Dragon Age - Press Release, Screens

Dhruin

Dhruin

SasqWatch
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
EA and BioWare have sent a press release on Dragon Age:
BioWare Presents Dragon Age: Origins

New Details To Be Revealed About BioWare’s Dark Fantasy Epic At E3 2008


E3 Media & Business Summit 2008

EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading video game developer BioWare®, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced details of the highly anticipated dark fantasy Role Playing Game Dragon Age™: Origins which will be featured as one of the premier video games at the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit, July 15-17.
As the spiritual successor to BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate™, one of the most successful role-playing games in the industry, Dragon Age: Origins represents BioWare’s return to its roots, delivering a fusion of the best elements of existing fantasy works with stunning visuals, emotionally-driven narrative, heart-pounding combat, powerful magic abilities and credible digital actors. The spirit of classic RPGs comes of age, as Dragon Age: Origins features a dark and mature story and gameplay.
“We’re thrilled to be returning to BioWare’s fantasy roots, with Dragon Age: Origins representing the culmination of over a decade of experience,” said Ray Muzyka, co-General Manager and CEO, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts. “Dragon Age: Origins is a dark heroic fantasy that doesn’t pull any punches. Our fans are in for the most emotionally intense gaming experience we’ve ever created, and we hope to surprise them with just how dark and gritty it gets!”
BioWare will be demonstrating some of the compelling features of Dragon Age: Origins behind closed doors at E3, including:

  • Epic Party-Based Combat – Dragon Age: Origins will introduce an innovative, scalable combat system, as players face large-scale battles and use their party’s special abilities to destroy hoardes of enemies and massive creatures.
  • Powerful Magic – Raining down awesome destruction on enemies is even more compelling as players apply “spell combos,” a way of combining together different spells to create emergent unique effects.
  • Deep Customization – Players will develop their characters and gain powerful special abilities (spells, talents and skills) and discover ever-increasing weapons of destruction.
  • Your Story, Your Way – With its emotionally compelling story, players choose with whom they wish to forge alliances or crush under their mighty fist, redefining the world with the choices they make and how they wield their power.
  • Origin Stories – Players will select and play a unique prelude that provides the lens through which the player sees the world and how the world sees the player. The player’s choice of Origin will determine who they are and where they begin the adventure, as they play through a customized story opening that profoundly impacts the course of every adventure.
Dragon Age: Origins is scheduled to ship for the PC in early 2009. For more information, the latest updates, or to join BioWare’s Dragon Age community, visit www.dragonage.com.
Click to expand...
In addition, Worthplaying has half a dozen screens.
More information.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,842
Location
Sydney, Australia
large-scale battles
Click to expand...

destroy hoardes of enemies and massive creatures
Click to expand...

awesome destruction on enemies
Click to expand...

ever-increasing weapons of destruction
Click to expand...

crush under their mighty fist
Click to expand...

Yikes. No genre potentially offers greater freedom to a player in choosing how to interact with the game world, and this is all that the Bioware marketing department can think of? "How do you want to kill your enemy today?" How about offering rhetorical devices instead of combat moves as feats?

This is not a rant against Dragon Age, which may or may not turn out to be a great RPG. But I know that I'm tired of this inane, immature marketing blurb. Whom is all this supposed to appeal to? Do prepubescent boys, maybe, find this cool? Or does the Bioware marketing department simply think that killing, maiming, and destroying deserve a somewhat more positive spin after all the unjustified bad press?

Yes, I too have killed my share of bridge trolls in Ultima, but I find it sad that, of all the narrative potential that a fantasy setting offers, marketing seems to think that this is the best selling point. Maybe, in discussions about games and youth violence, the fingers should be pointed at marketing rather than at the games themselves...
 
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
119
A very valid issue. I usually strive to find non-violent solutions where possible, but unfortunately the youth market-swamped in FPS/console games- can't, or won't see beyond the quick solution!!
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
12,827
Location
Australia
Atrachasis said:
"How do you want to kill your enemy today?"
Click to expand...

Thatr's a great criticism I have against today's games in general : Violence as the only means of solution.

No wonder why a pistol was invented with the brand name of "Peacemaker".

The Force Unleashged, the newest Star Wars game, has ALL of its marketing focused ONLY on the game's aspect of destruction.

And it seems to me as if this game offers nothing than that.

Which is totally in line with today's games.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,962
Location
Old Europe
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom