Dragon Age - Review @ IGN UK

IGN UK has an effusive review of Dragon Age with a score of 9.2/10. It's easier to list the criticisms than the positives, which are only load times and re-using animations - everything else gets the thumbs up. An early quote:

And so the stage is set for Bioware's latest opus. It's a story of corruption on every level and the fight to regain some sense of balance to stem the tide, which at times seems all but overpowering. Much has been made of the supposed "maturity" in the run-up to the game, but all that Marilyn Manson nonsense can be forgotten as it is abundantly clear from the moment it begins that Bioware is telling a tale head and shoulders above the competition. Dragon Age: Origins is deep, complex, and mighty.

Thanks, Remus!
More information.

I wonder how they can review a game that is barely released? A RPG like that should be played through at least once. What kind of review can that be? Not that I disagree, but the way of making reviews these days one or two days after launch is just hilarious.

Ussually they get review samples in advance…….

Originally Posted by elikal
I wonder how they can review a game that is barely released? A RPG like that should be played through at least once. What kind of review can that be? Not that I disagree, but the way of making reviews these days one or two days after launch is just hilarious.

I think he mentions somewhere in the review having played 70 hours.

Originally Posted by elikal
I wonder how they can review a game that is barely released? A RPG like that should be played through at least once. What kind of review can that be? Not that I disagree, but the way of making reviews these days one or two days after launch is just hilarious.

This is a valid point, however the PC version has been done for a while and it probably was a review copy. One reason why the now defunct CGW was great was their refusal to review a game without finishing it first.

I fully intend to buy this game regardless of the reviews because I am so damned tired of crappy Diablo clones and MMOs being the only RPG offerings. That said, I am leery of the big name titles getting such high reviews from the mainstream gaming sites like Gamespot given advertisement etc.

Reviewers get their copies in advance and yes, their copies don't have any DRM and protections so they don't usually end up facing most of the problems that their readers do.

Originally Posted by elikal
I wonder how they can review a game that is barely released?

As others have said, reviewers get their copies early and in the case of DA it seems to have been extra-super-early . Some German reviewers (see Gamestar) have had the game for weeks now and played through it several times already (a German Gamestar editor posted back on September 20 that he already finished the game once!). International reviewers (US/Canada) have probably gotten their hands on the game even sooner.

Not that I disagree, but the way of making reviews these days one or two days after launch is just hilarious

Hmmm… or maybe it's even more hilarious how some people do not bother to check their facts and draw premature conclusions based on… nothing? I don't know. You be the judge .