Dragon Age: Origins, the first in the franchise, gave its best when it came to the characters and storyline; but when I thought about the gameplay, it was just lame and boring. Frankly, I gave the game up just after few hours for it was merely a waste of time. And honestly, I wasn't quite keen to try its sequel noting such letdown in its predecessor. Nevertheless, i tried to enter Dragon Age again with an open mind and fortunately, BioWare knew what and where went wrong and engaged me into the story once again, enlightened me with its much-improved, more-functional gameplay and introduced me to a series of surprises and new installments. However, such feeling didn't last very long, for another letdown was awaiting me again...
Storyline 8/10
What exactly happened during the rise to power as Hawke becomes the Champion of Kirkwall?Basically, it addresses this question and uses it as the driving force for the narrative, a rather unique way of story presentation. The plot is presented to the player in a framed narrative, told by one of his party members, a dwarf named Varric Tethras, to a Seeker of the Chantry who is looking for Hawke. You will be able to see for yourself how involved you were in all the chaos that happened and your significance in Kirkwall. From there, what happens during the journey in Dragon Age 2 is at your control. BioWare presents you with the choices that will indefinitely shape this hero and his legacy that he leaves behind - you can be the good guy, or simply be the bad guy.
Unlike the first game, you no longer get a choice of different races and can only play as a Hawke, the protagonist human character of the entire story. However, you will still be able to customize Hawke and choose one of the three classes - mage, warrior or rogue.
Gameplay 6/10
-Combat System 8/10Luckily, the combat system in DA2 has received more attention compared to Origins; and this time,you will be engaged when you face the many weird, ugly-looking creatures with your abilities and skillful acts, unlike those dull, repeated moves in its predecessor.
At first, I was rather worried seeing how BioWare dropped out some elements in Mass Effect 2, but it turned out that Dragon Age 2 remained and improved its system to a wonderfully-crafted one. For one, battling throughout the game felt more lively and energetic for every combat moves kills something in a new, thrilling way, and executing your skills are now much faster and smoother.
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| rogue going for the kill! |
Nevertheless, even without dictating them, battles in this sequel promises quite a memory as you will be sitting on your couch smiling your way as you see Hawke smoothly executes his skills and kill them flawlessly to make the entire action sequence a blissful one. That is, if you are able to kill them. (: Though be reminded, if you wish to play in 'Nightmare' difficulty, I'm guessing that you will be immediately frustrated or giving the game up when you reach the bosses. Goodluck!
-Enemies (and here is when the letdowns begin) 6/10
At the same time, the game throws plenty of vicious creatures for you to enjoy your moment stabbing, hacking, plunging and even decapitating them using your numerous magical abilities. On a sadder note, you will see that the enemy variety in the game is far from satisfactory, for you will face similar enemies over and over again. And with its 40-or-more-hours-to-finish, it simply gets more boring and boring and boring...
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| scaled-down version of the Darkspawns, enemies which you will be facing ALOT |
Dragon Age 2 has undoubtedly scaled down. Kirkwall is undeniably a huge city, but definitely not big enough for the entire game, for that is the only place you will be throughout the lengthy 40-or-more-hours-to-finish timeframe. As such, you will be moving about the same places for varied quests to fight similar monsters for most of the time. Just imagine yourself seeing the same scenery, the same wall and the same menacing demon before you, again and again, it's a bit tiresome and boring isn't it? In fact, just after 1 hour, you should already be familiar with the layout as everything is confined to that same area; remembering that route you just been just a few minutes ago, recalling that flowing stream when you did that quest, recognizing that dungeon when you killed that boss, dam you're genius! I'm just assuming BioWare hadn't had enough time to enlarge the city and craft more creatures. Such a pity.
Graphics 6.5/10
As mentioned, you will be playing Hawke in the same area, trapped in that same confinement with the same architecture for a very long time, which kills the joy of the entire game when the player notice the similarities and familiarities everywhere they go. However, there is something that it should be proud of; following its improvement in its graphics compared to Origins, DA2 boasts an amazing-looking city and eye-catching landscapes, but those simply became dull as the game progresses. Only if it wasn't for the confined area, everything would be perfect. Note that like any other video games, graphics on the PC will always be better than on the Xbox or PS3, depending on your graphic card.
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| power is everything! |
Verdict 6.5/10
Everything was perfect at first, until I notice the similarities in the enemies and the confined area. That will be the main drawback of Dragon Age 2 and also the flaw that made a would-be-wonderfully-crafted piece of RPG epic to a scaled-down prison filled with similar looking creatures. Nevertheless, it still offers a rich experience of role-playing during the dragon age of mystical lands and odd-looking darkspawns. Again, such a pity.
We played Dragon Age 2 both on the Xbox 360 and the PC. The game is available for the PS3 as well. Get the game now at an exclusive price from GameOn (Malaysia) or Play-Asia(US/Europe/Asia)!
We played Dragon Age 2 both on the Xbox 360 and the PC. The game is available for the PS3 as well. Get the game now at an exclusive price from GameOn (Malaysia) or Play-Asia(US/Europe/Asia)!
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