Dragon Age 2 Review

Dragon Age II, the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins and highly anticipated Bioware release. Well, you most likely won't want to hear this but DA2 isn't really good. If you liked Origins then you will most likely only play this game for the story. There is also an improved communication system that is obviously that of Mass Effect and such. Athough, this can't really pardon the rest of the mistakes of the game.

First, the combat system has been cheapened. You attack wildly and there is little need of any strategy at all. There are plenty of pretty kills and such but the set executions that would automatically happen after finishing an opponent back in Origins are completely gone now. Your allies still have strategies you can set for them but they are of little use now; enough hack n' slash and you will either win every battle within one minute or you'll die in 30 seconds. Secondly, the leveling up system seems off in comparison to before. Now it focuses mainly on passive skills with few action skills. There is little difference between one skill set and another (all of which are open for you to level in at the very beginning, no unlocking special abilities/classes later). Third, I played this on my X360 on my T.V. (which is a nice size) and I found it a headache just to read the words that were displayed. It got to the point where I just saw random words and didn't care which one I selected.

Another issue would be that your party is lacking personality. The only partner I found of any interesting identity was the dwarf with the crossbow (can't remember his name all that well because even he isn't all that exciting). Without memorable characters the story feels practically stuck in its own muck. Also, a severe issue that must be addressed is the graphics. They look better but all the individuals look streched a bit and the game will sometimes flicker on occassions. This has nothing to with my T.V. considering that I'm finishing Bulletstorm and I haven't even had ONE Video issue. Why the hell was this not seen by the creators?! It takes place throughout the entire freaking game and happens all the time in the beginning intro!

In conclusion, Bioware kept social specialties but failed to make the actual game play fun (It is practically Dynasty Warriors quality!). In their failure Dragon Age II suffers far greater than what it would have if only they left the gameplay the way it was. DO NOT BUY, even if you want to see the story. Just rent this game from Gamefly or your local Blockbusters but DO NOT BUY!!!

5.3/10