DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is a great game. There’s no denying that,
unless you’re some contrarian internet jerk (and here in the land of
newsprint, we don’t go for those kinds of shenanigans).
The truth is that developer BioWare does these kinds of sword ‘n’
sorcery, Tolkienesque roleplaying epics better than anyone, and
Origins combines an epic fantasy tale with relatively simple,
entertaining gameplay.
But the game’s also a prime example of a gimmick going from
interesting to really damn distracting in the span of half an hour.
Every time you enter combat in Origins, you really ought to wear
a raincoat. If your characters are anywhere near an enemy who happens
to die during the battle, his blood will wind up forming a Jackson
Pollock painting all over their clothing, arms, legs, and face—a
neat trick the first couple times you wade through a pitched melee, but
eventually, you’ll tire of controlling a group of people who all look
like they just barely survived a Gwar concert.
Don’t get me wrong—I do really like the game. I’m fully
absorbed into the dark tale of demons overrunning a land that would
otherwise be massively divided by issues like racial prejudice and
ongoing slavery, but every time I see my Dalish (read: Elven) Rogue
covered in enough blood to make Sissy Spacek pitch a telekinetic fit,
it completely takes me out of the story.
I can deal with the idea that everyone in every fantasy world ever
created has a charming British accent, and that large pieces of
Origins‘ character-creation system are lifted wholesale from
Dungeons & Dragons, but too-copious, omnipresent blood
splatter really gets me.
Maybe your bloodlust or tolerance for the color red will let you see
past that quirk to the epic roleplaying title beneath. If so, you’ll
enjoy it: Origins ranks above Mass Effect and right below
Baldur’s Gate II on BioWare’s all-time best games list.
As for me, I still can’t get over all those damn red dots.