Description
Dragon Age II is a single player role-playing game (RPG) for play on the Xbox 360. Epic sequel to the BioWare developed 2009 Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II continues the adventure with a new hero, Hawke, and utilizes the choices made by the player to affect a story that spans ten years worth of time in-game. Additional game features include: the ability to choose your character's class and sex, a new cinematic in-game experience, a nonlinear narrative and the ability to import saved information from earlier Dragon Age games. About Dragon Age II Embark on an all-new adventure spread across a ten-year span of years with an all-new hero in the multiple award-winning Dragon Age saga. In Dragon Age II you are Hawke, said to have been one of the few to survive the destruction of your homeland. Forced to fight for survival, you gathered the deadliest of allies, amassed fame and fortune and sealed your place in history, eventually becoming in effect a legend in your own time. But legends are all in the telling. Revel in the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins.
View larger. Dragon Age II utilizes a nonlinear narrative, taking the form of a story-within-a-story that hinges upon your exploits as told by the storyteller, Varick. Yet like any good storyteller, Varick tends to exaggerate from time to time. When questioned on events related to Hawke, Varick may present a different scenario in which Hawke's exploits play out. It is within these replays that the decisions of the players hold sway, as their particular versions of Hawke relive these events. Is the player's particular version of Hawke, male or female? A warrior, a rogue, or a mage? Is Hawke good-natured or something less than a salt-of-the-Earth type? Is romance in the air amongst characters he/she associates with? These choices are all the player's to make and each affect the the outcome of the story at all levels. Game Features Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style Story-within-a-story nonlinear narrative style Online Game Pass Bonus Content All new versions of this game come with an "Online Game Pass" which provides exclusive access to the Black Emporium, which includes: The Fighting Mabari War Hound The Mirror of Transformation Exclusive magic and crafting stores Additional Screenshots Nonlinear narrative.
View larger. 10 years of gameplay.
View larger. Cinematic quality experience.
View larger. Completely updated graphics.
View larger.
Features
- Enjoy the game's atypical, story-within-a-story nonlinear narrative style
- Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make
- Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land
- Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior
- Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go
Customer Reviews
Mixed Feelings...007
I have mixed feelings about this game after playing it all day. Some of the things that other reviewers didn't like really don't bother me. For example, I don't mind that you can't pick a few different races this time around. That really only changed the first hour or so anyway. The reworked art style seems much better to me. In the original, although I loved the game, there was nothing spectacular or "dark" about the setting, considering they called it dark fantasy. I think they are closer this time around.They really dumbed a lot of it down, just like with ME2, and I think that was a mistake in some respects. You can no longer deck out your other party members with the best gear, because the only thing you can do is upgrade their equipment with runes. Want them to use a different weapon or give them better armor? Too bad.I actually also don't mind the narrative style of the storytelling either, although it does have its drawbacks. The real problems start with the new button-mash style of play. On the one hand the original system did need some fixing. When you'd highlight an opponent to attack, you would have to move into range. Sometimes the target was running towards you at the time, so you'd literally run by him without attacking, then have to chase him down. I think they could have fixed that problem without changing it to a button mash fest. I started with the rogue and after a few hours, frankly, I had to change to an archer. Now I paly a LOT of video games, but when you are hip-deep in darkspawn, having to mash that button hundreds of times will take its toll on your poor hands. And if you've played the rogue set up with dual weapons, you know that means a LOT of button presses. For goodness sakes if its going to be that way just let us hold the attack button in!The combat is certainly more savage and fun to watch, but when you have to press a button for every single attack, it gets to the point where you can't enjoy it anymore. The original game play let you use strategy and then watch the results of your choices play out. This new system is almost too fast and hectic to be appreciated. They made a similar choice with the path they took after the original KOTOR, which I also loved and still play. When they moved on to Jade Empire they went with the button masher scheme. I was so thrilled when the first DA came out because they switched back to a truly great system, but now they have switched yet again.Although I think many of the reviewers are being a little harsh in their assessment, I think there is a lot of truth to their comments. I'm enjoying the game, don't get me wrong, but I think they lost focus of the core audience that made the original such a hit. I also really don't like how there is no real connection to the first game. Yes you'll see some of the characters from the original game pop up here and there, but it still seems very disconnected. Its almost like--we know you played the first game, now come play it again--but with a different guy that we will create for you--oh and you have to mash a lot of buttons too.Surprisingly, some folks are even unhappy with the fact that the main character actually has a voice this time. Frankly I love that. I thought it was REALLY a poor choice the first time around to not give the hero a voice because it really detracted from the epic feeling of the game. So I don't empathize with folks on that point. For what its worth, I also don't like how they stripped down ME2 in terms of skills and leveling, but I still really enjoyed the game.I'm a little concerned not only about the future of this franchise, but of Bioware in general. When they made a game--I bought it--period. You KNEW it was going to be good. But this is a really shaky installment for the quality that I'm used to expecting from them, and I hope they turn things around if there is another one. I don't feel like the game was "rushed", like many reviewers. I just feel like they stripped it down a bit too much. I think they could have kept the original gameplay mechanics with a couple of fixes and still got the game out just as quickly.Please, Bioware, think hard about how you move forward. You have never been satisifed making games that are like everyone elses, so please don't start now.**UpdateNow that I've finished the game its time for an update! I've cooled off on some of the criticisms I had early on but gotten a little more irritated with other things, so overall my rating will stay put. But a few things to comment on...I don't know how some folks can say that the game only lasted 30 hours. The only way you could finish that fast is if you put it on casual difficulty and ignore all the side quests. I put in nearly twice that many hours, so I'm happy with the game length.Originally I wasn't able to change my other characters' weapons and armor. I had tried initially and it wouldn't let me so I didn't try again until a fellow reviewer told me you could do that a little while into the game, at least as far as the weapons go. You can't change the armor for any of the other characters, aside from buying these stupid little mods for their armor. I thought it was a step in the wrong direction. The cool thing about the first game was that when your main character got a cool new set of armor, you passed on your old set to one of your crew. Not possible here.The one unforgiveable thing about the game is the repetitive use of maps. You will go back to the same areas over and over and over again. Combined with the whole "stuck in town" feeling of the game, it really detracts from the epic nature of the original game. You were out there exploring the world, seeing new places all the time. Here you're in town and occasionally you go out of town briefly to do something, unfortunately its almost always back to the same three locations.Another small matter was the lack of the party camp. I really liked that from the first game. All your characters were together in one place and it made you feel like your party was in this terrible mess together. Now you have everyone who has their own house around town--it feels very odd to me for some reason. Why not have them all hang out at Hawke's place?All in all a very solid game. Takes a while to warm up to some of the changes but for the most part you will. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars if I could, but its definitely not a four star game the way it is. If they had added a little variety in the maps and put a little more work into the plot they could have easily made this better than the first game, even with the changes to the combat system. But now we know how they got the game on the market so fast. Read more ›
Bugs, Glitches, and HeartacheSooner Lawyer 29
+1 Month and still no patch.****************************************************************************************************Review for the XBOX 360 version of the game.I've loved Bioware's games. Dragon Age Origins is one of my favorite games. My first play through took 60 hours and when I finished, I promptly restarted the game. The story and the conflict were engaging. The characters were unique and likable. All-in-all DA:O was a delightful throwback to games like Baldur's Gate. I can't recall many games in recent memory that hooked me as fast.However, here I am, debating on whether or not I will ever play through Dragon Age 2 again. This game needed at least another year or two of development. It's either the result of rushed development, tight resources, or laziness.First the Good: The graphics on the XBOX 360 version are an improvement over DA:O. The animations are improved. The soundtrack is better. The button pressing combat creates a hack-n-slash experience with mixed results. However, it does provide a more interactive experience than DA:O where you tapped a button and then watched as your character began engaging the enemy. Although, I imagine PC users will likely be ticked by this change.The story has some amazing moments. Whoever wrote the Qunari pieces in the second act should get a raise. Those scenes were all gripping and amazingly done. Also a few of your party members really stand out. The characters "Varric" and "Merill" are great and their dialogue is very well done.The Bad: Good graphics don't mean anything if you see the same maps and the same textures throughout the entire game. By the end of the first act, I had grown tired of Kirkwall. I had seen everything. Every cave, every mansion, every beach rely on the exact same underlying map. So the cave is always the same. It always looks the same. Bioware changes things up by blocking where you can go on the map, but 1/3 of the way through the game and I found I had seen everything. This just feels lazy. Maybe they ran out of time or resources or perhaps they were constrained by the limits of the DVD format. I don't know and I don't care. This sucks. 30-45 hours of the same thing.. over and over and over.....The story details a political conflict. It's a political conflict that I don't want any part of because there is obviously no winner. There is no "good" or "bad" decision. Just shades of gray. No blight, just politics. I'm not rushing towards a great conclusion. I'm rushing into a Greek tragedy! Characters behave irrationally. Only thing I knew for certain was whatever decision I made, I'd pay for it later. Beyond that, your choices don't matter. You have the same boss fights regardless of which side you ultimately pick. It doesn't make story sense. I thought my choices would determine who the ultimate baddie would be, but no, you end up fighting both sides regardless of what you do. It feels forced. I played as a mage. The game centers around the conflict between mages and templars, but most templars didn't even seem to notice the fact my character was a mage.Then there are bugs. One character's quest became bugged. It was a bug that revealed the ending of her quest chain, thus spoiling the story. I went online and found that many other people have experienced the same thing. A problem even more noteworthy if you have engaged in a "romance" with said character.A few other bugs my friends and I have noticed: * No achievements for DA2 Exiled Prince DLC. That's 5 achievements for 130 gamer points that currently do not work. * Final boss fight glitches. Character remains stunned and villain is finished off by NPCs. * You can't finish quests in the third act. NPCs fail to engage when you approach. * Targeting problems with mages. * Monsters in various boss fights fail to appear, but still damage player and NPCS. * Game crashes when loading an area often resulting in a corrupted save file. * Game triggers that are supposed to reference decisions from DA:O, Golemns of Amgarak, and Witch Hunt fail to work.The game allows you to import your save from DA:O. For the most part, it doesn't matter. You get an extra side quest or get a forced cameo. Your choices don't impact much of anything. However, on a few occasions where the game could reference my decisions, I discovered that DA2 got my decisions wrong. I didn't spare the Architect!On normal difficulty and higher, battles go on too long. My characters always feel woefully underpowered. Monsters will seize on one character (almost always the rogue). At this point you run said character around for a bit waiting for monsters to engage someone else. It's stupid, but one of the only things I've found to work in some of the tougher fights. Party members ignore commands. There's a cool down on potions and an increased cool down on healing spells.I seriously could go on, but I'll spare you. I'm not alone in my complaints. Several of my friends pre-ordered as well. We've had group chat sessions that have turned into something of a Dragon Age 2 therapy session. Honestly, I'm hurt. I loved DA:O.I pre-ordered this game and I won't make that mistake again. I'll wait for reviews for Mass Effect 3 and any subsequent DA game. Read more ›
Dragon Age: Origins + Fable + Mass Effect 2R. Reining
I wish there were half-ratings, because I don't feel this is a baseline 3 star game. More like 3.5. Just not good enough to be a 4.While I only experienced two freezes in the entire game, numerous things about the game bothered me. What stands out the most is the lack of creativity throughout the entire game. It didn't bother me so much that the whole game takes place in a single city, because if done correctly you would forget you're in just one city (and even if you remembered, you'd be amazed it was all one city).I think the city of Denerim in Origins had just as many locations as this new city setting takes place in. And while a couple of the city locations are fairly large, you will travel every inch of them so many times the city loses its charm pretty quickly. And it's unfortunate, because one of the strengths or getting the player familiarized with an area is that certain locations will inevitably come to be associated with events in the game. There was such an instance while I was playing when I reached an area and I thought "Oh wow, this is where ______ was murdered." I won't reveal who because it would be a spoiler.However, the failure of the game setting is that underground areas/caves/exterior beach levels all used the exact same design. Literally, they would just re-use the same cave for all caves (except one, I think, which was unique), and they would fill it with different enemies. Drop giant spiders, blood mages or whatever else in the cave and change the quest, problem solved. And then the design of the cave itself was ridiculous. Not only did I feel it was lazy, but it made cave exploration feel like a chore, when in Origins it was one of the most fun parts. What this means for the familiarization of locations is that the personal connection I would have otherwise felt was shattered because the same interior setting existed in multiple places.And to expound on that point, I also felt a bit cheated in the game. Where in Origins the game took place along a large landmass and quests occurred all over it, the same locations are used over a period of ten years. So I'd take my time and work through nearly all the available quests, and then the game would skip ahead 1-3 years and suddenly I have to clear the same caves, deal with more gang problems, the same old thing. I found it cheap for one main reason. My first character was a "Good" guy. I helped out everyone I could, the best way I could. But then when the game skips ahead I'm supposed to buy that for the past three years my character was just absent from all events and did nothing to prevent the further decay of the city. It ruins the immersion.And that's the main thing really killed the game for me. That even though "rushed" isn't really the word I would use to describe what was wrong with the game, it was sorely lacking in the creativity department.The game still earns a 3.5 rating though, because especially the second half of the game, the story really picks up and gets really damn good. In the interest of keeping this review as short as possible, this is where I'll end my review. Dragon Age 2 was a game that had so much potential to be great, the ingredients were all there. But as with Mass Effect 2, I felt this sequel kind of moved sideways. It did some things better and some things worse than the original, and ultimately I was left feeling unsatisfied. Read more ›
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