(Eds Note: Awakening is being offered both as downloadable content and as a full retail release in stores. Both feature identical content; however, the retail disc is playable as a standalone product, able to either import a Dragon Age Origins save or begin a new Orlesian character without any disk check that we could find. As such, we'd recommend the retail disc over the DLC, if you have the option. )
In the age of DLC, expansions are a tricky proposition. It used to be that any PC developer could throw some new campaign content on a disc, sell if for 20 dollars and call it a day. Now, players expect to see DLC for everything, and the obligations for expansions have increased accordingly. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening would seem at first glance to fill that role well. It’s been positioned as not just the next chapter, but the next book in the Dragon Age fiction. It covers the expansion bases with more spells, more skills, more gear, more characters, more, well, everything, really. But where its fully priced
predecessor managed to equal much more than the sum of its parts to become the flawed pinnacle of BioWare’s old-school PC RPG heritage, Awakening has a harder time finding its footing, and ends all too quickly.
Awakening’s premise is simple: following the defeat of the Arch-Demon, the Darkspawn remain on the surface of Ferelden wreaking havoc along the countryside as reports surface of new, more disturbing creatures in their ranks, including several who have been heard speaking. As the new commander of Ferelden’s Grey Warden contingent, it falls on you to rebuild the order and find out what precisely is going on.
The premise starts simple anyway. As might be expected, things get complicated quickly, as the various leads you discover regarding the Darkspawn point in several directions. Initially, the world feels large, and tough choices abound. If your character was, well, not in a position to continue their adventures for Awakening, you can either import them regardless and allow Awakening to fudge Origins’ ending a bit, or you can start a new level 18 character, a Grey Warden from neighboring Orlais (with their own origin et al).
Your party members are all prospective Wardens, and the decision to induct them or not carries with it the need for the Joining, with all the dangers that implies. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, Awakening doesn’t feel like there’s an illusion of consequence – BioWare makes it clear that Things Can Go Badly.
In fact, it often seems like BioWare intends for things to go badly. People will die. You won’t always be able to save the day. High Dragons will literally be dropped on top of you with zero warning. The stakes don’t feel as high as they did in Origins, but they feel a bit more intimately dire. It makes for a different tone to the game.
In the age of DLC, expansions are a tricky proposition. It used to be that any PC developer could throw some new campaign content on a disc, sell if for 20 dollars and call it a day. Now, players expect to see DLC for everything, and the obligations for expansions have increased accordingly. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening would seem at first glance to fill that role well. It’s been positioned as not just the next chapter, but the next book in the Dragon Age fiction. It covers the expansion bases with more spells, more skills, more gear, more characters, more, well, everything, really. But where its fully priced
predecessor managed to equal much more than the sum of its parts to become the flawed pinnacle of BioWare’s old-school PC RPG heritage, Awakening has a harder time finding its footing, and ends all too quickly.
The premise starts simple anyway. As might be expected, things get complicated quickly, as the various leads you discover regarding the Darkspawn point in several directions. Initially, the world feels large, and tough choices abound. If your character was, well, not in a position to continue their adventures for Awakening, you can either import them regardless and allow Awakening to fudge Origins’ ending a bit, or you can start a new level 18 character, a Grey Warden from neighboring Orlais (with their own origin et al).
Your party members are all prospective Wardens, and the decision to induct them or not carries with it the need for the Joining, with all the dangers that implies. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, Awakening doesn’t feel like there’s an illusion of consequence – BioWare makes it clear that Things Can Go Badly.
In fact, it often seems like BioWare intends for things to go badly. People will die. You won’t always be able to save the day. High Dragons will literally be dropped on top of you with zero warning. The stakes don’t feel as high as they did in Origins, but they feel a bit more intimately dire. It makes for a different tone to the game.
It’s unfortunate then that the narrative and pacing elements of Awakening feel so uneven. Aside from the now infamous BioWare Point of No Return ™ that occurs with little warning, the overarching plot moves along in fits and starts (though Awakening’s twists are much more interesting than Origins’), and sidequests are usually over so quickly that it’s difficult to find narrative satisfaction. The new characters are interesting though, and they do grow and develop (if a little predictably), and there are some really great moments of dialogue that usually involve Anders, the escape artist mage. Players hoping for reunions with some of their favorite party members from Origins are in for some frustration however, as the few threads binding Awakening and its forebear feel cursory at best. It may not be fair, but it’s a disappointment in the post Mass Effect 2 age to see so seemingly few decisions and their consequences carried over.
Presentationally things feel compromised as well. From voice-acting that can be irritatingly inconsistent at times to bizarre clipping issues with the camera in the “New annoyances” column, to the frequently awful textures and audio compression in the “Old Annoyances” column, Awakening is, like Origins before it, a game enjoyed despite its technical aspects. The framerate seems more consistent at least.
Awakening does get the expansion-obligatory level and skill increases right for the most part. With new specializations for every class and a new level 20 tier for each skill and talent, your character has a lot of new options available to them, and a new level cap that I didn’t even reach by the end of the campaign. Rune-crafting is also new, and aside from the same crafting interface quirks present before, is especially useful, if expensive.
BioWare has a history of major content expansions for their flagship RPGs, from Baldur’s Gate I and II to Neverwinter Nights. With estimates from BioWare of 30 hours of playtime and a full year in development (in parallel with the final QA for Origins), it sounded like Awakening was set to continue that tradition. However, fifteen hours later, I’m left feeling more ambivalent than I thought I would – and with more free time that I’d thought I’d have, to be completely honest. As the continuation of the events of Origins, it feels surprisingly disconnected, and threads left hanging there are never explored here. If you can make peace with its issues, Awakening has much more content than four 800 MS Point DLC releases would. But, at two-thirds the price of Origins with about two-fifths the content, a return trip to the land of Ferelden doesn’t feel like the deal it seemed it would be.
Presentationally things feel compromised as well. From voice-acting that can be irritatingly inconsistent at times to bizarre clipping issues with the camera in the “New annoyances” column, to the frequently awful textures and audio compression in the “Old Annoyances” column, Awakening is, like Origins before it, a game enjoyed despite its technical aspects. The framerate seems more consistent at least. Awakening does get the expansion-obligatory level and skill increases right for the most part. With new specializations for every class and a new level 20 tier for each skill and talent, your character has a lot of new options available to them, and a new level cap that I didn’t even reach by the end of the campaign. Rune-crafting is also new, and aside from the same crafting interface quirks present before, is especially useful, if expensive.
BioWare has a history of major content expansions for their flagship RPGs, from Baldur’s Gate I and II to Neverwinter Nights. With estimates from BioWare of 30 hours of playtime and a full year in development (in parallel with the final QA for Origins), it sounded like Awakening was set to continue that tradition. However, fifteen hours later, I’m left feeling more ambivalent than I thought I would – and with more free time that I’d thought I’d have, to be completely honest. As the continuation of the events of Origins, it feels surprisingly disconnected, and threads left hanging there are never explored here. If you can make peace with its issues, Awakening has much more content than four 800 MS Point DLC releases would. But, at two-thirds the price of Origins with about two-fifths the content, a return trip to the land of Ferelden doesn’t feel like the deal it seemed it would be.
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