Dragon Age - Review Flood #1

Time to collect the deluge of Dragon Age reviews together.  Here are all the new links we've collected so far.  I'll highlight a couple and provide comments for some others.  Nearly every score is in the 9 range, although VideoGamer praises the game but still wants some sort of Mass Effect - Oblivion mashup despite the 8/10 score.

IGN - we've already seen articles from IGN AU and IGN UK but the US office now has their critique.  The PC version scores 9/10 and consoles 8.7/10 (X360 and PS3).  The plot, choices and character development are all praised, while noting the "wooden" romances and ordinary visuals:

Incredibly deep and expansive, Dragon Age: Origins is one of those titles that can easily swallow up dozens of hours of play and keep you coming back for more. The fact that BioWare chose to include downloadable content, including a new character and side quest, on launch day proves that they have an extensive plan for supporting the game. Couple that with the fact that each character can be developed in radically different ways, and you have an adventure that earns its own place among BioWare's expansive RPG collection. This is the kind of adventure that fantasy RPG fans have been hoping that BioWare would deliver – a game with a ton of re-playability and an incredibly vivid world that is the start of an impressive franchise.

GameSpy has one of their Concensus thingies, collecting comments from across IGNSpy.  Their official score is 4.5/5 and here's a comment on choices:

Again, it's the decisions that make Dragon Age: Origins such a thought-provoking experience. I've played through the game twice now, working on a third time, and I still have trouble choosing which companions to take with me on any given adventure. The story has a way of dropping situations in your lap where any of a handful of different options seem viable, with no clear-cut option standing out as the right one. This is due in part to Dragon Age: Origins' lack of a clearly defined moral alignment structure. Characters are generally complex, defying the unrealistically simplistic labels of "good" and "evil," and the game is the better for it.

• GameDaily - a "fantastic, involving role-playing experience" despite the visuals and "occasionally sloppy" dialogue.  No score.
• IncGamers - played for 55 hours and feels they saw 60% of the game.  "Stunning writing" and "bloody hard battles" are noted on the way to 9.4/10.
• GameZone - 9.9/10 tells everything about their view.  "Deep, rich and epic tale told in amazing fashion".
• OXM Online - Xbox, obviously, but they still loved it.  A "massive" and "fully-realised" world but they criticise re-used art and some awkward dialogue.  9/10.
• Games Radar - "High fantasy at its finest", although some battles are too hard and console owners don't get the best experience.  9/10.
• TeamXbox - Another X360 review, and again they loved it.  Choices, interaction, party members, combat and the story are all praised, allthough they note some "glitches" and ordinary graphics.  9.2/10.
• GamePlanet - Another 9/10 and called an "instant classic".  They don't like the spikes in difficulty and the "largely text-based epilogue".
• VideoGamer - the lowest score in this roundup at 8/10.  While they call it "superb" they clearly value modern approaches like Mass Effect, which is referenced several times, along with lines like "decades old mechanics".  This isn't "Mass Effect in Oblivion's clothes", they warn (Huh?).
• 1Up - Very positive but some comments on leaning "a little too much on its inspiration and tired fantasy tropes".  Oh, you'll want a rogue in your party, they say. Score - "A".