Dragon Age 2 review

WARNING:MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

It’s a Bioware game so it has to be good Right?

Dragon Age 2 is the 2011 sequel to the award winning 2009 Action Role Playing Game Dragon Age Origins. DAO is one of my all time favourite games so DA2 should be even better then DAO right?

You are Hawk, a survivor of the Darkspawn attack on Lothering and Champion of Kirkwall. The story is split up into 3 Acts and takes place over a period of 10 years. A Dwarf named Varric narrates the story and does exaggerate at certain points.

The story is good but it is a bit of a letdown and the third act seems to have been rushed. Act 1 is about creating a life in the city of Kirkwall. Act 2 is about Hawke’s rise to power and Act 3 is the beginning of the  Mage’s rebellion.  The first act is good but it could have focused more on Hawke’s life in Lothering before fleeing to Kirkwall. It could have been done in the style of the Origins in DAO and served as way to introduce new players to the world of Thedas.   The second Act picks up 3 years after the events of Act 1 and has a unexpected twist in the middle of it.

Now the third act is the worst act is where the story goes downhill completely and seems to just want to get the story over. There are no choices that have consequences and you will end up facing the same two final bosses. Both endings are more or less the same but seem to be in reverse order. Both endings feel like a letdown and fails to live up to DAO’s multiple endings.

 Overall the story is good but completely goes downhill at the beginning of Act 3 and there are some plot holes. The years between acts are not covered and the Templars never come for you if you are a Mage or your sister.

The gameplay has been overhauled and is now quicker. But it seems to have lost the charm that DAO’s system had. Battles can be won within seconds due to it being in real time and mostly hack and slash. You still have talents that you can activate at the cost of some stamina and can tag them to any of the six talent slots. The tactics are back and every companion comes with a predetermined set of tactics and behaviour. There are a 20 tactics slots available to plan your tactics for that character. So you can still choose to fight with strategy or just play the game like a hack and slash.

The combat is a bit over the top and doesn’t fit into the world of Thedas. Enemies seem to be able appear from thin air which breaks immersion but a majority of the enemies can be dispatched within 30 seconds to a minute. The finishing moves have been removed completely so if you want to get satisfaction from watching Hawke or one of his companions stabbing an enemies then chopping of your head then i’m afraid you won’t be able to. I personally prefer the slow paced system of DAO as there was a sense of achievement when you won a 2 minute fight. But i can see why some people will like the new system. 

You can no longer choose what armour your companions wear which I personally hate. You can upgrade their armour by either buying the upgrades or finding them. I would prefer to choose what they wore as their initial and for most only attire offers little to no protection. This leads to a large majority of the armour you will find useless due to not being the correct class and some of the requirements don’t make sense. For example, generic armour requires 17 strength and 18 willpower.

Hawke speaks and the player can choose what personality he has by choosing certain dialog choices in the dialog wheel. For example, a choice with a comedy mask will result in a humorous or sarcastic Hawke.  But it feels like Hawke is the Dragon Age version of Shepherd and there is not as much dialog in DA2 opposed to DAO.

Overall the gameplay system is good but has a load of flaws.

The user interface has been changed and has complicated some very simple features of the last game. The codex and inventory screens can no longer be accessed via one button. Instead they have been split up into different sections which can be selected in the menu. The menu is a copy of Mass Effect 2’s menu which i dislike as i preferred the simple menu of DAO. The health bars and stamina meters of your party have been shrunken and can now be turned off when there is no combat.

The soundtrack is excellent and does feature some songs from DAO.

Overall Dragon Age 2 is a good game but is not a worthy sequel to Dragon Age Origins. It has some major flaws and is a rushed game. There are only 5 maps or seems to be 5 maps that are used constantly. There are not many choices that lead to consequences.

I am going to give Dragon Age 2 a 6/10. It is  above average but is a major let down and could have done with another year or two in development. 

DAO review

Grey Wardens, Darkspawn and sex.

Dragon Age Origins is an action RPG that was released in 2009 for the PS3, Xbox and PC. DAO was developed by famed RPG developers Bioware. But does DAO live up to the pedigree?
You are Grey warden, who is part an order of warriors dedicated to fighting the darkspawn and defeating the blights. Ferelden now faces blight and it is up to you to unite the lands against the horde and defeat the Archdemon. The story is excellent and does have some excellent twists which the player will be shocked at. I can’t go into more detail about the story as I fear it would lead to some spoilers.
But before you join the wardens, you have six origins to choose from which are Dwarf Noble, Dwarf Commoner, Dalish Elf, City elf, Human Noble and the circle of Magi which affect some parts of the main quest. For example a Dwarf noble will be greeted in a positive manner by the Dwarves of Ozammer.  Each origin can take an hour or two to complete and are good although some are a bit weaker than the others. I would have liked some more origins to pick from but the current ones are sufficient.
You can play as a human, elf or dwarf each with their own racial benefits. For example, Dwarves get a bonus to strength but they can’t be mages.  There are 3 classes which you can choose from or two if you are a dwarf. Warriors are generally tanks whilst Rogues are best suited for scouting. Mages are very powerful and will be attacked the most.
The gameplay is excellent, you can fight in real time or use a tactical approach. When the player fights in real time, the game uses Auto attack which some people have disliked and I can see why. It is a bit slow. With the tactics, you can tell your tank to defend your mage. Every time you level up, you only get 3 points which is a bit odd but I feel that it prevents you from becoming overpowered and is a good thing.
The graphics are average but considering the size of the game that is acceptable. There are a few bugs and the voice acting is excellent. I haven’t even scratched the surface of DAO as it is a very larger game.
PROS

• The story is excellent and is 20-30hours long
• There is plenty of side quests
• The game covers grey areas
• Tons of lore to discover
• Excellent voice acting
• The tactics system
• The origins are good
• Each race is unique and doesn’t fall under the stereotype
• Excellent soundtrack

CONS

• Combat can be slow
• Random spikes in difficulty can make the game very hard
• Could do with more origins to choose from and they could be longer
• Has a fair bit of bugs
• Can't zoom out on the console versions

Overall DAO is an excellent game with some minor flaws, if you are a RPG fan then I will recommend that you buy this. If you are looking for game to rush through then this is not the game for you. I am going to give this a 9/10 which is near perfect but has some flaws.



I am a bit rusty at doing reviews so forgive me if i missed anything major out. So please leave your thoughts on this review. Are you going to get this based on my review?

I know it has been awhile since i have updated this blog but i have been very busy looking for a job and haven't had the free time to do a review.

two reviews coming soon and other Blog related stuff.

I have neglected the blog due to me searching for a job. So to make up for it, i will review two games. I think i will start doing reviews  monthly as i may a job soon and that will take up most of me free time. In the next two weeks, the reviews should be up. I will try to keep the blog updated when i am in the proccess of reviewing a game and may do the odd bit of rambling.:p 

Infamous review

Infamous is an action adventure sandbox game that was released in 2009 for the Sony PlayStation 3. The plot starts out with Cole surviving the blast. He then makes his way to the bridge where he collapses but on his way there his  new found powers start to go out of control and causes death and destruction. The plot is excellent and is presented through comic book style cut scenes. It makes the player feel like they are reading a super hero comic and this helps to engage the player into the main story. There are some unexpected twists. The ending has a very large plot twist. As you progress through the game, you can see what Empire city has become.

The game play is good but the climbing can be very sticky. For example Cole will jump to the nearest ledge instead of what the player wants him to jump onto. If you jump from a great hieght, he will automatically grab onto anything on his way down which can be frustrating for the player. Infamous incorpates some RPG elements. To gain more powerful powers, you need XP which can be the player can earn by doing story missions, sides missions and just beating up anyone. The powers themselves are good and can change based on your Karma. There are several Karma choices throughout the game and most of them are clear cut. There are no grey areas which some players may find to be a bit disappointing.

The graphics are just above average. Empire city has been devastated by the blast and the game does show that. Every time you take over a territory, the people will clean it up. But it feels like it is not shown as best as it can. For example, a few crashed helicopters would have been a good addition to the game as it would have given an better idea of how powerful the blast was.

The NPCs sometimes don't react to their surroundings and can spoil the experience a bit.  There is a back story that is told by Dead Drops which is a good feature to the game. There are 30 Dead Drops in the game and each one adds more information to how the blast happened.


Overall Infamous is a good game but suffers from a few problems. Such as the sticky climbing, the NPCs etc.. Also it can get a bit repetitive it has done well for a first game in a new  series so it isn't perfect. It is a 7/10. It's good but needs some improvement.

Welcome to The Lone Steven Reviews. The place where anything can be reviewed by one man with too much free time on his hands. And the odd politic post.;)
I shall review Infamous soon so stay tuned folks.

Blog relaunch

I am in the proccess of relaunching this blog. I am going to start reviewing things on here. There may be a few hiccups over the next few hours as i am going to be coding the new redesign. When i have finished redesigning the blog, i will do another post. 

Also all previous posts will be deleted as i am trying to start over again.


 The Lone Steven
Blog Admin and coder