Dragon Age: Origins

While not the newest game on the block these days DA:O is an RPG in the same mold as Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR). Yes I will agree with previous posts about the graphics engine not being the greatest, but they are no worse than some games on this generation of gaming machines and will be more than acceptable for the majority of players out there. Some people have pointed out the lack of voice from the main character in the game and yes, your character does not speak (bar a few battle crys), unlike Mass Effect, but you do get a range of responces to which NPCs will respond harking back to the days of Baulders Gate, Shinning Force etc. On that note I will highlight one thing which is the voice casting for NPCs. Bioware have a history in using good actors in their games and again this is true, Claudia Black Tim Curry and Kate Mulgrew being three that come to mind. The bread and butter of RPG's, however, is the story mode and with DA:O, Bioware have done their usual and produced a story that can draw players into the world. Anyone who has played any RPG will know the story, hell anyone whos played ANY video game (bar sports games) in history will probably know the plot, namely player and rag tag band of companions come together to save the world from an unspeakable evil. What Bioware has done however is build a world that has a rich and believable history, with every character of note having reasons for doing what they do. There are 3 playable races; humans, elfs and dwarfs and the race each get at least 2 origins which most players will take a hour or two to get through if watching cutscenes and listening to NPC's (players can skip these 9 times out of 10, but on first play throughs I would recommend listening and watching everything). Once past the origin story all characters will converge, and the main story begins in earnest (I'll stop there, just incase anyone is worried over spoilers). The game is not short and you will be doing various fetch and carry or kill this person quests while doing the main plot line, the pay off however is like in all RPGs experiance and loot which always helps in this type of game, heck on my first play through I topped out at 50 hours +. The other good thing about this game is the available (at time of writing) DLC. One stand alone expansion will add a good 20 hours or more to your game, and while I don't agree with the cost of some of these, they do help give the player background and closure to certain events that happen in the game. The combat system reminds me of the previous mentioned KOTOR, its not going to be to everyones taste but it does what its supposed to do, yes it could be better but its not a game breaker. I will disagree with people saying alot of the rooms and areas are cloned. Yes the out door areas and SOME internal sections (namely houses in towns) are very alike, but on the whole most areas are different and unlike the sequel (but thats for a different review...) All in all DA:O is your classic high fantasy RPG and to anyone who is a fan of genre I would highly recommend this game

Great game, the best rpg i have played on ps3 so far in terms of storyline, voice-acting and lasting appeal, found it difficult to put the controller down sometimes, yet to try skyrim though! most rpg's i have played on ps3 have been mundane, esp compared to final fantasys etc on the old ps systems. the characters are interesting enough n getin to know them is part of the game and will affect certain parts, the battle system is decent with different types of fighting and there are lots of quests to keep you busy for a long time

Ok, this is a traditional RPG, NOT a crappy hack and slash RPG like it's sequel.

If you enjoyed Baldur's Gate, Dungeon Siege, Diablo or any traditional RPG you will probably love this game, it may not be as long as hardcore fans would like but the replay value is there.

If your a drooling idiot looking for another action fix then DO NOT rent this game go check out Call of Duty like the other simpletons.

This is the best RPG since the release of the current gen of consoles, if your an RPG can it's a must!

The character developement system is reasonable, I'd suggest the mage class as there's just so many options to choose from.

The story is crammed full of inuendo and rife with wonderful humor, your characters interact as your venture forward and finally the game has multiple segments of story which can play out in many different ways depending on characters in your party and decisions you've made.

I'd also recommend Mass Effect, but given the buzz around it everyones probably already aware of ME.

The second game was alot better than this! this game is easyly skipped as it is very boring to play.

was excited to rent this game after hearing how good it was, only to discover it plays like a bad psone game. avoid at all costs