As with any good RPG you start with yourself, ultimately the character you create reflects your own play style, be it an Elf, Dwarf or Human and in that you have a sub category of a mage, warrior or rouge, everyone is accounted for. Each character has their own strengths like dual wield weapons and ranged attacks plus their own ranking powers. You are also able to decide on what sex your character is and also make some general cosmetic changes before setting off on your epic quest.

 

 

Dragon Age Origins story begins with a fractured intro level, depending on the character chosen you learn a little back history about them and the world that surrounds them. The plot is that four centuries ago, man attempted to seek the heavens, a group of mages entered heaven but unleashed a great evil, banished back to land where they were cursed by the Dark spawn and a great war erupted. Only a newly formed group called the Grey Wardens managed to hold off this evil. Since then though there are now only a handful of Grey Wardens left and they fear a new threat is rising.

 

Any good RPG is steeped in story and Dragon Age Origins is no different. Though your character appears to communicate telepathically everyone else has loads of speech. During conversations you are able to select an enquiry, sometimes it will offer information like local history whilst at other times it can offer side quests. You need to be prepared for an awful lot of talking as everyone has something to say and whilst it can get annoying as you want the story to progress it really does open up the mythology and lore of the world you inhabit. The voice acting is top notch with a large range of voices offering hours of tales and the occasional light laugh.

 

As I am mainly a console gamer I found the controls very hard at first. The action is not what I am used to, rather than running up to an enemy and slashing away with button bashing you use the A button which carries out all action and fighting when necessary, just point and press and your character will run into battle. The game is based on D&D dice rolling so expect a lot of missed attacks, something that I am not used to on console games. The other face buttons can be customised to bring up secondary powers and items like quick heal plus with the RT you can bring up a second tier. The menus are handled really well with the LT pausing the action and bringing up a menu dial, from here you can go to your inventory, alter your secondary abilities, change weapons and manage your squad’s tactics.

 

The amount of customization and character progression is staggering, with each ranking up you can alter numerous stats and abilities giving you for example longer range on attacks or special moves like the naughty but fun kick in the family jewels.

 

As the game progresses you gain more team members who can be used to compliment your skills. You are able to switch between characters with the bumper buttons, altering their attack patterns, topping up their health or just to run around as a different character for a while. Both you and the team share the same inventory, making it easy to switch weapons and also upgrade abilities as you level up.

 

Maybe I have been spoilt in other games but there are a few troubling issues with the game that held me back from enjoying it fully. The comparison when checking out new weapons and items feels cumbersome, rather than flicking though a list you have to look at each one individually. The wealth of menus is also mind numbing with so many button presses to navigate, each trigger and bumper changes one thing or another. I am sure this is something most RPG fans will love but I am really a console gamer so would like it a little simpler and easier to navigate.

 

The game also lacks a more in-depth tutorial, it holds your hand a little at the start but when it came to controlling a team it seemed to assume I had played a game like this before, sadly I would end up losing a player just through bad management. In the end I just flipped between characters healing them and whittling down the larger bosses. Not the ideal way but it worked. You are able to alter the tactics of each character with many different scenarios like if low on energy or fighting a high powered foe. I am sure players of some of the larger MMORPG's get all this micro-management and things but it goes well over my head.

 

 

Graphically the game has mixed moments, most of time it has lush environments that go for miles whereas at other times it looks a bit basic and restrictions on where you can walk make it feel a bit linear. The characters look great up close with each village and cities inhabitants having their own culture and clothes. A brutal touch is when you are in battle you tend to get heavily blood splattered, so when a cut-scene comes in you are having polite conversations with townsfolk dripping in the red stuff.

 

In the end this to me would probably make a great PC game (which others reviews so far suggest it has) but it is not really best suited to a console. If it had real-time action and easier team orders like Mass Effect it would be huge. I really wanted to love this game and even as I still play I am torn, the action and story seems right up my alley but I found the control and stop start fighting a bit too much for my console gaming fix.