Updated: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Wakes Up On March 16

[Greg Tito]

Updated: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Wakes Up On March 16

The first expansion to the hit RPG, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening [http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Age-Origins-Awakening-Pc/dp/B003336KG4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1279055198&sr=1-1] offers creative title punctuation and 15+ hours of gameplay.


Update: Bioware has released a trailer for the Awakening expansion which answers at least one question: The "old favorite" character from the original game is most likely your Grey Warden buddy, Alistair.

After rumors flew yesterday, Bioware announced [http://dragonage.bioware.com/awakening] that Awakening will be released on March 16th. Awakening focuses on a new darkspawn threat to the Grey Warden Commander as you try to rebuild the decimated order. You can import your character from the original game or create a new one from the neighboring country of Orlais. The world map expands by adding the realm of Amaranthine, and you will meet five new party members in addition to an "old favorite" from the original. The expansion is available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for preorder at Gamestop and will cost $40.

It's interesting that an expansion will be released less than six months after the first game was released, especially since Bioware promised an aggressive DLC schedule. There is no indication that this announcement had anything to do with the first DLC after launch, Return to Ostogar, being delayed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97241-Dragon-Age-DLC-Return-to-Ostagar-Delayed], but the proximity of the two announcements seems like more than a coincidence.

Also, with the original Dragon Age clocking in at 70+ hours to complete, it seems a bit steep to charge $40 for what might only amount to what 15 hours of gameplay [http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/05/ea-announces-dragon-age-awakening-releases-in-march/]. With game prices going up, is $40 the new price of quality game expansions?


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[Lost In The Void]

Holy Piss that's alota cash for 15 hours. I might wait to see how good it is first

 

[Flamezdudes]

HOLY HOLY SHIT. Must get, must get. I hope i'l have enough cash by March, the cash i got for my Birthday has mainly been put in the back, the rest was used to pre-order Mass Effect 2. Then there's Return to Ostagar and Bioshock 2 to get. Seriously, there's too much stuff coming out this year.

 

[Aura Guardian]

How many hours can this fucking thing have?!

13 hours of dialogue with 2 hours of gameplay? (It's a Bioware joke people)

 

[squid5580]

I am beginning to think the success of Warden's Keep has gone to their heads. This whole "it is more than an hour worth of content because you will keep using it" is only going to fly for so long.

 

[oliveira8]

Sounds a bit pricey but then again, there's some games with 5 hour campaigns that sell for 60?...

 

[Swaki]

well since they claimed that dragon age had 100 hours of gameplay, it "only" lasted 50 hours for me, so with some very very simple math this expansion pack will have 7½ hours, oh and 40 euros is way to much, thats what the Americans had to pay for mewtwo.

20 euros would be fair, 30 would be pushing it but i would still pick it up if the reviews where good, but 40!, I'll likely pick it up once it goes on sale.

 

[Punisher A.J.]

How many hours can this fucking thing have?!

13 hours of dialogue with 2 hours of gameplay? (It's a Bioware joke people)

No its not I beat dragon age: origins (meaning every quest) in 25 hours. but $40 seems really steep.

 

[Nightfalke]

Sounds a bit pricey but then again, there's some games with 5 hour campaigns that sell for 60?...

This.

*looks menacingly at CoD:MW2...then gets all sheepish and invites it back to bed.*

 

[axys]

HAHAHAHA... 100+ hours of gameplay???!!!??? It took me 35 hrs. the first time through with 100% completion & now I have the game down to 22 hours from start to finish. 15 hours? more like 4. I love the game, but I vote NO!

 

[phoenix352]

i get more replay value from the game with the modding community lol makes the game 500% more fun then it is especially at combat

 

[Mordwyl]

Why would people complain about its price when they rushed to buy Modern Warfare 2, despite the latter not offering much itself? You pay what you're willing to pay.

 

[TPiddy]

well since they claimed that dragon age had 100 hours of gameplay, it "only" lasted 50 hours for me, so with some very very simple math this expansion pack will have 7½ hours, oh and 40 euros is way to much, thats what the Americans had to pay for mewtwo.

20 euros would be fair, 30 would be pushing it but i would still pick it up if the reviews where good, but 40!, I'll likely pick it up once it goes on sale.

When they claim it has 100 hours they're implying that you'll play through all the endings... which is at least 4 playthroughs, and then all 6 origins.... I have played it through twice now, first one taking 40 hours, second one taking 32.... I'll hit 100 hours easily... just because you're skimming through it and not doing everything doesn't mean they're liars.

 

[Eatbrainz]

Who's with me on betting that the 'old' character will be morrigan?

 

[Bretty]

Agree with the peeps that talk about MW2 here. Of course MW2 has MP, which i guess adds to the replayability but not for me.

$40 is high but people will pay it. I hope they add the DLC in for free.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Who's with me on betting that the 'old' character will be morrigan?

Yep. I said I'd hunt her and our demon baby down and I damn well will.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Sounds interesting. If they fix the absolutely schizophrenic difficulty on the console version, though, then I'm sold. Normal difficulty was far from normal.

3000th post! Only two thousand more to go. [sub]IT'S LONGER THAN YOU THINK, DAD! LONGER THAN YOU THINK![/sub]

 

[SharedProphet]

Sounds cool, but I won't buy it. I might if it were $15... or better yet, $10. $40? No.

I don't plan to buy The Warden's Keep, either. I like the free DLC, but I already paid for the game once. One annoying thing about paid DLC is that they often don't cut prices on it like retail stores do physical games; I bought DA:O for less than this DLC will cost, and I doubt Awakening will ever go on sale (or at least, if it does, it likely still won't approach a reasonable price).

 

[Exocet]

First of all,I'd like to point out that there is a fucking electric dragon!
Secondly,even if it's "just" 15 hours,there is going to be new items,characters to discover and I'm hoping for a new class or two,even if it hasn't been announced yet.