Dragon Age: Origins Updated Hands-On - The Dwarf Commoner's Humble Beginnings
We start a new story with the commoner background for dwarf characters in this upcoming role-playing epic from BioWare.
We've already covered much of the basics of starting a new game in BioWare's upcoming role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins...because we've played through them. If you haven't already, take a look at our previous story covering the origins of the human mage, which also covers the basics of character creation and interface elements. We won't be repeating those here. Instead, we'll jump into the origin story for dwarves who begin their careers as lowly commoners in the streets of Orzammar, the subterranean metropolis. As a dwarf commoner, you can choose to play either as a rogue or as a warrior. There's virtually no difference whatsoever in the experience or gameplay, except that each class has its own skills and that certain fights seem tougher if you play as a rogue who didn't specialize in combat skills. On that note, please be advised that this story contains minor spoilers.
Even though the tall, stony architecture of Orzammar looks impressive in some places, the life of a dwarf commoner isn't pretty. According to the introductory cinematic sequence for this origin, the dwarves have a rigid caste system that forbids dwarves of lower classes to mingle with highfalutin nobles. And your character is at the very bottom of the barrel, a "casteless" character marked with a brand on his or her face that tells the world that you're the most common of commoners.
You begin your adventure being harangued by the local dwarf slumlord Beraht, who has recruited you to do his dirty work while he "encourages" your kindhearted sister Rica to catch the eye of a dwarf noble. Beraht's potentially not-family-friendly scheme is to marry her off into a noble family to give birth to an heir, elevating her, you, and "Uncle" Beraht to noble status. (Interestingly, while mages speak with the prim and proper BioWare British Accent made famous in Knights of the Old Republic, dwarves all speak American/Canadian English; there's no evidence of a British accent or Scottish brogue in sight.)
Beraht then storms off, reminding you that you have more dirty work to do before the day is done. Before you go, you can chat with your sister to get more insight about your situation and the world of the dwarves. For example, you learn how most of your people remain below ground rather than above where they would have to deal with repugnant, smelly surface dwellers like humans and elves. You also learn how the darkspawn, the game's villainous monsters, have risen from the depths of the earth to claim the lives of most members of the noble and warrior castes, which leaves the nobles desperate for heirs. It also seems that Rica has caught the eye of a potential suitor, but with no promises made on either side, you're better off heading out to Orzammar for some more shady dealings, at least for the time being.
You leave your sister and immediately meet Leske, a dwarf thief and cohort who also works for Beraht and who also has the hots for your sister. (In fact, if you create a female dwarf character, he'll actually make a pass at you as well.) After reminding him that his attentions are unwanted, you get the details of your next mission. You are to locate, shake down, and ultimately kill a smuggler who works for Beraht but has been skimming lyrium ore (the enchanted metal used to power magic spells and forge enchanted weapons) to sell to illicit parties on the surface.
The common areas in the dwarf city, much like the halls of the mage tower, are full of ambient characters that go about their business and occasionally have independent conversations that touch on bits of the world's lore, such as the political tension between the current dwarven king and an ambitious dwarven prince. And if you happen to be a rogue, you can also use the profession's free skill point in the stealing skill to relieve some commoners and guards of their coins and healing poultices--the latter of which will prove to be a godsend later on in the game.
When you find the smuggler at the local tavern, you and Leske seat yourself at his table and can reenact a classic BioWare conversation quest path of either killing the marked man outright or letting him go and lying to your boss about doing the job anyway. This is a quest we've seen in some form in both Baldur's Gate II and also Knights of the Old Republic. We decided to keep things civilized and instead blackmail the smuggler for all the ore he was carrying before cutting him loose. We figured we'd pocket the proceeds without any questions asked, just as we had in previous BioWare games (and we were wrong, as we'd find out soon enough).
By using "intimidate"-based conversation skills (bolstered by our character's "cunning" statistic, which we boosted when creating our character), we were able to convince the poor sap to part with his ore and skedaddle. We also convinced a terrified Leske to go along for the ride with a generous 50-50 arrangement. Leske came around and pointed us to a nearby merchant who took the ore off our hands at a reduced price, pointing out that demand for it is poor below ground (dwarves are inherently resistant to magic and cannot be mages, so they have little use for the stuff in its raw form) and that it would be difficult to move it to the surface. We pocketed the few coins we were able to get and reported in to our crime boss.
Said crime boss and his number one gal, Jarvia (an angry female dwarf who can't seem to say anything without phrasing it as a threat), were waiting at a nearby merchant shop. When we lied about killing off the escaped smuggler, the slumlord didn't exactly buy what we were selling. Apparently, one of his cousins was also at the tavern at the time and watched the smuggler get up and walk away. Fortunately, Leske was quick-witted enough to come up with a lie of his own about how we later bumped off the traitorous cheat in a back alley, preferring not to make a scene in the tavern.
And fortunately, Beraht actually took the bait and dispatched us to our next task. We were to rig the "proving ground" arena battles being held for visiting grey warden Duncan, who was rumored to be in town in search of new recruits to battle the darkspawn (hint, hint). To rig the match, we were instructed to drug the water of one of the arena champions to ensure the victory of a different competitor offering long shot betting odds (on whom Beraht had a pile of coin) and were handed a phony pass to get into the arena area.
88 comments
May the heavens bless Bioware. I was sceptic at first... but I'm lovin' it more and even more, the more I read about this game.
the guy that talks at the beginning must be the same voice of Masyaf in Assassin's Creed
Looks like fun, but man, it sounds like the rogue is much weaker in the early game than the fighter. I might have to take this into consideration when making my character. :-)
It's like bioware did what all the Loord of the Rings schmoes couldn't. Kiss u bioware right on the ...EGO!
This looks like it's gonna rock! Bioware, you should get a medal for being so awesome. KOTOR, Mass Effect...hope DA lives up to those games.
Wow. I wasn't too excited about the game from the trailers, but reading about the RPG part of the game makes me reconsider. It sounds from the two previews (Mage and Dwarf) that the character creation system is rather deep, and the quests can be done in a variety of ways. And that's what a good RPG is all about to me, not the looks (replayed KOTOR recently and enjoyed every minute of it). And since there are still very few RPGs of this caliber on X360, I think DA:O will be a great addition to my collection. Suddenly, I can't wait.
Pre ordered just off the bio ware name and have been getting happier every day, I loved mass effect and I love fantasy so this is a win for me!
Bioware is so overrated. And this game doesn't differ from the millions fantasy rpg's in any way. Im still waiting on Diablo 3.
what the hell..... that guy looks worse than a dragon , and its age is more than the dragon's age .. ll be fun to play - yes, i like RPGs.
They must learn to make the characters look like something. But ugly!. Moves look like MJ doin the bodypop. Nothing new to make me go for it. Rather stick with WOW or go for GuildWars2 wich looks better. Low AI adversaries by the looks of it. (or dumb AI characters)
Every Fantasy novel, game, movie etc. draws inspiration from mythology like for eksempel LOTR took inspiration from Germanic, Celtic, Norse etc. mythology.
Every Fantasy novel, game, movie etc. draws inspiration from mythology like for eksempel LOTR took inspiration from Germanic, Celtic, Norse etc. mythology.
You broke my heart with ToR BioWare, but I still love you for Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins
"dwarves, gnomes, mages.. this sounds like army to me." ye it sounds like army but why are gnomes there? cannon food? punching backs? what good are gnomes anyway other than being annoying? and me gettin this game depends on how the armors look.. if they look like hobo outfits then not interested... of the trailers ive seen some good looking armors and some not so good looking :D
alright LOTR nerds, face facts - it's from norse mythology... THATS NOT A BAD THING! just dont make tolkien out to be a God - he's just good. and yes - there is only one return and its not of the king, it's of the jedi :3
This game rly does look pure EPICCC. i rly hope that it doesnt let u down when it comes out because the is THE game for me atm i RLYY want it :P
Just like buffdaddy said "There was only one return, and it wasnt of the King, it was of The Jedi" Good ol clerks 2! I am looking forward to this game. I hope it can live up to the hype surrounding it though. I really hope it does, because thsi looks like it will be an awesome game.
Well every fantasy novel, movie, games owe a debt to noirs mythology because thats where all there roots come. Lord of the Rings uses noirs mythology as a refrance the most because Tolken couldn't come up with anything original him self............ game looks awesome.
Nice. Been w8ing for something like this since Baldurs Gate. Just hope it wont be like NWN 2. P.S. every fantasy game/movie/novel draws its inspiration from the works of Robert E. Howard and Tolkien
Good God, people, every high-fantasy rpg owes a debt to Lord of the Rings, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be allowed to stand on it's own merits. And considering the developer behind this game, we should wait and try it before deciding. I suspect we will all be enjoying the hell out of this either way...
Pretty exciting! A couple of comments... I thought I heard Kate Mulgrew's voice too. It's not in IMDB yet. I thought I also heard James Callis and Liam Neeson as well. I'm amused by the LOTR discussion. I never played the game, but I read the books as a kid and loved the movies. I'm definitely okay with a Middle-Earth type setting and Middle Earth type races. Creating a world as immense as LOTR doesn't mean it's none the less original. I read further, and pleased by the inclusion of party play and the ability to direct NPC's. Parties can only go up to four members as opposed to six. But I reckon that four can make for a good fight and some interesting character interactions. I'm still amused by the review's comments about "darkness" and "maturity". I'm okay with mature themes in game play like love, death, moody atmosphere, etc. Just as long the makers & their marketers don't confuse excessive obscene language, gore, and sex, which more often appeal to adolescents than adults, as those themes. I can understand characters engaging in adultery as a part of the drama, but I don't need to hear them utter the F-word to get it conveyed. But based on what I'm seeing, I really suspect that it's probably getting overplayed by the marketing anyway. The screenshots of the character creation look awesome. Even going through the efforts of designing voices shows some thought on their part. By Christmas, I may have to explain bloodshot eyes to my wife & my boss. :P
This game's just keep's geting better and better i can't wait to pawn me some dragon's and other Nasty's
Definitely getting this. I have a 4 year old computer and will buy a new one just so that I can play this game. Looks like an EPIC already.
Sorry i stepped on a few LOTR-fan toes it seems. But it's ignorant not to see the comparisment between this storyline and the one from LOTR. You also have to find your 'allies' in this game for the battle against evil. The huge battles look like the ones in LOTR.
no lotr story was anything like this!, first you have people being p***ed off that the game doesnt follow lotr to the letter (which it shouldn't) and then people decide it's exactly the same (which it isn't). why cant people just look at the game and realise that this isn't lotr 4, it's a brilliant new game that takes some things from fundamental fantasy ideas then puts a new twist on them adding to there own original ideas to make a completely different experience that will no doubt be one of the greatest RPGs ever.
@ FattyPudgeMufin LOTR = Overrated and Boring. There was only one return, and it wasnt of the King, it was of The Jedi
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Review Scores
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|---|---|---|
Game Info
- Release Date: Nov 3, 2009 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
- Release Date: Dec 21, 2009 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
Related Unions
Dragon Age: Origins
- Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
- Developer(s): BioWare
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: M
Dragon Age: Origins Navigation
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