When publisher Black Isle Studios closed its doors, the Baldur's Gate saga ended abruptly, leaving fans of the High Fantasy RPG series with few other options as polished and fully-realised as Shadows of Amn and its expansion, Throne of Baal. When Bioware took up the crown itself, eventually wowing a legion of players with Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect , a new RPG heavyweight had assured its place in the tomes of gaming lore.

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Here we are; a decade after the release of the original Baldur's Gate. In some respects, it's amazing how little has changed beyond superficialities in a game like Dragon Age: Origins . Bioware rightly assert that this is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate II (though, we think we're going to see a true sequel in the coming years) – and fans of the series will feel right at home in this High Fantasy realm. At the same time, there's something lacking - and we can't shake that nagging feeling.As a note to sensitive readers, there are no story spoilers ahead; we'll be talking of setting and characters in broad brushstrokes only, so you can breathe out now.Set in the land of Ferelden, its residents under threat from the Darkspawn invasion from the south, your short-term mission is to join (or be coerced into) the ranks of The Grey Wardens; basically the 'Interpol' of Ferelden, tasked with defending the regions of the land from this ancient threat. That's the short hand; a few hours of play (or a couple of percent of the overall story) are spent in this prologue – and you'll be grateful for the gradual learning curve. Even absolute RPG veterans will find the new combat system somewhat daunting at first.Your adventure has one of six different openings and can play out in a surprising number of ways. Your background determines the initial setting, your social status and the reaction certain characters will give you by default. An RPG of this nature lives or dies by its subtlety in this respect however, and while the dialogue options definitely divide Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil, there's no cut-and-dry alignment tracking. Instead, what might appear to be the 'good' lines of dialogue will sometimes lead you in directions you had no intention of moving towards.The structure of this game hinges around these dialogue decisions. You really need to pay attention to subtext, which we found surprising; frankly, while Dragon Age: Origins Your actions also have as much impact on how your party members view you to make you double-think which quests you undertake and how that might affect the end-game. If you're pursuing the love of the dark-eyed shape-shifting mage, Morrigan, it's best not to come across as a goody-two-shoes. Of course, choosing not to help Timmy the little orphan might well alienate your other party members – and thus, your actions begin to have tangible consequences.The setting, and the care that went into building the back-story, are two of Dragon Age: Origins' strongest elements. Your codex, which tracks essential plot threads, stories and scrolls that you've recovered, noted that have been intercepted and so on, becomes an indispensable tool by midway through this massive adventure. Tracking characters, families and allegiances (or being open-minded enough to participate in the wide-reading) is essential to getting the most out of this tale.Giving into the traditions of the genre is another. If you've played games in this category before, then understanding the importance of group-heal spells and saving throws is nothing new to you. But those expecting the kind of entry-level RPG gameplay of Bioware's other recent efforts may be confounded.Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect demonstrated Bioware's knack for making complex role-playing mechanics and structure extremely playable on consoles –and in this respect, Dragon Age: Origins is its most accomplished RPG to date.While not based on Dungeons & Dragons specifically, the gameplay apes dice rolls, saving throws, spells, effects, classes and abilities. Radial menus, activated by holding down the left and right triggers, condense layers of selectable spells into a ring of options, and these can be preset to the right trigger, giving you a total of two different abilities mapped to three of the face buttons. Six total spells feels limiting though, and before long, you'll have your six utterly essential skills and you'll find yourself falling back on the left trigger's radial menu for abilities that boost stats and grant protection.Initially, auto-targeting is efficient enough to choose the correct targets, but later on the number of enemies on screen begins to jump and, when you're juggling group-healing spells with combat-oriented ones, you'll be thankful for the D-pad target adjustment. The AI, as in previous games, can also be tweaked considerably to cater for different combat scenarios. The inclusion of different default weapon load-outs is also a boon, so you can have your ultimate undead-slaying garb on-hand next to your dragon-hunting gear.