What makes a good story? How do you get people to like the characters, creatures and the virtual world before them? It's no easy task to answer those questions, much less create a game where every RPG fan can feel right at home.

Emphasis on old-school RPG mechanics (which is good); excellent voice acting; characters skillfully woven into a riveting storyline; filled to the brim with engaging and well-structured quests; sub-plots; challenging enemies and boss fights.

A few minor bugs here and there; can be a tad difficult at times; questionable art direction

Religion, race, relatives, and relationships are the universal four R's that motivate people and nations to war. Each of those R's acts as live ammunition in every discussion, action, and choice you make in Dragon Age: Origins, a truly epic fantasy adventure.

+ Tolkien-esque scale and stature; + Interface lets you manage all disparate parts easily

- Plenty of art-element reruns; some too-similar characters; and awkward dialogue; ?

The most epic console RPG this year. On their journey towards becoming a household name […]

+ Fantastic story; + Great cast of characters; + Superb voice acting; + Enjoyable/rewarding combat; + Origins and decisions that impact the story as a whole

Somewhat lackluster visuals; Some technical bugs; No isometric view on consoles; Occasionally clunky inventory system

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying the Darkspawn aren't a threat because they are (just saunter unprepared into an ambush of high-ranking ones for all the proof you need of that), but at least you know what you're getting with them - brutal, unreasoning aggression.

Baldur's Gate was a touchstone game in computer RPGs and its spiritual successor, Dragon Age: Origins has the rocks to be another. You are a Grey Warden, warriors tasked with fighting off the Darkspawn and The Blight, a catastrophic event in which an Old God is corrupted and leads the Darkspawn as...

...You've been waiting for a new Baldur's Gate ; ...You want a familiar fantasy feel with some new twists on the formula; ...It's more about the experience and less about the technical aspects surrounding a game

...Frame rate issues and some distracting textures hurt your eyes; ...You're annoyed by the idea of NPCs shilling downloadable content ..

Canadian developer BioWare has built its reputation on making great story-based games. This enviable reputation began on consoles back in 2003 with Knights of the Old Republic, and continued through the release of 2007's Mass Effect, a game which confirmed BioWare's status as the gold standard in...

Whether it's science fiction or fantasy, Bioware have a tremendous skill of crafting memorable and rich universes and allows you, through your choices, to have an effect on them, be it a profound one or not.

Grab your sword and staff, cause it's time to kill some dragons!

Detailed, exciting storyline; Rich world filled with lore; Stellar voice acting and witty dialog; Fascinating characters; Visceral combat with enough spells to set your pants on fire; Hours of additional quests

Some minor glitches on console versions; Dated graphics and bland palette

What we see in this DLC content is no real strong story elements; instead players should be on the lookout for loot. And why not; this DLC has some of the strongest loot in the game. But is this DLC worth your purchase and time?

If you've been watching TV at all over the past couple of weeks, you've probably seen the commercial for Bioware's new RPG Dragon Age: Origins. The slick rendered video is enough to catch anyone's eye, as it shows off not only some pretty cool fighting, but also an enormous dragon landing to...