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92 of 105 found the following review helpful:
 THE RETURN TO THE AGE OF THE CLASSICS IS NOW COMPLETE! Oct 30, 2010
By NeuroSplicer
In the past I have chastised EA a number of times for its release of cookie-cutter games, crippled with atrocious DRM schemes. So, in all fairness, I now have to say this: DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS IS A GAMER's DREAM! It is an excellent game collection which (unfortunately...) does not come free of DRM madness. The original game and its expansion have only a simple disk-check; however, for some unfathomable reason, the DLCs/Packs in this edition have to be...downloaded (and activated) from EA's site. So, thank you EA for trying to listen to your customers but too bad you missed the cigar for not been able to hold it together to the end.
This is one of those games that are easy to control, a joy to roam through and fun to play at no end.
I am a huge cRPG fan and cannot remember such a great companion/squad cRPG ever since the Baldur's Gate Saga. And to tell you the truth, this is the game I was dreaming of being able to play one day while playing BG (yeah, by now we all know that NEVERWINTER NIGHTS never delivered).
There are about a dozen gender/race/class/background choices and a great many combinations in forming your party. The armor and the weapons are exceptionally made and everything shows on your characters. And the graphics are truly beautiful! You have to see the rendering of flames to believe them.
Nevertheless, what really stands out is the gameplay. Every battle is a puzzle to be solved, pausing ever so often to reallocate enemies to the best suited party members (a feature I loved in BG!). Of course one can always turn off the autopause feature and let the AI take over the rest of your party and turn the game into an hack&slash action RPG (not exactly my cup of tea but, hey, it's still nice to know it's there).
Finally, this is a game made just like the classics in many ways, including duration. I have been playing the game for hours at no end and I feel the urge to start over the moment I reach the epilogue. Now DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is one satisfying RPG!
My only gripe is this: I did not appreciate such short dialogue options. Most fit a single line and more often than not they consist of a couple of words. I like my RPGs to be wordy and challenging to my verbal imagination as well - and I want my characters to participate in the humor, not just provoke it or react to it. Remember the long dialogue options in BG? Well, expect to find DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS much more laconic.
I guess 10 years of fast-paced FPS and blitzkrieging RTS do take their toll...
This ULTIMATE EDITION not only contains both the original game and its AWAKENINGS expansion but also all nine Content Packs. For such an epic game to be sold at this price, this is a bargain not to be missed!
The blood sprays, the swords clang and the spells explode. The animations are beautifully made and add a lot to both enjoyment and immersion. There is a verse in Homer's Iliad I love: "the warrior fell, his armor echoing around him" - and I was reminded of it many a times throughout the game.
The game is now complete and it will stay with you for a very long time.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Great game, and well worth the price. BEWARE THE DRM. Jan 12, 2012
By Talus
Just bought Dragon Age Origins (ultimate edition). After putting about 12 hours into it, I can truly say that it's a wonderful game in the tradition of Bioware's Knights of The Old Republic, Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights; set in a new universe with dark fantasy and truly epic battles I haven't seen the like of since Peter Jackson's Return of The King. I'm not going to go into too much detail though, because there are many quality reviews here on Amazon and elsewhere on the internet. I want to share more the buying and installing experience.
First of all, there is no downside to paying an extra $10 and getting the "Ultimate Edition" Versus the standard "Origins". The Downloadable Content packs (7 packs) that are included in the ultimate edition cost about $15 a piece separately, so they are well worth it in the bundle. The DLCs themselves fit seamlessly for the most part into the main story, and add a great deal of adventure and added playtime to the story. Go for the Ultimate Edition by all means.
Installing... The DVD-disk physical copy version has two disks, both of which come in the box. They automatically patch the game up to 1.04 is it installs (the latest version), and install very easily and flawlessly. However, the DRM (Digital Rights Management, anti-piracy measures) is a nightmare. A NIGHTMARE.
As I read the terms of service (yes, I sometimes do that), I actually contemplated sending the game back. It was that bad. The choicest bit of it comes to mind: "You agree that a breach of this License (disable the DRM, make a video for YouTube using the game, use a No-CD crack, etc) will cause irreparable injury to EA for which monetary damages would not be an adequate remedy and EA shall be entitled to seek equitable relief in addition to any remedies it may have hereunder or at law without a bond, other security or proof of damages".
Translation? If you do anything they don't like AT ALL, no amount of money or apologies is enough to fix the "irreparable injury" you cause to their $3 BILLION dollar-a-year company. They will have to put you in jail to ease the pain. So anyway...
Firstly, it uses two serial numbers: One for the main game, and one for the DLCs. You get three installs per serial number. The DLC serial code is expired as of 2009, luckily I didn't have any problems with it. Secondly, you are required to sign up for an EA/Bioware account to use the serial number for the DLCs. If you do this, you also must be logged on to the internet when you start the game. Thirdly, they use a disk-check (SecureROM) every time you start the game. Fourthly, the game collects info on your gameplay and PC. Goodbye privacy, because this game phones home like a momma's boy.
Lastly, ANY CHANGE to your system invalidates one of your three installs. Get a new computer, upgrade you RAM in your current one, put in a new cooling fan, replace the hard drive, buy a new graphics card... Any of these things invalidates one of your three installs. If you run out of installs, you have to buy a new game. So good luck playing it five years down the road.
In summary: It's a great game, but Electronic Arts (EA) is a horrible company with draconian DRM practices. This is the first game that I have bought from them since they started using DRM, and I almost didn't. I probably won't again. The companies punish honest gamers, because it is much easier to steal these games than buy and install them legitimately.
24 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Faulty download, but amazing game. Dec 03, 2010
By irrelephant
After spending nearly a day downloading this game, the installation failed at 70 percent. I looked it up and all sorts of people have been having this issue for over a year now and it's never been resolved. Apparently, it's due to corrupted RAR files in the download. I was finally able to circumvent the issue by downloading the game again, substituting good RAR files from the new download for the corrupted ones in the old download, and installing it from there. All in all, the process was way more work than I would have liked. Had I known about it beforehand, I would have just bought a physical copy of the game.
The game itself, however, is great! It runs perfectly. The story and structure are brilliant, the controls intuitive, the classic RPG feeling genuine, etc. I truly recommend this game if you're willing to suffer through some hassle downloading it.
I would have given this game five stars if not for the download process.
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Great Game, use the EA Downloader Mar 05, 2011
By EmilePanhard
I am very late coming to this game, but at 20 bucks I couldn't pass it up any longer. I read a lot of reviews about how hard the download process was. I took that to heart and just downloaded directly from the EA downloader. Once you buy the game from Amazon, just take the product activation code from the "My Games" section in Amazon and register it with the EA downloader. You can then download it straight from there. I had no problems what-so-ever. It only took about about 1.5 hrs to download (YMMV) and I was up and playing it shortly after that.
As for the game, so far I am very impressed. I should have picked this game up a long time ago.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A rare hurrah for single-player gaming: a spoiler-free review Sep 09, 2011
By J. Matthew Casperson
Game Summary
Dragon Age Origins (DAO), is a single-player game of incredible depth. I wouldn't consider the game old, but it did come out about two years ago and has already spawned a sequel (more on that later). Though DAO was released on several platforms, it was primarily designed for the PC, which is what I played it on.
Without a exposing too much of the plot, you play a central protagonist who becomes a member of a unique fighting force known as the Grey Wardens. Your mission is straight-forward enough: to defend the land of Ferelden from an invasion of demonic darkspawn. That two-sentence synopsis is a gross oversimplification, but trust me, the less you know going into this game, the better. If you must know more spoilers, you know how to find them.
Presentation - 4 out of 5 stars
While the gist of the story may not seem like anything revolutionary, it is in its execution which makes DAO special. As soon as you jump in, you're going to realize that some serious world-building has taken place. These aren't just massive environments for the sake of being massive, these are areas chalk-full of goodies to explore, people to converse with, and baddies to slay.
The game's sound is one of its greatest strengths. Every person/creature you come across is excellently voiced and the musical score is nothing short of breathtaking. The graphics are the only deduction I give here. Not because they aren't good; they're just not great compared to everything else. At times there is some awkward NPC movement and minor choppiness can occur during spells or huge battles. They're good enough to appreciate from time to time though. With the right hardware, textures are sharp. You'll find yourself pausing from time to time in the midst of a battle just so you can rotate the camera and admire the snapshot.
Gameplay - 5 out of 5 stars
Many will agree that gameplay is the most important criteria, but in some ways it is the most subjective. Like some other roleplaying games, in DAO there are three main aspects to gameplay: 1) character building, 2)dialogue, and 3) combat.
Character building begins with your origin. Who are you? An elf, human, or dwarf? A warrior, mage, or rogue? That is only the beginning. You can decide how you look, what your background is, and in what skills you will specialize as the game progresses. This is achieved with a very easy-to-understand interface where players can put as much (or little) time into their protagonist as they wish. Default options are available for folks who prefer to skip that kind of thing.
Dialogue is a pivotal part of the game. If you're annoyed by cut-scenes and talking, this game is probably not for you. Again, you can press the Esc key if you wish to skip scenes, but this isn't supposed to be Diablo. Aside from the interesting stories each character brings, there are a variety of choices you can make. These choices aren't classified as good or bad, but characters will have varying reactions depending on what you choose and ultimately shape the game's story. This is a very rich part of the game. There can be humor, anger, lying, embarrassment, and even romance. It all depends on what you do and say. Relatively small choices may come back to help or hurt you down the road. This creates a very enjoyable experience where you'll actually come to care for characters perhaps as much as you would in a different medium - such as in books or TV.
The combat is fairly straightforward, but it is a unique system and not everyone is accustomed to it. It's a hybrid between real-time and turn-based strategy where you control a group of up to four adventurers. At any time in the thick of the combat, you can pause the game and issue commands to party members to engage in particular skills or abilities. While you can attempt to run through and do this without the pause function, you'll probably die a lot (at least on the PC version). Even at higher levels you're not supposed to just waltz in and mow down your foes. In many cases your foes will be just as (or more) powerful than you, so you'll need to use tactics and strategy throughout. If you've played any of the Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale offerings, you'll feel right at home. The combat here is more fluid and friendly than those earlier games and if you want to customize how party members automatically engage, there's a very intuitive system where you can do that. Personally I prefer to manually pause and direct each party member on my own.
Replay Value - 5 out of 5 stars
In case you missed it, the recurring theme here is choice. You choose your origin, your specialties, how you talk to other characters, and what strategies to employ when engaging the enemy. All of those factors will affect what sorts of quests/tasks are available to you. Which means some paths will be closed off based on decisions you make. Granted there are some standard objectives which will remain the same no matter how you're playing, but the manner in which you accomplish those can vary during each playthrough.
Upon completing this game I immediately felt the desire to jump back in and try it again. With the Ultimate Edition, there's even more to do outside the core game. After the original game, Bioware subsequently sold a lot of downloadable content, which includes new areas, items, and characters. The Ultimate Edition includes all of this - the original game, an expansion pack, and all nine additional content packs. Frankly put, there is a whole lot of value in this offering. If you find that you enjoy it, there's enough here to keep you interested for quite a while.
Rating - M for Mature
This is supposed to be an adult title. The genre encompasses what is known as "gritty fantasy" - where the storylines are often dark and somewhat Shakespearian. The blood will fly during fights, and at times speckle your party members. There's a setting which allows you to turn that off if you wish. Blood itself plays an important role in the game, so I tend to think some of this is meant to be symbolic. Sex can also happen, but it is more of the PG-13 variety where all you're going to see is some cleavage and underwear.
Bugs & Crashes
I downloaded this on Amazon. I know there's some horror stories on here, but the process seemed straightforward enough for me. The game ran well 98% of the time. There were a few instances where I would log on and it wouldn't recognize the additional content packs. These should only have to be downloaded one initial time. If they don't appear when you come back to play again, restarting the game should bring them up. There were a few times when the game would crash as well (usually during multiple spell-casting). Hopefully EA Games will address these issues, but I didn't feel that these were frequent enough to be that distracting. A simple restart of the game is all I had to ever do.
Final Thoughts
As a side note, Dragon Age 2 did come out earlier this year. However, I've been disappointed to discover that it was made for a different audience of gamers. Choice and variety took a backseat in order to favor a more action-centered, simplified game. That type of gameplay is appealing to some, but there are many fans who still cling to DAO. Perhaps in time a more faithful sequel will be made.
For better or worse, the face of gaming is changing. The focus is undoubtedly becoming more online-centered and fast-paced. Since the World of Warcraft phenomena, MMO games have quickly become the norm. Combining this with the surge of free-to-play online games, it is easy to see the growth of social gaming shows no signs of slowing. Various developers have already predicted the impending death of the single-player experience. DAO is pure example of why that should never be.
DAO is hands down one of the more enjoyable gaming experiences out there. You can feel the love that was put into this product, evidenced by all the little details which are impossible to catch with just one playthough. In closing, if you're interested in spending some time in a well-crafted world with interesting characters, buckle up your sword and come to Ferelden.
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