An Old Orc Fighting Game
Do not go with the hype that is Dragon Age Origins. The game is classic RPG, that's true. But we play games to give us that something extra special, like Bioshock, Mass Effect or Assassins Creed gives us… and something which truly has become a feature of Bioware. But not in this one. Not by a long mile. I shall try to avoid introducing any Dragon Age spoilers. I will draw comparisons with earlier Bioware games, other legendary games, and with other RPGs. I will also rate distinctive features.
Dragon Age's story is sort of pipelined, where u know whats gonna happen almost all the time. There is hardly any significant plot shifts, or things u point out as brilliant story writing. That does not however mean that the story telling is bad. Trust me, the story telling is as usual Bioware awesome. However, the plot does not even compare to earlier Bioware games like mass effect or KOTOR.
The gameplay is excellent. It is much improved from KOTOR, and much more action orientated with some stunning slow motion action scenes. You will usually fight something called dark spawn which is basically orcs from LOTR as one of the traditional classes of RPG games. Visually, the game is really good. The objects look and feel real. They really portray the dark side of the game in intricate detail.
The fights are not very challenging, it feels more like fighting a horde of zombies than one kick ass boss. Especially, the stupid thieves who crawl on the city by-streets messed my mood up. One good fight should be the brood mother (no spoilers but she is just kick ass unless u know what strategy to use against her). There is not enough variety in spells however, compare this to the awesome spell book of NWN. The potion/poison making is unnecessarily complicated, leading users to avoid it all together. [This comes from a mage point of view]. Sometimes, you when you start running you find enemies appear all of a sudden from nowhere. No not an ambush, we just could not well "see" them earlier. Not in the map either.
My final impressions were not too overwhelming. I expected a lot from the build up and bioware, this is not even close to it. The key feature missing is a global plan as the story proceeds. I like twists and turns in games, and Origins provide none. Remember when u realized u were originally an accomplice of the dark jedi in KOTOR. Remember when Shepherd discovers that the protheans were actually wiped out by the reapers ( Lol.. spoilers of other games). Those are moments that take ur breath away.
However, if you just want to play a nice RPG hack slash, go for it.
Story: 6/10
Action: 8/10
Visuals: 9/10
Voice: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10 (certainly not 9.5 !!)