Bueno primero que nada pensaras quien rayos es Greg Zeschuk, Bueno el simplemente es el co-fundador de Bioware y jefe del recién creado, grupo creativo de RPG/MMO de EA, así que simplemente es de los meros chonchos por parte de Bioware y como sabrás ahora parte de EA.

Pero basta de tanto rollo y vamos directo a lo importante en una entrevista que le realizo Joystiq.com, el cual lo primero en preguntarle fue, Dragon Age ha sido el primero juego que desarrollan para la consola de ps3 que nos puedes decir de este proceso a lo que él contesta:

Nos Asociamos con Edge of Reality, de modo que estábamos con persona que han tenido la experiencia y eso fue un proceso bueno ya que ellos sabían como hacerlo y bueno de ahí partimos para trabajar en equipo y así poder explotar todo el de la consola y yo diría que fue muy interesante y estimulante trabajar en otra consola y no solo en PC y Xbox 360.

También comento lo siguiente:

Tenemos a unas cuantas persona trabajando en casa (no se a que se refiera con eso, pero me supongo que se refiere a el desarrollo en la consola ps3 por su propia cuenta y no junto a Edge of Reality), Creemos que es una plataforma clave, así que obviamente estaremos trabajando de forma definitiva con el Ps3. Sabes no puedo decir nada acerca de Mass Effect en ese sentido pero ya sabes, lo puedo decir, Dragon Age y futuros juegos definitivamente llegaran al ps3. Fue genial pasar por la experiencia de hacer Dragon Age, y poder familiarizarse con todo el poder del ps3. Una vez más, cada plataforma es diferente, pero ahora creo que estamos en la posición de que el ps3 será el futuro inminente.

También otra de las preguntas que le hizo joystiq es. ¿Han hablado de Mass Effect para el Ps3? porque eso sería un problema ya que si mass effect será una trilogía ¿cual sería el principio en el ps3?.

Y dijo:

Nosotros no estamos hablando nada acerca de Mass Effect para Ps3, Yo no sé nada de eso! sería una locura hablar de eso, yo no sé nada.

También para finalizar dijo:

Que el desarrollo de Dragon Age para ps3 fue una experiencia tan positiva que utilizaran los recursos internos de ahora en adelante en el desarrollo de la consola.

Mi punto de vista es que esto es algo realmente bueno porque de ahora en adelante todos los nuevos juegos de Bioware estarán en Ps3 y mejor aun si son programados en la consola de Sony y con esto me quedo con la sensación de que pronto se anunciara el tan aclamado Mass Effect para Ps3 ya que Billy pago los millones por un beta que tendrán pronto los usuarios de Xbox 36o, o ustedes que opinan de todo esto que acaba de decir este señor?.

A también quería dejar en claro que todo esto es una traducción oficial por parte de mi y si quieren enterarse de todo solo denle clic en el link.

Got to be a part of a roundtable Q/A with Bioware’s Casey Hudson, the project director of Mass Effect 2. Most of the information had already made its way around the web, but much of it’s now clarified. A few new tidbits as well, and it’s not lacking on reflections on the original Mass Effect, either. Transcribing it took forever, check it out at Digital Chumps:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

La compañia tras Mass Efect ha echo publico su interes por programar para PS3, ya que se sienten sumamente satisfechos por los resultados de Dragon Age: Origins y planea centrarse en la consola de sony de aqui en adelante:

Creemos que es una de las plataformas clave, obviamente, así que definitivamente vamos a trabajar para PS3”, asegura Greg Zeschuck, jefe de BioWare, en declaraciones a Joystiq al ser inquirido sobre posibles desarrollos para el sistema de Sony.

Fue una experiencia genial hacer Dragon Age, familiarizarse y comprender la PS3. Cada plataforma es diferente, pero creo que estamos ya en la posición correcta para lanzar material para PS3 que sea relamente sólido”

Apesar de esto no quiso decir nada hacerca de Mass efect para PS3, será que lo estan planeando, solo el tiempo lo dirá pero es seguro de que quieren empezar a trabajar sus cerebros los programadores de Bioware.

BioWare ist der Meinung das man in dieser Gen nicht an der PS3 vorbeikommt , so hat man sich entschlossen intern für die wichtigste Plattform dieser Gen zu entwicklen .

Wir halten [die PS3] natürlich für eine der Schlüsselplattformen, wir werden also definitiv PS3-Dinge machen“, entgegnete BioWare Chef Greg Zeschuk auf die Frage, ob die PS3-Entwicklung in Zukunft In-House erfolgen werde.

Ein weiterer Entwickler der einsehen muss das man in dieser Gen unmöglich an der PS3 vorbeikommt .

Quelle

Christmas is nearly upon us so we here at the G4A fun house thought that before we get too drunk we would try to help you all out with  lists of 5  games on each format that we consider to be essential purchases.

So lets start with Microsoft’s beige box of wonderment the Xbox 360. If you are lucky enough to be unwrapping one of these Christmas morning these are some of the games you should hunt down in bargain bins or on Ebay as soon as you can afford to, or else RIGHT!!!

1. Bioshock

Ken Levine’s Art Deco underwater FPS masterpiece is a gaming tour de force. Everything in this game is a cut above from the art direction to script it is a ‘how to’ list of gaming goodness. After your plane crashes into the Atlantic sea you happen upon what looks to be a simple lighthouse which in fact is the gateway to Rapture, an  underwater city. Rapture was the ideological dream of Andrew Ryan a place where all the worlds leading luminaries could live together in a kind of intellectual utopia free from war and other such troubles. When you happen across it though it has completely gone to rack and ruin with dead bodies and flooded corridors at every turn. Crazed genetically mutated splicers roam the corridors looking for their next fix of ‘Adam’ the source genetic substance that allows you to alter your abilities. With a fantastically adult story (by this I mean it never once insults your intelligence),wonderful gameplay mechanics and beautiful Art Deco graphics this is a title that every gamer worth their salt should play. You will never forget defeating you first Big Daddy or the decision you make regarding his Little Sister, complete and utter genius. Lets just hope that Bioshock 2 lives up its predecessor but we here at G4A do have our doubts (but fingers crossed eh?).

2. Mass Effect

Bioware’s  Xbox exclusive, epic space soap opera RPG is a game with few peers. It is a Sci-fi epic on the scale of both Star Trek and Star Wars. Placing you in the shoes of Commander Shepherd, the first human to become a Spectre agent and charged with saving the galaxy. It boasts an incredibly well scripted and acted story with adult themes and explosive gameplay this game is up their with the very best to be found. Also as part of trilogy you really need to have played this before the sequel hits early next year.

3. The Orange Box

This compilation of Valve goodies is far too good to be ignored. Containing 5 games this was incredible value when it launched at £39.99, so it is damn near essential now that it can be picked in bargain bins for sub £15. To be truthfully honest it would be worth that much just for Portal on its own. The first person gravity defying puzzle game redefined what a first person game could be. Add on top that Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 and Team Fortress 2 and this is a proper bumper gaming package. Go get it now, I tells ya.

4. Gears Of War 1 & 2

Ignoring the fact this game series brought supposed games designer “Cliffy Blah Blah Blazinsky” to the fore at Epic you would have to be a fool not to count these games as titles you need to have if you own an Xbox. These games are straight up, good old-fashioned dumb Hollywood blockbuster action with incredible graphics. Forget about the dumb ass sub B-Movie plot and immerse yourself in well designed gored up shooting. With the aforementioned stunning graphics, rock solid gaming mechanics and enjoyable online modes you need to experience both of these exceptional titles. Roll on Gears 3 which I reckon is a shoe in for Xmas 2010 but until then get these in as soon as you can.

5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Hitting the streets just a few short months after the Xbox 360’s launch Bethesda’s massive fantasy role player remains a must buy. With an absolutely huge open world to explore and all manner of side quests to do this is still regarded by many to be the best role player on the Xbox. You can literally go anywhere or do anything it is entirely up to you whether you follow the storyline or just get on with leading another life. Speaking of storyline just before he is assassinated, Emperor Septim passes you the “Amulet Of Kings” and tasks you with finding his son, The illegitimate heir to the throne of Tamiril. What follows is your usual stock fantasy fiction story but with compelling gameplay, beautiful graphics and top voice acting, including Patrick Stewart it is a stunning game. For fans of fantasy fiction and or role players this game is essential. With the game of the year edition (which includes all the downloadable content) costing £15 or less you really have no excuses not to give this a go. Bethesda have remained largely quiet on the follow-up but rest assured as soon as we know anything we will let you peeps know ASAP.

The above list is just a few games that we here at the G4A fun house think that any new owners of an Xbox 360 should try.  If any of you out there want to suggest any other must try games for the Xbox 360 please add them in the comments section below. I’m now off for a beer so piss off and have a Merry Christmas.

Moonhead

Just to start, I’m aware that right now the whole blog looks rather…amateurish. I am planning to make several changes to it but this sort of thing takes some time to iron out, not to mention I need to make sure Greasy is happy with it too. So just bear with us, changes are coming, but we’re working it slowly

That out of the way, I myself have also been fully enthralled in Dragon Age: Origins, having recently completed the personal quest of the rock golem Shale in the depths of the Deep Roads and am now working to gain the favor of the Dalish Elves in my struggle against the Blight. I’ve been taking my time through the game and so far it’s been able to tickle me in all the right spots. Definitely going to be a contender for me for game of the year.

One of the best things about the game for me has been the colorful cast of party NPC’s which you can recruit. This isn’t anything new for long-time Bioware fans, harkening back to the Baldur’s Gate series. But given my work, it did occur to me that this is a part of single player games that will NEVER be able to be captured properly by any MMORPG.

To put it into perspective, it’s been about 10 years since Baldur’s Gate 2 was released, and I would bet that everyone who has played the game still remembers who Minsc and Boo are.

Go for the eyes!

I’m guessing no, you probably wouldn’t – and if you did it’s not going to be because of that person’s personality, but rather the situation that you find yourself in with them. I recall the exact spot in Cazic-Thule where I dinged 65 in Everquest (back when 65 was still the level cap) but I couldn’t tell you the name of the group tank apart from that it was a dwarf paladin.

Perhaps thats just me, I don’t know. But thats how I see things. Real people living in our mundane world just aren’t as interesting as a well thought out, fictional character. Thats why we like to read about them, to watch them, and to play as them. And even if per chance we do have some exotic life story to tell, there’s rarely any incentive within an online environment for any meaningful desire to share it.

But we can ourselves become interesting characters, can’t we? There is a potential to do so. After all, these interesting, fictional characters in our games were created from the mind of a real person, someone grounded and living in our mundane world. So why don’t I see this happening more often in an MMO environment? Barring well thought out role-play, why do I get Bob the rogue looking for XP rather than Iandak the silver tongued Half-Elf rogue with a dark secret from his past? Mainly because there is hardly any incentive in today’s MMORPG design for the player to really put out.

The problem in my opinion is one of scale. Current MMO design gives no incentive for players to flesh out an alternate persona that could then be shaped by their adventures in game. While I am only barely touching the surface of this issue, one reason is that pretty much everyone’s story is the same. There is a SINGULAR end goal that everyone strives towards, and despite the differences in leveling paths one might take across different zones or different methods, you all arrive at the same place.

The game simply isn’t big enough, nor encompassing enough, to be able to capture individually unique and distinct stories or to even have multiple end goals. Perhaps they do not necessarily need to be “end goals” per se either.  The scale needed for such a world would be absolutely enormous, but it’s one way I can think of where suddenly you actually have a large enough world that each player’s story suddenly becomes more unique. The game needs to be designed more as a living breathing world first before it is a game.

It begs the question then, will the Old Republic still have that Bioware feel? Partially yes, I think it will. From the previews I have seen, they’ve done a lot in adding plenty of what makes their games great into it (branching dialogue trees, some sort of moral system, relatively interesting NPC’s, etc.) but will it be like a multiplayer version of Dragon Age? I doubt it, and I doubt we’ll see anything like that for a long, long time.

-Seb

Bioware ha publicado hoy los requisitos necesarios para jugar a Mass Effect, este tema siempre crea controversias pero en esta ocasión creo que tampoco son altos para lo que el juego promete ser. Podéis ver estos requisitos tras el salto.

Requisitos mínimos:

• SO: Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
• Procesador: 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo o equivalente AMD CPU
• Memoria: 1 GB RAM para Windows XP / 2 GB RAM para Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Disco Duro: 15 GB
• DVD ROM: 1x Speed
• Tarjeta Sonido: DirectX 9.0c compatible
• Direct X: DirectX 9.0c Agosto 2008 (incluido)
• Teclado y ratón
• Tarjeta de vídeo = 256 MB (con soporte para Pixel Shader 3.0). Chipsets compatibles: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 o mejor; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro mejor.

Requisitos recomendados:

• SO: Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
• Procesador: 2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel o equivalente AMD CPU
• Memoria: 2 GB RAM
• Disco Duro: 15 GB
• Tarjeta de vídeo: ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT o mejor.
• Tarjeta Sonido: 100% DirectX compatible.
• DirectX Agosto 2008 (incluido)

O executivo da BioWare, Chris Priestley, anunciou hoje os requerimentos mínimos e recomendados para o Mass Effect 2, continuação para o RPG em desenvolvimento para PC e Xbox 360 com previsão de lançamento para 2010.

O novo game dará continuidade à história do comandante Shepard. Desta vez, porém, tratará do enredo de forma mais abrangente, com mais missões, recursos e melhorias no jogo.

Confira os requisitos a seguir:

Requerimentos Mínimos:

Processador: Intel Dual Core com 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ou AMD equivalente
Memória RAM: 1GB para o Windows XP / 2GB para Windows Vista e Windows 7
Placa de Vídeo: 256 MB com suporte ao Pixel Shader 3.0, Nvidia Geforce 6800 ou superior; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro ou superior
Disco Rígido: 15 GB
Sistema Operacional: Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Som: Placa de som (e também vídeo) compatível com Direct X 9.0c
OBS: NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400 e 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200 e HD4350 estão abaixo dos requerimentos mínimos. Upgrades dos drivers de vídeo e som talvez sejam necessários.

Requerimentos Recomendados:

Processador: Intel Dual Core com 2.6+ GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ou AMD equivalente
Memória RAM: 2 GB de RAM
Placa de Vídeo: ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, ou superior recomendados
Sistema Operacional: Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Som: Placa de som (e também vídeo) compatível com Direct X 9.0c

Fonte: GamesBrasil/UOL

Im offiziellen Mass Effect 2 – Forum hat Biowar nun die minimalen wie empfohlenen Systemvoraussetzungen für die PC des Sci-Fi-Action-Rollenspiel bekannt geben. Hier könnt Ihr prüfen, ob Euer Rechner vor dem Release vielleicht noch etwas Tuning gebrauchen könnte:

PC MINIMUM System Requirements
OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7
Hard Drive = 15 GB
DVD ROM = 1x Speed
Sound Card = DirectX 9.0c compatible
Direct X = DirectX 9.0c August 2008 (included)
Input = Keyboard / Mouse
Video Card = 256 MB (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support). Supported Chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

PC RECOMMENDED System Requirements
Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX August 2008

Laut Bioware wird das Spiel keine ungeliebte Online-Aktivierung benötigen – es wird lediglich ein klassischer DVD Check vor Spielbeginn vorgenommen. Für zusätzliche Downloadinhalte wird aber wahrscheinlich ein Onlinekonto bei Bioware notwendig sein.

Dragon Age Origins cover

It’s been a few weeks and I’ve played about 63 hours. I’ve wanted to play more, but haven’t had the time. I also appreciate how this game lets me completely disconnect from work and school. It makes me go offline. Well, that’s not true, but my FF tabs aren’t open, so I don’t read feeds, tweets, nor email, which is basically offline.

There is a fine line between being a Diablo-like game and something more of an RPG. There is no doubt that from time to time, DA becomes a little too much like Diablo¹, but the fact of the matter is that it’s more of a game like Oblivion.

I’ve just gone into the Deep Roads in Orzammar, the Dwarven city. I’ve never played a game that simulated so well the Mines of Moria in Middle Earth. The Deep Roads are quite fun, compared to what I expected. The road to Branka is quite long, but it’s interesting.

It reminds me on how long it was when I went into the Lair of the Werewolves in the Elven Ruins in the Brecilian Forest.

My main character is Level 15 and I’m about to spend my other specialization point into Arcane Warrior. I’m already a shapeshifter, and although Blood Mage is unlocked, I won’t take it in this game. Apparently two of your companions will leave or try to kill you outright if you activate this.

I’m about 63 hours into the game and I’ve completed 20% of the game. That’s quite surprising. Does this mean that this game could be played for over 200 hours? I am unsure. We will see once I complete the “A Paragon of Her Kind” quest.

I still don’t have enough gold to purchase the more expensive items. There are items available that cost over 100 gold pieces. The Ring of Ages, 78gp, Robe of Reavers 98gp, a dragonbone staff worth 131gp at The Circle tower. I’ve never had enough gold to get those big ticket items. My money just goes on supplying up and slowly buying better armor. I’ve completed the Drake Armor quest and wonder if I will be able to wear the Drake Skin Armor that was made for me, when I become an Arcane Warrior.

I also expected to generate more money in Orzammar, but I didn’t. There isn’t a trick like potion-making that will generate large amounts of money, like in Oblivion. It’s good and bad. The most gold I’ve spent is about 23 gp on a book that gives you an extra spell point.

My go-to party is always composed of 2 fighters and 2 mages. One mage is my player character, an offensive Primal magus. The other one is Wynne and she specializes in healing spells. The two fighters are either Sten/Alistair or Oghren/Alistair. Since Morrigan doesn’t have enough healing spells, she’s just a bit useless in fights. I’ve never taken out Leilana nor Zevram. I miss out on chests, but most quests need quite a bit of fighting, for which my Champions are best suited.

The most challenging tasks were killing Flemeth, Morrigan’s shapeshifting mother, and killing a Revenant as part of the Juggernaut’s Plate Armor quest. The enemies level up as well, so they get more challenging as you progress. Ogres and Ogre Alphas are fine now.

Supplies are limited, often necessitating a trip back to the Party Camp or Denerim, where all injuries are healed. If you die during combat, but one of your party survives, you end up with a serious injury, which can only be healed with an injury kit. Injury kits aren’t easy to find and not plentiful, although you can make them yourself, finding Elfroot is another matter. There was a lot of it around before, and now there isn’t. The plants that I collected haven’t regrown and, if I’m correct, almost a year has passed in-game.

The Urn of Ashes was challenging as well, especially the Drakes in the wyrmlinglair. Drakes are smaller than dragons, but bigger than dragonlings. They are immune to sleep and do colossal damage. I’ve come up with a technique that works well. I use the Waking Nightmare spell on them, confusing them. Usually, if I’m attacked by three, two are affected and start attacking each other. This leaves 2 of my party to deal with one drake, which is OK, and 2 others to back the drakes up a bit while they kill themselves. It’s important to immobilize those types of foes so that they can’t outflank you and surround you. The same works for Revenants, though Revenants are more resistant to Waking Nightmare and those types of spells.

I’ve decided not to do the Mage’s Collective and Blackstone Irregular quests. They sounded fishy to me. In the Mage’s Collective, you often are involved with blood mages, a bit too much for my character. There is more to the Blackstone missions, especially with the one involved with dereliction of duty, but I haven’t found out much and stopped doing them.

The Deep Roads… It’s taken quite a few hours before I decided to get onto them. I dreaded them because I imagined that they were like the Mines of Moria from Middle Earth. To be honest, they are almost exactly like them. The Deep Roads are one of the few places that I’ve visited, the other place being Denerim, that have another internal map. The Deep Roads used to link different parts of the Dwarven empire, but they have long been abandoned and overridden by darkspawn.

Whispers in the dark… Finding the Anvil that Branka is looking for looks pretty challenging. I’m currently at Orthan Thaig and I have to get through this place, plus the Dead Trenches, the remnants of a city that has been overrun by darkspawn, to get to the Anvil of the Void. Pretty far away.

The game is pretty good. Definitely worth playing in my book. My only problem is with the controls on PC. You can’t have a 1^st person view to look around, which is pretty annoying. I’ve tried looking through the controls menu and couldn’t find it. I tried the up/down, left/right keys but that didn’t help.

* * * * *

[¹]: The Elven Ruins, in the Brecilian Forest, are an example. It takes hours upon hours before reaching the ultimate end of that quest.

*SPOILERS*

For anyone who’s been playing the awesome new RPG from Bioware there’s more good news. Or, bad news, depending on whether you want to shell out some more to buy a DLC. Return to Ostagar has been announced and will hit around “winter”. You’ll be able to “Return to Ostagar” (hihi) for some neat stuff.

I wonder: how will this work if your character died at the end of DA:O? I started a new game right before I went to fight the Darkspawn at Denerim so I’m not sure whether you die or not, but I have heard that there’s a possibility of you dying by delivering the killing blow to the Archdemon at the end.

Oh well, bring it on! Fuel my addiction! Or feed it, whatever…

(baogame.vn) – Thành danh với hai cái tên xuất chúng của thể loại nhập vai máy tính, những tưởng “nhạc trưởng” BioWare sẽ tiếp tục trình làng những đứa con tinh thần ưu tú khác cũng thuộc thể loại này. Nhưng rồi “dàn đồng ca” của BioWare thời “hậu Neverwinter Nights” đã khiến nhiều fan phải ngỡ ngàng và có đôi chút tiếc nuối với những thanh âm lạc tông-lạc điệu như Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect. Buồn lắm, tiếc lắm, và cũng thèm lắm cảm giác được sống trong cái thế giới đầy mê hoặc của những Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights. Và rồi dự án Dragon Age cũng ra đời, mang theo bao niềm hy vọng, bao sự thách thức, được chính BioWare thừa nhận là “kẻ kế thừa tinh thần” của loạt game Baldur’s Gate. Liệu rằng lịch sử sẽ sang trang mới hay là kẻ kế tục này sẽ không thể vượt qua cái bóng quá lớn của các bậc tiền bối, câu trả lời chỉ có sau khi chúng ta “tận mục sở thị” Dragon Age: Origins – Thời đại của những vị anh hùng.

Source: Dragon Age: Origins – Thời đại của những vị anh hùng

Caution. What you are about to hear may be marketing loveliness and not representative of the facts. However, being fellow children of the maple leaf, I’m going to give BioWare the benefit of the doubt. More specifically, Casey Hudson, project director on Mass Effect 2 who claimed on a recent Gametrailers TV episode {via That VideoGame Blog} all about the mouth-watering sequel that;

“Once [development for Mass Effect 2 has finished] pretty much the whole team switches into working on really cool downloadable content”

The previous game wasn’t really built for DLC so if BioWare wanted to release any such content, it would have to be a fairly meaty download. With Mass Effect 2, anything is possible thanks to its technically superior programming. Hudson didn’t go into any detail about just what we can expect from the full team’s efforts but the leaked ‘quiz’ at the start of the month suggested things like full campaign expansions and planned episodic content. To be honest, anything to lengthen what could be an awesome experience is fine by me!

It is very rare that a game can so engross you in the plot line it’s nearly impossible to put down. Dragon Age: Origins was that game for me, and I was pleased to see it offered just about everything I could have looked for in a video game experience. It is one of the very few games I have played in recent memories that literally took me on a sort of rollercoaster ride.

Now, I am going to try to go light on the spoilers, but I will warn you there will be some (especially about the beginning of the main plot) spoken of in this article. You’ve been told!

The game's sprawling landscape is impressive.

Granted, I will be the first to admit the game’s plot is not new to the fantasy world: a war is about to begin against twisted, evil monsters known as darkspawn, and it is up to you and your party to gather the troops and fight the menace off. Depending on your race and class, your (customizable) character eventually is drawn into this battle, becoming part of a group of great heroes called the Grey Wardens that have protected the countryside since olden times. Of couse, even with that status, your journey is not to be an easy one. You must contend with betrayal, assassins, curses, racism, and corrupt government systems.

All in a day’s work for the fantasy hero though, eh?

While it might be easy to push aside the game as Just Another Fantasy Game, in reality the game is a rich experience that shouldn’t be passed up. What it lacks in unique story it makes up for in a cast of characters that is hard not to care about by the end of the game. Each have distinct personalities and background stories that you can choose to probe deeper into if you so wish to. The dialogue is absolutely hysterical, to the point I actually laughed out loud at many points in the game. In fact, it is that dialogue that actually encourages you to mix up your parties, as your party members banter with each other as you walk around. Many of those conversations end up being real highlights of the game, and stopping and listenig to them became a common occurance quickly.

Now, I will make a small aside that I also really enjoy the romancing system in this game. It’s nothing special, per se, but I think it’s noteworthy enough just for the interestingly vast amount of pairings you can have. It is also inteesting to see the game is unabashed by its spectrum of sexual orientations, which I think is fairly rare to the extent that is shown is this game. Not only is it an option, but even the NPCs speak of it, leading to some fairly funny moments in the game. Not only that, but the game encourages getting to know everyone in at least a friendly sense, as that is the only way you will hear chunks of their backstory. While it’s not needed for the main storyline, it adds to the game and is absolutely something that should be strived for.

The game itself is gorgeous, though that is come to be expeced from the new generation games. Areas are well drawn and in a style that makes you feel like you’re part of a very old period of time. The CGI events are especially noteworthy, as such intricate detail was put into every single one of them – especially when a dragon is involved. While I think the quality of graphics makes for the somewhat longer loading screens, it is well worth the wait for the most part. My favorite little thing they put in and didn’t have to was the kill animation that happens sometimes. Seeing your character leap upon an ogre and smashing your blade into its head or watching him or her jump upon a dragon has never been so satisfying. That the game even concentrates on the tiniest details such as keeping the characters bloodied all throughout dungeons where they are hacking and slashing things up shows just how much detail they put into it.

Alistair fights off an ogre.

Another thing worth noting is it also has several modes of difficulty, allowing the player to customize it to their liking. Gamers who are interested in the story only can place the game on casual, making the battles somewhat difficult but not needing too much planning ahead to fight them. As you get higher in difficulty ranking – nightmare being the hardest – the fights become increasingly harder and need much more stragedy to win. You lose no content picking the easier mode, and even in that mode, there is still a real chance of dying if you just run in with swords raised.

Dragon Age is not without its flaws, however – on the console version, at least. Admittedly, having only a couple of buttons to mess around with in terms of fighting actions makes the computer version with the UI interface much more flexible and easy to work with. The console version also suffers in terms of the camera – while in the computer version, you can zoom in and out and more or less mess around with it, the console version only allows you to stick right behind the character, and sometimes things are missed in the process. Both gripes are not even close to game breakers, however, and the console version still is very much workable – it just takes a little more practice.

Overall, this game is amazing and has a very high replay value. There is hours and hours of content and many paths to get you to your final destination. If you are an RPG fan, this is one game that should be on your must have lists this holiday season. The game is out now on PS3, XBOX 360, and the PC. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Apart from my faulty internet connection, there is one big reason why I haven’t been online much and why my WoW characters have been gathering cobwebs this week: Dragon Age: Origins.

In Dragon Age: Origins, players can create a unique-looking character (details such as eye size and distance, jaw and chin width, and nose height can be customized) that they will play as throughout the game. Players can choose their character’s gender, class, and “origin” story. There are six different origin stories to choose from, each with their own separate settings and plots.

While the six origin stories differ, the main plot of the game remains the same. The main character is somehow drafted into the Grey Wardens, a group of warriors whose goal is to defeat demonic creatures called darkspawn.

There are three character classes in Dragon Age: Warrior, Mage, and Rogue. Each class has four different specializations (e.g. Templar and Berserker for Warriors, Duelist and Bard for Rogues, Blood Mage and Shapeshifter for Mage) that players will have to unlock by either finding trainer NPCs or purchasing the right item from a merchant.

In combat, players can pause the game to queue up their party members’ actions, and can also assign Tactics for each party member. Tactics work much like how Gambits in Final Fantasy XII work; you assign actions for each character that will be executed automatically if certain conditions are met (e.g. players can assign characters to use a healing item if their health drops below a certain percentage).

Plot-wise, Dragon Age is a typical BioWare fantasy epic; the protagonist gets dragged out of their normal life and winds up having to save the world while picking up some comrades along the way. The characters themselves are what, for me, make the game more fun. Though also falling under fantasy stereotypes (your party can include a sexy evil sorceress, an exotic male assassin, a big burly warrior, and a drunkard dwarf), the characters have depth and distinct personalities, plus the interactions/dialogues with them are well-written and often amusing.

Your character’s own personality isn’t measured by a morality gauge or by the usual Dungeons and Dragons alignment system; you are free to make your own choices when it comes to the various scenarios that involve a major decision. You can choose to save a clan of elves from cursed werewolves or aid the werewolves in slaughtering the elves. You can choose to help drive off a merchant who sells items to poor folk at outrageously opportunistic prices, or help him out to get your own share of profit. The closest thing to a moral compass you’ll have is your party’s approval. Certain actions and decisions will increase or decrease your approval rating with your party members. Things like murder and underhanded scheming will often amuse “evil” characters like Morrigan or Zevran, but will offend the “nice” characters like Alistair or Leliana.

I have quite  a few characters, but I’ve only finished the game twice using a City Elf rogue and a Human Noble rogue. The City Elf rogue was my first character, so her “personality” wasn’t well-planned out since I was seeing everything for the first time. My Human Noble rogue is a goody-two-shoes type who tries her best to do what’s best for everyone without having to resort to anything underhanded. Now I’m playing as a slightly psychotic Elf mage who seems to have a penchant for murdering people and making deals with demons to get what she wants. With all the various options and possible outcomes in the game, I have a feeling I’ll be playing this game for a long time just to see all the possibilities.

Though I’m having fun with my mage, I seem to have developed quite a fondness for rogues. I’ve been thinking about drafting a Rogue guide since there aren’t a lot of Dragon Age guides around…but we’ll see.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my quest to defile Andraste’s ashes so that I can unlock the Reaver specialization.

Edge. Nigdy ich specjalnie nie kochałem, ale zawsze podobało mi się, że jak na dzisiejsze standardy – gdzie przecież 7 to ZŁA ocena dla SŁABEJ GRY – oceniają twardo i nie patrzą się na resztę świata. Ich noty były czasem sprawiedliwe, czasem głupie, zazwyczaj – kontrowersyjne. Ale teraz złapali u mnie wielkiego plusa – wystawili Dragon Age ocenę 5 na 10. Wreszcie.

Wreszcie ktoś wyłamuje się z tego szeregu, gdzie wypisują że DA to RPG dziesięciolecia. Wiecie, czyli wypadałoby, że zależnie od interpretacji liczymy że to NAJLEPSZY RPG od 1999 lub 2000 roku. Czyli zapomnijmy o Shin Megami Tensei III, Personach, Demon’s Soul, Arx Fatalis, Deus Ex, King’s Field, czy nawet przereklamowane i przeczczone przez pecetowców MMORPGi, Diablo II, czy Baldur’s Gate II, który jest grą lepszą od DA. No i nie zapominajmy o Mass Effect, które nazwałbym jedyną naprawdę bardzo dobrą grą od Bioware. Bioware, firmy która jest chyba pecetowym odpowiednikiem Square-Enixu – popularne i kochane bo przecież RPGi są takie cool, trendi end dżezzi – szczególnie, jeśli nie trzeba wysilać przy nich za mocno mózgu i wymagać poziomu prawdziwej sztuki/rozrywki dla dorosłego człowieka, prawda? A jeszcze lepiej, że ta prosta roz(g)rywka (przeciw której nic nie mam, ot sam uwielbiam Ys) udaje coś ambitnego, mądrego i dobrze łechce ego, prawda ?

Czyli, krótko – brawa dla Edge.  Jasne, że w swojej kategorii DA jest udane, tyle że ta kategoria to genetyczny nastepca gier na Inifnity ( i to niestety nie Planescape) w posttolkienowskim, ścierwiarskim świecie. Przykre, ale kurwa prawdziwie.

A i jeszcze jedno – chyba z trzy razy ostatnio na necie widziałem wypowiedzi w stylu:

“Konsolowe a pecetowe Dragon Age to dwie różne gry – oczywiście z przewagą pecetowego – więc to dowodzi marności konsolowego RPGie”

Nie. Dowodzi za to kilku innych rzeczy – po pierwsze trzeba być idiotą, żeby uznawać konwersje sztampowej gry fantasy za wyznacznik poziomu jednego z najbardziej zasłużonych i najlepszych gatunków gier wideo na platformach, które od zawsze lepiej radzą sobie z nim niż pecety. No, a co najmniej od czasów NESa. I to idiotą z tych, którzy czekają na Risena II, Risena III, modlą się o konwersje Fable II na PC, marzą o demie/pełnej wersji DA w jakimś nowym numerze pisma z płytkami i oczywiście – często są oświeconymi po studiach. Pal licho jeszcze “ścisłowców”, ale panowie humaniści – toż to kurwa nie przystoi. Po drugie – DA konsolowe dowodzi jakimi partaczami są Bioware – i tego, ze EA wybrało zarobek nad porządną, może gorzej sprzedającą się konwersję. Wreszcie dowodzi, że konwersja została zrobiona po kosztach i gra powinna zostać tam gdzie jej miejsce – na maszynkach dorosłych fanów fantasy jarających się jak ich barbarzyńca Ragnar w towarzystwie elfa Oberyna pokonuje wioskę złych goblinów kultu Belzebuba. Dla nich to coś świeżego i oryginalnego. A najzabawniejsze jest to, że wbrew pozorom i wieści szerokiej na wyższych poziomach trudności gra wcale nie jest znacznie łatwiejsza od wersji pecetowej. Do napisania jest zresztą więcej, ale od pisania o Dragon Age bardziej produktywne wydaje mi się ogrywanie obrzydliwych, prostych i ubogich konsolowych tytułów jak Phantasy Star IV i Dragon Quest III.

I nie, nie chodzi mi o to, że ludzie jarają się tym tytułem. Chodzi mi o to, że jak zwykle łyknęli propagandę i robią z czarnego białe.

EDIT: Po głębszym zastanowieniu stwierdzam, że jednak jeśli dla kogoś DA ma być prawo najświeższym – to dla posiadaczy XO, którzy mają awersje do starszych konsol, nie grywali nigdy na PC i koniecznie chcą takiej podróży w mieczykiem w tym klimacie – innej alternatywy praktycznie nie mają. Za to na PC – takich, lepszych gier od groma. Od czasu do czasu sztampa nikomu nie zaszkodzi, ale wywyższanie jej do poziomu bóstwa buduje niepokojący obraz świata w którym ludzie na czerwone zaczynają mówić zielone i nikomu to nie przeszkadza. Szczególnie, że gra może bawić i nikogo nie czyni głupią. ALE – już tworzenie wokół niej kultu i sianie fermentu o RPGu dziesięciolecia, czy podawanie tej gry jako przykład MOCY pecetowego RPG a słabości konsolowego – zasługuje na facepalmik. Albo nawet ze trzy   Zatem … failed pecetowcy, szczególnie że tak naprawdę największą wadą wersji konsolowej jest brak edytora – a nie walki, które w rzeczy samej są bardzo podobne we wszystkich wersjach. Co więcej – nawet stoją na podobnym poziomie trudności i są jako-tako skomplikowane. Posiadacze PS3 nie powinni się czuć w żadnym przypadku usprawiedliwieni, inne gry czekają A, odbieram już też wiadomości od obrażonych fanatyków gry, którzy źle doczytali (tj nie przeczytali nawet do końca, a zinterpretowali oczywiście na różne sposoby) moje wpisy – jak widać wystarczy naprawdę dobra reklama, żeby zapanować nad czyimś umysłem. Smutne czasy chlip, chlip. Wracam grać w KoFa 99.

Mass Effect 2 is very close now, due on January 26 (or 29 for Europe). Unlike its predecessor, it is set for simultaneous release on both Xbox 360 and PC.

PC owners who were wondering if their boxes, which would happily run Mass Effect, could handle the sequel need not fear, as the minimum requirements are the same (or even lower!) than the 2008 release’s. The full list of minimum and recommended requirements follows after the jump.

[via Big Download]

PC MINIMUM System Requirements
OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7
Hard Drive = 15 GB
DVD ROM = 1x Speed
Sound Card = DirectX 9.0c compatible
Direct X = DirectX 9.0c August 2008 (included)
Input = Keyboard / Mouse
Video Card = 256 MB (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support).
Supported Chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater.

Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

PC RECOMMENDED System Requirements
Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX August 2008