Dragon Age Is A Different Beast On Consoles

Joe Juba — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

This is the strangest case of video game déjà vu I’ve ever experienced. After playing through the PC version of Dragon Age last month, I know these characters, I’ve seen these locations, and I’ve done these quests. In terms of content, everything in the console versions of BioWare’s epic fantasy RPG is practically identical to the PC release. On the other hand, the gameplay drastically changes the contours of the combat, creating a new landscape littered with familiar landmarks. By no means is it the same game, but it remains a great adventure.

When it isn’t being measured against the successes of its PC counterpart, this iteration of Dragon Age stands on its own as a mix of real-time battles and tactical combat. Instead of executing strategies using the classic pause-and-play approach (a hallmark of the Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights series), you spend most of your time in the trenches activating abilities and firing off spells in rapid succession. Pausing to issue commands is still available, but fights seem tailored to be action-oriented and less about considering your options – especially since the lack of an isometric view means that you rarely have a solid awareness of the whole battlefield.

Powers are mapped to the face buttons, which works particularly well for characters with a modest selection of skills, like fighters and rogues. You’ll wade into a group of enemies, use your powers, then attack normally until your cooldowns are ready to go again. If you plan on playing as a mage or carefully managing your ally mages, you should expect to pause combat regularly in order to select the most appropriate spell from the clunky menu system.

Battles have a more freewheeling style thanks to the shift away from pause-and-play, so you’ll want to be confident that your party members aren’t doing something stupid where you can’t see them. Constantly juggling control among your various allies throws a wrench in the otherwise smooth flow of combat, so I’d recommend spending lots of time with your AI scripting so your pals can fend for themselves. As an unexpected benefit, I felt more of a connection to my created characters since I spent more time controlling them directly rather than managing my party as a whole.

In streamlining combat for consoles, developers BioWare and Edge of Reality also dialed back the punishing difficulty. Fights that I won by the skin of my teeth in the PC version were a breeze this time around, largely because friendly fire is disabled on the normal difficulty setting. You can spew gouts of flame and conjure lightning storms with relative impunity, which removes all of the risk from casting high-level spells. I thought this was lame at first, but it isn’t without charm; I got lots of laughs using attacks and strategies that wouldn’t be viable if my allies were in harm’s way.

Tossing a fireball into a crowded melee is entertaining, but it represents the biggest problem with this incarnation of Dragon Age. The action-focused, low-pressure encounters are fun, but they rarely force you to truly test your skills. Though you’ll mow down hundreds of darkspawn and thugs, you’ll rarely feel the satisfaction that comes with a hard-won victory. Even the spoils of battle are a pain, since cramped inventory is a pervasive problem, and the only way to truly solve it is to shell out seven dollars for the Warden’s Keep DLC, adding a sorely needed storage chest for your excess items. This feature is a genre standard that should have been in the core package, and holding it back to make players buy it on launch day is pathetic.

Despite differences in the mechanics, the land of Ferelden is just as vast and intricate in the console versions of Dragon Age. The involved history behind the characters and organizations lends the world surprising depth, though technical hiccups (like an uneven framerate and occasional glitches) and an awkward interface can hamper your enjoyment of the content. Your dialogue and interaction options eschew the traditional good-versus-evil dynamic, instead embracing a more ambiguous view of morality. The story and its multiple branches will grab your attention, and the combat – while different in style – delivers plenty of thrills. I prefer the PC iteration, but it’s still good on PS3 and 360, and way better than not playing Dragon Age at all.

BioWare`s Old School RPG Is Off To A Good Start

Jeff Marchiafava — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:49:00 GMT

BioWare has been good to RPG fans over the years, with games like Mass Effect and Jade Empire. But for players that prefer elves and orcs to aliens and kung fu, it’s been a long wait for a more traditional, D&D-style adventure. With Dragon Age’s release just a few months away, the wait is almost over. After some more hands-on time with the PC version, it seems all of BioWare’s hard work is ready to pay off.

The most impressive aspect of Dragon Age thus far is BioWare’s continually refined storytelling abilities. Usually, the more narrative freedom a game offers players, the more diluted that story becomes, with generic cutscenes and a series of isolated plot points. Dragon Age seems like a prime candidate for such a problem, with its six different introductions to the game via the Origin stories and the continued effects that your race and class choices have on your interactions with NPCs – not to mention the innumerable decisions you make throughout the game. But in our time with Dragon Age, something strange happened; BioWare somehow kept the plot potent, the characters unique, and cutscenes cinematic – all to a level usually reserved for highly linear games. We’ve yet to see everything Dragon Age has to offer, but ultimately the game’s biggest success might be the balance between telling you a story and letting you meaningfully affect that story with the choices you make.

Which is not to say that the gameplay disappoints; although combat seems deceptively simple at first, the complexity multiplies as you unlock new talents (moves) and acquire items. Battle Tactics add another layer to the strategy, allowing you to select basic behavior patterns for party members or script your own individual actions. This helps take advantage of spell combos, and allows for you to tweak your approach for specific skirmishes.

Trust us, it all comes in handy; some of the enemies you face are as cunning as they are dastardly, employing traps, ambushes, and powerful spells. The game successfully endows a real sense of survival. The first few missions we played outside of the main camp not only left our party (and gaming ego) mortally wounded, but imparted a sense of urgency to get back to safety so they could rest and recover – and to give us a break from the tense and tactically heavy battles. While the combat can feel overwhelming at times, health and stamina quickly regenerate after battles, and a forgiving autosave staves off any feeling of frustration. So far Dragon Age has just been *** fun. Check out our timeline on the right, and prepare yourself; the adventure starts November 3rd.

Dragon Age: An Introduction
Your time in the first hours of Dragon Age depends entirely on the character you choose. Here’s what happened in our first few hours of play:

Hour 1: We make our character, a warrior with the human nobleman origin. It isn’t an easy choice; each race has a unique place in Dragon Age that affects your experience long after your Origin story plays out. Some tweaks to the standard set of facial features left us with decently distinguished character, rather than the abominations customization sliders usually result in. After wading through the plethora of skills and talents available, we take our first steps in the world of Dragon Age around our father’s castle.

Hour 2: We acquire our first party member, a Mabari hound who was terrorizing our long-time nanny in the pantry. We name the dog Barf, and fight our first fight against – what else – a pack of giant rats. When mom asks how it went, we can’t help but select, “Nan’s head exploded and my hound ate the kitchen staff.” Fans of the jerk dialogue option won’t be disappointed with Dragon Age.

Hour 3: All hell breaks loose as enemies storm the castle. The cinematics and voice acting are top notch, but the voiceless main character is distracting. Combat requires thoughtful consideration; we set Barf’s behavior to “Aggressive,” and teach him to attack enemies knocked down with our “Shield Bash” move. The combination works well. Our Origin story is complete – time for revenge!

Hour 4: Duncan – a Grey Warden we met earlier – introduces us to his apprentice, Alistair, and King Cailan. All of the characters seem complex; it’s hard to tell who’s good or bad, and how much is affected by our character. We’re given a mission in preparation for our induction into the Grey Wardens, which requires a journey into the Korcari Wilds.

Hour 5: We face our first formidable foe. A Hurlock Emissary leads us into a group of bear traps outside his camp, and we are slaughtered in the ensuing ambush. A change in approach – using our bows to pin down and pick off foes from a distance – ultimately leads to victory. Fallen warriors are revived after battles, but suffer persistent injuries that penalize stats. By the end of the mission one member is deafened, one has a cracked skull, and another has head trauma.

Hour 6: We meet Morrigan – holy cleavage! After becoming a member of the Grey Wardens, we battle more Dark Spawn. We have to change Barf’s “Aggressive” behavior; he was charging into battle like Leeroy Jenkins, and got the party killed more than once. We defeat my first Genlock Emissary, an enemy skilled in magic. Alistair finishes him with a special death blow, slicing his head clean off. We continue on, knowing these are just the first steps of our journey.

Dragon Age Origins - Xbox 360

Dragon Age Is A Different Beast On Consoles

BioWare`s Old School RPG Is Off To A Good Start