Dragon Age - Preview @ G4TV

G4TV serves up hands-on impressions of Dragon Age from a previewer who likens it to "old" RPGs like World of Warcraft:

While Dragon Age looks to be an action RPG, it is not a hack & slash intensive one. Or rather, it doesn’t work as one. Like all actions, combat is done through the mouse. You point the cursor at an enemy and click the right mouse button, and your character does whatever attack you’ve chosen from the bottom buttons.

But while this works well if you’re shooting an arrow or casting a spell, it’s not as effective when you’re wielding a sword or other melee weapon. It still works the same, it’s just that if you’re close enough to hack someone, then they’re close enough to slash you, and in this game, these actions don’t come as fast and furious as in most action games; the swinging doesn’t keep up with your button mashing. As a result, sword fights typically play out as such: you smack a guy, he smacks you, you smack a guy, he smacks you, and whoever is stronger and/or has the better melee weapon wins. Granted, it’s not as polite (read: dull) as a turn-based RPG, but for someone who likes to mash buttons as much as mash potatoes, its frustrating.