Preview Dragon Age Preview At Bit-Tech

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age

Yet another Dragon Age preview has surfaced, this time <a href="http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/05/13/dragon-age-origins-hands-on-preview/1">over at Bit-Tech</a>. It seems to be from the same demo shown to other members of the press that contained the possessed mage boss battle, though they do chime in with some additional information.<blockquote>To offer a brief recap on the story though, Dragon Age: Origins is the story of your attempts to build an army. Players are cast as part of a secret society that exists to defend the high-fantasy world from demons – specifically a demon army called The Blight. Once a proud and well-respected group of warriors and paladins, your society of Grey Wardens has fallen into decadence and decay by the time you join up and all those kingdoms that once pledged allegiance to your cause have forgotten all about you.</blockquote>Hmmm...find X amount of plot devices before opening up an end chapter? Where have I heard of that before?<blockquote>As part of his revenge scheme/attempt to soften enemy forces, he’d pulled all the wizards under his control or into his grasp. It was up to us to end his thrall and decide the fate of the wizards and whether or not they could be trusted with the power they wield. Would it be better to take a handful of easily demonised wizards into battle with us, or a legion of anti-magic knights?</blockquote>Hopefully this choice actually matters.<blockquote>There are two main features which distinguish the combat of Baldur’s Gate from that of Dragon Age, with BioWare desperately wanting to focus on one of those two today. They are interactive environments and stackable spell combos, the latter of which was the one BioWare was pushing and both of which are laden with more buzzwords than a marketing executive drowning in TPS reports.
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Interactive environments are pretty much just what they sound like and are something we’ve had a chance to fiddle with before in our last Dragon Age: Origins preview, but it’s basically the RPG equivalent of the explosive barrel. There are now specific items in the game world that players can take advantage of, like spilled oil that can be ignited to damage enemies or water-logged areas that can be frozen.
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Taking advantage of these environments is never crucial to advancing in the game and, if we’re honest, they aren’t exactly easy to spot either. We’ve gotten so used to the static nature of the environments in RPGs that when fighting enemies at a river crossing our first thought isn’t usually to back them into the stream and hit them with a lightning blast to electrify the water.
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And that’s how spells work in Dragon Age: Origins. Spells can cause reactions in the environment, as we mentioned earlier, but they can also interact with each other if you plan your moves carefully. Using a Grease spell to blanket an area in flammable and then setting the whole thing ablaze is only the tip of the iceberg too. Using spell combos you can steamroll and snowball your effects together in a number of different ways, none of which are listed when the game starts and all of which have to be unlocked through experimentation.</blockquote>Still seems promising, but could turn out to be nothing more than gimmicks.<blockquote>The issue of whether or not spell combos really belong in an RPG like Dragon Age: Origins is still a thorny one though, as while the effect is undoubtedly cool and unique among the genre, it also causes a bit of a disconnect between the player and the world. The world of Dragon Age is 3D, but it’s not fully interactive or physically realised, so when the cyclone blew we were admittedly left wandering why no books were flying off shelves or furniture toppling.</blockquote>Good to see the gaming press is focusing on the important things...
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And I may be wrong, but those interested may find what look to be new screenshots.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://gamebanshee.com">Gamebanshee</A>

 

[Zyrxil]

Wow, a preview that isn't just a guy shouting "The Devs are GODS". That's doubly rare for a Bioware game preview.

I have to say, I do like the environmental interaction and spell stacking. It's not a genre revolutionizing feature, but they make sense. Of course, you probably won't be able to set plains of grass or thatched roofs on fire with fireballs or freeze rain into big chunks of hail, but little steps.

 

[Shannow]

Good to see the gaming press is focusing on the important things...

It's one of the few innovative features the game touts. So for DA being consequent about the reactive/destructable environments feature and lifting it above mere gimmik seems quite important to me.

as while the effect is undoubtedly cool and unique among the genre,

It's not. In ToEE Web reacted with Fireball. Others like Grease might have done so, also. In Incursion you can freeze rivers with ice spells. There are probably other RPGs I don't remember/know that also have interactive environments/spells.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

The new shit just keeps getting shittier. Who could've known? (Other than Skyway, that is.)

 

[Turok]

The new shit just keeps getting shittier. Who could've known? (Other than Skyway, that is.)

This shit promise more thant other shits releases this days, so i keep with this "shit".

 

[sheek]

The description of the army recruitment, with C&C in the first part reminded me of this Fighting Fantasy book:

Except I doubt it will have as many branching options...

The kingdom of Allansia is under threat. Agglax the evil Zombie-Lord is amassing an army of undead warriors in easter Allansia, beyond the Forest of Fiends. His army increases in size with every attack it makes on the local villages and every day its ranks are swelled with slaughtered victims under Agglax’s evil spell. Unless they are stopped now, the undead will take over the entire kingdom.

YOU are Allansia’s only hope. Your mission is to raise an army which will defeat the terrifying undead troops… but how can you conquer an army which grows in numbers with every battle it fights?

Part Story, part game, this is a book with a difference - one in which you become the hero! A pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which route to take, which creatures to fight and which danger

http://fightingdantasy.blogspot.com/200 ... death.html

 

[oldmanpaco]

Dragon Age! Dragon Age!! All Dragon Age all the time!!!

Dragon Age!!!!

 

[Elhoim]

Good to see the gaming press is focusing on the important things...

It's one of the few innovative features the game touts. So for DA being consequent about the reactive/destructable environments feature and lifting it above mere gimmik seems quite important to me.

I think he was refering to the fact they were "worried" that books and furniture didn't fly away with the cyclone.

 

[Andhaira]

Now that the hype machine has started I am starting to miss the days when we had nothing on it at all.

 

[Naked Ninja]

Game is looking great and I'm keen on the idea of spell stacking. Looking forward to this one.

 

[Naked Ninja]

Also, this :

Good to see the gaming press is focusing on the important things...

Seems silly when you read the article and his next sentence is :

Really though, it’s not worth putting too much criticism on a single gameplay element like this. The fact that tables aren’t overturned by fireball shockwaves never bothered us in Baldur’s Gate and while we noticed it here, we’re happy to pretend to ignore it. It’s a real non-issue, in other words.

 

[Jaesun]

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Jaesun: Master of the F-meme.

 

[Micmu]

Anything to drown the Fallout DLC news! Let's hope that DA succeeds where ME has failed.

GO BIOWARE GO

 

[oldmanpaco]

I'm acually looking forward to DA if only for the toolset. To bad it's still 6 months from release. But we are lucky to have all these interviews/previews/videos/books to make the time go faster.

 

[Jaesun]

I'm acually looking forward to DA if only for the toolset.

I'm actually curious about that as well. *If* the combat is actually half way decent, there could possibly be some good mods for this game.

I really should have signed up for the beta of the toolset. Just to poke around in it.

 

[Lockkaliber]

Getting our two wizards to cast these spells one after another threw the weather effects together to create a new combo which, according to the on-screen update, was called ‘Storm of The Century’

 

[oldmanpaco]

I really should have signed up for the beta of the toolset. Just to poke around in it.

I signed up but did not get in yet. They say they will keep adding people so I might get a chance this summer.

 

[Jaesun]

I really should have signed up for the beta of the toolset. Just to poke around in it.

I signed up but did not get in yet. They say they will keep adding people so I might get a chance this summer.

Ahhh cool. Have you used the NWN2 toolset before? Just for reference.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Bit tech, good hardware reviews....games, not so much.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Good to see the gaming press is focusing on the important things...

It's one of the few innovative features the game touts. So for DA being consequent about the reactive/destructable environments feature and lifting it above mere gimmik seems quite important to me.

True, true. My gripe with them was that the only critical thought they had about it was mostly in the realm of graphics/physics. I mean, I feel like they should be probing a bit deeper. For instance, one of the directions that the spell combos are going with the whole use of one spell to induce a certain state and the use of another to exploit it doesn't seem incredibly innovative at all. RPGs have had spells and abilities with strong synergy in the past, and it seems like we're being fed something old marked up as innovative.

And on the other direction, the Spell A+Spell B=Spell C combos beg a few questions. First off, maybe I'm failing a Knowledge: RPG check here, but haven't I seen or heard of these exact things somewhere before? Secondly, balance issues? Will these make the game significantly easier, or make certain "boss" encounters less about tactics and more about formulaic use of a prescribed tactic, a la a typical jRPG? Would they just be the new "I Win" button? Won't it also possibly make spell selection and full understanding of your character's/parties' abilities difficult without lots of experimentation or consulting a guide listing all the spell combos (especially if they add unique effects)?

Granted, all of my concerns could be unwarranted. I just think of all the concerns to have about the spell combo system, their's were kinda trivial and shallow.

 

[Shannow]

I think he was refering to the fact they were "worried" that books and furniture didn't fly away with the cyclone.

Yep, but that is part of a reactive environment. And while that is something they shouldn't waste too much money on, especially if it never becomes a strong gameplay element and stays on gimmik level, I think it'd be really cool to have a realistically reactive environment. That means destructable walls, flammable objects and movable objects. Freedom Force had some of that stuff and I'd like to see it more often and more developed.

True, true. My gripe with them was that the only critical thought they had about it was mostly in the realm of graphics/physics. I mean, I feel like they should be probing a bit deeper. For instance, one of the directions that the spell combos are going with the whole use of one spell to induce a certain state and the use of another to exploit it doesn't seem incredibly innovative at all. RPGs have had spells and abilities with strong synergy in the past, and it seems like we're being fed something old marked up as innovative.

Yep, and I now remembered which ones
Sacred let you build your own combos out of spells and special attacks. And even stronger Freedom Force. You had basic physics, a very reactive enviroment and you could build your own special abilities (spells). I had a beam that damaged on impact and then sent the enemy flying straight up. They were usually pulp when they crashed back down. Exploding items near enemies was also fun.

Secondly, balance issues? Will these make the game significantly easier, or make certain "boss" encounters less about tactics and more about formulaic use of a prescribed tactic, a la a typical jRPG? Would they just be the new "I Win" button?

Well, I don't think the "I win button" criticism is valid. Or at least not from what I know. As you said, spell synergies have existed before (eg: Malaise + Chaos or Spell Breach+Reduce Resistance+Offensive Spell, etc). So you could say any intelligent use of spells (/character builds/class combos/etc) is an "I win button". But of course, I have no idea whether they do any extra damage (to bosses) or if they simply synergise well. Maybe Volly, Warden or anybody who really follows this on the BioBoards can enlighten us. The FF ability I mentioned above was basically "I win" against anything but some bosses (and mayba flying creatures).

 

[analt]

I just want to know if the Grey Wardens guard a giant ice wall teeming with barbarians and undead.

 

[the return of mr. lamat]

True, true. My gripe with them was that the only critical thought they had about it was mostly in the realm of graphics/physics.

You're surprised that a publication that focuses on hardware and technology is mostly concerned about the technical aspects of a video game?

Really?

This surprised you?

 

[elander_]

The description of the army recruitment, with C&C in the first part reminded me of this Fighting Fantasy book:

The Fighting Fantasy books would make awesome crpgs with choices and consequences.

 

[Arcanoix]

I really should have signed up for the beta of the toolset. Just to poke around in it.

I signed up but did not get in yet. They say they will keep adding people so I might get a chance this summer.

Ahhh cool. Have you used the NWN2 toolset before? Just for reference.

You're fucking kidding. The NWN2 toolset is shit. Complete and total garbage. It crashes randomly, you lose all of your heightmap-work even when you try to open the backups, and all kinds of weird shit. If anything I'd tell someone to patch NWN1, get the CEP, and to go at it from there.