Dragon Age II

Role-playing fans are a delicate lot, aren’t we? Most react to change the same way Tony Blair did to post-Iraq taunts of ‘LIAR! LIAR!’ – denial, hair loss and premature ageing. So when it emerged that BioWare had amputated the majority of RPG elements from Mass Effect 2, the scalp-to-hair density ratio of the gaming community plummeted overnight. Over time, most whimpering (and now bald) dungeon-loving sissies recovered from the initial shock by realising that BioWare had actually created a highly competent, fast-paced action game. But for those who still lusted after number-filled character screens, endless item combo tweaking and sword crossing (ed. SWAPPING), a comforting thought kept the nightmares of genre-bastardisation at bay: ‘At least we still have Dragon Age! That’s still a proper RPG!’

So when BioWare tentatively released online clips of the updated combat system in Dragon Age II, it made quite a few people rather nervous. The battles looked frenetic, over the top, and more like a hack-and-slash action game than a carefully paced RPG. There were audible gasps as the voice-over dared to suggest that players might not need to use the pause function. What? How else are we supposed to stack commands of fiery death? Console users might be accustomed to haphazardly chucking area spells about in real time, but for most PC players neon warning signs were flashing.

Having played the game in its entirety, I must admit the combat system is due some praise. Battles are visceral blood baths that occur at breakneck speed. Ability cool down times have been slashed, allowing players to unleash torrents of devastating attacks with relative ease. It’s hard not to be seduced by the sheer glee of it all for the first couple of hours.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that this system is all sound and fury. By the time I reached Act II, it was obvious that it had all been rather lazily implemented, resulting in some serious pot-holes. The top-down camera angle has been disabled, leading to mid battle paralysis because enemies can’t even be selected. Even worse, almost every skirmish in the whole game consists of defeating wave after wave of pawn enemies which spawn within plain sight. Another Mass Effect 2 this certainly is not. These battles tend to degenerate rather quickly into special ability spam-fests that don’t require any tactical thinking whatsoever. For those who expected another tactical RPG where considering attack plans carefully is a necessity, the combat of Dragon Age II will seem disappointingly shallow.

At least there’s a great story to look forward to, right? Outstanding voice acting and characterisation allowed me to enjoy the story elements of the original Dragon Age even though it regularly treated me like an easily distracted toddler. But, astoundingly, Dragon Age II tries even harder to ram its themes down your throat.

The central plot revolves around the conflict between the Mages and Templars of Kirkwall. As in the original Dragon Age, mages are at constant risk of demonic possession and Templars use a conspicuously heavy hand to control them. The game sends you on dozens of cut and pasted quests around this theme: Mage A has escaped and is possessed and Templar B wants them all dead, or Templar A is abusing mages but keeping Mage B from dangerous blood magic, who do you kill? It’s as if the game is having repeated tantrums, constantly regressing to the same plot device until it believes you understand its premise. ‘We’re giving you COMPLEX CHOICES!’, it screams. ‘This is DARK FANTASY! Look how DARK all these options are!’

Needless to say, subtlety certainly hasn’t been BioWare’s strong point recently. Someone really ought to inform them that creating challenging narratives needn’t involve idiots constantly reiterating dubious ethical standpoints until you want to smash them in the face. You can watch that just as easily on BBC Parliament.

This wouldn’t be so bad if your decisions had interesting plot consequences, but apparently, BioWare think you won’t notice if they play patently obvious narrative tricks on you. Most of the time it doesn’t matter whether you choose to execute the possessed Mage or let them go; either way they still try and kill you.

The game constantly takes the time to remind you of how ‘consequential’ your actions are, and proceeds to slap you in the face with lazily-produced responses. Even worse, when the narrative finally reaches its climax, all the characters are somehow oblivious to the previous decisions you’ve made, and will ask bemusedly which side you’re going to choose. It’s like playing Cluedo with your demented grandmother: you can swap the knife with the candlestick, answer yes to a question once and no the second time; it doesn’t matter, she’s never going to remember anyway.
Nevertheless, characterisation is something Dragon Age II does fairly competently. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a Morrigan or an Alistair in the whole lot, but party members like Merrill, the adorably Welsh blood-mage, or Isabella, a nymphomaniac pirate, make the hours of monotonous combat more bearable. The inclusion of multiple same-sex relationship options (there were only a couple in the original) is also a welcome move, and is the kind of forward thinking people have come to expect from BioWare. However, these more successful elements don’t save Dragon Age II from narrative drudgery.

Regardless, if you’re accustomed to the incredible levels of polish BioWare usually deliver, it’s advisable to take the 35 hours of time Dragon Age II would swallow and spend it elsewhere. Maybe you could get ahead on that work that is already piling up? Or perhaps learn a valuable life-skill like crochet or quilting? Whatever you do, take comfort in the knowledge that Mass Effect 3 and The Old Republic are just around the corner, primed to prove that BioWare are the masters of role-playing.
Justin Mahboubian-Jones