Tags: BioWare; Dragon Age 2
<p><strong>Dragon Age II</strong>, a game that according to Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw is being designed with the needs of physically or mentally disabled gamers in mind, receives the <a href="http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64227/dragon-age-ii/articles/72782/Dragon-Age-2-Preview/" target="_blank">preview treatment</a> at G4TV.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The action, while still offering players the option to micro-manage their strategy, was considerably more fluid and action-oriented than in the previous game, requiring less pause-and-play for those who simply want to map their abilities and mash a few buttons.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>The most impressive effect we saw during the battle was a rain of fire that plummeted from the sky down onto our flaming opponents. Playing as a Rogue proved to be a faster, more strategic experience than our last encounter with the game in which we played a sword-wielding knight. In this go-around, we dodged and slashed our way through the encounter with a pair of duel blades, peppering in a series of ranged attacks and commanding our team to engage with their crossbows, magic and broadswords.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mike certainly deserves recognition for his benevolent efforts to enable even the one-handed to happily button-mash through the game while at the same time making sure that those intimidated by numbas n shit will have a proper guidance as well, two-star armorz is betta than one-star armorz, nom sayin'?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally we have a <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/dragon_age_ii/preview-2797.html" target="_blank">hands-on preview</a> over at Videogamer.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In essence, BioWare has attempted to repeat what it pulled off with Mass Effect 2. Commander Shepherd's first outing was a sci-fi RPG with lots of shooting; his second was more or less a third-person shooter with lots of RPG mechanics bolted on; and now BioWare is aiming for a similar transition with Dragon Age II. Though Dragon Age: Origins was very much a hardcore Western RPG, this sequel feels like it's taken a step closer towards the door marked "Hack and Slash".</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pace of combat appears a lot quicker, for starters, and while Origins seemed to place a lot of emphasis on carefully queuing up a chain of attacks - zooming the view out to get an overview of the battle on the PC version - here the natural tendency is to get up in the enemy's face. The third-person camera loiters just behind your avatar's back, <em>willing</em> you to run up and give the nearest enemy a kicking. And so you do - hammering on one face button to dish out basic melee swipes, and then using the other three to use class abilities. The latter operate on a cooldown basis, and their colour-coded indicators are one of the few intrusions on an otherwise clutter-free HUD.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How much of a "hardcore western RPG" Dragon Age was is certainly up to debate, however, Dragon Age 2 will fix most problems the original had by enabling you to hammer your button in the most hardcore way imaginable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the last foe has been cut to the ground, there's a chance to catch up with Isabella for a quick chat. I'm happy to report that Dragon Age 2 retains the first game's habit of soaking its cast in buckets of gore, allowing for some amusingly odd-looking post-fight chats. Isabella's face and heaving cleavage are covered in blood, but she doesn't seem to mind: her purring words of thanks suggest that she's more than happy with the day's outcome, and before long she's dropping not-so-subtle hints about letting Hawke delve into her furry dungeon. For all Dragon Age 2's revisions, it seems that some things never change.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Delve into her furry dungeon. GOTY material, best RPG since Mass Effect 2.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100415-dragon-age-ii-preview.html">Gamebanshee</a> and <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com/#16149" target="_blank">RPPGWatch</a></p>
<p><strong>Dragon Age II</strong>, a game that according to Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw is being designed with the needs of physically or mentally disabled gamers in mind, receives the <a href="http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64227/dragon-age-ii/articles/72782/Dragon-Age-2-Preview/" target="_blank">preview treatment</a> at G4TV.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The action, while still offering players the option to micro-manage their strategy, was considerably more fluid and action-oriented than in the previous game, requiring less pause-and-play for those who simply want to map their abilities and mash a few buttons.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>The most impressive effect we saw during the battle was a rain of fire that plummeted from the sky down onto our flaming opponents. Playing as a Rogue proved to be a faster, more strategic experience than our last encounter with the game in which we played a sword-wielding knight. In this go-around, we dodged and slashed our way through the encounter with a pair of duel blades, peppering in a series of ranged attacks and commanding our team to engage with their crossbows, magic and broadswords.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mike certainly deserves recognition for his benevolent efforts to enable even the one-handed to happily button-mash through the game while at the same time making sure that those intimidated by numbas n shit will have a proper guidance as well, two-star armorz is betta than one-star armorz, nom sayin'?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally we have a <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/dragon_age_ii/preview-2797.html" target="_blank">hands-on preview</a> over at Videogamer.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In essence, BioWare has attempted to repeat what it pulled off with Mass Effect 2. Commander Shepherd's first outing was a sci-fi RPG with lots of shooting; his second was more or less a third-person shooter with lots of RPG mechanics bolted on; and now BioWare is aiming for a similar transition with Dragon Age II. Though Dragon Age: Origins was very much a hardcore Western RPG, this sequel feels like it's taken a step closer towards the door marked "Hack and Slash".</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pace of combat appears a lot quicker, for starters, and while Origins seemed to place a lot of emphasis on carefully queuing up a chain of attacks - zooming the view out to get an overview of the battle on the PC version - here the natural tendency is to get up in the enemy's face. The third-person camera loiters just behind your avatar's back, <em>willing</em> you to run up and give the nearest enemy a kicking. And so you do - hammering on one face button to dish out basic melee swipes, and then using the other three to use class abilities. The latter operate on a cooldown basis, and their colour-coded indicators are one of the few intrusions on an otherwise clutter-free HUD.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How much of a "hardcore western RPG" Dragon Age was is certainly up to debate, however, Dragon Age 2 will fix most problems the original had by enabling you to hammer your button in the most hardcore way imaginable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the last foe has been cut to the ground, there's a chance to catch up with Isabella for a quick chat. I'm happy to report that Dragon Age 2 retains the first game's habit of soaking its cast in buckets of gore, allowing for some amusingly odd-looking post-fight chats. Isabella's face and heaving cleavage are covered in blood, but she doesn't seem to mind: her purring words of thanks suggest that she's more than happy with the day's outcome, and before long she's dropping not-so-subtle hints about letting Hawke delve into her furry dungeon. For all Dragon Age 2's revisions, it seems that some things never change.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Delve into her furry dungeon. GOTY material, best RPG since Mass Effect 2.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100415-dragon-age-ii-preview.html">Gamebanshee</a> and <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com/#16149" target="_blank">RPPGWatch</a></p>
