Dragon Age: Origins is rewarding fantasy experience

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

The concept of video game addiction has been used frequently to describe role-playing games (RPG's). I have always found such a concept to be purely ridiculous. Then I played Dragon Age: Origins, a game so detailed and loaded with content that I destroyed any concept of time I had going in. I ended up turning an intended 45-minute session into 5 hours or more every time I held that Xbox 360 controller in my hand.

Set in the fictional fantasy land of Ferelden, Dragon Age tells an epic story of "Lord of the Rings" sized proportions. In the game you are a Grey Warden, the last of a clan of warriors dedicated to defending the land from malevolent demons known only as Dark Spawn.

As the Dark Spawn begin to rally against the kingdoms of Ferelden in a final confrontation, the Grey Wardens have called upon ancient treaties signed by the kingdoms to agree to fight alongside the Grey Wardens in the battle against the Dark Spawn. As the last of the Grey Wardens, it's up to the player to collect on the treaties and build an army to rid Ferelden of its demonic plague once and for all.

The plot may sound like conventional fantasy, but where Dragon Age succeeds is its amazingly detailed setting and characters. The world is beautifully defined through the origin stories that players play at the start of the game, generated from every aspect of their created character such as race, class, and back-story.

For example, elves, being second-class citizens, are shown less respect than humans, which can make persuading humans for favors significantly harder. Every aspect of Dragon Age feels refreshingly organic for a video game, from the lengthy but well-fleshed-out plot, to the detailed settings and memorable characters.

Graphically, Dragon Age is far from an ugly looking game. The animation and character models are top notch, and the game always runs very smoothly on both the Xbox 360 and PC. However the console version does have a noticeably lower polygon count, making it look slightly inferior to its PC counterpart. Regardless of which console you buy it on, however, Dragon Age: Origins is a fine-looking game not afraid to take advantage of its next generation hardware.

No RPG would be a success without content, and this is where Dragon Age excels. The main quest alone takes at least 30 hours to complete, but only if you do not get sidetracked by the ridiculous amount of side quests in the game.

Utilizing a dialogue system that allows players to choose from a list of responses in conversation, virtually every person around Ferelden has a possible job or favor for you to help them with. These side quests combined with the origin stories insure no play-through of the game is the same. Combat can be finicky at first, and the cramped layout of the console versions can make larger scale battles frustrating, but once you get the hang of it, the flaws of its fast pace and awkward camera angles become very manageable. If you're looking for a game to sink a lot of hours into, then look no further than Dragon Age.

In short, this is probably the best RPG I have played all year. Players be warned; Dragon Age is not a short game by any means. If you intend to start, make sure you have the time to put forth, because it will be very greatly rewarded.