Eh! I really tried thinking up a way to do a “first impressions” on the first 4 hours I spent playing Dragon Age: Origins but the world I encountered while playing and the content was just so massive I gave up on that idea. Hell I would like to know where people start off a review with a massive game like this. So instead of throwing a “first impressions” or a review, I will rather put down what I though while spending 4 hours with the game. First thing that caught my attention was the “Origins Story” they implemented in the game for each race and some of the classes.

For example, if you choose a dwarf noble you start off the game as part of a royal family in one of the dwarven cities. But if you choose the role of a Dwarf commoner the story takes place  in the dwarven city streets, the polar opposite of the dwarven noble. So for every character you create depending on race, class and background you will get a different cinematic opening and pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the game. A very long introduction into the world of Dragon Age: Origins I might add. I did find it a very nice touch to the overall story. I even created every character possible so that I could view each opening sequence and story, and then I just realized how well put together the story of Dragon Age really is.

The character creation and game mechanics is pretty standard western RPG stuff; you can basically change any of your characters facial features down to every little detail. There are 3 base classes to choose from: the rogue, the warrior, and the mage. These classes can be upgraded later into a specialized class, such as the Berserker or Templar for the warrior class, and Shapeshifter or Blood Mage for the mage. You also get too choose from 3 races namely Human, Elf and Dwarf each with his or her unique background. I was pretty hesitant how a role-playing like Dragon Age: Origins would play on a console.

Purely because my fondest of western role playing game memories comes from playing then on the PC. Games like: Planscape Torment, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights. But I am happy to state that it works rather well with the Xbox 360 controller, obviously it is not going to be at the same level as a mouse and keyboard. But not once during my 4 hour session did the controls feel unnatural, stiff or awkward. You can map your skills and items using the A,X,Y and A button using the radial menu, you can even have two sets of armor and weapons set so you can quickly switch between the two different sets when the need arises.

The controls are very responsive, but it takes some time getting used to them if you have played this sort of game on the PC. Also giving orders to your fellow team mates in battle is also made easy using the radial menu, and using the radial menu and assigning your most used skills to your controller buttons which will make your life so much easier when going into battles. You control your movement using the left analogue stick while controlling the camera using the right analogue stick. When selecting a NPC or enemies you use the d-pad to cycle through them which can end up being a pain in the ass,  especially when you trying to make a bee line for the strongest enemy in the group.

And if you did not pre plan your attack or have some sort of strategy before picking a fight with a group of enemies,  be prepared to reload a lot and I do mean a lot. Even on medium the game is pretty unforgiving punishing you for stupid choices during a battle. And here comes the most talked about aspect of the Xbox 360 version of the game and that is the graphics and textures in game. I have seen the PC version of the game and yes the graphics is superior to that of the Xbox 360, I have yet to see the PS3 version in action. But I can tell you know the difference is not as massive as some people have stated and not nearly as bad as reviewers make it out to be.

And yes the facial expressions are rather limited but I am not expecting a Jim Carry range of expressions from the characters in the game. I haven’t encountered any of the graphical problems or glitches that some of the reviews have mentioned that plagues the Xbox 360 version, maybe I am not just far enough into the game yet. Having said that sometimes the color pallet of Dragon Age: Origins is rather dull and uninspiring at times. With the only real color coming from the magic spells being cast while in combat and the odd city town or buildings.

The main difference between the console and PC version is the fact that the axonometric view was taken out of the console versions, so you are stuck with a over the shoulder from behind view like in Mass Effect with the ability to swivel the camera left or right or center it. Yes this is rather limiting in some aspect but according to the developers the consoles don’t have enough memory to handle it and they would have had to cut back on other features to make it work. And they stated that they would rather remove a single feature then a whole bunch of them to make it work. And I cant fault them for that as it pretty much is the limitation of the console hardware.

As expected from a Bioware game the voice acting is top notch with a lot of famous voice actors lending there voices to the characters of Dragon Age: Origins people like Steve Blum and Claudia Black from Farscape fame. Just like the voice acting the background music and sound effects are also of high standards. Though I did notice the music abruptly changing or switching during certain scenes in the game which kind of makes you go what the fuck, especial after the brilliant story and voice acting build up a scene. But I think this is more me being being nit picky about the small details than anything else.

Overall The Dragon Age: Origins experience on the Xbox 360 was a positive one and I went into this game with pretty much no expectations of the game as I only jumped on the bandwagon about 2 weeks ago. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well the game was implemented on the Xbox 360, and also how well it performs.  And this is If you consider that these types of games were the domain of the PC for a very long time. If you are looking to sit back on your favorite couch and play this and dont mind the lack of axonometric view and controls then pickup the console version. If these things do bother you then I recommend getting the PC version.

Not the best quality, when you consider that these were taken with a camera while no one was looking. Apparently one of the beta testers for the game managed to snap a few shots of the new Halo game and post it on the internet. Not the smartest thing to do I guess, I would hate to be in his shoes if Microsoft and Bungi find him cause I am pretty sure these guys sign some type of clause when they become beta testers not to leak any information about the game. Chances that these are fake? Not much since the official Halo community forum have been handing out permanent bans to whoever posts the image or goes into lengthy discussions about them. And from the look of things Bungi is using a new graphics engine, and it looks like it has one or two new weapons. Is that needler rifle I see? Whoa…

Oh man! The first couple of month next year is going to be epic, between Splinter Cell Conviction, Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2 I am going to be in gaming heaven. Anyway check out the new Mass Effect 2 “Enemies” trailer below, seems we are in for a couple of surprises.

This new trailer for Splinter Cell Conviction give you an inside look at how the Israeli martial art Krav Maga and real-life firearm techniques inspires Conviction’s all new gameplay mechanics. You’ll also learn about some Sam’s newest toys such as EMP grenades and other improvised gadgets, and also get a look at how the storyline will be taking a surprising new directions following the tragic events of Double Agent.

In Dark Void, you take on the role of a cargo pilot named Will who crashes in the Bermuda Triangle and finds himself trapped on an alien world after entering a mysterious portal. The game will feature extensive aerial combat and vertically designed levels which also includes a duck and cover system that you can use during ground combat. You can check out the latest Developer Diary below.