Ax "streamline", use steamroll- the act of reducing the depth of an object.
DA:O wasn't without its flaws, but this made gamers everywhere even more eager to see what the next installment from this revived project would be. The potential was staggering. Sadly, I and many others began to see the writing on the wall when Bioware revealed the first trailer. Slowly a rift was formed between the long-time (mostly) PC gamers and the new generation who were trained on RPGs such as Mass Effect and Dark Siders.
The release date has come and passed. DA2 did not receive the same universal praise as the first game, and long-time PC gamers are back to wishing for the days of Baldur's Gate or Torment. The countless hand crafted dungeons reduced to a handful of over used maps. The rich, realistic environments reduced to colorful Wow-scapes. A protagonist who only needs a backward hat to finish off the look. There are countless complaints, but the main irk I have with this game is the massive, over watered brush used to sweep the first game completely away leaving only a title and basic fundamentals in place.
I'll spare running down the entire game in this review as I am sure the reader has read other sources before reading these player reviews. The following is a list of my main concerns and the good as well:
THE GOOD:
Fun and lively characters
Decent story
Runs well
Graphics are crisp on highest settings
THE BAD:
Much shorter than DA:O
Story is not nearly as epic
Very linear
Grossly overused art assets
No customization other than appearance for the main character
Combat far to fast paced to be tactical or strategic
No replay value
Choices have very little effect on the game
Aside from the overhaul of the combat, my biggest complaint are the massive over use of various art assets. I literally went to the exact same cave 5-6 times except these were supposed to be different places with a different quest/story attached. This feels like a slap in the face to players who enjoy exploring and seeing new things.
Dragon Age: Origins was the spiritual successor to one of the pillars of the gaming world, Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age 2 is some red-headed bastard child trying to play daddy. Sorry Bioware but we can see through the oversized clothes hiding the underdeveloped and weak body of a game.