Dragon Age - Console Hands On @ bit-tech.net

For those who might be considering the console version of Bioware's Dragon Age, UK tech and gaming site bit-tech.net posts their impressions of how it"s shaping up, in terms of interface, controls, and general gameplay, not too surprisingly coming to the conclusion that the PC version will be the stronger one:

...Until recently we hadn’t actually had a chance to go hands on with Dragon Age: Origins on consoles and a question kept going round and round in the back of our heads – how would an epic RPG of this scale control on a console if BioWare was true to its promise of not dumbing the game down.

The answer, it turns out, was incredibly simple. It uses a radial menu...
Continuing in the vein of being as succinct and to the point as possible, we’ll go ahead and say that it doesn’t really work all that well either and the UI on consoles suffers a bit from being a bit too cluttered and not having a simple and direct interface. The PC version of the game, which we’ve played several times now, controls far better than the console one.

A handy analogy for comparing the two is that the PC interface is like being a kid in a candy store with some very generous parents – all you have to do is point at what you want and voilà! Point, click, get – easy. The console version is like the same situation, but this time both your arms are in a cast, your parents are only half paying attention and you’re diabetic. In short, it’s harder to get at what you want and, even when you do, you’re not really sure about it any more...

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Conclusion:

In the end, we were left with somewhat conflicted feelings about Dragon Age. We still like the look of the game...but the console version feels weak. The BioWare team members we spoke to said they were still working out some of the details and that the final version of the console game will have a slightly different UI – but we imagine that means performance optimisations so the menus aren’t so sticky, rather than an overhaul and rethink of the entire control scheme. That makes us worried.

Dragon Age: Origins looks like it’ll be a great game, even though the more we see of it the more we start to suspect that the increasingly sexy marketing push is being used to hide some of the blandness of the fantasy world, but it’ll be at its best at PC. There it’ll run much smoother and more easily, without demanding that players coordinate all their fingers and thumbs across a dozen buttons when in reality a few mouse clicks is a better solution. That’s not to say that the console version isn’t worth a look for gamepad veterans, but if you’re undecided about the game then the PC version looks like the way to go.

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More information.

I just hope they don't decide to delay the PC's release date (yet again) to tackle these issues on the console side

Agreed - I'd rather they handle it like Sacred 2 - release the PC version and hold the consoles for a few months.

txa1265 said:

Agreed - I'd rather they handle it like Sacred 2 - release the PC version and hold the consoles for a few months.

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I believe that was the initial plan till EA decided they rather not pay for two ad campaigns and just have the one release.

As long as they don't delay the pc release again I will be happy.

It makes no sense to me that EA would be this stupid, to release a major title like this in a condition that will displease the average console gamer.

I simply can't accept that they'll go ahead on time, and as such I'm convinced there will be some kind of delay. If not, then they're throwing away money - and as we all know, that's the last thing EA is about.

On the positive side, this does indicate a game more involving and complex than I suspected, because I was pretty sure they'd dumb it down to fit a console platform. Seems they didn't quite manage that, so there's hope for a decent PC game. Too bad they've gone this hip marketing route, and so far there's zero indication that I'll like the setting and atmosphere. Seems too concerned with making a strong impression - and I read it as desperation in an effort to be "cool" and "deep".

Still, it's better than nothing. Bioware is being conflicted, by doing all the wrong things with the potentially right game. Maybe there's some creative integrity left afterall, but it'll never survive the current EA climate.

Dragon Age was always a PC Game. Bioware has the challenge of "tweaking" it for consoles. This is opposite of their last three games: KotOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect...which were all console games...later ported to the PC. In the last two cases by a different studio.

roguefrog said:

Dragon Age was always a PC Game. Bioware has the challenge of "tweaking" it for consoles. This is opposite of their last three games: KotOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect...which were all console games...later ported to the PC. In the last two cases by a different studio.

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I agree - but several times joint releases have been delayed on PC due to piracy concerns.

What I find funny is all this talk of dumbed down for consoles when in reality most games on consoles are quite complex(this certainly was not always the case, but now...) The only thing I can see them doing for the console version is finding a way to make it control well....thats the hard part of consoles in that they are limited in controls...but in some way that can be a bonus.

rune_74 said:

What I find funny is all this talk of dumbed down for consoles when in reality most games on consoles are quite complex(this certainly was not always the case, but now...) The only thing I can see them doing for the console version is finding a way to make it control well....thats the hard part of consoles in that they are limited in controls...but in some way that can be a bonus.

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I'm afraid I can't agree with this, but it's a matter of perception and it's hard to argue with solid information. Why? Because who can tell how a game would have been if it wasn't made with a console in mind.

But there are several things people tend to forget about consoles, and these include the severe limitations in terms of memory capacity, harddisk inflexibility, and the console controllers. It's true that graphics performance can be reasonably high, because they're writing for a hardware platform set in stone, with absolutely no discrepancy between end-users. But they have to design the game around the limitations of both internal hardware and controllers.

This might seem insignificant, and it's true that there's no reason a game CAN'T be extremely complex and deep on a console - but practically that's not so easy. But beyond that, we have the perceived audience, which believe it or not is less about enthusiasm for complexity and challenge - and more about streamlined and accessible content.

It's like age ratings for movies, and why movies tend to get lower age ratings than the source material really calls for - as you want to maximise your profits. You can't go and make an old-school CRPG on a console because the risks are too great. That's not true, of course you can, but you have to accept the large cut in revenue.

I'm not saying the same isn't becoming true for PC games, because it is. But the key difference is the variety of markets. We have the indie market, and we have the middle-market. We don't have Microsoft of Sony "guiding" developers to the same extent with such and such a level of quality and accessibility. Developers on PC are not "motivated" by console sales, and they're not NECESSARILY bound by huge budgets.

No, there's just no way to avoid "dumbing" down a complex game on a console if you expect a large return on your investment. There's no way EA ISN'T expecting this from Dragon Age - so it still doesn't make sense to me.

For a severe example, go look at Deus Ex 2 - and witness what happens when console hardware and audiences limit your game. Even the key developers admitted as much during post-release interviews.

rune_74 said:

What I find funny is all this talk of dumbed down for consoles when in reality most games on consoles are quite complex(this certainly was not always the case, but now...).

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Huh? Since when are "most" console games complex? I agree that a lot of the action games are more complex than they used to be, but console RPGs certainly aren't. In fact, I think a lot of the classic RPGs from the days of the NES and Sega Master System were more complex and in-depth than many of today's titles.

I agree, JDR - that is why so many of those old jRPG classics hold up so nicely when ported to the DS now ...

As DArtagnan said, it isn't a matter of technical limitations, it is marketing and audience. Console gamers are looking for a different experience than PC gamers, so delivering complex threaded dialogue and plots are not a priority. It doesn't get much more complex than FO3 ... and as a comparison I had no problem with my typical 'play 5 games at once' mode with keeping up with what was happening in FO3, whereas for games like DivDiv, Arcanum, BG2 and the original FO's I needed to set aside other stuff.