Dragon Age: Origins is not a Lord of the Rings rip-off, despite what a smattering of fools keep saying. It's got elements of high fantasy in it, sure, and most high fantasy is inspired by Tolkein's work. You can't do fantasy these days without infringing a little on Lord of the Rings. But to call the game a rip-off is pure ignorance.
Dragon Age is its own thing with the kind of obvious borrowed elements that come with any fantasy story. It annoys me to see people writing this game off for something so stupid as "It looks a bit like Lord of the Rings, probably."
Anyway, here are some new screenshots and a video for one of the key locations in the game, Haven. This place has a rather vicious cult in it, dedicated to protecting the secret of their prophet Andraste. At Gamescom, BioWare showed how you'd need to travel through here to find Andraste's ashes. Fun then ensues when players must choose between destroying the ashes or making their discovery public. Just one of the many plot choices players will encounter.
Hit the jump for the video and check out the screens. IT IS NOT LORD OF THE RINGS THANKS!
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
Half the people making that claim have never even read LOTR. (sigh) Glad the game got pushed so I'll have time to play Brutal Legend and Borderlands before it comes out.
I love these kinds of games, but for god's sake please try to make the NPC animations match the voice overs. If I see one more guy scream something at the top of his lungs while he casually waves his hand, I am going to scream while walking seductively.
Amen brother. Mass Effect suffered from the same thing. That and the fact that PCs always stared off to the side before they walked off camera at the end of a conversation. "I'ma move over here, motherfuckerrrr"
If it isn't a ripoff of LOTR then why do they have swords in the game? Everyone knows swords hadn't even been conceived of before The Hobbit came out so obviously this is a blatant rip off. Also, all you commenters are plagiarists because you used punctuation and Tolkien used punctuation in his books.
No matter how many people try to defend this game, it doesn't change the fact that the bad guys are called the fucking darkspawn. I've still got my fingers crossed for an appearance by dr. raven darktalon blood.
The graphics appear to be right on par with those of the Witcher. Which is to say not very good, but not ass-ugly. But the Witcher turned out to be a damn fine game once the story got rolling. Hopefully the same can be said about Dragon Age.
After Jade Empire I've learned that not everything Bioware makes is gold.
Oh and of course it's not Lord of the Rings. You'd never find such ridiculous gigantic shoulderguards in Tolkien's works. =D
Saw both PC and 360 versions at comicon, and the graphics are a bit disappointing. They made it playable on any system with good framerates. That said, it didn't change my excitement for the game in the least. Just wish I could put my core i7 rig to fuller use on this game!
Jade Empire was my first experience with a Bioware game, and it still remains one of my favorite gaming experiences to this day. Bioware games may have their minor glitches, but the whole is ALWAYS greater than the sum of its parts when it comes to their games.
The graphics style is just so uninspired. Where are the effeminate males with spikey hair and abnormally huge swords slung over their shoulders? I don't even see any guys wearing fishnets. They call this an RPG?
Wow, before the LotR movies, most of those kids couldn't even
describe a fantasy game, and the few that could used the word
"Midevil". Ahh, progress is so.... great.
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
7:20 PM on 08.21.2009 | 
They just can't let go of the Manson audio clip, can they?
Amen brother. Mass Effect suffered from the same thing. That and the fact that PCs always stared off to the side before they walked off camera at the end of a conversation. "I'ma move over here, motherfuckerrrr"
It looks like its going to be a fantastic experience.
You're so clever and neat-o. Gosh, the way you worded that should go down in history.
Also, what're you blabbing about? The graphics are completely fine.
Oh and of course it's not Lord of the Rings. You'd never find such ridiculous gigantic shoulderguards in Tolkien's works. =D
"Jade Empire, however, was fucking platinum."
Hell yes!
Jade Empire was my first experience with a Bioware game, and it still remains one of my favorite gaming experiences to this day. Bioware games may have their minor glitches, but the whole is ALWAYS greater than the sum of its parts when it comes to their games.
Bring on this game now!
describe a fantasy game, and the few that could used the word
"Midevil". Ahh, progress is so.... great.