First Thirty: Dragon Age Origins (PC)

By Joe Haygood | November 10, 2009

After a slight delay in the mail system, I finally received my review copy of Dragon Age: Origins on the PC, and after thirty minutes of play, I can say that it was well worth the wait.  From the initial isometric view, down to the intricate family relationships that are formed in those early moments of the game, show just a small amout of what the game has to give a player through the long run.

My first thirty was delayed a few minutes, by what might be the most ridiculous system ever to handle DLC content in a game.  On the PC, it was not too bad, except I had a hell of a time getting my Bioware account to link up to the Dragon Age social site. Only after getting that successfully synced up, could I finally use the DLC codes that came in my game box.  Since I did not have a store bought copy of the game, I did not get the Warden’s Keep, but I did get most everything else.  The DLC is kludgy, requring you to exit the game, register the download, hope that you don’t have issues linking your Bioware account to your Bioware social account, etc.  Bioware, why not just have a code in the game that you enter.

That said, once I started up the game, I was presented with the character creation screen, and I knew at that point I was home.  All the customization that was available in Mass Effect is available here, except that the graphics have been bumped up a bit.  I liked that there were more quality choices for making characters this time around, because the ones in Mass Effect were lacking at times.  I had my female warrior created after about 10 minutes of tinkering.  Yes, I am a female warrior, you have a problem with that?

My origin path that I was creating had me playing as a Warrior Noble, where I was the daughter of a famous warrior.  My father and brother were readying themselves to go into battle, and I was lamenting the fact that I would have to stay behind.  The voice work from the characters is a little stilted at times, but there is enough good story there to get you hooked.  Most of the introductions done in the Origins story are there to prepare your for the world and how you will interact with it.  I learned the ins and outs of combat and attacking enemies with a full party.  I did like the way that you could surround enemies with your party.  Combat is three dimensional, and you have to remember that if you want to succeed.

My first thirty finished with a great setpiece, as I had to fight my way out of the keep I lived it, as a friend of my father turned traitorous, and attacked.  My escape had me fighting through several throngs of enemies on the way to the secret exit.  It left me wanting more, as the story hooked me in big time.  I was perplexed at the total lack of voice over for my character.  I am not sure if that only shows up in the origins section of the game, or if I will play through the whole game like a Gordon Freeman, completely mute.  It made less sense when I remembered that I was asked to choose a voice for my character.

Dragon Age: Origins is a very enjoyable experience through the first thirty minutes.  This obviously does not give you a true feel for a game that has an average play through time of 60 hours, but from what I have seen so far, I have really enjoyed what Bioware is feeding players this time around.  Keep an eye out for a full review after I get enough time to play through the full story.