Wednesday morning. A
brown package turns up at the VGI headquarters. I approach the box
with a certain amount of trepidation, worried that is could contain
some sort of anti-gaming powder set to stop me moaning about certain
AAA titles. To my utmost surprise a fan named “MarkyMouse”
has sent me an Alpha build of BioWare's Dragon Age 3!
Admittedly it's only
the first hour of the full game. But that didn't stop me from playing
it to death and getting as much information out of it as humanly
possible.
New Class
The usual suspects of
Warrior, Rogue and Mage are still present. My biggest surprise was
the inclusion of a fourth class named Alchemist.
Potion making and trap
making is no longer a universal skill. Instead, players will need to
play the Alchemist specialisation in order to craft items and it's
the ability to make bombs that makes this skill so much fun to play!
During battles players
equip a crossbow (very similar to Varric's) with specialisation
points either being sunk into Crossbow or the ability to make bigger
and stronger items. My favourite bomb is the standard fire bomb that
combines an oil-like substance with a small fuse. When lit and
thrown, the bomb breaks on enemies coating them in fire from head to
toe as the roll around on the floor screaming in agony.
New Characters
There will be a total
of 23 companions, reuniting players with fan favourites from the
first two games alongside a host of new, and more dynamic characters.
The first we spotted is
a female human by the name of Lysstia, a former mage obsessed with
accessing the fade in a bid to regain her lost powers.
The second companion we
were lucky enough to play with is the returning Morrigan.
Enraged by the death of
The Warden and the “loss” of the God-baby, Morrigan is back and
hell-bent of revenge. Armed with Flemeth's grimoire, Morrigan's
powers are at an all-time high. Gone are simple transformations and
in place, is the ability to turn into a Flemeth-style dragon.
Romance
One of the new features
of Dragon Age 3 is the ability to romance everyone. Players
complained that the could not settle down with the likes of Varric,
Shale and Dog. Now, everyone in the world can be your spouse,
providing you have the suave to woo them correctly.
Have you passed a
beautiful shopkeep? Buy her goods and let slip that you have a big
house and she could be going home with you. Met a Dalish on your
travels who you just can't be without? Make some racist comments
about Humans their treehouse home could be home to a patter of little
elf-feet. Seen a Dragon who scales make you giddy? They still can't
be romanced...
Combat
Following fan feedback,
combat in Dragon Age 3 will see the series return to that of Dragon
Age: Origins. The frantic and stylised hack 'n' slash made a lot of
gamer's cringe, some even went as far as to say “Why would you be
able use daggers to stab?” and “I miss my pew-pew staff!”
“Every single player
preferred shuffling up to an enemy and poking them with sharp
implements until the fell down.” BioWare Chief-Of-Operations Brian
Handwitz said.
“Every single player
can't be wrong can they? So we listened. [DA:O] Combat is back and
we've been very careful to make sure that weapons feel less weighted
and much less like they could cause harm. I think the end product is
going to please a lot
of [Baulder's Gate] fans!”
[Source]
Name: Wesley Copeland
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Wesley Copeland
Position: Editor-in-chief
Born in Cyrodiil but raised in Ferelden, more commonly know as England. Wesley Copeland is a passionate writer with more opinions than an ostrich
