Dragon Age II Preview

Dragon Age II was obviously on Eurogamer’s appointment list at last week’s GamesCom, as they’ve conjured up a pretty informative two-page preview. A healthy sampling:

Combat has also been refined. Many of us loved the ability to pause the first game and plot your next move using the tactics menus, but this resulted in some players queuing up actions then wandering off and not really connecting with the battles themselves. “With Dragon Age 2 we’re keeping the ability to think like a General, but we’re adding the ability to fight like a Spartan,” says the producer.

On-screen, Hawke – a male warrior for this demo – and Bethany, a mage – are taking on a stream of Hurlocks. Hawke’s brutal attacks carve off legs and split enemies in half. It’s almost hilariously violent. “If I never want to go into think-like-a-General mode, I don’t have to,” says the producer. “You don’t have to use the pause-and-play mechanic. But they are there if you love that kind of thing.”

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On the PC, there’s Tactical Camera 2.0, which allows you to roam your viewpoint freely around the battlefield issuing orders without the game’s camera being tied to your characters or a confined space. Other PC interface improvements include stamina and mana potions on the far right of the quickbar so they don’t use up number-key slots.

In one case we select Aveline, one of Hawke’s companions, and put her in a defensive posture where she uses her shield more and attacks less. “We do it to show that not only can you customise how your main character behaves,” says the producer, “but you can also do it with your followers as well.”

Then we level up. Points still go into attributes like strength and dexterity as you cross thresholds, but Dragon Age 2 introduces ability trees, where you unlock a main ability – for example Stun – but then get to upgrade it specifically once you reach higher levels.