One of the most well known RPG maker on the face of the planet, the company Bioware Corp. has released Dragon Age: Origin on the 3rd November 2009. They claimed that this massive fantasy RPG is the sipritual successor of the legendary Baldur's Gate series that was released a decade ago. However, does Dragon Age: Origin live up to its standard? Let's find out:
Concept: (4/5)
Bioware has made many awesome RPG games in the past, from games like: Baldur's Gate, Icewindale, Knight of the old republic 1, Neverwinter night 1, to the recent hit Mass Effect. Some die hard RPG fans would claim that if you have never played or finished Baldur's Gate, then you are not a hardcore RPG gamer at all. The concept of DOA is very similar to Baldur's Gate and Icewindale, both are set in the fantasy world with orcs, elves, human, dwarves.etc.. However, DOA is not set in the Forgotten Realm as Baldur's Gate does, and is set in a different world of its own. The concept, although good, is nothing new. However, DOA does have a very in depth character creation, where you can customise everything. THe character class choice is very simple, only 3 major classes, but each class has three different specializations that you can unlock in the game. YOu can also choose three races: human, elves, and dwarves. Each of the races has different "origin" story, and the origin story are all different from each other, which provides a very interesting start. This is an RPG game, and the developer Bioware really made sure that you are actually doing "role playing", because everything you do, from the beginning to the end are all based on yoru choices, the story and the fate of the world will change according to your choice.
Story: (4/5)
The story of DOA seems pretty straight forward in the beginning, after you finish your "origin" chapter, you become a grey warden, which is an organization of protectors that helps to get rid of the "dark spawns" (equivalent to the orcs). You mission is to destroy the mastermind controllng the dark spawns, which happens to be a massive evil dragon. However, as the story unfolds you will realise there is more than meets the eye. Each of the person who joins your quest to save the world all have their own individual personality and background, and they even comes with their own personal quest. By the end of the game, you will feel like you know these people. However, there are still plenty elements that seems all to familiar, but the story is epic and is actually pretty good.
Gameplay: (5/5)
The gameplay is when the game really shines! DOA goes back to the old school RPG style. You controll a party that varies from fighters, wizards or rogues. You can select different people in your party as you venturing from location to locations, and the game play on PC focuses on the ability to play the "over the shoulder view" or the old school D&D style isometric view. Spellcasting is based on how much magic you have, and recasting of spells require a certain cooldown time. As for melee characters, as you level up you can learn different fighting feats that will enhance your combat abilities. Sometimes upon delivering the killing blow, a short combat animation shows up and it is really cool to watch that. Bioware weren't kidding when they said this is a spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate, because not only do the gameplay is very similar to BG, but the difficulty as well, is very hard. If you are new to pen and paper style RPG games, prepared to be overwhelmed!
Graphics: (4/5)
The graphics of DOA is not bad, but not very good either. Comparing to games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, DOA graphics does not particularly stand out. However, the armors and the swords are still shiny, and that's all it matters really.
Sound and music: (5/5)
Bioware has carried on its tradition of awesome sound effect and epic soundtrack in fantasy RPG games. The sound effect is great, the voice acting is top notch. THe soundtrack is composed by the legendary composer Ian Zur, and sounds exactly the way it has to be for an epic game of this calibur.
Otherthings:
Well, to be honest, I didn't really see anything that's worth noticing in terms of Christian belief. However, a word of caution: one should be aware that in the game, you can choose to "romance" with your party members and eventually have sex with them. There are also options of homosexual relationships. I speculate that some Christians might find this extremely offensive. However, personally this doesn't really offend me, because in the game you can choose to do it, or choose not to do it, just like in real life you can choose to have pre-marital sex or waiting till you are married. So I think you will be fine as you make the right choice in the game. One thing worth mentioning is that, without spoiling too much, at the end of the game, you can choose to either: glorify yourself so you can receive power, or sacrifice yourself totally to end the dark spawn chaos. It's all up to your choices, and like I said before in the game the devleoper really made sure that all your choices will have consequences.
Final verdict: (4.5/5)
I rate this game highly, because it is one of most epic RPG game I've played since Baldur's Gate series. I really like the "choose and see the consequences" theme, the gameplay and combating system is solid and requires plenty of strategic planning, with an epic storyline what more do you want? However, if you do decide to pick this up, just remember don't become addicted to this.
Happy gaming!
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