Dragon Age II Reviews, Wave Fourteen

I really should have provided an average score for each of the Dragon Age II review round-ups I’ve done, as they seem to be getting lower overall as time goes on.

GameCritics gives it a surprising score of 2.5/10:

Defying all expectations, BioWare managed to take one of the most memorable Western RPGs in recent history and completely destroyed everything that made it so good. I have absolutely no idea how such a respected development house could have made so many colossal mistakes and turned out such an unpleasantly rushed, shallow, utter waste of time… but they did, and it is. I forced myself to play the game to completion despite wanting to quit out of disgust and boredom at least a dozen times before credits rolled, but I shouldn’t have bothered. The insulting level of quality in Dragon Age II is perfectly clear to see from the first hour or two, and everything that comes after is just more salt in the wound.

Kotaku Australia provides no score:

Bioware has refined Dragon Age into a specialist, bringing all of their polish to the fore and forgetting to include content. But masters they are, and whether they were restricted by budget, lack of time or the fear of making a perfect game before the release of Dragon Age III, they knew what they were doing. The executive producers are cackling away somewhere imagining gamers slogging their way through their maze. They have charts or something, ingrained instinct for the gamer’s psychology, which led them towards a formula that makes you play even though you writhe at the artificial nature of the construct.

God help us all, I’m going to kill my three thousandth darkspawn.

Crave goes scoreless, too:

Dragon Age 2 feels flat and rushed, there’s no way around it. You may enjoy it for its solid story and streamlined RPG elements. But, in the end, you’d be better served replaying the original as a different class or race.

Elder-Geek gives it a “Worth Renting” verdict:

Here’s hoping this is a fluke they learn from and Dragon Age III isn’t coming out for a few years. In spite of how much I’ve lambasted this game, I’d recommend renting it. A purchase, however, is out of the question unless you’re the kind of person who absolutely adores supreme repetition, in which case this game was made just for you. To the fade with this one!

Wired UK takes the non-score approach:

What this all boils down to is that Dragon Age 2 is a less adventurous game in terms of scale, and your journey through it will feel far less grand and awe-inspiring than fans of Origins will expect. It feels simpler, less demanding and more welcoming to RPG newbies. This is likely to be at the expense of the veteran players who praised Origins for its depth and extensive emphasis on exploration.

Pixel Apocalypse gives it a score of “C”:

Truly, Dragon Age II is a mixed bag. I really liked how they tried to be different with the story, the art style and even implementing all those Mass Effect traits. But the combat, recycled environments and general layout was boring. I wouldn’t have had such a problem with the combat if it wasn’t for the generic layout of each dungeon. But it was probably like that because you aren’t going anywhere new. There will be a lot of people that can look past the issues and find a great game. Sadly though, I could not overlook the bad.

Diehard GameFAN gives it a “Very Good” verdict:

The game is pleasing to the eyes, but locations repeat too often to be ignored. The audio is as fantastic as ever, thanks to some great scoring and voice casting, as always. The gameplay has been simplified and touched up to appeal more readily to new players and console gamers, and for the most part, the simplifications and changes work well enough. The game is also quite in-depth and offers plenty of reasons to come back and play through it a second or third time, which is to its credit. However, the targeting still needs work, the simplification of the ally armor options make for some boring points, and the game feels needlessly easier than its predecessor. Further, the game has some exploitable bugs, as well as some frustrating bugs, that make the game more annoying than it really should be. Dragon Age II, sans the developmental problems, would have been an easy to recommend sequel to a pretty fantastic game, and a month longer in development would likely have resolved that entirely, but grading the game based on the game we’re given, it’s still a very good, if disappointing effort, one that hopefully won’t carry over to Mass Effect 3.

WeTheGamerz gives it a 7.5/10:

In the end though, I see that this is only the second story, and some things were actually improved. Hopefully for the third iteration, they’ll realize what they should change, and what they should keep.

GamesEyeView gives it a score of 8.5/10:

Dragon Age II is a fantastic game for anyone who loves a good fantasy RPG. The upgrades from Dragon Age: Origins are rather extensive, the story is extremely well written, and the gameplay is much more suited for the consoles than before. But it’s not for everyone. While this game is a bit more streamlined than the original, players shouldn’t go in expecting Mass Effect with swords; this game is still meant for the RPG fan first. While there are some technical flaws, this is still a fantastic game that is greater than the sum of it’s parts and one we expect to be replaying for quite some time.

Toasty Controller gives it a score of 83%:

This game is truly a work of art but it’s so obscured by the feeling of busywork and boredom between major plot events that it’s hard to rate the game above a B, Great concept, lost the epicness of its predecessor, but somehow managed an amazing ending.

GamingOgre gives it a score of 68%:

This is not the sequel fans were hoping for. There are elements of a great game, but the overall product feels rushed. If you really get into the combat system and can rationalize enemy waves as good design, you’ll probably have a blast. If you prefer the slower, more tactical play of Origins, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

And NeedCoffee gives it a score of 3.5/5:

Overall, Dragon Age 2 is a very solidly built game with a story that is absolutely amazing when it doesn’t attempt to be something it is not. A few clichés take this game from an immersive standalone epic to a somewhat lackluster sequel. Don’t get me wrong, the game is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just lacks personality. The best way I could describe it is: a mediocre great game.