Dragon Age - Single Player World of Warcraft

[Flatty]

Rainy recommended I play this game, and having played Warcraft it really is quick to get in to. The only difference being that instead of controlling one character, you're controlling four characters. As you move on through the game you get to recruit more characters for your little team. You can pick and choose from all the characters according to the quest requirements.

There is a boss at the end of every major quest line, and mini-bosses at the end of smaller quest lines. Don't think you're just going to run in and smack the boss down because you're so awesome, as I learned the hard way. As with boss fights in WoW, these bosses require a strategy, which really adds to the appeal of this game (my strategy initially involved a lot of running away until I got into the mechanics of controlling 4 characters). You have to keep four people alive long enough to nuke the boss. You can get by the mini-boss fights without a healer, but major boss fights require the standard tank/healer/dps configuration. You have to build each character up as you play to fill these roles.

Each character has a tactics screen in which you can assign actions they must perform based on certain criteria i.e. when the tank's health >50% heal him, when the healer is being attacked the tank should taunt. This adds a bit of fluidity to the game, but you'll still find yourself pausing mid fight to move your characters and cast spells.

What really makes this game stunning are the cut scenes, of which there are plenty. It goes far beyond reading a quest description - it's like watching a movie. The fight action is unbelievable - when you down an Ogre the character planting the killing blow runs up his chest & impales him deep in the chest with a sword as he falls backwards. You get to see this in slow motion. Friendly fire is also possible so you can't just cast a Blizzard on top of your team members, you need to position them - which takes a bit of doing because Blizzard isn't an instant cast.

Some of the quests involve a bit of brain power, like getting to the other side of a gorge using a stepping stone system that activates invisible bridge blocks.

As for the amount of game time - it is substantial, and with all the downloadable content I really think this game is value for money & will keep anyone busy with it for months to come.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in absolute control of your little "instance" party & do things the way you think they should be done, this is it.

Fight action:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMhnlJb5BDY&feature=related

Battle at Ostagar: (Don't watch this if you would rather see it ingame)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzRDYOgwFWc

Thanks, Rainy, you beaut! :D

[Vortex]

That looks quite good! :hmmm:

[Flatty]

There is quite a bit of DLC & the expansion is being released on the 17th of March - R535 for both from Take 2.

I have over 50 hours of game play already & I have only completed about 60% of the content, with 3 major quest lines still to complete (and none of the DLC yet).

What I really love about this game is the graphic beauty & realism of it all. You can turn the gore off, but I like seeing my enemy's head falling off & blood gushing out of his neck. I love seeing blood spewing from my characters mouth after a good hit. I freeze-frame a lot just to look at how amazingly they put this game together from different angles, and what blows cause what effects.

There are times when your characters engage in a dialogue & it really adds to the game. Certain characters start teasing each other & it really is interesting, and funny, to listen to. There's none of this droll "go kill 6 bunnies" stuff. You'll be killing real live predators that can seriously damage your party if you don't pay attention, on the way to a quest objective.

As you strive to gear up your characters you can swap equipment between them - it's not a case of gearing individually, the gear can be distributed among your characters as needed. The characters not on your current quest level as you level, so it's not a question of having to take all of the party members out to level.

Traversing the great unknown isn't like WoW with endless traveling - as you leave one zone you're presented with a world map & you simply chose the next zone you want to move to.

Every quest has a well-scripted cut scene which you can just escape out of if that's not your type of thing. For me it adds to the immersion - something WoW could take heed of.

The UI seems to be very like WoW, though I think they have taken a look at WoW & combined all the best addons with the WoW UI to make a truly spectacular UI.

Controlling 4 characters is certainly challenging & I have only just started to appreciate the use of tactics slots. In smaller fights you can just leave the other characters to do their thing according to your presets. In larger fights user intervention is required because there is just so much happening you'll never win if you leave it up to the AI.

[Voicy]

If you enjoyed Rainy's recommendation, I can highly recommend you play "The Witcher" ... and look forward to the sequel being released soon.

[Flatty]

I actually got it wrong, I am on 32% of the entire game (after having restarted - it counts any other characters/replays you have made/done) for 68 hours.

I recognize one of the voices from Mass Effect 2, though it is a NPC & I suppose they didn't think many people would play across genres. I also recognize one of the voices from one of my mages as coming from a boss in ME2. Other than that the voices are unique. Man, I love this game. :D

@Voicy - I have enough addictions without finding any more, thanks anyway. So far I am hooked on BF, ME & Dragon Age. WoW I distanced myself from because I was hooked on that too. I need to do a Carrion & find myself a ball 'n chain. :p