This game probably slipped under most gamers’ radars. Unfortunately it came out right about the time another great game was released, Modern Warfare 2. Dragon Age: Origins however is a totally different gaming experience than that provided by the Call of Duty franchise. Bioware, the game studio that created great role playing games (RPG) such as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, returns to it’s fantasy roots with Dragon Age. Honestly, Bioware’s reputation in the RPG genre alone is what motivated me to purchase this game, and now after having played it through, I can say I was not disappointed.

Dragon Age: Origins is set in the fantasy land of Ferelden. There are a variety of races in the land, including but not limited to humans, dwarves, & elves. You play a new recruit to an elite group of soldiers known as the Gray Wardens. The primary role of the Wardens is to fight against the Darkspawn, creatures that suffer an incurable taint. The Wardens are immune to the taint and possess a unique ability to sense this taint in others.

The ‘Origins’ part of the game title comes from the fact that when you start the game you can choose between a variety of backgrounds for your character. You then get to play out the ‘origin’ of your character and how you came to join the Gray Wardens. The origin story you choose alters slightly the way the story plays out throughout the game. The title also refers to the studio returning to it’s own origins in creating fantasy role playing games, such as it did with Baldur’s Gate.

Dragon Age: Origins introduces a whole new fantasy world to us, with it’s own history and mythology. Bioware reveals this universe to the player through character dialogue, storytelling narration, as well as hundreds of little clues throughout the game. As you find items, they are added to the game codex. Players are free at any time to go into the codex and read about things you’ve found. The more you read about Ferelden and the rest of the world Bioware has created, the more you understand it. That style of play gives gamers a a very immersed experience into the fictional world.

The script writing and voice acting in Origins is superb. Steve Valentine and Claudia Black provide great dialogue between two of your main party members. Bioware also did well at not creating such black and white characters as many other RPG games tend to do. It used to be that RPG gamers had only to real options to them in terms of how to play the game – good or evil. Origins provides plenty of gray area in between where players can fit their own personality into their in-game character.

Overall, Dragon Age: Origins is one of the better RPG games I’ve played in a while and cements even more my faith in Bioware’s ability to produce quality games in that genre.