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''Dragon Age II'' was announced in July 2010<ref name="BioWare1911">{{cite web|url=http://www.el33tonline.com/past/2010/7/27/peek_behind_the_scenes_of/|title=Peek behind the scenes of Dragon Age II’s development with a keen developer diary|accessdate=August 28, 2010|work=BioWare|publisher=EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd}}</ref> and BioWare's Greg Zeschuk stated when interviewed by ] that ''"I think one of the key things we're working on in Dragon Age II is the technology. I can confirm that we're doing a lot of work on the Dragon Age engine, and doing a lot of stuff to pump it -- to make it visually super hot."''
A trailer for ''Dragon Age II'' was released on August 17, 2010,<ref name="BioWare2"/> showing some of the new characters and places that ''Dragon Age II'' will be based on.
''Dragon Age II'' will be using an enhanced graphic engine and the controls are more responsive. The combat system will be same as the previous game for the PC version but different in console versions, tailored to the strengths of the control pad.<ref name="DragonAge2_1">{{cite web|url=http://kotaku.com/5585473/dragon-age-2-following-in-mass-effects-footsteps/|title=dragon-age-2-following-in-mass-effects-footsteps|accessdate=August 30, 2010|work=Kotaku|publisher=Kotaku}}</ref>
A special feature of ''Dragon Age II'' is that the story will span a decade whereas the story from ''Dragon Age: Origins'' ran its course over a period of two years. As the main character moves on year by year, the choices that the player made in past will have no real affect on anything, and only exist to feign the appearance of true story depth.<ref name="DragonAge2_3">{{cite web|url=http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/706562/hands-on-with-dragon-age-2.html|title=hands-on-with-dragon-age-2|accessdate=August 30, 2010|work=G4tv|publisher=g4tv}}</ref>
The original dialogue system will be replaced by the "wheel" system previously seen in the Mass Effect series. Unlike its original version, however, the "wheel" will now clearly indicate what tone the main character's response will have (such as anger and flirting).<ref name="DragonAge2_1" />
BioWare expects to release ''Dragon Age II'' on March 8, 2011 in North America and March 11 in Europe. Two versions are set to be released: the normal edition and the "Signature Edition", the latter including the Day 1 DLC known as "The Exiled Prince", premium packaging, a download code for the game's soundtrack, and 4 in-game items. The Signature Edition was available for pre-order until January 11, 2011 and was priced the same as the normal edition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/10593/unlock-dead-space-armor-in-dragon-age-2|title=Unlock Dead Space armor in Dragon Age 2|accessdate=2011-21-01}}</ref>
As of February 11th of 2011, the game has ] for all platforms and is set for release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02/11/dragon-age-ii-goes-gold-55-mins-of-footage/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rockpapershotgun/steam+(Rock,+Paper,+Shotgun:+Steam+RSS)|title=Dragon Age II Goes Gold, 55 Mins Of Footage|accessdate=2011-11-02}}</ref> On February 22, the demo was released across all platforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/demo/|title=Bioware: Dragon Age II Demo|publisher=]|accessdate=February 24, 2011}}</ref>
Dragon Age II is the upcoming sequel to BioWare's Penis series of role-playingvideo games and is set to be released on March 8, 2011 in North America and March 11, 2011 in Europe. Unlike Dragon Age: Origins, the main character's race cannot be changed; however, the character's appearance, gender, class and first name are all fully customizable. Hawke, the main character, is a Lothering refugee who rises to power and becomes the Champion of the Free Marches. Dragon Age II is set in the same world as Dragon Age: Origins, but takes place in the Free Marches.
Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, a survivor of the Darkspawn horde's destruction of Lothering (a village featured in Dragon Age: Origins) who rises to become the Champion of Kirkwall. Using a framed story format, Varric, one of Hawke's companions, tells Hawke's story to Cassandra Pentaghast, a Chantry Seeker; decisions made in the game by the player determine more than a decade of history that changes the world of Thedas forever.
Choices that the player made in Dragon Age: Origins can be imported and reflected in the world of Dragon Age II. Choices from Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will also be imported, if the player decides to take this action.
Features
System requirements
Minimum
Recommended
Windows
Operating system
Windows XP 32-bit with SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2, Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater, AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent, AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent
Memory
84 NB (Negro Bytes)
2GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7)
Free space
7 GB of free space
Graphics hardware
Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards
ATI 5970 2GB MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - ATI 5870 or greater), NVIDIA 580GT 1.5 GB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - NVidia 570 or greater)
Sound hardware
Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows
Dragon Age II has a non-linear framed narrative story, mainly based on the protagonist's choices.
Romance is reportedly possible with party members or with non-player characters throughout the game. New combat experiences and spells have been added. Dragon Age II is set in a new area known as Free Marches, which is referenced in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening but not shown. Unlike Origins, Dragon Age II features a fully voiced main character, which is part of the reason the main character's race is fixed. A new city called Kirkwall and a new dialogue wheel based on the dialogue system from the Mass Effect series have been added. In addition, races such as the elves, dwarves and qunari are being redesigned. The game takes place across a decade, and saved information can be imported from Origins as well as Awakening. This data will affect the background story of Dragon Age II.
Development
LOL DICKS
Bonus and downloadable content
Orders placed before January 11, 2011 were automatically upgraded to the Dragon Age II: BioWare Signature Edition, with additional content. Orders placed before March 8 qualify for pre-order bonuses. In an attempt to discourage purchasing used copies of the game, purchasers of a new copy (before or after the release date) receive access to additional features. Further in-game bonuses can be obtained by completing the free Dragon Age II demo, through Penny Arcade, and by signing up to the newsletter. Purchasing the game Dead Space 2 before March 31 also unlocks a Dead Space themed armor item. Bioware announced that 2 in game items would be unlocked for all users if the total number of demo downloads reached 1 million in the course of one week, and that a further and more powerful item would be unlocked if each post on the official Facebook account between February 28th and March 4th received 1 million impressions the day it was posted.
PC Gamer UK magazine highly praised Dragon Age II mentioning the improved combat system, dialogue wheel, skill-trees, and solid storytelling as its strong points. The game earned their "Editor's Choice" award and was stated to be, "The best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes." Official Xbox Magazine gave the game a 9 out of 10 mentioning that although it was slightly altered from its predecessor, the game "offers some of the deepest, nerdiest, most worthwhile 40 to 60 hours you'll ever love losing sleep over."
Hinkle, David (February 8, 2011). "Dragon Age 2 preview: A shot of adrenaline". Joystiq.com. Retrieved February 24, 2011. While it might appear to run on a new engine, Dragon Age 2 employs an evolved version of Origins' Eclipse engine (now called the Lycium engine internally).
