studios within his organization.

The acquisition will give EA a major hold in the RPG and shooter markets as it now owns the rights to upcoming titles from Pandemic and BioWare such as Mercenaries 2, Saboteur and Dragon Age.

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