Dragon Age - Preview @ bit-tech.net

UK site bit-tech.net is next up with a preview of Bioware's first proprietary IP cRPG, Dragon Age:Origins. Here's a bit on the "origins" cconcept:

The origins mechanic is a brand new feature for BioWare and one which has taken a long time to create as it basically changes the entire game in some way...Basically, when players start a game they choose a number of different options, much as they would do when started a game of Baldur’s Gate. What race do you want to be? What class are you? What are your starting stats? Do you need to choose a racial enemy or set some memorised spells?...

What makes Dragon Age different though is that how you design your character will change the setting for the first few hours of the game, which BioWare is calling the Origin Story as it explains who and where you come from. BioWare is hoping it’ll help build up a better sense of character for you too but introducing a sense of motivation and narrative to your own player-generated character.

So if, for example, you created a character who was an Elven mage then you may find that the first few hours of the game cast you as a young Elf learning his or her craft and enjoying a privileged upbringing. As a human rogue meanwhile you might find your origin is completely different – say, as a pauper who learns to thieve in order to survive life on the streets.

Conclusion:

In fact, when you get right down to it, BioWare’s latest RPG epic is so strikingly similar to its previous games that it’s hard to find many faults with it. It’s a tad formulaic in presentation obviously, but it’s a formula that BioWare has got down to an absolute tee. The last half dozen games the company has made may be fundamentally very similar, but they’re also undeniably very good too...

We liked Dragon Age: Origins an awful lot. Already we can tell that it’s shaping up to be a fantastically balanced and well written game and we don’t doubt that we’ll sink countless hours into it and that we’ll still be playing it in years to come – just like we do with BioWare’s other games.