As a long-time RPG player, I’ve sunk countless hours of my life into games like Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Icewind Dale. I’ve been looking forward to dropping all my other games and devoting myself to Dragon Age: Origins, the “spiritual successor” to Baldur’s Gate from Bioware.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to review both the PC and XBox 360 versions of the game, so I will try and give a few comparisons between the two. However, right from the start I should make one thing clear: This is a GREAT game.

One of the things that sets Dragon Age: Origins apart is the fact that you cannot simply talk about how the story goes. Depending on which race and class you choose for your character, you will play through one of six different introductions. Regardless of which intro you play, you’ll end up as a Grey Warden, a powerful warrior who is sworn to combat the spread of the Darkspawn blight.

Read the full article

dragon age origins

Bioware, long the favorites of PC RPG fans are firing up the information train to release new trailer and new screens for its upcoming magnum opus – Dragon Age: Origins. While the movies all make folks drool and the screens look exciting one key question every PC gamer asks is: “Will I have to upgrade to play this beast?”

Well as of today we have the final system requirments for the game, and its likely that anyone who owns a moderately powerful modern PC will be able to play it in at least Neverwinter Nights 1, 1995 style graphic mode. As expected the requirements for Vista are a bit higher than their XP counterpart but both have a sizable hard drive footprint – 20GB! Wow! The game will also be released on the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 console this October.

Here are the Specs:

Windows XP Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows XP with SP3
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
RAM: 1GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space

Windows Vista Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows Vista with SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 2.2GHZ or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space

Recommended Specifications
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
RAM: 4 GB (Vista) or 2 GB (XP)
Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space

Would a Neverwinter Nights be a viable MMO? Sources at Variety say Atari is betting on it. Supposedly it’s the whole reason Atari bought out Cryptic Studios.

I question whether porting NwN into the massively multiplayer realm is really a sure thing. The most obvious obstacle is taking BioWare and Obsidian out of the equation. However, I believe that taking the modding out of the game which has already spawned many persistent worlds which are essentially mini MMO themselves will take away one of the elements that makes NwN such a fascinating setting.

Read the full article

Dungeons & Dragons Online, Turbine’s under-performing adaptation of the popular pen-and-paper game and its Eberron setting is going through changes when Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited launches this summer. The relaunch converts the existing game – D&D Online: Stormreach from a subscription game to a free-to-play title. In addition to changing the business model, the game is also promising to increase the current level cap to 20 while including many features typically reserved for paid games like crafting, raiding and guilds.

Dungeons & Dragons Online uses a highly altered version of the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules and includes many of the core classes players will recognize from the tabletop settings. For those unfamiliar, Eberron – the game’s setting, has a distinct magi-punk feel featuring Indiana Jones meets The Lord of the Rings style themes and locations. The game will not restrict player levels or play time and will also implement a new DDO Store feature for players to purchase dungeons packs, hirelings and equipment not available in the standard game. Additionally a new DDO Unlimited VIP account option gain server priority, more character slots and access to all premium content along with a stipend of 500 DDO Store credits each month for upgrades and alterations.

As a fan of D&D, I avoided the game once I discovered it was not going to accurately model the game it was licensed from, but this switch to a free-play mode might just convince me to take a crack at it. Considering the rumor that Atari might be considering using newly acquired Cryptic Studios to revamp their Neverwinter Nights franchise as an MMO could there be a fight for the D&D MMO on the horizon?

You can check out the full details in the press release after the jump. Those interested in offering to beta the new title can also apply here.

Read the full article

I talk weekly about the convergence of pen-and-paper gaming with the digital game space of video games but today I get to announce a convergence going in the opposite direction.. Green Ronin, publishers of the popular Mutants & Masterminds, True 20 and the current publisher of The Song of Ice and Fire RPG just announced that they will be taking the world of BioWare’s forthcoming Dragon Age: Origins and converting it into a traditional RPG.

Dragon Age, often referred to in hype releases as “the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate” (BioWare’s original Fantasy RPG based upon the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms settings), will be getting a “box set” release in the summer meant to introduce both the world of Thedas (Dragon Age’s setting) and the concepts of traditional role playing to video game fans.

“We’re delighted to be working with Green Ronin to explore more of the Dragon Age universe through a pen and paper role-playing game. We’re excited to deliver Dragon Age’s unique dark, heroic fantasy to our audience in a brand new way—a perfect complement to the landmark game we’re launching on PC, Xbox 360, and PLAYSTATION 3 this fall,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA. “Our development teams craft rich, deep worlds, and this is an excellent way to expand the franchise.”

This is not the first RPG setting to make the transition from video game to paper – previously Everquest, Diablo, Starcraft and World of Warcraft have gotten a conversion to traditional RPG products at Wizards of the Coast and with White-Wolf’s Sword and Sorcery imprint. While none of those settings are still in active development this is the first time I can recall that an in-development video game property is getting a tabletop treatment before its even been released.

Who knows, maybe if Dragon Age grabs its audience Green Ronin and BioWare can negotiate to bring Mass Effect to pen-and-paper RPGs as well. I’d be first in line for a game based on that setting. Dragon Age feel like more of the same Tolkien derivative fantasy at this point unfortunately. You can read the full details of the press release after the jump.

Read the full article

Yesterday, during the big Atari press conference in London, Infrogames President Phil Harrison mentioned that Atari is planning on future installments of Forgotten Realms games Baldur’s Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights and the racing game Test Drive Unlimited. Being that I am a huge Baldur’s Gate fan, I cannot believe I missed this yesterday, but here it is anyway.

The bad news, at least for fans of any of the above titles, is that none will be released within the next year. However, Harrison did promise that “you will hear more from these but not today, because we’re focused on 2009″. Fine then, dangle the worm out there in front of us, let us bite and then just let us float in the water a bit there Phil. We don’t mind (note the sarcasm).

What else the company may have in store for Neverwinter Nights remains to be seen, because they just released the Storm of Zehir expansion last month. However, the thought of actually getting my hands on another Baldur’s Gate game is what really excites me. The PC games were very fun, and even the console version Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was loads of fun especially with Drizzt popping in at the end (Interplay, Black Isle Studios)– but I won’t even mention the crappy Dark Alliance 2. Wait, I just did. Yeah, it sucked. Hopefully Atari will not make the same mistakes Vivendi and Black Isle did with that stinker should they decide to revisit the console route with it the series. Unless, of course, Vivendi holds the console rights. I have no idea and don’t really care. I just want another good Baldur’s Gate game.

At any rate, Phil Harrision also mentioned what Eurogamer called an “early-09 pledge” for actual retail releases of Sam & Max: Season Two on PC and Wii (no exact date given), and Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution for Wii in March.

As soon as we know more about any of the above titles, we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, for more information on any of these game, just hit one of the many links.

UPDATE: You can watch and download the hour long keynote speech featuring Phil Harrison and David Gardner here.

Obsidian is releasing a stop gap patch for Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir later this December. The patch should hopefully clear up some of the problems with the 1.21 patch and xp_bugfix for the SoZ expansion.

Patch 1.23 is still scheduled for a January 2009 release but may have an extended beta period because of the changes it covers. Fixes include Content autodownloader, Haks loading before character creation, Version checking of PWC files and Adjustments to WASD. Players hope 1.23 will be a cure-all for multiplayer.

Keep up with the latest news on the xp_bugfix and patch 1.21 for SoZ, watch the Bioware Community NWN2 Forum.

.

All modders and aspiring developers out there should pay close attention to a new article up on Blend Games. The author takes aim at RPGs calling them on their weaknesses and shortcomings while acknowledging the true greats in “Reasons Your Role-Playing Game Is Disappointing.” This of course translates to “Why your RPG sucks”.

Most of the games that come under fire are Western RPGs with only one JRPG in the mix. As you might expect, there are Bioware titles mentioned in abundance such as Neverwinter Nights 2, NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur’s Gate. Arcanum, Final Fantasy VII and Fable get mentioned as well. the only Western RPG that wasn’t touched on was Planescape: Torment.

ERPG Cardinal sins including getting the story started to slowly. FF7 and Mass Effect are held out as sterling examples of what sucks players into a game right off the bat while the intro to Fable is used as an example of what not to do. NwN2 is slammed as well, but NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer is given Kudos for getting the player’s attention immediately. I’ve got to admit that waking up in a crypt hundreds of miles from home is much more interesting than going out for the prize at your local fair.

Also on the hit list is the over use of Fed Ex quests, slow travel between points of interest and unwieldy inventory systems like the one that plagues players in Mass Effect. Fable is once again sent to the corner for repetitive combat. Hopefully we won’t see these shortcomings in Fable 2. Catch the best and the worst of RPGs on Blend Games.

Obsidian is putting the latest Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion NwN2: Storm of Zehir in the spotlight with a new trailer and screenshots. The new screens will give you an idea of the island setting. There are several that show combat and spell effects that are definitely wall paper worthy. You can also catch a healthy dose of combat and spell effects in action as well as some of the new creatures you’ll face in Storm of Zehir in the trailer.

Over on the Neverwinter Nights Forums, BioWare has given the word the Jade Empire Special Edition is now available for the Mac.

Gamers who love the Mac, but hate having few native games for it are slowly getting more options for videogames. EA Games has really lead the way. The big question is how long will it be until Mass Effect shows up on the Mac; and by then will anyone care?