As for Dragon Age, EA is talking about bringing multiplayer to the mix. It is unclear whether or not this will be part of Dragon Age 3 or if it will be a downloadable game. What we do know is that it will run on DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine and will feature arena-type battles with PvE and PvP combat. Oh, you can fight dragons also, which is probably the biggest headache in the series. Maybe they should focus on creating a better single-player experience before they try to tackle multiplayer. What are your thought on this?

Source: Kotaku 1, 2

When you think of epic RPG worlds and cards, the first that comes to mind is probably a Trading Card Game. So, when I tell you that Mass Effect and Dragon Age cards are coming out this November, you would probably get excited, right? Well, not so fast. Cards are coming, but they’re just regular playing cards with Mass Effect and Dragon Age designs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty cool for fans of these games, of which we have a couple here on this very site. But it just isn’t fair for them to plant the idea of a Mass Effect TCG in your head. Anyway, the cards will be available on November 16 for $4.99.

Source CBR

This news comes from a posting on the BioWare message boards, which also says there will be a demo for an upcoming piece of DLC for Dragon Age 2. You can also expect some of the more traditional things you’d see at Comic Con like some nice BioWare swag that’s being handed out, as well as a BioWare costume contest. If you are one of the lucky people that are going to SDCC anytime between July 21 through July 24, and you get to play the demos, let us know what you think of it. Furthermore, I promise that my hate for you will not last, but it will take time to fade.

Mass Effect 3 will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on March 6, 2012.

The game is the story of a story, told in flashback. One of your companions, Varric, is being held for questioning about how the events of the game unfolded. He tells the story of the hero character, Hawke, as he escapes Lothering during its destruction by the darkspawn. Please note that I will refer to Hawke as a male, even though he can be a female. It’s just easier that way. Varric originally tells the story the way the legend tells it: Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall, is a mighty fighter that slayed many darkspawn along with his sister, Bethany, as they escape their hometown as it burns to the ground.  This telling of the legend is a clever way of letting the player try the different character classes at a higher, more powerful level for a few battles before Varric tells the true story which brings the player to level 1.

The story eventually brings Hawke to Kirkwall, the city where most of the game takes place. Hawke meets almost all his companions here and they all spend years here, just living the livese of adventurers. Hawke does venture out in to the surrounding areas for missions, but they still feel as though they are part of Kirkwall and not a larger world.

While the smaller world makes the game feel like it is scaled down, it does give the experience a more intimate feel than if it had some vast explorable world with many large cities or quaint towns. Player will recognize the minor stand-in NPCs and, throughout the game, see how they contribute to one of the missions over the seven years with which the game takes place. However, that also poses the question, “Why are they standing in the same place and saying the same exact thing for seven years?” With that minor gripe aside, the story spanning seven years also allows you to revisit some characters involved in major missions, and see how your decisions can lead to different outcomes and missions. This results in the game almost begging you to give it multiple playthroughs.

However, having the game take place over many years in the same location led the developers to respawn loot stashes after the time lapses for each of the three acts. While this was necessary to give you gear for your appropriate level, it created a sense of redundancy. To add to that redundancy, parts of Kirkwall are explorable by day and by night with different loot stashes for each time of day. This continuous hunt for loot can really slow the pace of the game down.

This slowed pace can be rather jarring when you get into battles, which are much faster than those found in Dragon Age II’s predecessors. There is an element of strategy involved, and it does help to pause the action to issue orders to your companions. However, when the orders are given and the battle resumes, the action is brutal. Attacks feel faster and harder, and magic spells feel more devastating. The action isn’t without its flaws, mind you. There are parts of the game where you hit spikes in the difficulty, to the point where I had to adjust the difficulty of the game to the easy setting to get past an encounter. Maybe the fault was my own, and I didn’t spec my character properly, but it still shouldn’t be that much of an annoyance for a game being played on the normal setting.

The look of Dragon Age II has definitely improved from the first game. A lot more detail went into the character models, and it’s most notable in the design changes in some of the species. Elves are now made to look very angular and slender, almost to the point where they’d look frail if it wasn’t for the toned muscles. The biggest change was made to the design of the Qunari, who now look like massive bipedal beasts as opposed to a larger form of human. There was one such Qunari whose model was so detailed and intricate that he looked like he was going to be an important character throughout the game, only to never see that particular one again. Granted, the model did pop up a few other times, but never to the point where you could really take time to admire it.

Sadly, the level of care given to the characters did not seem to go into the environments. With a smaller overall game world, one would expect more detail in the spaces that were created, but this is not the case. Only a handful of unique dungeon layouts were created for the many that you will end up exploring. They would be decorated a little differently, and some passages would be blocked off, but there is no mistaking one dungeon from being the same as the one you visited an hour ago. That’s just lazy level design. However, a good job is done in creating the separate sections of Kirkwall. The lavish High Town area feels like a place for nobility, while the dank area of Darktown gives the impression that a junkie could be right around the corner. There are also some really good instances of lighting, particularly in High Town during the third act where the sun is setting. You can almost feel the warmth when you step into its light.

The narrative in Dragon Age II is an odd beast because it takes a long time to really come across to the player. In the first game, the story was obvious from the get go. The darkspawn are coming. Kill them, and save the land. They took no time to present the epic nature of the quest. In the beginning of Dragon Age II, however, you get the impression that Hawke is just twiddling his thumbs and trying to make a name for himself.

The first act is about nothing more than getting money by doing odd quests in order to fund an expedition. Yawn. However, during the second act, it is made clear that some of those quests in the first act all introduce you to the real issues at hand. The issues still aren’t seen as an epic adventure, but rather sociopolitical problems that plague the land. The third act is where the story comes together. That’s where you then get the notion that the whole world is watching and reacting to what’s happening in Kirkwall and will follow suit. These problems of social and diplomatic unease finally erupt to create jaw-dropping moments that stir a whirlwind of emotional responses, from anger, to sorrow, to sympathy, that lead to making difficult decisions in the game.

The stirring of these emotions is done largely by the relationships the characters form. A large portion of the quest in the game are done for your companion characters, whether it’s helping them with dire problems or simply talking to them about difficulties they are having. You get a real sense of camaraderie, and not just between Hawke and his crew. The companions are always having conversations amongst themselves, giving a sense of deep personal relationships. And it’s not all smiles and laughter between your companions. There are tensions between some of the characters due to the prevalent sociopolitical problems that are presented throughout the game, but that too adds to the feeling of intimacy. It also makes you think long and hard about whom you want to bring with on quests in order to get the desired friendship or rivalry.

All in all, Dragon Age II is a very dense game which results in both its strengths and weaknesses. It confines itself, which creates both redundancy and intimacy. It presents a story that starts slow but ends incredibly because you are so connected with everyone around it. In the end, it has you making decisions that feel like they are impacting a whole world beyond what the player experiences within the game. Dragon Age II has more than its share of problems, but it also does so many things well. The first half of the game is boring, but if you are willing to stick with it, it has immense payoff. It definitely leaves you eager to see what is next for the world of Dragon Age.

Pros:

• Really good character models
• Sense of intimacy with the world
• Great character development
• Huge payoff at the end

Cons:

• Reused environments
• Exploration is redundant
• Difficulty spikes
• Starts out VERY slow

Final Verdict: Try It

You’ll get to play though the demo as one of three different character classes and see the faster and more responsive combat for yourself. As a bonus for completing the demo, players will unlock Hayder’s Razor, a dwarven blade that increases health, mana, and combat abilities, for use in the full game. Are you interested to see the improvements Bioware made to the series?

Ser Isaac’s Boots

• Increases armor
• Requires high dexterity and cunning

Ser Isaac’s Armor

• Heavy Armor
• Contains a rune slot
• Increases armor
• Requires high dexterity and cunning

Ser Isaac’s Gauntlets

• Increases armor
• Requires high dexterity and cunning

Ser Isaac’s Helm

• Contains a rune slot
• Increases armor
• Critical damage factor
• Requires high dexterity and cunning

Will you be willing to buy a completely separate game to access armor in another game? Keep in mind your mother will probably hate the armor.

Dragon Age 2 is coming out March 8^th, and Dead Space 2 is coming out January 25^th. Both games will be released for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC.

If you pre-order Dragon Age II before January 11th, your copy will be the BioWare Signature Edition. What does that mean? It means you get exclusive weapons, an exclusive character with accompanying missions, and a downloadable version of the game’s soundtrack.  I would say even if you’re just considering it, you should maybe go put your fiver down on the game now.

Dragon Age 2 has a pretty bad ass CGI trailer. I mean it doesn’t make ME any more excited for the game, but it might make you excited. Dragon Age 2 is due out in North America March 8th 2011.

Trailer via Joystiq