Dragon Age 2 Announced

Okay so this isn't a SCG related topic, but anyone who knows me knows that I love me a good game, and Bioware is one of my favorite gaming companies. Perhaps it's from the perspective of a writer who actually favors story over game play, but I think their concept of story driven games have effectively changed the way games are created. More and more games have become dramatic, cinematic, artistic and more story driven then in the past. Bioware wasn't the first to adopt the "games can be used to tell good stories" method, but they are certainly one of the more powerful framers of the philosophy.

Dragon Age 2 is both a relief and a disappointment rolled into one. The fact the hero of Fereldan will not be carrying over, and the story of DAO is pretty much told and set in stone is the culprit for both. I'm disappointed because I would have loved to have seen my character reunite with Morrigan at some point, despite the fact that their relationship was doomed from the get go. I would have liked to have seen Alistair being all kingly. I would have loved to have traveled to Orlais and combat the Darkspawn as they rose up from the ground again (semi covered in Awakening), but most importantly, what happened to my kid?!

But then relief sets in when I think of Mass Effect 2's epic fail on those counts. Considering Bioware's track record for sequels, I'd say that I wasn't going to see any of those things regardless. Though maybe I would have gotten an impersonal, half-assed note in DA2 that would have probably glitched. Better to do a spin off then a remake I suppose.

In any case, DA2 is offering up some exciting new prospects. A decade long campaign (hopefully with character aging), the game's landscape changing throughout based on your choices (likely taking a cue from Alpha Protocol's single redeeming feature), and graphical and combat enhancements (ala ME2, so expect a God of War-esque game rather than a Dragon Age-esque game). Coming to stores in February, I believe that DA2 will be very telling as to where Bioware intend to take their games into the future. Especially in terms of Mass Effect 3.

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