Last year's Dragon Age: Origins was one of the best RPG games in a long time. Combining quality writing with great characters and solid gameplay, it was acclaimed both by critics and gamers alike. Now Bioware puts out the game's first expansion pack. For you younger readers, expansion packs are what we had before DLC. They're not quite sequels but still bigger than DLC, meant to expand upon the original game. The big question is, does Awakening live up to the legacy of Origins? In short, no, it doesn't. However, that doesn't mean it's bad or that it should be avoided.
The story takes place shortly after the events of the first game. The Warden from the first game is now the Warden-Commander. Sent to the province of Amaranthine, you are to oversee the restoration of the Gray Wardens. However, just as you arrive at Vigil's Keep, your new home, you find it under attack by Darkspawn. From there, it's up to you to discover the plans of the enigmatic Darkspawn leader called the Architect and his nemesis, The Mother. The main plot is overall quite solid with interesting antagonists and good writing. In fact, I'd have preffered if it had gotten a full game instead of an expansion pack since it has more originality that the main Origins plot. As it stands, the limited scope of the expansion leaves many interesting plot hooks unexplored.
Even though you can import your Origins character, the events of the first game are only minimally refferenced. This will disappoint those who were hoping to see the consequences of their actions in Origins. Those starting a new character will play as a Gray Warden from Orlais. Important to note that while your character, gold and items from Origins will transfer, any DLC items do NOT. The exception here is Return to Ostagar, and some people (myself included) had their Stone Prisoner items carry over. It is advisable to load up your Epilogue save in Origins and reassign your gear, as well as sell off any surplus.
Once again you'll be gathering a motley crew of misfits to act as your party. The only returning character from the first game is Oghren (god knows why), but the newcomers have interesting backgrounds of their own, including a Fade spirit, an apostate (renegade) mage and a member of the dwarven Legion of the Dead. The approval and gift systems are still here, though this time around it's harder to max out everyone's approval. The slight change here is that the endless talking with party members at camp has been reduced drastically and most of the interaction takes place out in the field where your party members will react to items in the environment. The concept is interesting, but there isn't enough of it and it's easy to simply not have the right people in your party and miss the dialogue triggers. However, at least the devs tried something new.
The core gameplay is mostly the same. There are some new tactics options, increased level cap, new skill lines and a bunch of new talents and spells, as well as six new specializations. There's a new crafting skill (Runecrafting) which is only needed because runes don't drop anymore. The new specializations are mostly useful, though the logic behind giving Mages two specs focused on Point-Blank AoE spells is a bit lost on me. Also, the Spirit Warrior spec is utterly useless. The new talents and spells are for the most part solid. For instance 2H Warriors are now AoE monsters and Archers no longer suck. However, some of the new moves are basically overpowered, and this brings me to my next point...
The difficulty has taken a nose dive. Playing through the game on Hard I didn't get killed even once and I know I'm not THAT good. Origins was notorious for its somewhat unforgiving combat that required the player to carefully manage his spells and abilities, as well as carefully program his Tactics to get the most out of his party. However, due to the new abilities in Awakening you can pretty much breeze through the game happily slaughtering everything in your path. Even the final Boss fight is quite easy and I must confess that the lower difficulty was a bit of a disappointent for me.
Overall, the game is more Dragon Age. How much more? Roughly 13-16 hours for a thorough playthrough. However, it's a bit rough around the edges. The main quests don't have multiple potential outcomes like in Origins which lowers the replay value and the scale isn't as epic. Some of the changes, like the modified interaction with party members is mostly hit-and-miss and the reduced difficuty makes it less interesting to play than it might have been. It's still a solid RPG with a good plot and fun combat, but it could have used more work to polish out some of the rough edges. However, it IS an expansion pack, not a sequel and as such it works.
Bottom line is, do you want more Dragon Age? If yes, then you'll likely enjoy Awakening as long as you don't expect it to blow your mind. If you didn't like Origins then Awakening won't change your mind.
Numerically, take whatever you gave Origins and subtract a point. In my case, it would be 7/10
My other game reviews: Mass Effect 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.171832-Mass-Effect-2-PC], King Arthur [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.159956-King-Arthur-The-Role-Playing-Wargame-PC], The Last Remnant [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.106566-The-Last-Remnant-PC]
, I think I will by Awakening after all.
