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Dragon Age II

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Dragon Age II
Developer(s)BioWare
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
SeriesDragon Age
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360[1]
Genre(s)Computer role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Dragon Age II is the upcoming sequel to the Dragon Age series and is set to be released on March 8, 2011 in North America and March 11, 2011[1] in Europe. Unlike Dragon Age: Origins, the main character's race cannot be changed; however, the character's appearance, gender and class 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.[1]

Plot

Dragon Age II centers around the main character named Hawke,[1] known to be a survivor of the Blight and the Champion of Kirkwall, who rises to power throughout the story. In the format of a framed story,[3] Hawke's tale spans over a decade throughout the game and the player writes the history that will change the world forever.[1]

Choices that the player made in Dragon Age: Origins can be imported and reflected in the world of Dragon Age II.[4] Choices from Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will also be imported, if the player decides to take this action.[5]

Characters

Some characters who can be found in Dragon Age II are:[6][7][8]

  1. Hawke: The main protagonist who rises from a poor refugee to the Champion of the Free Marches.
  2. Bethany: Hawke's sister and a mage.
  3. Carver: Hawke's brother and a warrior.
  4. Cassandra: A Chantry Seeker who is interested in Hawke, by capturing Varric she hopes to learn the "Truth" of Hawke.
  5. Varric: A dwarf rogue who acts as a narrator and a friend to Hawke, who is arrested by Cassandra and forced to tell her the story about Hawke.
  6. Flemeth: The notorious Witch of the Wilds who can be found in Dragon Age: Origins. She is the mother of Morrigan, who is a mage and party member to the Grey Warden protagonist in "Dragon Age: Origins".
  7. Wesley: A wounded Templar that Hawke encounters while fleeing Lothering.
  8. Aveline: Wesley's wife and a warrior.
  9. Isabela: The captain of a pirate ship. She played a small part in Dragon Age: Origins in The Pearl in Denerim. a Possible Romance character to Hawke.
  10. Merill: An apprentice Keeper of the Dalish, who appeared in the Dalish Elf origin in Dragon Age: Origins.
  11. Fenris: An elf who lost his memory to lyrium being infused into his flesh, also giving him power. He escaped from a Tevinter magister whom he was slave to. His former master refuses to leave him alone.
  12. Sebastian: A character only available through "The Exiled Prince" downloadable content, who is an archer of noble birth. He was sworn to priesthood as a child. Sebastian is forced to re-enter the viper's nest of princely politics when his family is brutally murdered, leaving him as the sole surviving heir determined to exact revenge. [9]
  13. Bartrand: A minor character who sends Hawke and his companions on an expedition to the Deep Roads. He is also Varric's brother.
  14. Orsino: A mysterious elven mage.
  15. Meredith: The Knight-Commander of the Templars of Kirkwall, she initially prevents Hawke and his companions to access the city.
  16. Bodahn Feddic and Sandal: The dwarven merchant and his son, an enchanter, from Dragon Age: Origins.
System requirements
Minimum Recommended
Windows[10]
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 greaterIntel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent, AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent
Memory 1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)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 cardsATI 3850 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - ATI 5850 or greater), NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - NVidia 460 or greater)
Sound hardware Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows

Features

Dragon Age II has a non-linear framed narrative story, mainly based on the protagonist's choices.[1] [2] Romance is reportedly possible with party members or with non-player characters throughout the game.[1] New combat experiences and spells have been added.[1] Dragon Age II is set in a new area known as Free Marches, which is referenced in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening but not shown.[1] Unlike Origins, Dragon Age II features a fully voiced main character[1] and this is part of the reason why the main character's race is fixed. A new city called Kirkwall [1] and a new dialogue wheel based on the dialogue system from the Mass Effect series have been added.[11] In addition, races such as the elves, dwarves and qunari are being redesigned.[2] The game takes place across a decade,[2] and saved information can be imported from Origins as well as Awakening. This data will affect the background story of Dragon Age II.[2]

Development

Dragon Age II was announced in July 2010[12] 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."

File:Kicking-ass-in-dragon-age-2-20100817080847944 640w.jpg
A screenshot of combat with an ogre in Dragon Age II
File:Thedasmap wallpaper 1600x1200.jpg
The Dragon Age II Map - Free Marches[1]

A trailer for Dragon Age II was released on August 17, 2010,[1] 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.[11]

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 affect the present and the future.[13]

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).[11]

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, which are the normal edition, and the "Signature Edition", which includes 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 avaliable for pre-order up until the January 11, 2011, which was priced as the same as the normal edition.

References

[14]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Dragon Age 2, Game Info, Questions". BioWare. EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "IGN". IGN. IGN. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  3. ^ GamePro, Issue #286, January 2011. pg. 38-40
  4. ^ Kotaku: "Dragon Age 2 Following In Mass Effect’s Footsteps"
  5. ^ BioWare Forums
  6. ^ "dragon_age_2". Gamestar. gamestar. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  7. ^ http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/world/characters/isabela/
  8. ^ http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/world/characters/fenris/
  9. ^ http://dragonage.bioware.com/da2/addon/%7C
  10. ^ "Dragon Age 2 System Requirements". Game-Debate. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  11. ^ a b c "dragon-age-2-following-in-mass-effects-footsteps". Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  12. ^ "Peek behind the scenes of Dragon Age II's development with a keen developer diary". BioWare. EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  13. ^ "hands-on-with-dragon-age-2". G4tv. g4tv. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  14. ^ "Unlock Dead Space armor in Dragon Age 2". Retrieved 2011-21-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Dragon Age 2 - Day One DLC Trailer

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