InsaneBear

Review: Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening

Score: Good
Difficulty played on: Normal
Time to beat: A little over 20 hours with almost all side-quests.
Loved the most: Loot. Sweet, sweet loot.
Hated the most: Way too easy.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is an expansion for Dragon Age: Origins that is available through download or retail disc. Awakening requires an active Origins save file in order to play. If you’re interested in the Dragon Age franchise but haven’t played Origins, check out this review.

It wasn’t too long ago that when a developer put out post-release content for a game, it was more than an hour long DLC mission. Sadly, that’s what most post-release support has come to these days. But BioWare has done PC RPGs of yore justice with a proper expansion pack for my 2009 Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins, subtitled Awakening. This meaty add-on features a full-fledged story of its own and sucks you in just as much as its parent game with in-depth character building and more loot than you can shake an enchanted stick at. Unfortunately, it still suffers from some of the same problems as Origins and is missing some of the elements that made that game so memorable. Still, if you loved the main game then you’re sure to enjoy Awakening and it’s $40 price point.

One of the most disappointing aspects of Awakening is that it doesn’t feature the unique “Origin Stories” found in Origins. So instead of playing through an individual character prologue for a couple of hours, we’re thrown right into the thick of things with a counter-assault on Vigil’s Keep, the Grey Warden stronghold which has been overrun with Darkspawn. We are greeted as the new Commander of the Wardens, which is sort of annoying if you’re importing your character from the main game and nobody instantly recognizes you as the hero of Ferelden. And as a side note, it was simultaneously hilarious and frustrating that my Blood Dragon Armor DLC didn’t seem to register with Awakening, leaving my mighty warrior with nothing but his skivvies to do battle in until I found some suitable replacements. My point here is that it might be a better idea to just start the expansion as a new character with the Orlesian Grey Warden background, which was specifically crafted for Awakening.

Regardless of who you take into battle, you’ll soon find yourself commanding the depleted Grey Wardens in a desperate struggle against mysteriously intelligent Darkspawn who are rather fond of the English language. You’ll quickly gather a few allies and a cart-load of side-quests to go along with the main narrative’s leads. One of those allies returns from Origins‘ adventure and gives a nice sense of comfort in a foreign land, even if he is a bumbling drunk. The other allies, while new, are liable to bring back memories of old friends. Awakening makes it readily apparent that BioWare recycles the same dozen or so archetypes, which leads to these comrades being a little less memorable than the rag-tag crew of Origins. There definitely are a couple interesting and unique party members this time around, but it’s no coincidence that I was glad to see the very few (read: not enough) cameos from the main game.

Another familiar sight from Origins are the dated graphics. Awakening is running on the same engine as the main game, so the visuals are pretty much the same on a technical level. What that means is that this expansion looks and runs smooth enough, but that you’ll never be left in awe of the world around you. Where Awakening does make some visual advances is in the art department. Environments in this game seem much more varied and detailed than in its predecessor, and they really add to the atmosphere of the ominous story. The sinister art direction also applies to the few new enemies in the game, as well as more unique and visually appealing armaments. Awakening‘s visuals certainly aren’t on par with BioWare’s other recent RPG, Mass Effect 2, but the improved artistic design and increased environmental/character variety makes them more intriguing than Origins‘.

The auditory aspect of Awakening is just as great as it was in Origins, and following suit with the visuals, there are some minor but noticeable improvements. All NPCs are still fully voiced with an acceptable level of believability, your questing companions still steal the show with their witty background banter, and your character is still communicating through some telepathic means and a few grunts. What makes everything better this time around is that the lip-syncing is always right and there are no immersion-breaking glitches that have characters moving their mouths without any words coming out. The battle cries and ferocious clangs of combat are still just as intense and the score complements the action just as splendidly as before. Awakening is a pleasure to listen to.

Gameplay is where this game ultimately suffers, simply because it has less of what made Origins so great and fails to fix the many issues that plagued our first adventure. The ridiculously unintuitive menus and combat interface of Origins are only strained more by the addition of new spells, talents, and skills. One thing I’ll give the radial menus of the main game is that they managed to fit just enough hot keys in there to cover all of your most useful combat actions. In Awakening, the user interface is overloaded with useful attacks and talents, meaning that one has to pause the action and navigate through up to three tiers of radial combat menus to utilize a character to his full potential. Granted, you’ll quickly get used to this (especially if you’re already used to the poor interface of the main game) and battle will be a breeze, but menu navigation completely kills the visceral nature that all hostile encounters should strive for.

Yet another unwelcome recurrence is how unexplained and hidden useful crafting skills are. Where as the herbalism, poison-making, and trap-making of Origins were all moderately cool features that had no significant impact on gameplay, the new rune crafting skill in Awakening is extremely beneficial once you figure out how to utilize it. As with the other skills, it is hidden in the radial menus of combat, but this one is even more complicated because you need to find or buy rune tracings before you can even attempt to create the magical stones. You then need to purchase the crafting materials and go through a tedious process of creating enough low-level runes to combine into medium-level runes to then combine into high-level runes and so on. None of this is ever clearly explained either. But once you do figure the feature out you can make some really helpful enchantments for your weapons and armor. And if you’re anything like me then you love to see your stats boosting before your eyes.

Hey, speaking of stat boosting, that reminds me of a really innovative and engrossing quest from Awakening that sends your party to a fantastical dream realm that’s littered with permanent attribute upgrades for your character…oh, wait, that was actually from Origins, the expansion just rips it off. But all sarcasm aside, Awakening truly does suffer from unoriginal and uninspired mission-design. Most of the side-quests are forgettable collection quests and the main quests’ high-lights typically feel lifted from the parent game. There are certainly a few tasks that stand out (a devilishly punishing puzzle comes to mind), but most of them just lack the daring ingenuity of those in Origins. And it doesn’t help that Awakening completely side-steps the socially-conscious narratives of its predecessor, instead opting for purely entertainment-driven fantasy.

All of those complaints are secondary to the game’s difficulty, though. Where as Origins straddled the fine line between satisfying challenge and frustrating waste of time, Awakening tones things down to the point where I never had to fear death. In over 20 hours of gameplay I only succumbed to my foes twice, and some simple equipment optimization remedied both trials. In fact, the game is so easy that I never bothered to adjust my party’s tactics which saved me the hassle of navigating those horrendous menus but was extremely disappointing at the same time. Awakening‘s balance of rewards and struggles is way too slanted for my tastes.

Still, fans of Dragon Age are most likely invested in this franchise for the rich universe and exciting tales of might and magic. Awakening‘s story isn’t as epic and apocalyptic as Origins‘, but it makes up for it with foreboding mystery and dark atmosphere. It’s a tale that will keep you coming back for more until it ends all too soon. The shorter length of Awakening‘s campaign provides less time for character development and you’ll likely feel less attached to these allies than those of your Blight fighting days, but it’s still an intriguing narrative worth playing through. The only bad part is the abrupt ending, which cheats the player out of proper resolution for every character. Of course, the text summaries seen at the end of the main game return here and clear up everybody’s fate, but I felt like I was robbed of an epic battle and emotional reunion. I was also extremely upset that the game implied I could double cross my temporary ally down the road, only to end things after we defeated our mutual enemy together. I definitely expected the story to keep going when the end rolled around, but I suppose the climax was satisfactory.

The roughly 20 hours netted by your $40 are a pretty good value when you consider some people pay $60 for 7 hour campaigns, but there’s no question that this expansion doesn’t give as much bang for the buck as Origins. The lack of “Origin Stories” makes replaying the campaign much less appealing and there is much less player-choice to significantly affect the narrative’s direction in this game. Add that with the fact that Awakening is only about a third the size of its parent game and you might feel like you’re getting the short end of the stick. But we have to remember that Origins was a rare value and that all things considered, this expansion is probably worth the money.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is a pretty darn good expansion when all is said and done. It’s easy to get lost in the game world for hours on end and there’s so much unique booty to be had that I didn’t even mind spending a half-hour outfitting my party in inventory menus every play-session. It’s just as funny as the game it supplements and is even more immersiive after undergoing minor technical improvements. It’s just too bad that we still have to tolerate such a perilous interface when we aren’t even rewarded with socially relevant scenarios and lovable characters this time. But still, if you loved Origins, then it’s a safe bet that you’ll enjoy Awakening too.

Author: Cody

Tags: bioware, dragon age: origins, dragon age: origins - awakening, ea, review