Back in June, during the excitement of E3, BioWare announced new DLC on the way for Dragon Age: Origins titled Leliana’s Song. Of course I was excited, but after the semi-bland Darkspawn Chronicles, Chris was very apprehensive.

On Tuesday morning, the day of launch, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new DLC, but I also was hoping I wouldn’t be disappointed. From watching the official trailer, I could tell that the feel for this DLC would be significantly different, and it was. In Leliana’s Song, we find out  more about her past, especially the events that led Leliana to join the Chantry. We, obviously, knew that Marjolaine betrayed Leliana from what was said in Dragon Age: Origins, but we didn’t know how.

You start off the game, of course as Leliana, and are in the Denerim Market. Marjolaine tells how you and your sidekicks, Tug and Sketch, will be performing some jobs tonight. Tug is a warrior dwarf, and Sketch, from what I could tell, is a human mage, although his hair might have been hiding some elf ears, I don’t know. In the beginning I got a good sense for who the two new characters were, and I genuinely liked them. After doing what Marjolaine asked, she goes on to say how there is one last task for the night, and that it takes place in the Arl’s estate.

Here, you are to plant some papers in the bedroom of the Arl, and from what Marjolaine says, it has to do with him having mistresses. Seems harmless, right? Wrong. After laying the documents on the desk, Leliana notices that the papers contain the official seal of the Orlais military, and what she has committed can be considered treason. Leliana confronts Marjolaine, and after some words, they go back to retrieve the papers. Here is where Marjoliane becomes a complete back-stabbing bitch: she sets you up. Big surprise.

When you are fleeing the estate with the papers, your party sees Marjolaine who stabs you, and you’re captured. Hurt, both emotionally and physically, Leliana receives some kindness in prison, which helps her escape. Sadly some things have happened to a member of your party, but you gain a new member to take their place, so it all balances out. I will say, that by having three members in my party rather than four, some battles were difficult since I had to drastically adjust my tactics. Fortunately I was able to level up multiple times throughout the DLC, so I was able to beef my characters up.

Once Leliana and her companions break free from the jail, she wakes up in the Chantry. From there she is shown that reformation and change can happen, and she can leave her old life behind. She just has to make the right decision for her. Obviously one would think Leliana wanted revenge, and of course she does, but by doing so, she would be just like Marjolaine. Having a difficult decision to make, Leliana knows that she at least has to fix the damage that was done and retrieve those papers. I won’t say what happens at the end, but if you’ve played through all of Dragon Age: Origins, you pretty much know what happens.

The feel of this DLC was different. It had a very gritty, outlaw style, and at times it heavily reminded me of Kill Bill, but that’s a good thing. Getting to see Leliana kick some ass was awesome too, because it really shows just how drastically her character has changed from her time in the Chantry. Unlike past DLC, Leliana’s Song was fully voiced, and you were given the option to make choices. The soundtrack was different, and brand new. It had this French renegade style, and it really fit with the style of the DLC.

When I played through Leliana’s Song, I put in over 2 hours of gaming, but if you don’t care and skip through the cutscenes, you can finish it in a significantly shorter amount of time, but it is still much longer than the other DLC’s in terms of playable content. I have yet to play Origins, so I have no idea what the exclusive items are, but I know there are at least 3 new achievements you can get in the DLC. One is obtained by doing various acts to a drunk, passed out Captain in Denerim, another is by collecting multiple pieces of leather to create armor, and the final is by completing the DLC.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you’re a fan of Dragon Age, get the DLC. It’s that simple. It was a lot of fun, it was nice getting to learn more about Leliana, and the overall feel was fantastic. My only complaint is that I wished it were longer, especially because the price on Leliana’s Song is 560 Microsoft Points compared to past DLC which was priced at 400.

If I had to give it a score, I’d say 7.5 out of 10.

You can download Leliana’s Song for PC here, Xbox 360 here, and for PS3 here.

- Me

And the good news just keeps on coming! Today BioWare announced the next DLC installment for the popular game Dragon Age: Origins. Last month fans were able to play as a Hurlock Vanguard in Darkspawn Chronicles, and now we get to take a peek into Leliana’s past.

If you’ve played Dragon Age: Origins, you will know that Leliana used to be quite the naughty girl, and worked for a woman named Marjolaine. In Leliana’s Song, you will accompany Marjolaine on a high-risk mission, as Leliana of course, but things spiral out of control and you are left with this decision: kill or be killed. Here are more details from the official press release:

• Explore Leliana’s dangerous past and why she joined the Chantry
• Fully voiced cinematic experience brings the characters to life
• Unlock a unique reward that transfers into your Awakening and Origins campaign

Available on July 6th for Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 there has been no official price announced yet. I assume it will be the standard 400 Microsoft Points and whatever the equivalent will be for PC and PS3. I can only hope that this DLC is better than Return to Ostagar and Darkspawn Chronicles.

- Me

I should probably start this review off saying that I am a big BioWare fan. I cracked out on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, so I wasn’t shocked when I lost many hours of my life to Dragon Age: Origins. Being a huge RPG fan, I found Dragon Age to be fantastic. When a proper expansion was announced, I was excited and counted down the days. Three DLC packs had already been released – The Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar, and Warden’s Keep – but they weren’t long enough, or at least in my opinion. I guess you can say that I am hard to please.

Anyways, knowing that the Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion was to be released on a disc, and not DLC, I knew I was in for a treat. You start off having the option of using the character you already have, or starting off as a random Grey Warden sent from Orlais to restore the order in Ferelden. This time your travels take you to Amaranthine, which was once the land belonging to that corrupt asshole Arl Rendon Howe (who, might I add, was wonderfully voiced by the amazing Tim Curry), and now the domain of the Ferelden Grey Wardens. The primary character has been given the title of Warden Commander, and your stronghold is Vigil’s Keep.

I have to admit that I missed my old companions. I put in close to 100 hours in Dragon Age: Origins, and as corny as this may sound, one starts to get attached to their party. I loved the banter between Shale and Alistair, but I was very happy when I saw Ogrhen. For those who might not remember that name, he was the fabulously drunk dwarf, and he is still a little boozer. Depending on the sex of your imported character, and the relationship you went with regarding Alistair, you will get the appropriate conversation when he comes to visit briefly. I did run into Wynne, had a short conversation with her, got a little side quest, and depending on what you did with Loghain and Anora, I know you run into them too. I didn’t see them because I happily slaughtered Loghain and locked Anora away in Origins. At Vigil’s Keep, Herren and Wade, the blacksmiths from Denerim’s Market District, join you and become your go-to guys for armor and other items. Other than that, I didn’t run into any familiar faces.

After awhile I started to get used to having different people, but there was one character I had a hard time with. In the beginning at Vigil’s Keep, you hear of a prisoner who was trying to steal some things. When you go to investigate, you see that he is Nathaniel Howe, the son of Arl Rendon Howe. My imported character is from the female human noble origin, and if you’ve played through that, you know that Arl Rendon Howe was a close friend of your Father, and somebody he trusted. The Arl decides to be a complete dick, betray your family by attacking your home, and in the end you are forced to leave with Duncan while your Mother dies trying to defend your fatally wounded Father. The last thing I wanted was a Howe in my party, but at the time he was the only rogue available and I needed somebody to pick locks open.

Everybody else was pretty basic – two mages, another rogue, etc – except for a warrior named Justice. At one point, you get sucked into The Fade, and you come across a group of people protesting a woman known as Baroness. You are greeted by a Spirit of Justice, who explains what is going on, and after the events unfold you are sent back to the “real” world. Only problem is that Justice gets sent as well, but he inhabits the body of a dead man you were tasked of finding. So yes….you have a Zombie Warrior in the Awakening expansion, and as time goes on, you see his face decompose more and more. I approve BioWare, I approve.

Graphics, controls, and gameplay are the same, and that’s to be expected. The main differences are the locations you go to, the people you interact with, but most importantly the Darkspawn. Before they were mindless drones, but now they plot, have strategies, and can even speak. What were once idiotic creatures are now pains in the ass who have a thought process. Also, this time around you have two big bads to worry about: The Architect, in which there is a method to his madness, and The Mother. I only have two words when describing The Mother – sagging boobs. If you thought the Broodmother was disgusting from Origins, wait until you catch a glimpse of The Mother. Just looking at her for a split second made me want to rush out to the nearest store and buy several bras with underwire support. If those Darkspawn can talk, they need to do her a favor and encourage her to put a top on, even if it’s just a bundle of twigs or something.

Dragon Age: Origins Awakening has a darker feeling to it. There is much more corruption, deceit, betrayal, and manipulation in this than in the original, and I like it. I love the twists in the plot regarding The Architect, because you find out he really isn’t as bad as he seems, but I highly suggest that you pick up the two Dragon Age books that are out there. Not only will you get some fantastic back story regarding Alistair’s bloodline, but you find out more about the bad-ass known as Duncan, and you get to know even more about The Architect. My only complaint is that I wanted it to be longer. I never want to put this game down, but when the credits roll I don’t really have a choice! BioWare has created something really special here with Dragon Age, and I can’t wait to see where they continue to take this already incredible franchise.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

- Me

Today BioWare released it’s recent installment to the Dragon Age franchise, downloadable content titled Darkspawn Chronicles. News broke about this a couple of weeks ago, but details were sparse. Finally getting my hands on it, I have mixed emotions.

Months ago, the Return to Ostagar DLC was released, amid much hype and lots of drama. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver, and it flat out failed. Shortly after that in March, the Awakening expansion was released, and it was fantastic, but that’s to be expected. Darkspawn Chronicles is the first DLC to be released for Dragon Age: Origins following the success of Awakening, and I was a combination of excited and scared. After playing it, I honestly don’t know what to think.

The entire concept is that you are in an alternate universe. The original main character from Origins died during The Joining to become a Grey Warden, and the Darkspawn are kicking ass throughout Ferelden. It’s a nifty concept, but the execution is something to be desired. Upon starting the game, you are thrust into the final battle of the game, at Denerim, and you are playing a character, Hurlock Vanguard, but given absolutely no backstory. Nothing. Your task is to battle through Denerim, with your fellow Darkspawn, and prevent the Archdemon from being overthrown. Sounds pretty simple, no?

Well the controls are a bit strange when commanding Darkspawn to be in your thrall (party), and should you want to swap a Darkspawn for another, you have to select which one, confirm that you wish to kill them (since that is the only way to get rid of them), and then go and select which Darkspawn you wish to take the former ones place. Too much hassle just to swap around characters. Unlike Origins, the Darkspawn aren’t plentiful, so being forced to kill one, and reducing your army considerably, is kind of bullshit. Another downside is that only certain Darkspawn can be healed by health poultices, whereas the other ones can only be healed by a Hurlock Emissary….which you don’t get until a few sections in. The game also doesn’t inform you of that, so when your Ogre is going down in the beginning levels, and you try to heal it with a poultice yet start wondering why in the fuck it’s not working….THEN you find out, and you lose your Ogre.

Everything is the same in terms of graphics, sound, controls, etc…but because you are the Darkspawn, there is absolutely no dialogue. You play throughout the entire hour and a half DLC with no conversation at all. All you hear are the grunts and strange sounds the Darkspawn make, and to be honest, I missed dialogue. Character interaction, whether it be playful banter, taunting, or spouting menacing threats, is fun and helps the player get immersed into the game. Something else that I felt was missing was a proper opening sequence. Upon starting the game you aren’t given a prologue, you aren’t given an opening cinematic, nor are you given any spoken dialogue. What is shown is a short, blink and you’ll miss it part where a shitload of Darkspawn march towards Denerim, and there are about 3 lines of subtitles, again blink and you’ll miss it, of the Archdemon telling you what to do. That’s it. I should add that I am not exaggerating when I say “blink and you’ll miss it” because I actually did, and had to restart.

Many familiar faces are in Darkspawn Chronicles, and the great part is that you get to kill them all. If you didn’t like them, you get to kill them. If you did like them, you still get to kill them. It makes it kind of interesting, especially when killing Alistair’s bitch of a sister Goldanna, because she actually tries to run away from you. Stupid girl. The entire DLC is almost non-stop fighting which can be great, but if you are starting to dwindle down on Darkspawn, it creates a huge problem.

When I was at the Palace section, every single Darkspawn in my thrall and around me was dead, there weren’t any new ones coming, and I was surrounded by loads of Dwarves, several Steel Golems, and a pissed off Sten. Needless to say I didn’t last very long, and it was very frustrating. I should also add how important it is to save a lot in Darkspawn Chronicles. Unlike Origins, your characters don’t accumulate experience, so you never get to level them up. Better weapons rarely pop up, and the only armor I ever came across was a mages cowl. Other than that, I think I found a few accessories and that’s it. The strength of your Army stays static, so don’t be surprised if you die a few times. I know I did, and I got pissed for not saving sooner.

Most of the fights are easy, and most of the main character fights are easy, except for Oghren and Sten. Hell, even the ending was easy. When you finally get to the top of Fort Drakon to aid the Archdemon, you are surrounded by Werewolves, and have to worry about Morrigan, Lelianna, Alistair, and a delightful Mabari named Barkspawn (best.name.ever.). Wanting to go off a strategy, I went for Morrigan. If they have no mage to heal them, then the rest will go down faster. I then went after Lelianna because I find archers to be incredibly annoying, and I didn’t feel like having to deal with her shit. Then I took out Barkspawn, and set my sights on Alistair. Fortunately he had his ass kicked before I got to him, so I just had to throw in a couple of good hits and that was it.

A major letdown was the ending. The Hurlock Vanguard is shown walking up to Alistair, who is face down on the ground, and he plunges his sword straight through his back killing him. Then the Archdemon is shown flying away, and I kid you not, the credits start to roll. There is nothing after the credits either, and we aren’t even given an epilogue to find out what happens. For all we know some people could’ve traveled from Orlais and kicked the Darkspawns ass, or the Archdemon chose to take a vacation to Mexico or whatever. Either way, it was a shitty ending.

Some big problems I kept having to deal with were these strange glitches, and annoying lag. My Hurlock Vanguard would be in the middle of doing something and then the game would freeze (still running music though) for about 3 seconds and then resume with whatever I was doing. If I had to take a guess, I’d say that it happened easily between 15-20 times throughout the hour and a half. That to me is a little excessive. Another problem I had was how accurate you could select a Darkspawn to add to your thrall. There were times where I would clearly have the reticle under whatever Darkspawn I wanted, my Hurlock Vanguard would stomp his feet like he was having a bit of a temper tantrum, but the Darkspawn wouldn’t be added. Add that to the fact that if I was hit it would cancel me adding anybody to my thrall, so I’d get more frustrated.

Right now there are three achievements you can earn from playing through this DLC. All are worth 25 gamerscore points, and obviously you earn one for completing the DLC. The others sound easy, but if you play Darkspawn Chronicles, you will quickly realize they are kind of difficult. One is earned by keeping the original Ogre you save, way early in the DLC at the Gates, alive throughout the entire thing. Since you can’t heal the Ogre with health poultices, you better hope you can keep him alive through the rest of Gates, Market District, and to the beginning of the Elven Alienage where you can add your Hurlock Emissary. The other is by maxing out the approval for each type of Darkspawn you can add to your thrall. When I went through Darkspawn Chronicles I picked up a few gifts, and since the Darkspawn aren’t nearly as picky as the party members in Origins, you can give any gift to any Darkspawn. It will always give them +20 approval, and with almost each enemy you kill, members of your thrall will earn +10 approval. Keep in mind that Genlock Sapper will count as one of those, but you only get him briefly in Market District, so before you take him to the Elven Aienage gate, you better try and hurry up with maxing out his approval.

All in all, this DLC was significantly better than Return to Ostagar. Granted not much had to be done, with the exception of changing the characters you get to play, some actions/spells, etc…but no changes were made to actual Denerim itself, so maybe that’s why BioWare was able to churn it out so fast. I didn’t mind that it was only an hour and a half, because I expected it to be a little less than an hour, but for 400 Microsoft Points (the equivalent of $7.00) I think I should be able to get more than just an hour and a half. There are some 360 titles that we’ve picked up for $12.00 more and they are significantly longer, and then to compare it to some Xbox Live Arcade titles for around the same price, the cost to time ratio doesn’t match. I adore BioWare, I love the universe they’ve created with Dragon Age, and I’ll keep buying whatever content they release for Dragon Age because I am that big of a fan…..but hopefully they know that quality counts just as much as quantity.

If you are a fan of RPG’s then I suggest you get a copy of Dragon Age for 360, PS3, or PC right away because it’s so much fun. If you already have Dragon Age, then go out and get Darkspawn Chronicles right now. I believe it’s free for PC players, so you have no excuse to not get it. If you don’t have the PC version and have to pay for it, just do it anyways. It won’t break the bank, and it was loads of fun being the Ogre – kicking names and taking ass!

- Me

I enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins immensely, as indicated in this review.  What I didn’t mention in the review is that we downloaded and played all of the DLC currently available as well.  Well, to be fair, The Stone Prisoner DLC was included with the game, but we did purchase the Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar DLCs.

The Stone Prisoner DLC provides a fantastic new character, Shale (who is WONDERFUL to have in your party when fighting extremely high level enemies), as well as new quests, locations, items, dialog, and story.  The Stone Prisoner is an excellent addition to Dragon Age: Origins.  It adds an additional 2-4 hours of unique gameplay that would otherwise be unavailable.

The Warden’s Keep DLC opens up a side-story with 1-2 hours of unique gameplay, new items, locations, NPCs, and an excellent Party Chest for storage.  New interactions and plot items become useful once the Warden’s Keep DLC is downloaded that provide a lot of backstory that helps you understand the world of Dragon Age: Origins a little better.

The Return to Ostagar DLC that was released yesterday afternoon directly ties in to the story, returning you to an earlier stage of the game where a great tragedy, and the starting point of the game’s major story, occurred.  The DLC provides new items, and unlocks a locked location, but proved disappointingly short.  The entire DLC lasted approximately 30-45 minutes.  While it did provide more insight into the main story, provided you with new armor and weapons, and did allow you to tie up a loose end or two, the length makes this DLC fall short of the others.  It’s also not particularly difficult compared to the game and to the other DLCs.

-[insert revolutionary thinking here]

Since childhood, I have been a great fan of fantasy.  I have played many fantasy-genre RPGs over the last two decades, and they remain one of my favorite genres of video game.  Needless to say, I was excited about the release of Dragon Age: Origins.

One of my favorite RPGs for a very long time was Neverwinter Nights, released in 2002 by Bioware.  Hearing that Bioware, makers of amazing games such as Neverwinter Nights, the Baldur’s Gate series, the Knights of the Old Republic series, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and more, had developed another fantasy RPG was news of particular significance to me.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to afford the purchase right when it came out, so I had to wait until funds became available.  They became available around Christmas, and I made a gift of it to myself.  Luckily, I had the week following Christmas off from work, so I was able to complete a good portion of the game then (at least, I was able to play when Lindsey would put down the controller long enough for me to get my hands on it…).

Gameplay Screenshot

Bioware is known for their impressive attention to detail in their writing.  The graphics and gameplay rarely disappoint, but their writing is often the star feature of any game they produce.  Stories are given depth and scope, which engage the player and create a connection between them and the world they are playing in.  This makes the gaming experience far more meaningful.  Dragon Age: Origins is no exception to their rule of great writing, and luckily, neither the graphics nor the gameplay have suffered for it.  The graphics, while not groundbreaking, are excellent, and the gameplay is fairly standard for a fantasy RPG, with one major difference: Dragon Age: Origins is not based on the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, as Baldur’s Gate was.  This is only noteworthy because Dragon Age: Origins is considered the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate.  The ruleset that was created, however, is excellent, and does not detract from the gameplay.  The party system is similar to that of Knights of the Old Republic, where you have a large group of companions, but can only take three additional companions with you into the world.  You are able to switch between these three additional companions during gameplay and take advantage of their varied skill sets at any time.  Graphically, the game is wonderful.  The cut scenes are gorgeous, and the gameplay graphics are very good.  There are times when you can notice small graphics glitches, but they are very minor and very rare.

Gameplay Screenshot

The game increases in difficulty as you advance in character level, regardless of which path you take.  For example, my final treaty mission was to the Dwarves, which was fiendishly difficult and long.  Lindsey completed the Dwarves earlier in her path, and it was not as difficult or long.  I completed the Dalish Elves earlier in my path, and found it easier than Lindsey’s completion of the Dalish Elves, later into her path.  The game provides many different playthrough opportunities, as well.  Six distinct and unique origins are available, depending on what race/class/origin you choose.  You can play as a Dwarven Noble, a Dwarven Commoner, a Human Noble, a Dalish Elf, a City Elf, or a Mage.  Each origin provides a 1-3 hour playing time unique to the origin, but always pulling the character in to the main story.  The different origins provide different interactions throughout the game, different storylines become available, and different benefits and drawbacks affect your character.  The main story references, in places, the other origins and the characters that are important in the other origins.  This makes playing through the other origins very fun, because you recognize certain people, and you gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the games events.

Gameplay Screenshot

Dragon Age: Origins immerses the player in an incredibly detailed and deep world, with an excellent variety of stories and characters.  The game is long, with a single, 85-95% complete playthrough running well over the 40 hour mark.  With the multiple playthrough options available, completing the game fully, with all possible options explored for each character origin, would be a task that would require hundreds of play hours.  This game is well worth the cost, and easily my favorite game to come out of 2009.

-[insert revolutionary thinking here]