Is this the perfect game....No but its still fun.
After year of service for one of the two groups, an opportunity of prosperity presents itself: The dwarf brothers Bartrand and Varric are planning a treasure hunt expedition into the perilous region of The Deep Roads. The expedition is expected to be extremely risky but very rewarding. Although Bartrand is stubbornly unwilling to take any partners, Varric acknowledges the fact that they lack enough funding, experienced combat personnel and the knowledge of the region. Therefore, he approaches Hawke and proposes a partnership in exchange for the fulfillment of the three requirements. As such, Hawke embarks on an adventurous quest to earn the needed capital and enlist the aid of Anders, a rogue mage and a former Grey Warden who possesses the precious knowledge about The Deep Roads.
The Deep Roads expedition proves both a financial success and a tragedy...
Now i am going to leave the story there for people who have not yet played the game and i am going to take a little look at the gamplay of Dragon Age II. The player starts the game by creating a character whose family name is Hawke. The player decides the given name, gender, appearance and combat specialty role of Hawke. Hawke can be either a warrior who wields sword, axe, mace and shield, a rogue who wields dagger or bow and arrow or a mage who wields a magical staff and uses magic. The player is not only in control of Hawke. From the very start of the game, the player gains access to several companions who accompany Hawke in and out of the battle. The player may choose up to three companions to bring along. Hawke's companion characters are Bethany, Carver, Aveline, Varric, Fenris, Merrill, Isabela and Anders. The Exiled Prince expansion pack adds Sebastian Vael. These characters have their own dedicated background and plot.
In a battle, the player can switch between party members and order each member individually. The player may pause the game in order to better manage what each party member does, allowing the player to coordinate the characters to maximize combat efficiency. For instance, the player may have the party's mage freeze an enemy while a party warrior shatters the frozen enemy to pieces. After a battle, the player may loot the enemy for money and equipment. The spoils of war may be used to better outfit the party members. Battle also yields experience which can be used to unlock new combat abilities for each character. Like with most RPGs in Dragon Age II its not all about the fighting there is talking to do as well.
One of the concerns of the player is Hawke's affinity with the rest of his companions. Each companion has a graphical approval bar which indicates how that person likes Hawke. Almost everything that Hawke says or does has the potential to change a character's opinion of Hawke. This bar works in two opposite directions: Friendship and rivalry. A companion with high friendship considers Hawke a friend, while high rivalry indicates the companion respects Hawke but disagrees with the PC's views. Therefore, the player must carefully choose which character to bring along in each quest. Once the approval bar reaches 100% friendship or rivalry, it is locked in place, and additional dialogues are unlocked. Full friendship or full rivalry both have combat bonuses: Friendship bonuses generally benefit Hawke or the whole party, while rivalry bonuses boost the companion's ability in combat, because of the competition to outdo Hawke. Full friendship or full rivalry also enable opportunities for romance. The characters with full friendship accompany Hawke into the final battle unconditionally, even if they consider Hawke's decision a mistake.
Dragon Age II came out on march 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X.
The System requirements are:
Minimum:
Operating system:
Windows XP 32-bit with SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2, Windows 7 64-bit.
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater, AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater.
Memory:
1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7).
Hard drive space:
7 GB of free space.
Graphics hardware:
Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB, Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards.
Sound hardware:
Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows.
Recommended:
Operating system:
Windows XP 32-bit with SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2, Windows 7 64-bit.
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent, AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent.
Memory:
2 GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7).
Hard drive space:
7 GB of free space.
Graphics hardware:
ATI 3850 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - ATI 5850 or greater), Nvidia 8800GTS 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - Nvidia 460 or greater).
Sound hardware:
Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows.
Is Dragon Age II a flawed game...to be honest yes it is. But then again that does not mean it is not a fun game. Is it differant from the first game..well yes and no because it is set around about the same time as the first and events from time to time...Do mix. But realy if you have played the first one you realy should give this one a go.