Dragon Age II Preview

Xbox World 360 goes hands-on with Dragon Age II, to test its “bold claims”. They conclude that it is not “dumbed downed” but rather a “refined, accessible, and genuinely exciting iteration”, which isn’t all that comforting considering that “refined” and “accessible” are typically used as euphemisms for “dumbed down”.

First things first, this game is far easier on the eye than the original. No longer looking like Middle Earth smeared in Vaseline, the new area of Thedas – Kirkwall – is a well-defined land.

Lighting, effects, characters, draw-distance – everything appears to have been improved. But what makes the biggest difference for us is the new combat system.

It’s not as fluid as, say, Fable, but now when you press a button to attack, your character actually does something instead of just queuing up an attack action. There’s no pause. Pressing the stab button actually leads to a stab. Revolutionary!

It makes a huge difference on 360, despite being the kind of change that’ll compel PC gamers to flame up Bioware forums. You feel more in control with a pad, and that’s crucial.

Honestly, if all it’s got going for it is being prettier and more fluid like Fable, I’ll opt out.