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Dragon Age: Origins Awakening | 
| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $26.99
as of 7/30/2010 13:05 EDT details
You Save: $13.00 (33%)
New (27) Used (10) from $25.99
Seller: Best Game Deals
Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 614
Format: CD
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: PlayStation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 5.3 x 0.6
Legal Disclaimer: We do not in any way represent that any part we sell is legal to possess in your jurisdiction. Check with you local authorities to ensure it is legal for you to possess before buying!
MPN: 19420
Model: 19420
UPC: 014633194203
EAN: 0014633194203
ASIN: B0032LTVX6
Publication Date: February 28, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party ? Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from Oralais. | | • | Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style ? Shape your entire experience based on the choices you make and how your handle complex situations. | | • | Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins. | | • | BioWare?s deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine ? Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations ? Rebuild the Grey Warden order. | | • | Battle against a new range of horrific and terrifying creatures ? Put your skills to the test against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem, Spectral Dragon and others. |
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Product Description
Dragon Age Awakenings PS3
Amazon.com Product Description
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening for PlayStation 3 is the first expansion to the award-winning single player RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Developed by role-playing game (RPG) specialists, BioWare, Awakenings is a standalone expansion, meaning that ownership of the original game is not necessary, although players of the original game are afforded the choice of utilizing their character from the original game or starting with a fresh character. Additional features include an expanded storyline, new creatures, locations and more. 
Powerful new new characters to utilize.
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New creatures of the dark.
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And creatures of the light.
View larger. | Story
For centuries, the Grey Wardens — the ancient order of guardians sworn to unite and defend the lands — have battled the darkspawn forces. Legend says that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but for all the Grey Wardens' vigilance, somehow the creatures remain. But there is a new spark of hope. You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain. How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with "The Architect", and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine. Gameplay
As with the original Dragon Age: Origins game, the Awakening expansion is a single player RPG in which the path of a player's created hero is determined through a combination of ongoing actions throughout the game and the character's particular backstory, known as an Origin Story. Origin Stories relate primarily to the combination of the chosen race of the character and that individual's socioeconomic status. For example, a player who favors a Dwarfish character may have a variety of options, including the choice of being a commoner or a noble. As the character progresses through the game he will interact with any number of non-player characters (NPCs) who may have a particular opinion of Dwarves which may or may not be altered by the fact that the character is of noble or commoner status. These built-in impressions, blended in real-time with the character's interactions and choices alter the hero's personal path and eventually the outcome of the events of the game. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is a standalone expansion, meaning that ownership of the original Dragon Age: Origins game is not necessary for play. That said, players of the previous game are afforded the added benefit of importing their character from the original game to continue that adventure, or beginning anew with a new character and Origin Story. Key Game Features - A Stunning World Expanded - BioWare’s deepest universe to date just got bigger with an all new area of the world to explore, Amaranthine.
- Unlock the secrets of the Darkspawn and their true motivations.
- Rebuild the Grey Warden order and establish their base of operations at Vigil’s Keep.
- All-new Complex Moral Choices - Embark on an epic story that is completely defined and reactive to your play style, allowing players to create an entire experience based on both overall choices made and how complex situations are handled.
- The Varying Influence of "Origin Story" - Begin your character's adventure with a specific socioeconomic Origin Story that will affect attitudes and exchanges with NPCs, creating the possibility of a wide variety of game endings and thus add to the game's replay value.
- New Ways to Customize Your Hero - Experience additional spells, abilities, specializations, and items to further personalize and customize your hero and party.
- Import your character from Dragon Age: Origins or start anew as a Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.
- Encounter five all-new party members and an old favorite from Dragon Age: Origins.
- Even more Bone-crushing, Visceral Combat - Test your skills against an evolved, intelligent breed of Darkspawn and other menacing creatures including the Inferno Golem, 'Queen of the Blackmarsh' - deadly Spectral Dragon and The Children, a hideous and huge arachnid like scourge.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
 So many great RPGs, so little time... June 8, 2010
A. Dent (Minas Anor, GD)
But Awakening deserves its time allocation if you are into RPGs and if you enjoyed the first 'Origins'. This one sneaked into our gaming universe while I was looking the other way - playing Demon's Souls, actually :). It was the first thing my big son asked for after earning a number of academic awards from his school so... PSN's quick downloads offered instant gratification. It's he who is the bigger Dragon Age fan but I played the sequel myself for a dozen hours or so already so these are my observations, enhanced by his better informed views.
Dragon Age Origins: Awakening continues where the first game left off. Having played the previous chapter, I'm not sure how this would appeal to someone who'd begin their quest here but I suspect that would not be as good an experience. There is an option to transfer your previous character depending on the ending you unlocked on the first game or you can make a totally new character in the beginning of the game.
In the story, you are a commander of the Grey Wardens and you literally own (true) the new land you are traveling. This gives you more power and more discretion than you had in the previous game. There is also a new set of characters you can invite into your team like Justice, a Fade spirit, and Anders, a rogue mage who escaped from the controlling mage tower.
Occasionally, you'll bump into a few of the original characters and people whose lives you affected in the other game. New features in the game include new materials, like dragon wing, which is more powerful than the old materials ones like red steel. There are also new monsters, new classes and new ablates for the old ones. For extra abilities, you can now craft runes and enchant armor.
The game is enjoyable, quite addicting, and lives up to the excitement and humor of its predecessor. I found the sequel quite enjoyable myself and, according to my son, there wasn't anything he didn't like about it except for the loading time. We both hope for more.
Great but it could be better May 29, 2010
J. W. Mullins (The Stupid Middle East....Again)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved Dragon Age Origin and looked forward to this expansion, though I waited some time to actually buy it. What I found is a great expansion, but one not as polished or with the wonderful character development of the first. Also considering the price for what is about 15 hours or so of extra game play it seemed kind of expensive to me. That said I very much enjoyed it.
You have to have Dragon Age Origin to play this game, so it is an expansion, not a stand alone game. So the gameplay is of course very similar. Origin was fantastic when it came to gameplay already and Awakening is slightly polished in some areas. Combat seemed better scaled and much more enjoyable this time around. The managed to strike a decent balance of keeping it challenging while letting you use a character that starts out very powerful. You have the ability to port your character from the first game or start a new one (A very good thing Bioware did was include a book in game that allows you to totally relevel your character and/or NPCs of your party). There are several small parts from the first game that play into some dialogue in Awakening, but it does not have nearly the impact I wished it had. If you have played through any of the DLC for Origins you are also opening a can of worms when it comes to glitches in Awakening with an important character. I had no issues with anything 'game breaking' but there was some annoying glitches at time, more so with certain quests and equipment.
The story is very good, almost better than the first, though not as epic feeling. But the characters are not nearly developed as Origins and I felt very little attachment to any of them. That is a big deal considering how important NPC development, romance and the like was in Origins.
The new equipment, enemies, spells and abilities are all very good and very fun. That said I didn't feel like I had to have or use any of them. I think I could have played through the entire expansion with just original equipment from Origins and not had too much trouble.
If you loved Origins and have been putting off picking this up I'd recommend it. If you played through it and thought it was okay, you'd be paying almost the price of a new game for as expansions that could be called 'just more of the same'. Since I enjoyed Origins so much I am quite happy with just more of the same. I am also glad to see support for the game after it has been released and while there are still a number of glitches Bioware has released several patches which has helped clean it up slightly.
 Missed Opportunity May 17, 2010
Live2learn (Stockton, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Like many who thoroughly enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins, I was very excited when I heard that Bioware was releasing an expansion pack, and pre-ordered it along with a strategy guide. I think many would agree with me when I say that Bioware needed to give this one more time in development. In terms of glitches, I almost wasn't able to get the game to play at all--took FOREVER to load; I had to restart my system a few times. Also, there were instances when my character's arms froze in a "hands up" position and remained that way unless I reloaded the game. Other times, everything would freeze, and again, the only solution was reloading. As for importing DLC, I had none to bring in, so I can't comment on that.
The gameplay was okay, but it felt too linear, and the emphasis was more on hack-and-slash rather than outwitting your opponents. The side quests were trivial and rarely did much to help your cause. The new specializations, abilities and items were nice, but did not make up for the disappointing storyline and characters.
One of the things which Bioware's Mass Effect was known for was the carry-over of your actions into its expansion pack. I hardly saw any of that in Awakening. Aside from the major decisions made in Origins (i.e., who was left to rule Ferelden, whether you saved the Circle Tower), many of your actions in Origins are entirely ignored. Even if you are royalty, the fact is treated an an afterthought. I imported a human noble female who had become Alistair's queen in Origins, and was referred to as "Warden Commander" for the duration of the game and given no special treatment. At a minimum, you would think a royal character would at least have a few top-notch weapons and some extra security forces. Apparently, the "dark ritual" ending with Morrigan seems to be cannon based upon the fact that you have the option of importing a deceased character. Even if it is not, if you did opt for it, what became of Morrigan is not revealed (no mention of her is made during the game). In the origin story of my imported character, Anora was deposed and imprisoned in the tower, but what happened to her afterward is not mentioned in Awakening, either (frankly, she could have made a better antagonist than the actual ones, but I digress). There is no romance in Awakening (unless you count a good-bye kiss from Alistair at the beginning of the game if you imported a character that married him), whether you begin a new origin story or import a character from Origins. So the pleasure of fighting alongside your love (or finding a new one) is absent. The Joining ritual has been trivialized this time around; even though one minor character dies, its gravity has been diminished by virtue of the fact that so many can survive it during the game without incident. The game is brief and the story itself slow: it doesn't take long to complete the game itself, and just when the pace of events begins to pick up, you find yourself on a direct path to the final battle.
I found the new characters to be, for the most part disappointing. My companion characters from Origins had their own unique personalities, depth, individual hopes and dreams, and I found myself sympathizing with and willing to do anything for them (well, not Oghren). The Origins characters gave the player a real sense of camaraderie. When asked to describe those from Awakening, words such as "bland", "generic", "filler" and "pedestrian" are all applicable. Anders occasionally has his moments and Nathaniel Howe provides at least some connection to Origins, particularly if you imported a human noble character. Sadly, the only companion who returns from Origins to join your party is Oghren. This time around, he's even more of a detestable drunken reprobate than before. Of all the original characters to bring back, Bioware had to give us the worst one! I HATED OGHREN!!! Most everyone I know who played Origins hated him as well. And from what I understand, even the people at Bioware who created him aren't too fond of him either. Bioware, please keep this in mind for next time! A better option would have been to include a feature that would have allowed the player to select one of their old companions to import along with their character, or to have allowed your love interest to come with an imported character.
Unlike in Origins where you could have conversations with your companions almost any time, the conversations with your companions in Awakening occur almost exclusively in Vigil's Keep. The exception is when they are triggered by "random" objects, which are easy to miss. Remember how in Origins you could win over your companions through dialogue just as much (if not more so in some cases) as with gifts? It seems that for the most part in Awakening, getting on the good side of your companions stems more from gift giving rather than on building a rapport with them, making it feel more like you're buying them off. The personal quests are nowhere near as meaningful as they were in Origins, either. Instead of helping one of your friends restore their honor, or saving them from certain death, or find closure, about half of those in Awakening involve simply raising your companion's approval high enough that they open up to you or running some errand. During the latter stages of the game, you are forced to decide who to leave at Vigil's Keep while you and three others go to save the besieged city of Amaranthine. If you choose to save Amaranthine, those you left behind will be killed in a siege. My point in mentioning this is that when the time came, what should have been a decision that tugged at your heartstrings was not a big deal--the connection with this group just wasn't there.
The ending was also a major let-down. One of the main antagonists, "The Architect" claims to be able to stop the Blights in the future if you side with him, destroy "The Mother", and allow him to continue his research. It just comes off as not being believable. Regardless of your choice, after you defeat the final boss, your "ending" consists of the main character stabbing The Mother through the skull with their sword. The group turns around and simply walks away, and you get about a dozen or so paragraphs detailing what happens to the characters in the aftermath. Even though it says that your character's story is not over, it's still a downer.
Overall, I would give this game a two and a half out of five stars (personally, I think the game magazines and web sites have been too generous with it). Would I recommend it? I honestly can't say. It depends on how big a Dragon Age fan you are and what kind of story you've written for yourself in Origins. Again, the story could have been much better (and longer); I found myself wishing I had my old companions with me, and to be honest, the whole thing felt kind of soulless. The new abilities and action was OK, but it takes more than that to make a game great. As an expansion for Origins, this could have been a lot more than what it is Bioware had invested the time that it should have. An opportunity truly missed. Don't get me wrong--with Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware created one of the best games I've ever played, an almost impossible act to follow, and I appreciate what Bioware tried to do with Awakening. I understand that Bioware has something in the works for February 2011. Hopefully, Bioware will learn from this and give whatever they are working on the time it needs to be a worthy addition to the Dragon Age series, even if it means delaying the release.
The title in the description should be more clear May 13, 2010
Horror movie holic (St. Louis, MO)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this as a gift thinking I was buying the game. I did not realize it was just the expansion pack. I think the title of the description should be more clear about that fact. If you aren't looking closely at the photo and/or purchasing for someone else without knowing much about it and relying on the title/description to know what you're buying, know that this isn't the full game. I'm rather annoyed and aggravated and think it's misleading to anyone not a computer wiz who is buying for someone else.
Lots of bugs May 11, 2010
Deborah A. Houston (Portland, OR United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Wanted to like this game since I love Origins. For the price (same as Origins) I expected more game than what is here and more story. They should have beta tested this game (if they didn't) and worked out the bugs and get some user feedback. There were a few times that when traveling to another part of the map that you would have a run in, but there was any scenery, which is a bizarre experience. Anyway, I didn't think it was worth the money and won't play it again.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
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