Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening Reviews

Another selection of favorable reviews for BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening expansion have reached the Internet over the past day or two.

The Escapist has decided to start providing review scores, giving this particular addon a perfect 5/5:

It admirably accomplishes what an expansion is supposed to do, and doesn’t in any way diminish what made the great one of the best RPGs ever made.

Blend Games gives it a 3.5/5:

About eight years ago, BioWare released an expansion pack for Baldur’s Gate II called Throne of Bhaal. Like Awakening, it was a high-level adventure but the difference was that Bhaal made you feel high-level. It wasn’t just a simple matter of giving you more hit points or a slightly shinier weapon. The game made you believe your character was one of the most powerful beings in existence and was fighting against foes who were just as formidable. In many ways, Awakening just fails to do this. If you simply want more Dragon Age, these extra 15 hours of gameplay might sate you. If you were expecting this expansion pack to take the franchise to new heights, though, you’re going to be disappointed.

PC Gamer/CVG gives it an 8.1/10:

That observation effectively sums up Awakening: its story, combat, choices, characters and dialogue are all almost as good as in the original campaign, but sometimes less successful emulations that lack depth. At about 23 hours long, it’s a substantial expansion. Even if it doesn’t radically improve or evolve the original game like Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer or Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, it’s still an excellent adventure module that recaptures most of the parent game’s strengths.

Game Revolution gives it a “B”:

For a sequel that is about half of the original title, Awakening would have been more comfortably priced at $30; either that, or be given another year in production to expand into a full-fledged sequel. This isn’t to say it is rushed, but more that it is unpolished and unsure too long for an epilogue, too short for a stand-alone title. Still, an enjoyable romp with an intriguing story can be found somewhere between the two, and you won’t have to be wide awake to see it.

And RunDLC gives it a 4/5:

Dragon Age Origins: Awakening is supplementary proof that BioWare is simply one of the better role-playing/action game makers around. Even though it doesn’t address the original game’s faults or expand the gameplay to new heights, there’s more than enough new content here (talents, characters, terrain to explore) to keep you swinging your sword. And if hard drive space is a concern when it comes to download, don’t sweat it. A retail version is available for the same price and playable from the disc.