Dragon Age 2 (Video Game Review)

I'm a HUGE fan of "Dragon Age: Origins" and all its expansions. Bioware has hit numerous titles out of the park for me. So I wet my pants in anticipation numerous times waiting for Dragon Age 2 to be released. After about 28 hours of game play, I've finished my first play through of Dragon Age 2 on the Xbox 360. Here are my primary impressions:

The interface has changed noticeably. Most buttons still serve the same functions. But full equipment access/adjustment has been moved from the radial menu to the pause menu and the "back button" is only good for bringing up the map, rather than the entire menu system. In some ways this simplifies things, giving you one route to reach a given menu, but the menu changes don't seem to be a big enough improvement to justify the change in familiarity from the last game.

The graphics continue to look great, possibly even better than the first game. Still lots of blood flying around in combat. This game pulls no punches. The general color of the game seems to be a little more sterile and gritty this time around. This wasn't a plus or a minus for me, just different.

The story is a sequel to the larger events of the first game, but doesn't involve your character from Dragon Age: Origins except in vague references to the "Hero Of Ferelden" now and then. No sign of Morrigan, but Flemeth (voiced by Kate Mulgrew of "Star Trek: Voyager") makes an appearance early on, revealing new layers to her character and setting up her further involvement (I assume) later in the Dragon Age series.

An additional bug in the game prevented me from ever recruiting one of the main companions featured in the trailers for this game: Isabella. Bummer, since she was one of the few ties to the first game, something this story needed more of.

At the end of the game, a larger story is implied to be at work, making me wish the end of Dragon Age 2 was only the halfway point of a single, complete game. The experience ends up feeling more like a boatload of DLC or the opening 1/4th of a single game rather than the main content of a complete RPG or the first part of a trilogy.

Regarding your own character, you choose the sex and class of your human character and use "multiple choice" options to select your "type" of response in dialogue. Identical to Mass Effect 1 and 2, you don't know exactly what words each response type will result in. The trade-off is that your character is fully voiced.

The sound of the game is very similar to the first. Same composer, and presumably the same female vocalist providing haunting melodies over the orchestra. The score doesn't "open up" as much however, but remains smaller in tandem with the scale of the story. The voice acting is just as strong as ever, and the male actor for Hawke (your character) does a good job of creating a voice and tone that works whether you take the noble, snarky or hard-edged dialogue options.

The biggest change is the combat system, which has been tweaked subtly but significantly. It is now a bit more action oriented. Instead of your character repeatedly attacking a selected foe until they are defeated, you have to press the "select" button repeatedly (after moving into range) in order to continue attacking. Your supporting characters are still automated with customizable tactics and you can switch around to control whoever you want, but the combat feel is now just a little closer to a "Diablo" clone than Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, which Dragon Age: Origins drew heavily from.

This has been a step backward in my opinion. I enjoyed the real-time combat of the first game, but since it was still somewhat automated, I could easily move the camera around to check out the cool combat from whatever angle I wanted. Now, however, the thumb controlling the camera is busy pushing "A" over and over again, and so the combat is seen mostly from one angle. Bummer.

In general, Dragon Age 2 seems to be the result of Bioware trying to fix a bunch of things about Dragon Age: Origins that weren't broken. Inventory management is present virtually in name only, removing a significant strategic element of game play. The stakes are incredibly low when compared to the events of Dragon Age: Origins and the story has very little motivating it or tying quests together. Combat has been streamlined, resulting in less interesting or powerful-looking spell animations and the constant need to hammer on "A" to keep combat moving makes it impossible to move the camera around and enjoy what cool animations are present.

I think Bioware would have done well to make some of their significant changes optional. For example, instead of only allowing me to adjust the armor for my main character, I would have liked an equip option for the other characters in the game instead of Bioware assuming that deciding on their armor doesn't interest me. And instead of making me repeatedly hammer on "A" to continue attacking, give me the option to select "auto-attack", as I understand is possible on the PC version. (Update: Months after writing this review I learned that an update to the game now allows for more automated combat, as in the first Dragon Age. However I have not verified or tested this feature out for myself.)

Finally, give me a story that is more far-reaching in consequence. I'd rather have a cookie cutter "save the world" story with strong character subplots than a small scale main plot with only peripheral epic consequence. And how about a game that lasts at LEAST 30 hours.

I got 20 hours of game play from one play through of the EXPANSION for Dragon Age: Origins, and only 28 hours out of Dragon Age 2. I'm sure missing Isabella had some effect on my playtime, but I took on every quest I could otherwise and still only logged 28 hours. (Both of my play-throughs on DA:O were close to 70 hours with all DLC, though the total time added by DLC was certainly no more than 10 hours.

Over all, despite my criticism, I enjoyed the game. However, I would have been happier if the combat hadn't been touched.

In terms of content relevant to real-world moral and spiritual issues, this game, like Mass Effect, makes for an interesting experience. As usual, the "organized church people" are painted as the judgmental bad guys (yawn). However, by the end of the game it's clear that their caution and fear regarding mages is at least partially justified, if not more so. So in this regard it was nice to see the religious folk getting to wear the white hat now and then, too.

However I've got issues with the dialogue options. There are times when I want to choose an option that doesn't exist. For example, when a homosexual character makes advances toward me, I felt like my options for responding were either responding with similar interest, cold distancing or outright judgment.

Where's my option for lovingly expressing that character's value and importance to me while explaining my heterosexuality? I didn't see any way to end that conversation well. And maybe Bioware wanted me to feel that way, since often in life it seems there is no good way for a conversation to go. But I at least want it to be POSSIBLE for a conversation like that to go better than their "best" version of the scenario.

I'm using this one instance as an example, but there are numerous other times when I felt like my options were limited. Bioware may think this simulates making "hard choices" in life, but in fact it just feels frustrating, since the moral choices I WANT to make are not available.

Bioware has traded in a greater variety of interaction choices for a limited number of fully voiced and choreographed scenarios.  

However, this limiting and frustrating aspect of gameplay may well open doors of conversation among fellow gamers about moral and spiritual issues. So while I'd still like Bioware to improve this aspect, resulting in a better game, for the time being it has potential value in real world conversations.

As I said before, there are certainly many elements that make this game addictive and enjoyable. But unlike so many of Bioware's RPGs, I can't think of a reason I'd want to play through this one again or spend any money on DLC that isn't dirt cheap.

After finishing Dragon Age 2, without skipping a beat (well I did play the awesome demo for "Torchlight") I started up a game of "Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening" for my second play through. I'd recommend that most Dragon Age fans do the same and wait to see if a future version of Dragon Age 2, which includes all DLC, will be a more compelling buy.


Quality: 8.0/10

Relevance: 8.0/10