Dragon Age II (Xbox 360)

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Description

Dragon Age II is a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins.

One of the key events early in the first game was the destruction of the village Lothering by the Darkspawn. However, we weren't told that there was at least one person who survived the onslaught: a human named Hawke. Having become a refugee, Hawke travels to an area known as the Free Marches - more specifically, the city of Kirkwall. Hawke's family shares the fate with many other Ferelden refugees; the authorities of Kirkwall are suspicious of the newcomers, and the path to financial stability is anything but easy. Meanwhile, the appearance of the mysterious race of Qunari heralds more trouble to the inhabitants of Kirkwall, as does the growing tension between the Templars and the mages. Hawke is caught in the middle of these political and social conflicts - what shall be the hero's own path?..

Dragon Age II uses a "framed narrative" format: the story is narrated over a decade later by one of Hawke's companions. Similarly to Alpha Protocol, the narrative is rather flexible; motivations and events vary depending on the player's moral choices during the game. The game also adopts the "wheel-based" dialogue system from Mass Effect games: short responses that reflect different tones and attitudes the player wishes to choose for Hawke. Also similarly to Mass Effect, the main character's race and name cannot be changed; however, everything else (appearance, gender, classes) can be freely customized.

The combat system is quite similar to the one used in the previous Dragon Age game (which, in its turn, dates back to the combat style used in Baldur's Gate), though it has been noticeably sped up. Hawke can only be human, but the player can customize his or her physical appearance and character class (warrior, mage, or rogue). The player controls Hawke and up to three active party members, either "programming" their actions by assigning actions that should be taken under certain conditions (for example, healing a party member if his HP drops below 20%), or issuing commands to each character manually. The ability tree is also similar, the player being able to learn new abilities as the characters level up. Many abilities from the first game return, but some are absent or replaced with new ones. The abilities are divided into various disciplines, which correspond to the fighting style of the character.

Screenshots

Part of the Following Groups

• Dragon Age II series
• Dragon Age series
• Gameplay feature: Armor / Weapon sets
• Gameplay feature: Brothels
• Gameplay feature: Character development - Skill distribution
• Gameplay feature: Dating / Romance
• Middleware: FaceFX
• Middleware: Scaleform GFx SDK
• Middleware: Umbra 3
• Middleware: Wwise
• Physics Engine: PhysX
• Portability Engine: Cider

User Reviews

Good sequel and a good game

Pixelspeech (955)

The Press Says

The Escapist	Mar 08, 2011		100
The Review Busters	2011	9.5 out of 10	95
Xbox360Achievements	Mar 08, 2011	94 out of 100	94
Vandal Online	Mar 08, 2011	9.1 out of 10	91
Gamereactor (Sweden)	Mar 08, 2011	9 out of 10	90
TotalVideoGames (TVG)	Mar 14, 2011	8 out of 10	80
Cheat Code Central	Mar 09, 2011	4 out of 5	80
Xbox World Australia (XWA)	Apr 07, 2011	74 out of 100	74
gamrReview	Mar 15, 2011	7.4 out of 10	74
Gamer Limit	Mar 08, 2011	7 out of 10	70

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Is this how you're supposed to play it?	11	lilalurl (778) Mar 27, 2011
Abouth Bethany (spoilers alert!)	4	Happy Rabbi (1305) Mar 20, 2011

Trivia

Cancelled expansion

An expansion to Dragon Age II, named Exalted March, was planned, but cancelled before announcement. Bioware's reasoning was that other opportunities for the franchises came up, and that there was no room for it because Bioware's team sizes are fixed and all of them were busy with projects.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2011 – Biggest Disappointment of the Year
• GameStar/GamePro (Germany)
  • 2011 - #3 PC RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • 2011 - #3 Console RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)

Related Web Sites

• Dragon Age II FAQs, Walkthroughs, Guides (posted on GameFAQs.com)
• Dragon Age II Strategy Guide (Mycheats "Super Guide" for the game)
• Dragon Age II Walkthrough (A walkthrough posted on IGN (includes the DLC The Exiled Prince))
• Dragon Age II Wiki website (comprehensive information about Dragon Age II)
• Hints for Dragon Age II (Universal Hint System strategy guide with tips & tricks, cheat codes and solutions)