On the face of it, Dragon Age is nothing new: a role-playing game set in a standard Tolkienesque fantasy world under siege by a sinister legion of ugly creatures with no other clear motive but world domination. Naturally there’s a cast of elves, dwarves, golems, werewolves, rogue assassins and tyrannical kings, not to mention the odd dragon or two; a dramatic setting full of underground kingdoms, castles, and mysterious forests; an equally dramatic score leafed almost directly from
Hollywood fantasy blockbusters with cinematics to match, and, as this is an RPG, a fully customisable central character with a grand total of six possible origins stories, based on the character’s race (dwarf, elf or human) and class (mage, rogue or warrior). Link all this together with a plot made of quests and battles and the result is a carbon-copy fantasy that would be familiar to anyone who has read the Lord of the Ring or even looked at a Dungeons and Dragons setup.

Dragon Age calls itself a “dark fantasy” but this is something of a misnomer. “Dark fantasy” suggests that there is something in the fantasy setup itself that is inherently disturbing and this is not the case, instead Dragon Age is a fantasy with dark elements: issues like poverty, racism, and drug abuse lurk at it’s fringes, padded out with a smattering of gore and sex, because evidently we cannot have a gritty adult fantasy without a side-ordering of scantily clad women (but sadly far fewer scantily clad men, pity that) which slightly undermines the more genuinely disturbing aspects. Unfortunately some of these issues are skirted around a little too much and can disappear altogether particularly where linked to the customisation of the central character: there’s a nicely nasty set of prejudices that can appear when playing as an elf, part of this particular fantasy realm’s slave underclass, but these start to dwindle as the main quest continues.
Yet despite all this, Dragon Age is a thoroughly enjoyable game given an enormous replay buzz thanks to an enormous number of variables and decisions the player can make throughout, most of which impact the
central story, and the side quests, in their own separate ways. The story, although centrally simple, is rich enough to remain interesting, with side quests that enrich the situation all the more. For the most part the animation is watchable and though a few bugs and discrepancies can weaken some of the cinematics, this is more than made up for by dynamic battle animations and classy executions. Voice acting ranges from competent to camp and there were several instances where I found myself choosing my party of allies based on which would have more interesting conversations, or arguments as the case may be, to keep me amused while exploring. As for gameplay, for the most part it’s a varied mix of battles and exploration, though the boss battles can be repetitive as most involve simply chipping away at the enemy’s health with whatever weaponry seems most suitable. There’s also no matching of enemies to the player’s level and no clear order in which to attack the quests, so some quests can be fiendishly difficult or irritatingly easy depending on when you attempt them with no early indication of whether or not this quest will be a tricky one until you’re stuck there. Still, it’s a genuinely fun game that offers dozens of hours of entertainment each playthough and is almost guaranteed to be different on each attempt, even if you don’t take the time to read the nine novel’s worth of additional text!
Still, it’s a genuinely fun game that offers dozens of hours of entertainment each playthough and is almost guaranteed to be different on each attempt, even if you don’t take the time to read the nine novel’s worth of additional text
