The lights are on
After yesterday's cover reveal and a few tantalizing details about Dragon Age II, fans of BioWare's epic RPG series probably have more questions than answers. The biggest mystery currently involves the new main character: Who is Hawke? You'll have to get a hold of our latest issue if you want all of the details, but we can clarify five basic facts about the central character in Dragon Age II. 1. Hawke will be a voiced character.Unlike Dragon Age: Origins, the player's character in Dragon Age II will be fully voiced. This opens the door for a more cinematic approach to dialogue and creates an identity for the character outside of the text you see on-screen. It also eliminates those awkward scenarios where you feel like your character should be reacting, but instead just stares blankly without so much as a grunt.2. Hawke is human.Yes, that means that you won't be able to select Hawke's race. However, just because that one aspect of Hawke's backstory is set doesn't mean BioWare is eliminating character creation. You can still choose your class and customize your appearance. When we visited BioWare's studio, we only saw (and heard) the male Hawke in action, but the team promises that players can select either gender for the character. 3. Hawke didn't just survive the blight...he escaped it.As the Grey Warden from Dragon Age: Origins was fighting darkspawn, Hawke was living in Lothering. Fans will remember that the small village was raided and destroyed (an event that occurred off-screen in Origins), and Hawke was one of the survivors. However, rather than stay and fight the darkspawn menace, Hawke flees Ferelden and heads north.4. Hawke is the Champion of Kirkwall. Kirkwall is a major population center in the Free Marches, a collection of city-states north of Ferelden. This means that at least some of the action in Dragon Age II will be set in Kirkwall itself, though Hawke will also spend time in other areas of the Free Marches. What exactly Hawke does to earn the honorary title of Champion, however, is up to you.5. Hawke drives the story.Dragon Age II is not about killing an ancient evil or about quelling another blight; Hawke is the driving force behind the narrative. Over the course of the game's 10-year timeline, players' actions and choices will determine Hawke's history, relationships, and regrets...all in service to answering the larger question: Who is the Champion of Kirkwall?Be sure to check out our Dragon Age II hub next week for even more features!
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So... Mass Dragon Age Effect II?
I am very disappointed about the first one. I like having voices, but Mass effect 2 did that, and it killed the ability for me to establish a personality, and as a result, I cared much more about my Dragon Age character than my Mass effect 2 character.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS GAME AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like Mass Effect but I was not happy with Dragon Age:Origins. I am subscribed to Game Informer and I was hoping for Batman Arkham Asylum 2 because Game Informer usually has cover stories about games that weren't really shown in E3 for their E3 issue. For example last year they ha Rage for their E3 2009 Cover Story and they had Batman Arkham Asylum for E3 2008. I'm pretty dissapointed. :( :(
Hey, anything like Mass Effect is a good thing. I just hope the combat is a wole lot better this time around. I love RPGs, but I just couldn't get into the first game. I'd actually like to see the game have a similar combat system to Mass Effect 2. Some battles in ME2 were crazy, just take that into a fantasy setting.
Maybe its just me, but I thought DA:O was a let down. Good game, but I didnt much care for the areas you were placed in, everything just felt like you were moved from a room to a room, even if it was from a castle to a field. Nothing felt open enough to me, but I'm more of a fan of Fallout 3 and Oblivion open world. If they open up they areas, making it seem like we have more to explore/find, Ill probably be picking this up as well, since that was my only real gripe with DA:O.
I like the fact that we will have a voice now, unlike in JRPG protagainists, WRPG ones have more life in them. And more often than not the voice acting is very well done(Shepard for example), compared to ohhh lets say Lightning or Rush (ewwww). Other than that, not much info yet on this other than the story revolves around Hawke(really? lol jk Joe, pullin your funny bone), hoping to get my issue sometime soon in the mail.
SWEET! i can't wait for this game.... i think i am going to go play some Dragon Age: Origins!
Yo. Just because some aspects of the storytelling and presentation are drawing from Mass Effect, I really don't think the combat is going to do the same and turn into a third-person shooter. ...circle-strafing around a huge dragon? I hope not...
i wonder if hawke will be able to become a grey warden or if there will be any people from the first one in it
I love that Hawke will be voiced. I am saying it now. If DA2 looks like Mass Effect I will be on board. Until the combat is revealed I am just labeling this as Dragon Effect. I can really see the influence ME had on Dragon Age. I just hope it is really good. I just want to see the combat and art style.
I'm glad they aren't making it identical to the first one. There's so much to do in Origins that you really don't need a second game just like it.
So ... I can be Lady Hawke? =D
Having him voiced sounds very cool but getting rid of the different races is very disapointing to me.I love mass effect bet dragon age isn't mass effect.they shouldn't try to make them so similar.I loved all the choices in dragon age and the origin stories.they got rid of what made it the most fun for me.they're not getting rid of the rpg elements are they?I liked dragon age the way it was and they changed it.I'm very disapointed in bioware right now.
As long as I can make Hawke a girl I'm sold, haha. Character customization is something I enjoy in games so if it is there, I'm there.
Ummm , ok , so then our " hero " is a doosh who ran for his life ? And there won't be any darkspawn ? No blight ? Sooo , how is this Dragon Age then ?
I find it so funny that Bioware has cultivated such a polar fanbase. Some LOVE Mass Effect and couldn't get into Dragon Age, and some people LOVE Dragon Age and thought Mass Effect wasn't engaging. I think it's pretty cool, since most developers are one trick ponies like Rockstar (no offense intended because it's a very good one-trick pony, lol), and Bioware has spread their resources well enough to cater to two different fanbases.
That said, I'm not really sure how to feel about Hawke being the set character. I enjoy playing Shepard in Mass Effect, and never really disconnect just because I have to be him, and Dragon Age plays fast and loose with the character in terms of story. Half the time I forget I'm playing an elf since nobody talks to me all that differently, except once every dozen conversations or so. On the other hand though, Dragon Age's story and sidequests are epic enough without a concrete main character, maybe this isn't really necessary. Either way, I have complete faith in Bioware to make this an excellent game =)
Sounds cool.