As I suspected, Dragon Age: Origins expansion “Awakening” is more Dragon Age. I played the first 20 or so minutes of the expansion at GDC this afternoon, moving my new Gray Warden commander through the Darkspawn-infested Vigil’s Keep and up to a mini-boss fight against a special speech-capable member of the Blight.
I didn’t take the several opportunities to use the new special skills, but I did have a big takeaway from the short demo courtesy of online content producer Fernando Milo: the expansion will be more balanced than the core game. Enemies have been tweaked a bit to prevent manic slaughter rooms and needless deaths. An extension of this is the fact that Warriors and Rogues have been given more oomph in combat because of the new skills, meaning less fleeing from chaotic battle. Nice.
If you’re in the mood for a bit more on the upcoming Origins expansion, feel free to read our recent preview or one of several “Awakening” interviews. But don’t forget to check out the new assets below first.
