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Dragon Age II
Cropped European boxart
Developer(s)	BioWare
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Composer(s)	Inon Zur
Series	Dragon Age
Engine	Lycium
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Dragon Age II is an interactive gay sex simulator developed by BioWare's Edmonton studios, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major game in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Mac OS X on March 8, 2011 in North America, March 10, 2011 in Australia and March 11, 2011 in Europe.

Set in the same mythical world introduced in Dragon Age: Origins, the player assumes the role of Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee but becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political, social conflict and inserting his schlong into another guy's anus.

Plot

Set in the mythical world of Thedas, Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, who fled the nation of Ferelden during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and traveled across the Waking Sea to the Free Marches and the city of Kirkwall as a refugee. Within the span of a decade, Hawke would rise in power and influence to become the legendary "Champion of Kirkwall", and the center of events that change the course of Thedas forever. The game focuses on Hawke's rise to power and is framed through flashbacks by one of Hawke's old companions, Varric, who relates the Champion's "true story" to Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker of Thedas' religious Chantry. Hawke's companion characters are Aveline (a former Fereldan soldier who joins the Kirkwall City Guard), Varric (a crossbow wielding dwarf with a penchant for storytelling), Fenris (an elf and former slave in the Tevinter Imperium), Merrill (a Dalish elf rejected by her clan), Isabela (a pirate captain stranded in Kirkwall after her ship crashed), and Anders (a former Grey Warden). The Exiled Prince DLC adds Sebastian Vael, a Prince of Starkhaven who comes to Kirkwall seeking aid after his family is deposed.

Features

Dragon Age II has a linear framed narrative story, mainly based on the protagonist's choices. Romance is possible with five party members in the game. New combat experiences and spells have been added. Dragon Age II is set in a city called Kirkwall located in the region 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, and a new dialogue wheel based on the dialogue system from the Mass Effect series has been added. In addition, races such as the elves, dwarves and kossith have been redesigned. Saved information can be imported from Origins as well as Awakening. This data will affect the background story of Dragon Age II.

Development

Development of Dragon Age II was announced in July 2010 and BioWare's Greg Zeschuk stated when interviewed by Joystiq 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, showing some of the new characters and places that Dragon Age II is based on.

Dragon Age II uses an enhanced graphic engine and the controls are more responsive. The combat system is same as the previous game for the PC version but different in console versions, tailored to the strengths of the control pad.

A special feature of Dragon Age II is that the "story" will span a decade. In-game events and dialogues would warrant a longer "run" of years. As the main character moves on year by year, the choices that the player made in the past will affect the present and the future.

The original "dialogue" system is 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).

During the pre-development of the game, Brent Knowles, a veteran lead designer who had been with Bioware for a decade and the central figurehead behind Dragon Age: Origins, decided to resign during the designing process of Dragon Age 2 and eventually left the company, stating “I’m not the same person I was when I started, and BioWare isn’t the same company.” He later went on to clarify his decision to leave, elaborating "I never thought Dragon Age 2 would be a terrible game. It was just that a highly cinematic, action-leaning RPG wasn’t what I wanted to work on. That is all." After playing the game's demo, he praised how polished and immersive it was, but mentioned that its combat had identity issues and did not seem to fit properly into either the action or RPG genre. In an overall assessment he felt that it was a strong title, especially considering the short development cycle, and called the demo "promising", though the amount of changes from the first title in the series seemed excessive to him, citing gameplay issues and the lack of ability to play as another race than human.

By February 11, 2011, the game had gone gold for all platforms and was set for release. On February 22, the demo was released across all platforms.

BioWare released Dragon Age II on March 8, 2011 in North America and March 11 in Europe. Two versions were 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.

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, 2012 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 (which occurred), and that a further and more powerful item would be unlocked if each post on the official Facebook account between February 28 and March 4 received 1 million impressions the day it was posted.

Downloadable content

Exiled Prince

When a vicious coup d'etat massacres and overthrows the royal family of Starkhaven, Prince Sebastian Vael is left as the kingdom's last true heir. Hawke will be able to undertake a series of quest to help Sebastian bring his family's murderers to justice and add him as a companion for the duration of the main game. While released at the game's launch, this DLC must still be purchased through Bioware.

The Black Emporium

Available at no cost to those who purchase Dragon Age II new, this DLC adds a bonus vendor that the player can visit and purchase exclusive items from. In addition, the DLC includes a Mabari War Hound to fight at Hawke's side and access to The Mirror of Transformation, which allows the player to re-customize Hawke's appearance.

Legacy

Released July 26, 2011, and playable from any point in the Dragon Age II campaign, Legacy lets Hawke undertake a quest which revolves around his/her family's legacy. It adds several new locations, including a prison constructed by the Grey Wardens, and adds a new class-specific weapon.

Mark of the Assassin

Released on October 11, 2011, Mark Of The Assassin adds a new party member to the game: Tallis, an Elven Assassin voiced and modeled after actress Felicia Day, and also the lead character of the Dragon Age: Redemption webseries. In the DLC's featured quest, Hawke must help Tallis infiltrate an Orlesian estate outside Kirkwall and steal a precious relic.

Sequel

BioWare's Creative Development Senior Director Alistair McNally confirmed that the studio was going forward with the third installment in the fantasy RPG series, Dragon Age III. BioWare posted job opportunities, calling for "exceptional environmental artists."

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	B+
G4	3/5
Game Informer	7.75/10 8.25/10 (X360/PS3)
GamePro
GameSpot	8.0/10
GameSpy
GameTrailers	9.2/10
IGN	8.5/10
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	9/10
PC Gamer (UK)	94%
PlayStation: The Official Magazine	9/10
VideoGamer.com	7/10
The Escapist

Dragon Age II has received generally positive reviews, holding a Metacritic score of 82/100 (PC version). However, critic reviews have been less positive than its predecessor, which holds a Metacritic score of 91/100 (PC version). David Radd from 'Industrygamers' noted that "Dragon Age II has had the most mixed critical reception for a full-retail BioWare product perhaps ever (assuming Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is not counted)."

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." Game Trailers gave the game high marks and stated, "Though it doesn't hold a candle to its predecessor when it comes to sheer breadth, Dragon Age II has quite a bit more soul" and that it had "some of the most gratifying RPG combat we've played in a long time."

Not all of the reviewers have praised the changes however. VideoGamer said the game "never progresses beyond the identity issues it had with Origins", criticized the lack of noticeable characters, small area of setting, while adding "simplification of combat doesn't work in the game's favour". Game Informer gave the PC version of the game a score of 7.75 and the console versions an 8.25, criticizing the poorly designed combat system, stating "On all platforms, Dragon Age II caters to an audience that didn’t connect with Origins, while alienating those who did" and "improving the polish doesn’t do much good when the basics still need work".

Eurogamer settled for saying the game is "never quite as great as it could be" but also conclude that it is still a "Satisfying epic", awarding it 8/10 while Gamespot noted that the game suffered from "unnecessary simplification and unfocused storytelling" but still left a strong impression. RPG Site awarded the game 80%, arguing that "the discussion about Dragon Age II doesn't need to be 'is it good?' - It is - but needs to be 'is this what fans wanted from a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins?'", suggesting that is where some of the fan animosity towards the title may arise from.

Dragon Age II's lead designer, Mike Laidlaw, in an interview with GameSpot, addressed the fans' concerns toward the changes in Dragon Age II by stating that BioWare will " continue to tune and capitalize on that 'fusion' between the Origins experience and Dragon Age II". Additionally, he also noted that a return to the RPG style of Dragon Age: Origins is unlikely, proclaiming "The big key is to not adjust 180 degrees again, because we've done this."

One million copies of Dragon Age II were sold within two weeks of the launch, faster than Dragon Age: Origins. Within two months of the launch, the game sold-in "over two million copies", meaning that over two million copies have been distributed to retailers. The sales rate of the game has been decreasing fast since its release, selling in later weeks less than what Origins sold in the same numbers of weeks after launch.

In June 2011, in an interview with GameRant.com titled "Fans ‘Were Not Pleased’ with ‘Dragon Age 2′ Says EA", EA Games Label President Frank Gibeau acknowledged the fans' disappointment over the direction Dragon Age 2 took, and proclaimed: "As we think about where we take the franchise next, we’re going to take that into consideration and really engage them”.

Controversies

In March 2011, reports began emerging from consumer-advocacy website Reclaim Your Game that Dragon Age II was being distributed with the controversial DRM software SecuROM, despite assertions from EA that it would not be. Producer Fernando Melo stated that although the game uses software made by the makers of SecuROM, it is a different program completely. "They have the same support site through which is the URL you're seeing." The software is a form of release-date checker, designed to prevent copies of the game from being played before the release date in that territory. The software runs from the disc, and does not install anything on the system. BioWare confirmed that there is no SecuROM DRM in the game and clarified that in the case of downloaded versions, the release date check program's executable deletes itself after having performed the check.

A BioWare employee was caught posing as a consumer on the review site Metacritic. The employee, Chris Hoban, who posted under the name of Avanost gave a score of 10/10 saying "Anything negative you'll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference." A representative for EA responded after much online controversy saying "Of course the people who make the game vote for their own game. That's how it works in the Oscars, that's how it works in the Grammys and why I'm betting that Barack Obama voted for himself in the last election", though it is unclear if Hoban acted on his own behest or on that of the company.

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External links

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