Dragon Age: Origins -
9.0 /
10
Dragon Age: Origins proves to be an addicting game that requires devotion and time to be played to its greatest extent. The game includes six origin stories, four game difficulties, countless possible storylines, downloadable content, an outstanding, enthralling and riveting adventure, and countless fantastic quests, all packed into a minimum 40 hours of game play. Fight dragons, corrupt animals, demons, golems, bandits, mages, assassins, baddies, and even do-gooders, countless enemies, as you fight your way through Ferelden as a Grey Warden, a legendary combatant that rarely mistakes when in contest with an enemy, recruiting elves, stone golems, dwarves, mages, Templars, and soldiers, to go to war against the notorious blight, and to help slay the wicked Archdemon, a devastating dragon which can only be slain be you, a Grey Warden. Dragon Age: Origins like it or not, is not for everyone though, many parts of the game requires skill above average, and can prove to be a difficult challenge to gamers of less experience, it is recommended to play on an easier difficulty like normal or casual, before attempting Hard or Nightmare (which proves merciless, over and over again…), if you are new to RPG’s or are not very experienced at gaming.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics live up to the Xbox 360 standards as well as the standards of an RPG in general, the graphics are bold, this game, yes, does include a lot of blood and gore, of which are standard. The blood and bits stand out and are graphic, though it reaches the expectations of what you would expect from a medieval war type game like Dragon Age: Origins. in inspection the graphics in Dragon Age: Origins are not anything special, but aren’t anything less than standard either, on occasions the graphics continued to impress, and although there were pixelated edges here and there, the expectations were reached in all aspects of the graphics and sometimes even better.
Graphics: 8.9/10
GAME PLAY:
In Dragon Age: Origins the gameplay is much greater than most would expect. It is an open world game with almost unlimited freedom, with countless possible ways to play the game. The game includes a system where your followers, of which you can recruit throughout the game from place to place and equip with your own weapons and armour, have an approval level, if you act an a way they approve of, they will approve of you more, if you act in a way that disagree or resent their disapproval level will go down. You can also give your followers gifts, to raise your follower’s approval, some gifts mean more to some followers than others and their approval level will increase more. Along with this there are romances that your character, can experience with certain followers, of the opposite gender or in one case same gender, if their approval is high enough. At the start of the game you can customize your characters appearance, voice, specialization (warrior, rogue, mage), race (Dwarf, Elf, Human, Dwarves cannot be mages, unfortunately), origin (for example if you were a dwarf you could be a noble dwarf, or a small town dwarf – this will affect how your origin story is told), and gender (male or female). Dragon Age: Origins is a level up system game, and when levelling up, you can add attributes, specializations (which you have to unlock), talents and skills, which vary from race, specialization and sometimes origin. Gameplay really being the most important part of an RPG Bioware really stepped it up the, gameplay in Dragon Age: Origins, was almost impeccable, and at times you seem entranced unable to look away from the fantastic adventure, unfolding before your eyes.
Gameplay: 9.7/10
Sound:
The sound in Dragon Age: Origins was almost perfect, except for one major thing. I noticed through the game on an occasion here and there when a character was speaking… NO WORDS WERE COMING OUT!!! They would speak, and if you didn’t have subtitles on, you would have no idea what they were saying… kind of ridiculous isn’t it, that they would release a game, with something that noticeable? But on the other hand the sound effects and voice acting was superb. The voices were stern and easy to understand, and the sound effects were on time, and sounded right. The SFX always seemed part of the scenes and game, and on occasions your followers would start a conversation of which it’s always interesting to stop and listen in.
Sound: 6.9/10
Presentation:
The way that Bioware studios presented Dragon Age: Origins, was quite obviously direct in what they wanted to present Dragon Age: Origins as a complete product, and it was a success. It was easy to tell that Bioware wanted their characters to be particularly unique in each of their own way making Dragon Age: Origins, an enjoyable RPG game, knowing that each character you meet will be just as interesting as the last. When playing this game you should keep in mind how you like to play the game, Bioware structured the game so it can be played how anyone wants to play it, and I think that is their major success when presenting Dragon Age: Origins as a completed piece.
Presentation: 9.9/10
Overall:
Overall, Dragon Age: Origins, was a successful product, although it was unique here and there it was unique in a positive way. The gameplay was fantastic and the presentation was even better. The sound was a letdown, but the completed product transcends satisfaction, and it was an experience that makes you want to get the next game.
Graphics: 8.9/10
Gameplay: 9.7/10
Sound: 6.9/10
Presentation: 9.9/10
OVERALL: 8.9/10
Review by: Bailey Ogilvie
(this is my first review, i hope to get some feedback so I can get better)
Dragon Age: Origins Review
9.0
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More Info on Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins Australian Release: Out Now