The Age of Dragons Comes Alive! Dragon Age: Awakening

Late last year I discovered a game called Dragon Age: Origins. To my surprise it took me away from World of Warcraft for several months. As of this writing I have still not returned full time to WOW, but I still play DAO. Several weeks ago the first expansion, which I hope is only the first of many to come, was released. I had high hopes for this game and it did not disappoint.

Bioware has hit another homerun on this franchise. The second installment in this sage is filled with rich videos, a progressive storyline, and hours of fun to amaze and thrill you. I am a longtime gamer and it was my pleasure to receive and play this game. It has been years since a release has brought so much excitement to my life.

Dragon Age: Awakening is one of the most incredible and exciting games of the year so far. The storyline is filled with colorful characters, video cut scenes, and a very long decision based plot. I cannot say a lot about the plot without giving away the storyline and spoiling the game but needless to say any true gamer is going to love the expansive and rich plot.

The game takes place near Amaranthine and the Warden's new headquarters at Vigil's Keep. The darkspawn are still threatening the region, so it's up to the Warden to protect the people of Amaranthine, not only from the remnants of the Blight, but also from their own petty bickering.

Some of the things I really enjoyed were acquiring upgrades to the keep, managing the politics of the major families, and most of all the dungeons to find treasure. The game has hours of fun and many great video sequences that will amaze you at the realisim of movement.

This is not only an expansion but also a standalone for those of you that haven't purchased the original game. For those of you that have you can (and really should) import your origins characters (you won't get all of your loot but you will get a fair amount from the original characters). There is also a new class called Orlesian Warden, who have their own unique story elements, to really enhance the game.

Overall I would say the new features, storyline, and specializations make this a great game to buy this year.

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, and PS3

System requirements:

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7

Processor: Intel Core 2 Single 1.6 Ghz Processor (or equivalent) or AMD 64 2.0 GHz Processor (or equivalent)

Memory: 1GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)

Graphics: ATI Radeon X850 256MB or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater (Windows Vista: Radeon

X1550 256 MB or NVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB)

DirectX: DirectX (November 2007)

Hard Drive: 20 GB HD space

Sound: Direct X Compatible Sound Card

Recommended System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or AMD Phenom II X2 Dual-Core 2.7 Ghz Processor or equivalent

Memory: 2 GB (3GB Vista and Windows 7)

Graphics: ATI 3850 512 MB or NVidia 8800GTS 512MB or greater

DirectX: DirectX (November 2007)

Hard Drive: 20 GB HD space

Sound: Direct X Compatible Sound Card

Rating:

Fun: 4 stars
Graphics: 4 stars
Controls: 4 stars
Audio: 3 stars (I have never been much for video game music but this was pretty good)

Overall: 4 stars ( great game lots of content and an excellent addition to any gamers library)

***Star Rating system is based on 4 stars for best, 3 stars for great, 2 stars for fair, and 1 star for just okay. A no star rating means the game is horrible.