A Look at Dragon Age
MMORPG.com's Dana Massey traveled all the way up to Bioware's offices in Edmonton to take a look at their upcoming RPG, Dragon Age. While not an MMO itself, as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, it certainly holds interest for MMO fans.
Previews By Dana Massey on September 04, 2009
When Bioware invited MMORPG.com out to Edmonton to see Dragon Age, our first question was "why?" Dragon Age is not an MMO, it doesn't pretend to be an MMO, and there is absolutely nothing online about it. So what brought us there? According to Bioware, they wanted to show it to a wider audience and thought that specifically MMO players would find it to be a complimentary experience. Fair enough.
"Dragon Age has strengths where World of Warcraft has weaknesses," noted Executive Producer Mark Darrah, and "World of Warcraft has strengths where Dragon Age has weaknesses."
And it's a fair point. Fact is that MMOs don't do a good job of making the player the hero. Bioware is all about story and the player character is at the center of it all. At the same time, games like World of Warcraft obviously bring people together and put them online. Dragon Age, at least at launch, has no online gameplay.
So, we buckled down and looked at Dragon Age for what it was. What we found was classic RPG, a game that has as much in common with Baldur's Gate as it does Oblivion. If you've missed the way RPGs used to be played, this game will be a welcome change.
"[Dragon Age is a] spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate," said Darrah.
That's no small boast. Baldur's Gate and its sequel were the two games that cemented Bioware as the industry leader in RPGs. I wondered why they didn't just make the third installment. Darrah was honest: EA, who recently acquired Bioware, doesn't have the D&D license anymore.
While it is a successor to Baldur's Gate, that doesn't mean it is exactly that. Dragon Age's world is much darker, grittier and grown-up than the lighter Forgotten Realms world players previously enjoyed. When you hack and slash monsters, your characters get coated in blood, or at least the ones standing close to the action do. When you take down a boss monster, there is a specially animated finishing blow, such as when my warrior jumped up on a big ogre and stabbed him through the chest, or when a rogue character straddled the neck of a dragon as she plunged her twin blades repeatedly into the beast.
As a gamer, the RPG left me behind when it went 3D. Oblivion is no doubt a wonderful title, but I just never could get behind the 3D, over the shoulder view for a single player RPG. There is no logic - I clearly still play MMOs that way - but I've missed the isometric games.
Dragon Age does a spectacular job of catering to both purists like me and the new age of gamer. More than one reporter, myself included, felt like it was an entirely different game based on which perspective you chose or whether you played on the PC or Xbox 360.
;)
On the 360 or zoomed in on the PC, it should be eminently familiar to people who played any of the more recent RPGs. The controls are just like an MMO. Each character in the party has stats and special skills in a hot bar to use. You click between the characters, while those you're not controlling directly use their AI (which is completely customizable).
Unlike MMOs, and this is something someone who has played them so long and so exclusively sometimes forgets, there is a pause button. Which is awesome. You can stop the action if you wish, and manually queue up every action from every member of your group. For highly strategic play, this works wonderfully and can make a very difficult battle a lot easier.
On the PC though, I fell in love. Scroll back with the mouse wheel and you not only zoom out a bit, but you eventually snap into a three quarters isometric view that anyone who has played the Diablos, Baldur's Gates or Icewind Dales will instantly recognize.
From this perspective, you can (if you want) toss out the WASD controls and move to party based point and click. Just like the old games, you can draw a box and control all four party members at once. Pausing becomes even more important and useful at this angle, of course, and generally, the people at Bioware said they found that people who want more control and strategy adopt this mode, some others run through exclusive in 3rd person, while a third group switches between the two for specific encounters.
Dragon Age is a party based RPG. You create your own character, down to the size of his nose, and these choices can make a big difference. Over the course of the game, players meet and have the chance to bring up to three others along for the ride in any one scenario. The exact number of characters who can join the party has not been revealed, but Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw told me that it is just shy of a dozen full characters, with several others joining for very specific, finite arcs. During my hands-on time, I managed to find about six of them.
Each character has its own personality, and just like the old games, you quickly find yourself playing favorites.
"All we're about is making people care," Laidlaw told me. They did a fine job. For example, early on I met a warrior type named Allistair. Even though I too was a sword/shield warrior and he was basically redundant in my party, I refused to kick him out. He was just too cool.
This is the trick the game plays. Laidlaw said that while some characters do player larger roles than others in the overall story, there is no one you "have to have." If the story truly demands the presence of a character you don't have with you, they will show up. Organically, I might add. He promised there wouldn't be absurd, emersion breaking cameos from guys you left at home.
;)
The selection of who is with you can also make a huge difference. For example, in a story I discussed on a blog just after I got back, they showed off a specific scenario where the player has two options and one of them would be viewed by a religious character as an act of blasphemy. There's no quicker way to turn your cleric on you than to desecrate a holy relic. In that scenario, two religious characters in the group, if in your party, literally turn on you and must be put down.
And don't get any bright ideas. If you leave them at camp for that mission, they'll hear about it and let you know how they feel.
They chose a party of four because it allowed people to cover the basic components of a group (mage, healer, tank), without forcing them to cut someone because of redundancy. Want your guy to be a tank? Don't worry, you can still keep Allistair. Want to be a mage? Morgain is still quite useful.
What's more, the people you leave behind continue to level up in the background, so you don't find that after 20 hours of gameplay if you want to bring out the rogue, she needs to be power leveled.
The truly refreshing element of the trip to Bioware was the lack of dog and pony show. Many companies bring in reporters and show them demo after demo, speech after speech and then by the time that's done, you get a scant few minutes with the game before moving on. It's tough to really get a grasp and it's why so often hands-on reports from events read like feature lists.
Bioware wasn't worried about that in the slightest. They had us there for two days and the vast, vast majority of that was just us at terminals playing away from start to as far as we could get, at least on the PC. The 360 version started people from specific save points.
According to my save game when it was finally time to go, I logged just under nine hours of game time. It's the most I've ever been able to play a single game at an event.
In my case, I chose to play as a Human Warrior of Noble birth. There are six distinct origin stories and each lasts for a few hours of gameplay. This is not unlike an MMO, such as Lord of the Rings Online, where the different races get their own unique start before being pumped out into the general game world. As a Human Warrior, I started in my father's castle. The youngest son of a noble lord, I wasn't to succeed him, but instead had to find my own path.
This kind of game can only really be enjoyed on PC I think. I guess a console version wouldn't be so bad, but they said no zoom out isometric view? Makes it kind of claustrophobic for an RPG like this.
It sounds cool though, I didn't really read anything that said this game was non-linear or not though?
I am greatly looking forward to Dragon Age. I would love to see a multiplayer/MMO version of this game some day.
I sure wish I could port Bioware's vivid and colorful NPC party members into WoW or DDO with me.
That's the type of RPG that players like, choices are what make one and the customization of characters is also well percieved.
Will look into Dragon Age and play it, plus the future of online play is very intriging.
I would imagine up close it'll feel and play a lot like KotoR, Mass Effect, etc...I love the fact that they're bringing back the old isometric though, that's pretty friggin sweet, I'll definitely be playing it on a PC. I also have not heard anything about it's linear vs nonlinear aspects, though if they stay true to form and it truly is a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, it'll be mostly linear with some opportunities for lots of side quests and optional content.
I would imagine up close it'll feel and play a lot like KotoR, Mass Effect, etc...I love the fact that they're bringing back the old isometric though, that's pretty friggin sweet, I'll definitely be playing it on a PC. I also have not heard anything about it's linear vs nonlinear aspects, though if they stay true to form and it truly is a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, it'll be mostly linear with some opportunities for lots of side quests and optional content.
If you know Bioware then you know that most if not all games are pretty linear! I still love those games tho :D
Sounds awesome! Got it on pre-order for the PC and can't wait till it finally makes its way into my grubby little paws.
I was going to read the review, but then i remembered i already preordered teh collectors edition in full...
Getting this for PC. Porting an isometric RPG to consoles and changing it into some kind of action styled game to facilitate gamepads? Err, no. I'll take my m/k anyday over that, not to mention that DA's probably going to have one the most robust and versatile editors out there so community is gonna go crazy with all the mods.
This and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are going to be my only other gaming purchases this year.
I have had the CE PC version on pre-order for some time now and cannot wait until it arrives. I will rent the PS3 version just to see how how good the port really is.
Dammit, I had hoped they'd left dwarves out of this one. I mean, without being shackled to the D&D system, there's no reason for them to be in there.
I will have to wait and see whether they're even half as annoying as the dwarf in NW2. Politics you say? That could actually be more interesting than gold and axes.
Gold gold gold. If you're not in a mine eating gold off the edge of your axe, and drinking beer and being self-righteous and stunty, with an outrageously bad Scottish accent then you're not a dwarf.
Looks great, this will be a great game like all the others from Bioware.
Shame the gameplay in most current MMOs has become very stale like the communities that !!! Don't exist within them. The proliferation of Leet guils and instant gratification is killing current MMOs which is a real shame, thanks for reviewing this one.
I am just glad we have a choice in isometric or 1st/3rd person view, I mean isometric to me is pretty old and something I never really liked and was glad gaming has evolved into more then isometric, but like I said I am glad we have the choice for those who still seem into the isometric view. So sorry OP it's not about being a new gamer or old, as I am a old gamer, atleast I feel 30+ years into gaming (pong being my first) does make me somewhat a older gamer right?.....
Anyway looking forward to the game and thanks for the "look at interview"
I have been anticipating this game for a long time now. I was bummed when BioWare announced Star Wars instead of this as their MMO. I love Star Wars and all but hey... This game just looks too badass.
Can't wait to put my hands on it...good old days rpg
I'm currently not playing any MMOs, so hopefully DA will keep my attention for a while as I wait for TOR
It's MMO'esk in a way, right?
Knowing Bioware, this will be a great game.
Dragon Age is one of the games I'm looking forward to the most this year.
And I'd love to pre-order it, but that darn Collector's Edition still isn't available in European webshops (Amazon, Play).
I will quit WoW to play this.
From baldur's gate to mass effect bioware makes the best rpg's (sorry elder scrolls, i still love ya). I played mass effect on the console and i may get this one on it as well. The secret to the over the shoulder strategic console rpg was your parties ai. While they did sometimes hang out in hallways an got smoked. in general they were pretty intelligent and would use their powers constantly on their own if u would let them. This really helped with the emersion, which in the long run is bioware's true strength.
Already reserved my copy. It is going to be a great game.
Proof that Bioware = King...we haven't even had one trollish post in this thread...even tho its a review of a non MMO on an MMO website.
Bioware ftw.
But seriously, this game (and most of the stuff Bioware makes, actually) has more RPG elements than 99.9% of mmos...
Can't wait to see what they do with TOR...
Dragon Age looks unbelievable. I can't wait for it.
I had a chance to play it a bit at PaX. Nice game good graphics and interaction, but...way too bloody for me...over the top.
I grab 3 paper towels and a moist rag everytime i see a new artical about Dragon Age. I literally blow a load while reading it. The clean_up afterwards have become pretty routine.
Nom nom good RPGs
...Though I do wish it had LAN multi-player (like anything ever will again these days), I still can't deny the sexiness it looks to be :)
Think I'll be taking a month or 2 break from wow to play through this several times.
If it does well I reckon the expansion will have pw support, although I'd lay odds online play will require paid subs this time. A tithe to EA :(
It really depends on which games you campare with.
If you compare with games like Diablo they are not linear at all but with games like Fallout they are pretty railroaded.
Bioware is kinda going a middleway. But they never are as linear as Wow and EQ at least.
I have been waiting a long time for a game like this, I missed the old RPG games. Oblivion and such games are nice but they don't have the same feeling as the old games did. That is why I prefered Fallaout 1 & 2 to Fallout 3.
An excellent review! I'm now fully looking forward to checking out the game when it's released.
the old republic is in safe hands <3
I still haven't bought a game this year, of any genre. Dragon Age has remained the only thing that has interested me. All the others are further off: Mass Effect 2, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Star Trek Online, The Old Republic, The Secret World....
I would disagree that BioWare make the best RPG. I have played BG and BG-2 plus ME and NWN 1-2 as a matter of fact i have played every RPG game that BioWare have bought out including JE.
BioWare do make great RPG but i have played better or should i say IMO their is better.Oblivion is nothing without the great mods that players have put together. Morrowind was a great RPG and better than Oblivion for game-play at least.
For me ,the best RPG that i have played are Gothic 1 and Gothic 2 .. " The Night Of The Ravern" the latter being the best i have played.
So this brings me to my next point.
While everyone is ranting over "Dragon Age Origins" which is actually the name of the game, not "Dragon Age" > to the OP, don't forget that their are a few single RPG coming over the next 2 months.
Four weeks before DAO is released ,you have Risen , made by the same dev team who bought us in Europe the Gothic RPG series. A full sandbox RPG with skill based system and no elves or dwarfs or any of your more classic rpg npc.
It's a mature RPG and includes drugs adult content like DAO or better still,like "The Witcher"
Many in NA(north america) will not know this game or the Gothic series,it's immense in Europe.
www.gametrailers.com/game/risen/10213
risen.deepsilver.com/game/index.html
Don't forget another full sandbox single RPG with an added twist.
www.youtube.com/watch
www.divinity2.com/
Using the terms mature and drugs in the same sentence is a very bad idea, having checked the trailers for the games you just listed I remain a tad unconvinced.
Although they do have some very meaty content and would no doubt keep a player occupied for several weeks the titles you listed are unlikely to be as polished as any Bioware title (well except maybe jade empire).
this is mmorpg.com right?
and this isn't an mmo?
am I missing something here?
lol
Oh yes ,I can't wait for this one :)
I'll also be purchasing the Collectors Edition
\m/ Pong \m/ lol
Apparently you missed reading the article, since that's the very first thing we discussed.
May be. :D
After mmos I can't get myself to play RPG any more.... would miss the interaction with other players..
I certainly look forward to playing this game. BioWare is a great company and they produce quality games. It might give some insight into how they view RPG elements in the upcoming SW:TOR MMO. That too will have individual lines of play for each class of character and an experience very unique to each and every player. I'm glad you decided to take a look at the game and review it even if it isnt an MMO because it helps bring some perspective. MMO's lately have become increasingly unimaginative and rather grindy. Maybe BioWare bringing in the RPG element as one of the core pillars of an new generation of MMO game play will lead to the genre broadening its horizons.
Well, we've seen what Blizzard could do with an MMO from one of their franchises. I can only imagine how much better Bioware will pull it off with one of theirs, i.e. The Old Republic.
I want to be a smuggler, I want to be a smuggler, please say I can be a smuggler.
I want to be one of those in real life too. I'm looking for work, and it might as well be fun and dangerous. :D
Way to ruin some the the story dick
Isn't it single player as well, I mean no multi what so ever? (I know it's not a MMO I'm not bitching about that. :) ) That sort of turned me off it. I enjoy gaming with my friends too much, I've become spoiled. Although I'll admit it looks cool, I'd never finish it just single player, I have video game ADD.
When i heard Dragon Age as a baldur's gate fun i got excited... But when i heard that your characters can not die during battle but instead hes becoming unconcious and that they use this same system of Nwn 2 i trully got disapointment...This element sadly kills all the immersion and thrill during a battle since u dont care if a character is going to die..Truly this sucks..
The devs said that the characters cant die cause every character u meet has a part to play in the scenario 's proggresion but...
In baldur's gate ALSO there were some awesome characters to meet and get them in your party with great stories for each one of them BUT THEY STILL COULD DIE in battle if u didnt played well and u wouldnt live the stories of them if they died.
Thrill and immersion is being removed from the games nowdays ,and those 2 elements are the reason why great games like baldur's gate appeared and made huge fan base and took gameplay into another lvl...
Nowdays it seems like they are making the games suitble for 8-10 years old kids and i dont see anyone complaining about that.
They focus to great videos and graficks instead of gameplay addiction and depth..Thats sad..
Same here...
Here is some music and screenshots from the game. Can't wait to play this game. :D
www.youtube.com/watch
this is the best game i've ever played in my life. it would, without a doubt, be the best mmorpg title ever made if bioware decides to make it into an mmorpg. i was a bit sad at first when i found out it wasn't an mmorpg, but the mmorpg elements quickly revealed itself on the first battle. i am not a fan of rpgs, but this game takes the cake- and a cup of milk.
i've beat the game so many times already, missing only the darkspawn chronicles DLC, and i continue to play it because there is so much to do in the game. each choice you make very slightly alters the game, cut-scenes, party approval rating, and pretty much everything else for that matter. for those looking to take a break from mmorpg's, Dragon Age is certainly won't disappoint. or for that matter, once one gets a taste of this game, mmorpg's will seem... dull. so much so, that i can't find myself committing to any mmorpg's anymore; at least until one as great as Dragon Age hits shelves.
did i mention that you can have sex in the game? yeah, it's just that awesome.
Way to make yourself sound like a 42 y/o virgin basement dweller.
There are no MMORPG elements in Dragon Age. Yes, it is an RPG, but the most important part of an MMO game is the MMO part. Dragon Age isn't even multiplayer. I don't even know why you are trying to compare it to MMOs or rezzing this nec thread. in any event, I enjoy DA a lot, and am currently playing it instead of any MMO, but that doesn't mean I am going to say it is something that it is clearly not.
When i fired this game up on my pc, i was expecting to spend a couple couple of hours in the game, then go do my daily tasks.. I was wrong.
This game captured me, I spend the whole day and the next, glued to the screen. Then beat it.
Only dissapointing part was the end boss was way too easy.
But definitly worth getting this game if you haven't already.
Dragon Age is one of my favorite rpgs.
It's crazy how Bioware could just keep churning out fantastic games like this.
"According to Bioware, they wanted to show it to a wider audience and thought that specifically MMO players would find it to be a complimentary experience. Fair enough."
AKA Bioware Paid Us Money To Advertise Their Games That Aren't MMOs So Let's Post This Excuse To Justify A Non MMO On A MMO Site.
Seems The World Is Just Full Of Sell Outs That Try To Defend Their Sell Out Actions.
What's bitten you?
interesting read concerning the RPG, sounds like a cracking title and love Bioware's work.
I wait a bit for reviews of each DLC before I buy them. I do the same for mass effect 2. It works out well since I can pick where to spend my money. I really enjoyed Leliana's Song though, I thought it was well done and worth the money.
I loved DA:O, but after spending a total of over 100 dollars on buying the game, then the DLC....I quit and figured I just wouldn't get to keep playing to see more and more storylines, because that is just TOO MUCH MONEY to spend on a single player RPG.
Never again will I do that...even as much as I enjoyed the experience. It's just too damn expensive.
DLC is the singleplayer version of the mmo cash shop. I refuse to support either.
I own ME, ME2, and DA:O along with all the DLC for all 3. However, I only paid for the base games.
The difference is the fact that if not for the DLC, you probably wouldn't see that content at all.
Gee, you mean they'd have to go back to making full games for one price; and real expansions full of content for one additional reasonable price instead of charging $5+ for an hours worth of play? Works for me.
My point PRECISELY. I remember when you bought a single player RPG and you had the WHOLE GAME....period. And they took a long time to play too. God getting old sucks ass. We're HERETICS for suggesting that the old way of doing it was in any way better, too.
I agree that the graphic quality of games is immensely improved, but....go play Planescape Torment and come tell me that today's RPGs are, all in all, any better. Pfffft. And you know what....I bought those kinds of games and had everything I needed to play them, right at my fingertips. IMO....this is PART of what separates a single player RPG from an MMORPG.
Oh well...gotta roll with the times, I guess. So probably won't be playing many newer RPGs...or at least the ones that come out in this format. I suppose I can always go back and just play all the oldies but goodies again. Admittedly though....I know the new graphics have spoiled me somewhat....and that makes me sad. :(
I watched my nephew play DA on his PS3 for awhile a couple of weeks ago. He was showing me the DLC that his dad wouldnt let him buy and had to agree with his dad. So last week I bought Drakensang. If you like RPG without DLC its a good game. It didnt get a lot of fanfare at release but I like it. I may pick up DA at some point after the price drops but wont pay top dollar due to the way they included the item mall.
See....for me....the deal is this:
I am a DLC developers wet fooking dream., BECAUSE.....I do not ike to feel that I am missing out on anything. I want to know all the details. I am the person that does EVERY quest in a game, because I don't want to MISS anything. I was the child that hated to go to SLEEP....why? Because I might MISS something....
(I'm 47 now...I love sleeping. However the rest of that remains unchanged).
The thing is....there are a LOT of people like me. Game developers bank on that. By just having the DLC available and having it indicated in the game....it lets me know that there is something to experience....some content, a story, some action.... that I am going to miss out on, if I don't buy it. For me....that's torture.
Damn straight, Drakensang: The Dark Eye is an awesome rpg. I'm waiting for Darkensang: The River of Time to be released in English.
My problem with DA is the short period of time between release of the game and DLC availability. It was obvioius at least some of the DLC was complete when the game launched and could have been included in the game.
and don't milk what they can from they new game? only reason they do that is we have people who like to toss they money in the carbage can, saying they can pay so they don't care, well doing that only make games cost even more.
Yes I agree. Devs are in constant testing mode to see how far along they can string their customers. I can see the end to my playing MMO's is very near and it seems single player games are taking the same course.