Dragon Age: Origins Awakening

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party ? Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from Oralais.
• Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style ? Shape your entire experience based on the choices you make and how your handle complex situations.
• Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins.
• BioWare?s deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine ? Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations ? Rebuild the Grey Warden order.
• Battle against a new range of horrific and terrifying creatures ? Put your skills to the test against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem, Spectral Dragon and others.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0032LTVWW
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 16, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,981 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #41 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Role-Playing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360

Amazon.com Product Description

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening for Xbox 360 is the first expansion to the award-winning single player RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Developed by role-playing game (RPG) specialists, BioWare, Awakenings is a standalone expansion, meaning that ownership of the original game is not necessary, although players of the original game are afforded the choice of utilizing their character from the original game or starting with a fresh character. Additional features include an expanded storyline, new creatures, locations and more. Powerful new new characters to utilize. View larger. New creatures of the dark. View larger. And creatures of the light. View larger. Story For centuries, the Grey Wardens — the ancient order of guardians sworn to unite and defend the lands — have battled the darkspawn forces. Legend says that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but for all the Grey Wardens' vigilance, somehow the creatures remain. But there is a new spark of hope. You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain. How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with "The Architect", and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine. Gameplay As with the original Dragon Age: Origins game, the Awakening expansion is a single player RPG in which the path of a player's created hero is determined through a combination of ongoing actions throughout the game and the character's particular backstory, known as an Origin Story. Origin Stories relate primarily to the combination of the chosen race of the character and that individual's socioeconomic status. For example, a player who favors a Dwarfish character may have a variety of options, including the choice of being a commoner or a noble. As the character progresses through the game he will interact with any number of non-player characters (NPCs) who may have a particular opinion of Dwarves which may or may not be altered by the fact that the character is of noble or commoner status. These built-in impressions, blended in real-time with the character's interactions and choices alter the hero's personal path and eventually the outcome of the events of the game. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is a standalone expansion, meaning that ownership of the original Dragon Age: Origins game is not necessary for play. That said, players of the previous game are afforded the added benefit of importing their character from the original game to continue that adventure, or beginning anew with a new character and Origin Story. Key Game Features A Stunning World Expanded - BioWare’s deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine. Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations. Rebuild the Grey Warden order and establish their base of operations at Vigil’s Keep. All-new Complex Moral Choices - Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style, allowing players to create an entire experience based on both overall choices made and how complex situations are handled. The Varying Influence of "Origin Story" - Begin your character's adventure with a specific socioeconomic Origin Story that will affect attitudes and exchanges with NPCs, creating the possibility of a wide variety of game endings and thus add to the game's replay value. New Ways to Customize Your Hero - Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party. Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais. Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins. Even more Bone-crushing, Visceral Combat - Test your skills against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem, 'Queen of the Blackmarsh' - deadly Spectral Dragon and The Children, a hideous and huge arachnid like scourge.

Product Description

"From the Makers of the Best RPG of 2009, Dragon Age: Origins, comes the first official expansion pack. For centuries, the Grey Wardens—the ancient order of guardians, sworn to unite and defend the lands—have been battling the darkspawn forces. Legend spoke that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but somehow they remain. You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain. How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with “The Architect”, and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine. "

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Proves that good writing can save just about anything, March 19, 2010

By 

Annihilatrix1138 (CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Dragon Age: Origins Awakening (Video Game)

Dragon Age: Origins was a real treat for me. I was absolutely absorbed by the lore Bioware created for it, and instantly fell in love with the characters with whom I eventually traveled Ferelden. On the whole, I almost liked it BETTER than even MASS EFFECT 2, because I felt like I was playing out MY story, not Shepard's story. That's a feeling I've not had since KotOR. But, similarly to KotOR, the production values of DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS felt last generation, which hindered the experience in many ways.

So, I was surprised to hear about this expansion so soon after the main game's release. I mean...when I first heard about this at the beginning of the year: barely two months after DA:O came out. I was concerned that this was just going to be a moneygrab by Bioware/EA, since...who has ever made an expansion that quickly? (Maybe EVERQUEST). Additionally, though Bioware have proven that they are the best at creating absorbing story/character-driven video games, they absolutely suck at DLC. (Pinnacle Station RAGE!)

Is this expansion worth buying? That's difficult for me to say. Hopefully my experience will help you make up your mind.

Chances are very good that this expansion will not snugly sync up with your ending from the main game. In my case, I had made it pretty clear to everyone that I was going to leave with Zevran to track down Morrigan. Then, I begin DA:O - AWAKENING to discover that I had apparently changed my mind and decided to become a commander of the Crown's army. A small scene to show how my character was drawn back into the fray would have solved this, but this is just one of many instances where your decisions from the last game have almost no effect on this storyline. (And to the poor souls who began the game wearing nothing but their underwear: my condolences.)

This was a major downer, and I am very disappointed that Bioware didn't put a little more time (god knows Bioware fans are used to the long development cycles by now) to make the transition much easier. Don't even get me started on the import system. It's not as fine-tuned as that of MASS EFFECT 2; it takes data from your last save point. I had started up an old save at some point on DA:O, so I began AWAKENING with my character at level 17. It was an hour before I had realized what had happened. EDIT: Just so there's no confusion, I was able to open up an "advanced" menu and select the right save file, but words cannot communicate the frustration involved with immediately replaying that bit again.

But that's not to say I hated this game; I enjoyed the story in AWAKENING and I REALLY enjoyed the new characters. At times, it felt like the best parts of DA:O. In addition to this, some new talents and specializations, a higher level cap and, finally, someplace to store equipment: I was a happy camper for a while. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to rule Amaranthine, and I wish that Bioware had expanded upon this a bit more. Carrying out prisoner sentencing in a fantasy setting has to be one of the coolest features ever.

On "normal" difficulty, getting all (but one) of the achievements, and completing almost every quest in the game, I enjoyed just over 13 hours of gameplay.

Was it worth $40? No, probably not. I think anyone who has reservations about this expansion should trust their instincts and wait for the price to drop. Bioware really should have taken the price down to justify the content, rather than place it at $40 and keep people like myself wondering why there isn't more. I don't exactly feel cheated, since I really did enjoy the expansion, but I paid just as much for the first 4 expansions of FALLOUT 3 and those actually felt like EXPANSIONS. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS - AWAKENING feels like an episode: almost completely isolated from the last game in terms of both content and story.

There is much that can be loved in this "expansion" for fans of DRAGON AGE, but this should be a very clear example to Bioware of why some gamers insist on buying their video games used.

54 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rushed to release, not worth the price, March 16, 2010

By 

A. Perala (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Dragon Age: Origins Awakening (Video Game)

I had high hopes for this after giving an absurd amount of hours of my life to DA:O. Admittedly, my expectations may have been raised by the wonderful Mass Effect 2, which managed to import almost all your plot decisions from the first game over. Here however, there is hardly any connection to the story in the first one. Not only that, your DLC gear from Warden's Keep, the Stone Prisoner and even the Blood Dragon Armor that came with the game won't transfer over! They did somehow let you keep Return to Ostagar gear. Now this alone wouldn't be so bad, except, you start the game in your underwear if you were wearing DLC gear! I don't mean you wake up at camp in your undies. I mean you are trekking down the road, ready to battle, wearing a diaper! Even if you can look past this, there are numerous import issues people are having regarding stats, spells and talents. In some cases people are missing half their talents. The blood powers you got from Warden's Keep show up in your talent list, but when you try to use them, nothing actually happens.

It is clear this product was hastily rushed to release with minimal quality control. Not only that, but the lack of connection to the original story makes it seem like this was a cheap cash grab on the part of EA/Bioware. They didn't put the same love and care into it as they did with the original game. Compared to any other Bioware game or expansion, this is by far the worst, and easily the biggest letdown. If you can stomach how much your decisions from DA:O are basically disregarded, and can get past the first 40 minutes of ridiculous, inconsistencies and poor storytelling, there is actually a decent adventure in there. However, it does not live up to the greatness of the original and is not worth the $40 pricetag. I would wait several months until the price drops, and then try it out. If you want to enjoy this, lower your expectations. It is best to think of it as a "non-canonical" spinoff than a true expansion.

I am a long time Bioware fan and loyal customer. I have bought everyone of their games since Baldur's Gate. But the poor quality of this release may just do it for me. Perhaps EA is to blame, but I feel Bioware should be ashamed to have their company name on this clearly inferior product.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprising amount of content (and FUN) for an expansion, April 19, 2010

By 

Eric San Juan (Brick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Dragon Age: Origins Awakening (Video Game)

I have to admit that based on the somewhat lackluster bang-for-your-buck pricing of Dragon Age's downloadable quests, I was a bit hesitant to drop $40 on an expansion that according to some reports could be done in under 10 hours. As a big fan of Bioware and Bethesda games, I expect a solid amount of gameplay for my money, and the DLC just wasn't delivering.

But here my fears were unfounded. A solid 20 hours of fun later, I wrapped up Awakening having enjoyed a full-fledged and very enjoyable Bioware experience. An experience that can change next time around thanks to story choices that impact the game, adding even more bang for your buck.

That's not bad at all for a $40 expansion.

Adding to my fun was importing my character from Origins and watching as he climbed to godlike levels of power, with equipment that would make the archdemon weep with fear. Awesome.

If you're already a fan of Dragon Age or Bioware you know the gist of how their games work. RPG, moral choices, yada yada yada. So let's just cut to the chase and throw out some pros and cons:

CONS:
The beginning and ending are both a bit abrupt; you're plunged right in with a too-brief intro, and the game ends two seconds after the final battle.

You don't see enough of former allies (the one cameo is from my least favorite character). After spending 60 hours with them, I'd like to have seen them again.

A few bugs made at least one quest impossible for me to finish.

Some "new" monsters are just old monsters with new colors. Didn't palette-swapping die in the 16-bit era?

The elf chick was a total dud of a character.

PROS:
Some great new characters; Anders is a new favorite, and the new dwarf rocks.

Solid story that adds a lot to the world's mythology. Door is wide open to sequels, yet this story here feels self-contained, too.

Cool new creatures keep things varied.

Abrupt into and finish aside, it honestly felt like a complete Bioware game, with the traditional multiple paths, ups and downs and twist and turns to the story, many side quests, and an epic finish.

LOADS and LOADS of new talents and spells and skills and more. LOADS of them, allowing you to specialize your characters like never before.

Those books that let you reset all your stats and skills? Awesome. Big help when you realize you've gone down an undesirable character path.

Decisions that actually seem to MATTER to the story.

At 20 hours, more gameplay than I expected out of an expansion. And I left several side quests unfinished, too. I probably could have squeezed a few more hours out of it.

More side quests than I expected out of an expansion, too.

OVERALL:
This was great fun. The couple of bugs and such were minor irritants, but easily overlooked in the face of the Dragon Age goodness to be had here. For anyone who liked Dragon Age, this is essential.

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