DA: Awakening - Preview @ Atomic Gamer

Atomic Gamer got some time with Bioware's upcoming expansion to Dragon Age and posts their impressions, which are over all positive.
Here'a a spoiler-free snip on content and play time:

The skepticism over whether Dragon Age can have a full-featured expansion so early after Origins was released is justified, but what people may not understand is that most of the content for the original game was complete months before the release date - the tech guys put together the 360 port while the developers stayed on task building Awakening content. So when you look at it that way, this expansion has already had almost a year's worth of development
…BioWare seemed reluctant to put an hour count on Awakening, but I was assured that it lasts longer than most full-priced single player games do. If you are one of those types that defines a game's value in hours of playtime per dollar spent, Awakening is not likely to satisfy you quite like Dragon Age did, but it should still be a hell of a lot of fun with more of what made the first game so engrossing.

More information.

It isn't clear how much play time you get with the expansion then? Anyone else know?

15 hours has been widely quoted. No idea of the accuracy.

I seriously hope that's not true with a $40 price tag….

15 hours? What a rip-off.

There's a full range of new loot, spells, skills, and specializations, the level cap has increased to 35, and there will be new "epic" versions of abilities.

It looks like this is designed for high level characters.

15 hours? What was the original quoted at. Then I'll multiply by the completist factor.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I seriously hope that's not true with a $40 price tag….

It doesn't have a $40 price tag. $27 at CDWoW. See

http://www.cdwow.us/games/dragon-age…084895#bc=4961

It's $50 in Aus… what a rip off for 15hr game play…

Most full games have less than 15 hours of gameplay. We RPG fans simply have higher expectations than everyone else.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Most full games have less than 15 hours of gameplay. We RPG fans simply have higher expectations than everyone else.

Is it wrong to expect games to follow the standard in terms of length?

Do you like the current trend of 5 hour singleplayer FPS games?

Many FPS games have multiplayer as the main selling point - and DA:O doesn't.

Here we go w/ the "time" thing once again, obsessing over how much time we get per dollar if we breeze thru the thing as quickly as we can….

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Is it wrong to expect games to follow the standard in terms of length?

Do you like the current trend of 5 hour singleplayer FPS games?

Many FPS games have multiplayer as the main selling point - and DA:O doesn't.

Not at all, but this is an add-on. Can't say I've played many add-ons that had "loads" of content. They're not supposed to be on par with full games. Night of the Raven is an exception, but then again, that is the best add-on I've ever played.

How long is Mask of the Betrayer for example? 20 hours? Can't be a whole lot more.

I don´t think that 15 hours is generally short time for addon, but Dragon Age is a very slow paced game and if the pacing in the addon is similar, then 15 hours isn´t really a lot. Plus, the addon seems to be heavily reusing resources.
The main problem of the addon is the price.

Originally Posted by Maylander
How long is Mask of the Betrayer for example? 20 hours? Can't be a whole lot more.

Something like that. However, MotB is quite a special example because it offers diametrically different experience for at least two playthroughs.

Heh, you guys are such RPG gamers. A full-price FPS generally runs for, what, 8-10 hours these days?

Still, different genres different standards. For the money I'd sooner buy a Spiderweb game. So yeah, I can go with the whole "not worth the price" thinking. Then again, how many people saying that bought 4 Fallout 3 DLCs without realising they combine for less than 15 hours?

Gaming price-points. Tres confusing. They're trying to rip you off, regardless. They have to.

I'm pretty sure Mask of the Betrayer was only $29.99 though. In fact, I can't recall ever paying more than $30 for an expansion pack.

Originally Posted by Sir_Brennus
http://www.cdwow.us/games/dragon-age…084895#bc=4961

Thanks for the link Sir_Brennus. that's a good deal, I might order it tonight. Have you ever ordered from cdwow before?

Yeah, $40 for an expansion pack (full retail at Amazon, for example) is a rip off.

Desslock at Qt3 and the Eurogamer preview are both saying 25 hours, just to update on that.

Thanks for the link Sir_Brennus. that's a good deal, I might order it tonight. Have you ever ordered from cdwow before?

I wouldn't. They do bait and switch. There's no info on availability. Then when you order, they say your ordered item hasn't been released yet. Who knows when you'll get it…

Originally Posted by JDR13
I'm pretty sure Mask of the Betrayer was only $29.99 though. In fact, I can't recall ever paying more than $30 for an expansion pack.





Thanks for the link Sir_Brennus. that's a good deal, I might order it tonight. Have you ever ordered from cdwow before?

Yes, I have. Only positive experience until now. You'll always get the Oceanic/ Australian version of the game, or the UK uncut one. It takes a while to get to you (about 5 days usually), though.

This time I haven't ordered at CDWoW, but at play.com. They don't deliver to the US, but they usually deliver faster to Europe for the same price as CDWoW.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
It's $50 in Aus… what a rip off for 15hr game play…

Purp, cdwow Australia has it for $30

http://www.cdwow.com.au/games/PCPreReleases