Dragon Age: Origins E3 Previews

The week kicks off with two more E3-based previews of BioWare’s “spiritual successor” to Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age: Origins.

The first is at RPG Site:

The combat looks fun and dynamic and with the four characters fighting one big boss for a moment it looks very reminiscent of an MMO – except you’re playing all characters and filling all roles at once.

Players have the option to pause combat to issue commands to the entire party to be executed simultaneously on unpausing, but in our demo every action is executed in real time. With the dragon weakened, the knight mounts it and slams his sword into its neck.

And the other is at Xbox360Achievements.org:

Dragon Age: Origins looks to be shaping up to be a fantasy RPG of many different dimensions but nothing on show struck me in the face as being outstanding. The interactivity of the party does seem pretty complex and in-depth, and combined with the choice and consequence aspects of the title; it could really bring the game into its own. However, I’m still pretty astounded that in the 21st century, with a renowned developer like BioWare, we still have to read text from the bottom of a screen for our main character’s dialogue outside of the cut scenes. You’ve also got to question why for such a huge trade show like E3, BioWare decided that a 15 minute presentation on the birds and the bees in Dragon Age, finishing off with 5 minutes of combat was a good balance. Of course, it’s a BioWare title, so you’ve got to expect a powerful story and delivery, but everything from the presentation just screamed Carry On Lord of The Rings. Sure there was blood and gore, but after seeing the trailers released in the build up to E3, I had to question whether I was looking at the same game. Let’s hope for a better showing in Cologne in August.

So this guy is disappointed because he was forced to read and learn about inter-party romance, when he really just wanted to watch more of the blood-spewing “new shit” action seen in the trailers?

Perhaps BioWare should change their marketing techniques.