Dragon Age II Xbox 360
User Score
4.4 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2156 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 767 out of 2156
  2. Mixed: 206 out of 2156
  3. Negative: 1,183 out of 2156

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  1. wastelander75
    Mar 30, 2011
    4
    Without a doubt, a middling, muddling attempt to cater to the hack and slash / Mass Effect fans while TRYING to lightly cater to the fans that made Dragon Age Origins a hit. In the end it succeeds at doing neither. From reusing maps that are surprisingly similar in design from random quest #33 to random quest #85 (which was surprisingly similar in design to the map used in random quest #10), to the tactic-less approach to combat. Companions who were, for the most part, never really a "stand out" kind of lot. No Urdnot Wrex, no Tali vas, no HK-47. They're OK, but they are no Wrex. I also felt no real sense of purpose, no feeling that what I was doing was shaping or changing the future of Kirkwall, other than having Hawke move from rags to riches. Every event I played, seemed lifeless and self contained in their Acts, with no real significance or impact on the overall. My only one true praise is that it at least looks better than the drab lifeless world experienced in the first (and still superior) game.… Expand
  2. TrueGamer2011
    Apr 7, 2011
    0
    Utterly disappointing. I was intending to write a long thought out review explaining in detail my dislike of this game. But why should I bother? Bioware obviously couldn't be bothered to spend time creating a faithful sequel, so likewise I won't bother spending time writing a thorough review. I have totally lost faith in Bioware.
  3. dj1917
    Apr 9, 2011
    2
    As soon as the corporate behemoth that is EA swallowed up Bioware, this was the inevitable result- trying to get an RPG, a game genre that will always appeal to a specific rather than general audience, and make it appeal to the masses of Gears of War and Halo fans. In the process they rushed development, leaving in several game-breaking bugs, and decided to re-use all the environments in the game (of which there are no more than what, eight?) so the player spends most of his time either in the same very few city locations (day or night versions), or in caves or mansions which all look identical but in which different random doors will be impassably locked (even to my lockpicking expert rogue) and unbreakable, and different passages which have been seemingly concreted up. What is in Act 1 of the game the entrance to a warehouse is magically transformed 3 years later to be the entrance to an alleyway, despite being clearly the door to a building. To compund this, areas are far too small. For instance, apparently the Elven Alienage area of Lowtown is where all the thousands of elves in the city live, despite consisting of about 12 houses and a big tree. There's no sign of any effort whatsoever to even give the impression of a larger city beyond, as in Mass Effect and other games. Areas outside of the city are made up of strange winding path-based areas with no open areas whatsoever, and various versions of the one-size-fits all dungeon/cave/underground base area. Undetailed, unrealistic environments like this have only previously been acceptable in RPGs because gamers knew that the price you paid for having loads of different places to explore was that they would inevitably have to be a bit scaled-down and simplified. When there are so few different areas in the game, it's inexcusable. Combat is a major problem too: even IF my character wasn't now moving at half-speed due to a bug. Acts 1 and 2 are absurdly easy, and almost every fight can be won in seconds by basically bashing A. In Act 3, suddenly the difficulty level shoots through the roof, which is not helped by the unbalanced economy of the game- i've been everywhere, done everything, looted all the corpses and opened every chest, yet there are items on sale in shops that cost four times the gold my character has got his hands on in the entire game. Basic healing potions etc. are far too expensive. How my character affords to maintain his 'estate' (which has about four rooms and one double bed, despite at least six people living there) is beyond me.
    And then there's the story-telling. It shows how terrible it has generally been in games if people think this is good. One example (trying to be spoiler-free for anyone fool enough to actually buy this game): a companion ends up in a situation where they have to do something that would haunt most of us for the rest of our lives, although they have no choice. They have destroyed all that mattered to them. But seconds later, that character will, it seems, have forgotten all about it and be back to making mildly humourous remarks.
    To sum up: it's broken, it's boring, and Bioware games should in future be approached with caution.    … Expand
  4. Necrotaur
    Jul 18, 2011
    2
    I was extremely, extremely disappointed in this game. I found DA to be fairly mediocre, but this is a definite step backwards in everything except perhaps graphics. DA2 is one of the few Bioware games I have not had an urge to go back and play through again as the opposite alignment. For one, I found the companions to be either bland or distasteful except for Varric, and the factions also annoyed me... especially the 'climax' at the end. It made me realize that my choices throughout the game played no part. I understand the concept of 'grey morality' but in DA2 it's closer to black vs. black. They could have replaced the mages vs. templars plotline with demons vs. Nazis and it would have had no major effect. I mean, the Tranquil Solution? Really? I wanted to side with neither one of them and just return to Ferelden, but sadly I wasn't given that option.… Expand
  5. Dracowyr
    Mar 14, 2011
    3
    A company that once saved the RPG genre, is now destroying it. Poor production value, and dumbed-down gameplay aims this game at a more 'casual' console market. I was a fan of Bioware for over 13 years - they were one of the few companies that I would buy a game from without having tried it out first. They were shining examples in the game industry. No longer.

    A terrible disappointment, I     feel this game would have been better received as a DLC rather than a full game.

    Is this EA's hand at work?    … Expand
  6. Apz
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    Dragon Age 2 was incredibly short, and felt unrefined and rushed at many points in the game. Instead of boring you with a long spiel that'd likely repeat some of the strong opinions already voiced here, you should observe Bioware/EA's response. They're kicking and screaming like a bunch of **** Threatening their player base because they made a terrible game. Their reaction is so strong because even they know their game is so ****… Expand
  7. ErraticUnicorn
    Apr 19, 2011
    4
    Here lies a perversion of the original Dragon Age. Shedding anything that made it special, leaving it devoid of a soul and presenting the bare-bones minimum for this game to be functional. Repetitiveness lazy level, enemy, and quest design all make for a mediocre game.
  8. bookamp
    Mar 10, 2011
    7
    Possibly the worst decision bioware could make after making DA:O which is much superior to this button mashing pseudo arpg. I want my money back. Why is bioware try to ripoff people by developing a sequel that is a sequel in name. This has nothing to do with DA:O except the setting and even that has been bastardized to the point of being unrecognizable.
  9. Cobrawar
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Lolz on you, if you buy this game. First off if you want the full content on release its going to cost you over 70 dollars. Story takes place mostly in one area, kirkwall. reuse of many areas in the game. graphics aren't that much better then DAO. Combat consist of nothing but spamming abilities. enemies spawn on top of you. Many bugs. This is not a Bioware quality product we all know and love. This is a rushed ,greed game used to maximize profits for EA.… Expand
  10. butter
    Mar 9, 2011
    10
    This is a fantastic piece of work. There are a lot of haters being haters for that reason and no other. I'm sure if they actually gave the game a solid effort, they would realize how foolish they sound. It's not the same as DA0 for sure, and a person needs to go in realizing that, but being open to what the game is presenting. I love it. I highly recommend it.
  11. zwaps
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    1. Rogue Archer is useless. The NPC dude is much better and it's almost impossible to run from mobs with two rogues and one mage. I had to cheese every single engagement. I hope you get a warrior if you keep playing because ****
    The worst thing: The difficulty on insane is not from tactical depth. All you need is luck and button-mashing (and running around in circles, if your party sucks).     At least I can spec the Dwarf to be melee if I want my character to be ranged. Oh wait I can't. That's right, **** your RPG-ism. You play like we want. 2. The gameplay has nothing to do with tactical RPG. Your only real option is when to press the ability buttons. Tactical placement of characters, stealth, backstab etc. doesn't mean **** All you need to do is press the button since _everything_ is an ability now. I don't even see what I could be doing differently. There are a few battles where you can chokepoint enemies in doorframes, otherwise there is little to do tactically. It feels like half of the elements of BG2 combat are missing. In BG2 I usually ended up planning hard engagements, leading different enemies into traps I set earlier, buying specific items and buffs just for that engagement. DA2 is so far away from that complexity. DA:O wasn't perfect, but it was at least a bit closer. Rogue used to be about using a few things like stealing, positioning and stealth. Now it's just like beeing a mage - a Rogue mage. Also, I hate the amount of enemies. The screen is littered with em and any amount of tacticality that remained is pretty much an efford in futility. Most mobs should have been about the size of your party, but with interesting foes. I don't even particulary analyze what enemies I am fighting, I am doing the same charade over and over again. Miles and miles away from previous RPGs. 3. You never get to plan ahead anyway, since ALL enemies just drop on you literally. This is the worst thing ever and I can't grasp how they thought this would be a good idea. It's almost like Mass Effect 2 now. "Oh look an empty room. Welp, ambush. How surprising" Preparation doesn't get you any further. I also haven't used any potions or buffs yet previous to engagements. Maybe it was too early in the game for that though. 4. Camera angle.. whatever. Isometric view wouldn't have salvaged the gameplay. 5. Everything feels so restricting. You have almost no choice in what your character does and how he looks etc. Inventory has become more or less obsolete. It doesn't even feel like an RPG in that sense. For some reason the character creation process and the initial RPG immersiveness has - for me- never felt so disappointing in any PC RPG. It feels like a movie. Everytime. Cutscene. Go somewhere, enemies appear out of thin air, second wave, cutscene. Repeat. Every.. single .. time. Immersion level is very low. If you care about those things. 6. Graphics are fine, voice acting is nice etc. 7. Art style is ****ed. The ****ing Dalish elves look like cartoon characters. This has bothered me the most. It's like an anime. I expect this will be even worse later on. Not that the gameworld is completely unattractive. It just feels like EVERY SINGLE THING they changed is worse than in DA:O. I HAVE to use that dwarf with the cyberpunk Machine gun in an high fantasy RPG? Yeah thanks, totally works for me. **** you. 8. You can interact even less with the gameworld. In the spirit of dumbing it down this is not too surprising. But there is so little loot, so little to pick up or see or get. You just don't get the feeling the enemies are actually carrying weapons or whatever. It feels like you get a generic reward, instead of actually "going through their stuff for useful ****". Feels wrong. 9. The interface is **** I don't even know why, but it annoys me hugely. Probably because back in the day the interface symbolized a backback or inventory or a spellbook or whatever. Now it's literally a list of computer buttons. Just like the loot is not actual loot, but a computer-given reward. Also feels wrong. With a decent story I could see myself buying this for 10â… Expand
  12. ferghshe
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    Remember when games were fun? Remember a time before bioware and activision. Yea those were fun times.. when people didn't think of the gaming industry as a way to get rich quick.
  13. bobloadmire
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    awful game, and EA/Bioware bans (banned from actually using the game) users for talking bad about the game on their forums. Do not buy from this company.
  14. feanor81
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    I was a huge fan of the bioware products in the 90s up until DA1, but this one really sucks
    Just an arcarde game with more cinematic than play
    No isometric ? Not an rpg, sorry EA, you really screwed up this one
  15. binarybetrayer
    Mar 10, 2011
    2
    A mayor setback from the first title in every aspect of the game. maybe with more time to get the game properly made instead of rushing it and selling a halfmade thing it would really live up to the scores the rabid fanbase is spamming everywhere to hide the fact that this is actually a bad game.
  16. pantherfan4389
    Mar 10, 2011
    9
    Play the game before you come to the internet to complain about it people. I played both Origins and I just beat this game and I love it just as much. Give the changes a chance before you condemn them for being "dumbed down." Seriously, the changed help the story and the flow of the game. I can't believe the stupidity of some of the people on here for attacking the game as soon as the play it for not being a carbon copy of the original.… Expand
  17. azadi
    Mar 10, 2011
    0
    I been coming to this site for many years now and I never had a need to join the website or give my opinion on a game until now. This game made me lose all my respect for Bioware and I will not buy nor play another one of their games in the future. Which is very meaningful since I brought every single game they created. This game is nothing but a boring button mashing action game. Taking place in the same reused dungeon over and over. This is very similar to Modern warfare 2 and is a insult to those who helped support this company for so many years. Let alone the insult from all the greedy downloadable content on day one. Good bye Bioware.… Expand
  18. FinalRodz
    Mar 11, 2011
    1
    Bioware DA 2 is a turd. As a fan of your games and the worlds you create, I want to know. Why are you trying to turn the Dragon Age series into a Broski game? Please stick to your strengths in game design of strong RPG elements, story, and world design. YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT MAKING ACTION GAMES, KNOW YOUR LANE. I didn't even want to waste time giving a review but I was reading the reviews and the same theme kept popping up in most review scores of 9 and 10. The reviewers are giving 10s because they saw negative reviews posted and had to give a high score based on feeling bad for Bioware, even though they didn't believe it deserved a 10. Hmmm. Sounds to me like Bioware is sending in trolls or developers to inflate the user score back up.. CLASSY! Truth be told this game is marketed as a RPG and is a 2 out of 10 at that, and plays like a bad God of War/Dynasty Warriors and is a 0 out of 10 at that. Smash the scores together you get a 1 out of 10. Even though my head hurts from this game I am still WINNING… Expand
  19. PeaceWalker
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    DON'T BUY THIS! It's one of the bad RPGs I've played in recent years. Bad story, bad characters, bad setting, inferior music (the composer himself admitted it was a "rush job"). Even years old RPG games from a PSP can beat this. DUMB, CHEESY GAME.
  20. Kristine
    Mar 11, 2011
    9
    This game is beautiful. I love the wit in the writing, the cut scenes are gorgeous and the music is so haunting. I don't understand the bad reviews! Why would people want to play the exact same game again? They evolved the combat and if people actually played the game on a decent level of difficulty, they would see that there is still a great level of strategy involved. I think the developers at BioWare had fun creating this game because it shows in the quality of the work. Thanks so much BioWare! Ignore the zeros and they make no sense and the people providing them probably didn't even unwrap their copy before posting.… Expand
  21. Yvesdante
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    It is indeed a good action game, but it should not have by any means the words "Dragon Age" in its name unless it had been advertised as a spin-off; it is just like if Halo Wars, instead of a spin-off, had been Halo: Reach. A sad day for wrpgs.
  22. raviadso
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    this game doesnt work as an RPG, a strategy RPG, or even an action RPG. RPG-The story is too short, ininspired and blah to capture anyone's attention and has none of the epicness of a passable RPG.
    SRPG- The skills/classes are far too unbalanced and the games core mechanics are not designed to be terribly strategic. It just doesnt work
    ARPG- the action is fluid and fun but the totally dumb    ed down equipment management (which borders on retarded), the total lack of variety of enemies and the repetition of only 10 small (SMALL!) zones make this game not even work as a dungeon crawler.… Expand
  23. UhMing
    Mar 11, 2011
    2
    Total disappointment. Combat system is probably more fun then it was in DAO. Yet still, story is completely nonexistent, 25 hours into the game, and I still do not know what am I doing in it, what for. It just is a set of unrelated quests instead of good story. AI companions are worthless, I must always spend time on controling my mates, because they can't do a thing on their own in any ecounter, beside easiest ones.
    Button mashing, single player MMO simulator.

    I must add how bad are those tunnel levels, almost like Final Fantasy 14, just a tiny bit better. Even worse is the fact that most side story quests are done in same "tunels", just with different doors closed.    … Expand
  24. Gixxer420
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    The combat in Dragon Age 2 was actually a lot more fun than the original. But the gameplay, story, atmosphere, music, and just about everything else made this game a steamy pile of **** compared to the original. You stay in one area for the ENTIRE game and environments are recycled 5-10 times, holy **** The characters are decent, but it's hard to get attached to them like you could in Origins. Now as a modern game it was mediocre, but for a Dragon Age successor it was a huge disappointment... I think I beat the game 100% in a little over 9 1/2 hours, Dragon Age: Origins took me over 60 hours to fully complete it, huge step backwards. The story was a mess, serious **** mess, I won't spoil it for anyone but no connections are made and it's a huge cluster **** of nothing. The game has polish, but it doesn't have that epic feel like Origins did. Oh well, maybe Dragon Age 3 will be a little different.… Expand
  25. Eddyward
    Mar 11, 2011
    1
    I have always been a fan of Bioware, and always backed it when people would their RPGs boring. I grew up with NWN and absolutely loved KotOR. I enjoyed Mass Effect and the sequel was also pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed Dragon Age Origins, and Bioware shone in DA's characterisation and storyline. Dragon Age 2 pales in comparison to its predecessor. (Just for the record, this is not a troll post. I've seen that many bioware employees have been accusing people of intentionally rating down DA2.)

    There are a couple of improvements, I suppose. The combat's generally a bit higher paced, and I always found DA's combat a little slow. Party members also seem to have a bit more character (in DA, Alistair and Morrigan had some character, while everyone else just seemed to have one theme which they stuck to as stereotypically as possible). The use of less party members means that you don't have people who say they want to help the Warden, but instead sit around in a camp all day everyday. It's also nice to know what effect you speech options will have.

    Now to the bad points. The textures on the characters is about the same as on DA, while the textures on everything else is somehow worse than on DAO. I get that texture quality may stagnate between games, but how can it be regressive? The voice acting is much worse and default Hawke's face looked silly. A big thing in RPGs these days is the choices you make. The only choices you get to make in DA2 are who you have sex with and whether the templars do or don't like you. You can't even choose your race. Another annoying thing that DAO didn't have (well there wasn't too much of it) was sidequests that are fetch this, collect that. I would've though the champion has better things to do. There's no continuity between what you did in DAO and what happens in DA2. I freed the mages. They don't need to rebel. And Anders was the only cool character in Awakening, and they ruined him. DAO left on a lot of cliffhangers, and DA2 didn't even mention them. I understand that Bioware is trying to set up a fantasy world of their own, but DA2 added nothing to this.

    I'm overlooking EA's and Bioware's treatment of its customers when reviewing DA2.

    I've been constantly holding out for a NWN or BG clone, and Bioware's the only company that's gonna make that, but they refuse to go back to their roots, and instead stick with action RPGs where the only thing players ever discuss is who they slept with. I can't really see The Old Republic doing well and if ME3 doesn't do well, I imagine it'll be end of line for Bioware.    … Expand
  26. sgtStones
    Mar 12, 2011
    7
    Expectations are a b*tch. They have to be filtered out when trying to give some sort of a review...well at least to a point. A sentiment, not many users ( on metacritic anyway ) seem to share. I finished DA:O 6 times ( 4x on hard and twice on nightmare )... needless to say I love that game and I'm already thinking about the approach I'll take in the next playthrough.

    But now DA2 was relea    sed and yes...the first 2hours of playing this long-awaited game, really disappointed me. I think that's when some people alt-tabbed to their browser, went on this site and had to let off some steam. The strange thing is, although things don't really get better as the game goes on, I still had fun with the game ( and I'm still having fun with it now ). But the moment my destined-to-be spirit healer pulls off moves like "the last airbender" I new that this won't live up to my expectations. Here are my cons: - Menu/Icon-Design really doesnt hold a candle to the beautiful art we saw in Dragon Age:origins....it looks like its been designed for a tron-movie-tie-in game
    - although Combat now looks much fancier, it's also much quicker, hence too chaotic at times and with top view removed it can be hard to keep track of everything thats happening
    - Enemies spawn into the battlefield, so you cant really tell how long a fight will go
    - Looting has lost a lot of its charm and restrictions concerning the equipment of your party members really takes away from the fun
    - the crafting system doesn't deserve the name
    - the skill trees and the associated restrictions are not to my taste - the gift mechanic has been changed dramatically, to the point of no recognition
    - it would also have been nice to see what the scale is on the friendship/rivalry bar, so that I know wtf 10 points in either direct are worth ( but I'm nitpicking, and I shall be the cop who stops it...erm me )
    - and yes: Carver is a douche ;)

    pros:
    - everything that reminds me of DA:O


    I was also a fan of Mass Effect. And in the beginning, I was disappointed in ME2 aswell. Mainly due to the ( severe ) dumbing down of the skill-system ( which wasnt the most complex to begin with ). But ME2 provided some new gameplay features, great graphics, much improved action and once more a great epic story with diverse characters, making it, in the end a superior successor. DA2 fails to deliver anything new to justify the "dumbing-down" ( or streamlining, as the industry would like to brand it ) making it inferior to its predecessor.

    But even DA 0.5 is still good game, and certainly better ( if not by much ) then most recent rpgs ( fable 4, Ego Draconis, TwoWorlds II ). It's DEFINATELY NOT A 4    … Expand
  27. Blaz
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    Really disappointing.They simplified everything,the first game had decent game mechanics and a slightly better combat system,it feels like a game released in beta stage,and worse of all,i've even payed for this game
  28. BKotick
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This game is so bad. Call of Duty: Black Ops, by Treyarch is 100x better than this! In Black Ops, there is a variety of different maps to play on (unlike this game), plus additional maps that you can buy! I don't see Dragon Age 2 offering free* additional maps!

    *After purchase, the maps become free to download again if you accidentally delete them.
  29. durgenage2
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Bioware used to be such a good developer too it really is sad to see them create something this god-awful. I would not recommend this game as a frisbee, much less as entertainment.
  30. Vegakvd
    Mar 14, 2011
    2
    Okay, so first off Dragon Age Origins is my favorite game of all time. I'm 31 years old and have been playing RPGs for years but Dragon Age really was the most fun I have ever had playing one. That being said, I waited months and months, checking Bioware forums every day for little bits of info and screenshots, for Dragon Age 2. I pre ordered the Signature Edition and everything, I was ready for it and even went to the midnight release. I am about 80% into the game now and I know all I need to know. The game is a shadow of the previous. They stripped out so much stuff it is ridicilous. Specializations like Shapeshifter, and my favorite, Ranger, and gone. Everything is less. Combat IS better, in my opinion, and graphics are improved. that's where it stops. The story is extremely boring, the romances are shallow, and despite a few intresting twists and turns, everything is just...bland...Definitly not worth the 60 bucks I forked over and the hype surrounding it. Oh, and my biggest complant..the voiced character. I never once felt like I was "role playing".… Expand
  31. Essense
    Mar 14, 2011
    2
    Don't support this putrid crap. Bioware sold out any soul it had left when it incubated this turd for what appears to have been a few weeks.

    Bioware and EA are out there drugding up false reviews (Fake 10 out of 10) to try and milk as much money money as possible from a game that deserves anything but any of your hard earned cash.

    Stay away.
  32. clawbytes
    Mar 14, 2011
    3
    An insult to anyone who enjoyed the first game. How the hell can you screw up a good game? The formula to making a decent sequel isn't hard to figure out. Just simply BUILD ON TOP OF WHAT YOU HAVE. Instead, Bioware took out everything great about the first game. Players aren't given the choice to choose their own races this time around. This would be bearable, except your companions aren't exactly diverse either. Aside from a shaved Dwarf that looks exactly human (save the height), an emo Elf and another popsicle stick she-elf, the rest of your team comprises of boring human characters. Let's say you wouldn't mind that either, but would you care if you spend the MAJORITY of your time doing quests in a town? I won't even go into the half-baked direction in story line. The developers clearly took a page from the 2004 Chinese movie Hero, except from the exaggerated tale in the beginning, the rest of the story becomes linear as hell. Your role in the story doesn't fare too well either. You don't become anywhere as great as humanity's savior, instead you run around town settling a petty political dispute. If that's also not so bad? You rarely fight Darkspawn this time around. All you fight are rouge mages and bandits. For the fans who insists on playing the game, don't buy it. Rent it or wait for the price to drop, which I'm sure won't take long since the game is so crappy anyways. Or if you've never played any game in the series, just get the first one. At least then you'll understand why I'm so mad.… Expand
  33. Kalaha
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    The immersion and combat of this game is matched by nearly every consol game for the last 10 years. See what i did there? :). The folks at Bioware clearly wanted to make Dragon Age 2 accessible to the greater masses. And i'm pretty sure they succeeded in that. It just didnt do it for me. I bought this game at the EA-online store and even before i had inserted my creditcard information, i was spammed with FREE Downloadable Content - order now. order now. Already at this point, i figured something was fishy in the state of bioware. The game is filled with re-used dungeons. Even in the first act, i ran through the same mine 3 times. What the hell is that about? I wont attack the battle-system - i didnt like it, some would. The graphics actually ARE improved from the first game, but you gotta love red - since most of your screen will be filled with it throughout the game. All in all this just seemed like a rushed game. 4/10… Expand
  34. Mythe87
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    After enjoying Dragon Age: Origins and Awakening, I've been waiting for Dragon Age II with much excitement. I grabbed my hands on a copy of DA2 on release date, went home, unwrapped the foil from the box and put the disc in my PS3. After setting up the options to my personal liking I was ready to start the journey. Let's start playing.

    I'm writing this review while I am 18 hours in to th    e game, somewhere in Act II I presume. The reason I play RPGs are to feel immersion, connected to the main character and it's companion, a interesting story, to explore the world and to find epic loot. Dragon Age 2 is lacking major in every department. Let me tell you why.

    The characters feel too generic, except for Varric and Anders. Their personalities are boring, their stories are boring and the fact that BioWare doesn't give you an opportunity to feel connected with them makes it even worse.

    The story is telling the tale of how you become the champion, but to be honest I don't see it going anywhere. You do some side quests to make money, go on an expedition and after that do some more side quests. In my 18 hours of play I still don't have the feeling I am doing something important or amazing. To end with a positive note on this subject I do like the way they are presenting the story.

    Exploring the word in DA2 is just drama. 90% of the game is taking place in a not so appealing city to say the least. So there's not a lot to explore, but hey we still have dungeons, right? You can scrap that from your list. There are just a few layouts and they are, sadly, reused for every dungeon. So there goes all your of exploring the world. While killing some mobs, you mostly find some loot. It might contain something epic, but sadly you can't wear it because it's another class. So you'd say let's equip one of my companions with it. But some genius at BioWare decided no one cares about equipping their party members, instead we let the player buy upgrades of armor for their companions. Thanks for not taking the weapon and accessory slots away. To end on a positive note the improved combat system is something I enjoy. It's a lot more action based and a lot smoother. From time to time you just don't want to pause the game to play it like a strategy game, but just like a hack 'n slash game.

    All of the things really break the immersion for me. I want to equip my characters, I want to have cool traveling bunch, I want to explore the world and I want to feel that I am in something big. Sadly DA2 doesn't do any of that.    … Expand
  35. xnoxiousx
    Mar 16, 2011
    0
    Crap dragon age 2 is not even close to as good as da1. Da1 was one of best rpgs in recent time but they took all that was great and stripped it down to crap that is dragon effect.
  36. Getbusyliving
    Mar 17, 2011
    2
    Terrible game. Thoroughly disappointed. I just can't understand why they would mess with a formula that worked so well in the previous game. I won't be pre-ordering anything from Bioware ever again.
  37. Doublecross
    Mar 18, 2011
    0
    Wow, lol i cannot believe this, I s*** you not, like 3/4 through Act 2 i was like F*** this. Everything is the same not just map that i have already painfully accepted. But holy crap there was not 1 epic quest that actually took me a on a journey that was memorable. I really hated everything about this game. The only + was the combat, but even that got old after i have fractured my thumb on the mute...... i mean A button ;) (really Bioware?). And the lack of strategy, if there even needed to be any. When i played DAO i played the whole game on normal difficulty until the end, i just had to turn it on Casual cause i simply had no clue wtf i was doing wrong. But things would just beat the living s*** out of me. Now DA2 I played on normal the whole way through ACT 1, thinking wtf, why is this so easy. I had to turn it on Hard, and i never do that in any games, i hate challenges lol. But what the heck, all i was doing before was push a button and things started exploding right if front of me. I know its not major, but i feel like that just furthermore proofs how this games was just dumbed down to little schnitzel scheisters. Iam also playing a warrior, another thing that pissed me off is for me to wait for brittle *sigh, i need more brittle orgasms in this game. And although DOA was full of tactics and all that crap that i just wasnt used to in an RPG i began to love it. Sure it pissed me off that i spent most of the time during a battle at times in the Radial Menu, but w/e. I just missed the tactics in DA2. I also want to point out my final F*** this Game moment. So as i was doing the nightmare mission i was like yaay back in the fade killing shades and all that junk. I was sooooo prepared for like an epic long quest journey and bought poisons and potions to stock up for some action, just like in DAO. And then after 15 minutes the quest was over LOL. The dialogues before the quest took as much time as the the actuel fighting time. Wow i was pissed lol. I have to stop right here cause this isnt really constructive anymore, iam too pissed to continue, In summation DAO = Wow something new, something fresh, epic journeys, amazing world and areas, EPIC STORY DA2 = I just ran out of toilet paper, but even there it fails. I then tried DAO, and of course as clean a newborns butt. PS: Casey Hudson, I have complete Faith in you that you will not even remotely screw up Mass Effect 3, your team has brought RPGs to another level. Now please do me a favor go to your DA2 buddies office and break your foot up David Gaiders a**… Expand
  38. Zelnaga
    Mar 19, 2011
    3
    Currently I'm struggling to finish this game. The more I play it the more I think this is the ugly child of Mass Effect and Devil May Cry (or insert your own hack and slash title here). This isn't the Dragon Age i know, because its anything but Dragon Age apart from name and a few standout features. Could call it a stripped down version of it.

    I don't really need to state the so called 'p    roblems' of this game as its been highlighted already but here a quick run though.

    - Reused Maps - Trying to get more content into this game? Good excuse. Try telling that to the people in the same office. The one who produced Mass Effect 2. Reused maps in ME? Not in the same league as Dragon Age 2 where most of the maps were near identical. Evident of being lazy? Id say so.

    - Item management - No armor customization for your teammates? Whether you could call this being streamlined or not, I don't know. Bioware possibly couldn't be asked to add skins for each armor equipped by our team mates.

    - Respawning Enemies - I remember watching a video of a bioware producer saying Dragon Age 2 demonstrating the game as a 'tactical' game. Well .... if I saw him id tell him hes a BSer. Its more akin to a hack and slash game then anything else, not more so for the lack of auto attack (Im playing 360 version), but the respawn of enemies at anytime, from anywhere. You can throw tactics out the window.

    I could go into more but its already been highlighted, but whether Bioware is just being rushing this game out the door by EA, being lazy or just making this game more streamlined goes it just hasn't worked for me and alot of people. Are they just concentrating all thier efforts on Mass Effect 3 and neglecting this once awesome game? Everyone have their own opinions. For sure. But with the bad press, fan backlash (anyone who thinks otherwise is a tool) and ever decreasing review scores from the public.

    This is anything buy Biowares finest. You can be sure that when DA3 is being hyped up in a few years time, they will use DA2s negativity and downfall as a way to promote its squeal.    … Expand
  39. Landor
    Mar 19, 2011
    4
    Besides the discussion of to much action, gore, comic like design and the Hack ´n Slay fights which is a question of taste for sure. You can see, that DA2 had not enough time.The hardcore recycling of enemies and levels ist just bold. Dialogues are simple, predictable and don´t go into depth. And the hero Hawk never shows any kind of emotions. I love Bioware games for the epic story lines and great emotions. I even loved Mass Effect 2, so its quite clear that I´m not that kind of hardcore traditionalist, but DA2 has nothing to do with RPG any more. Its RPG light or RPG fast food. Easy to consume. Easy to forget. I miss the spark, which brings me to play this game again and again. I finished the game one time now and I not going to play it again. So my recommendation: DON´T GIVE MORE THAN 10 BUGS. If this is the future of Bioware´s understanding of RPG, I will never buy a game of this company again. EA and Bioware are going in the wrong direction .… Expand
  40. Eceliion
    Mar 19, 2011
    3
    Everyone has said everything that needs to be said. I finished the game (mostly) today and...wow, I've never been so disappointed. Not only did I waste $69.00 buying this junk, I also wasted hours of my life. Sigh.
    EA has eaten BioWare up and pooped them out. I've lost hope now :(
  41. necro128
    Mar 19, 2011
    4
    simple.. repetitive and predictable. good bye dragon age.....
    now you have a action game masked as rpg. run around the same caves and "dungeons" one time and other let you with the feeling of be playing a bad chinese MMO made to extract you money with micropayments. and probably thats what EA want with the forthcoming dlc,s.
  42. Surumbu
    Mar 20, 2011
    0
    It is deeply unfortunate to see that a certain game company appears to be artificially inflating the metacritic game score on DA2 with a lot of one shot, single reviewer posts. But I urge people looking at the reviews to consider the date frame in which they are posted, the reviewer history and the abnormally high score given.

    DA2 is an poor game, both in terms of what we expect to see f    rom a Bioware title and from the DA franchise. What people have said about the slow/nonexistent story, dumbing down of the game, the poor dialogue, substandard graphics, horrid dialogue wheel... it's all true. This game is NOT worth the $60 to buy it, and is not worthy of Bioware.

    I simply cannot adequately express my disappointment with this game as a long time Bioware fangirl. It's wretched, and I can only hope that Bioware learns the harsh lesson and returns to the format and attention to detail within the RPG genre that made them great in the first place.    … Expand
  43. KOTOR
    Mar 20, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was a big fan of bioware. I bought Baldurs gate 1 and 2 ,Neverwinter nights 1,Jade Empire,Sonic The dark Brotherhood,Mass Effect 1 and 2,Dragon Age Origins and Dragon age Awakening And Dragon age 2 .I was dissapointed with Mass effect 2 it was streamlined and didnt fixed the errors of the previous game because i WAS such a fan of bioware forgive them and hoped Dragon Age 2 was the return of The Great Rpg Creators they were.
    Sadly This isnt true Dragon age 2 is not a roleplaying game ,more of action game with a very weak combat and a mess that is the story,this game is a cashin on Dragon Age origins success it was rushed. Spoilers :The Storyline in Dragon Age 2 isn't all that coherent and doesn't really make sense. You have one leader inspired by a magic weapon that influences attitude...but the other leader...their decisions at the end of the game make NO Sense really. The entire game Really doesn 't make coherent sense. It's like whoever made the storyline wanted to make 3 different games and then tried to link them all up nicely at the very end.    … Expand
  44. Greggor
    Mar 20, 2011
    4
    The only redeeming quality of this game is its combat system, but even that system is flawed. Enemies tend to come at you in waves. So be aware that any time you think you're picking a fight with three bandits, their entire bandit army is waiting around the corner to punch you in the sack. This wouldn't be so bad except for the implications it has for aggro control. New enemies can't be aggroed until they spawn, so they are gong to immediately jump on your mage/healer/rogue/weakling and ignore your fighter until you scramble to save the lives of your squishy party members.
    That said, the combat is a bit more fun and manageable than its counterpart in DA:O.

    But the rest of the game has just gone downhill. Bioware really disappointed me with this title. The story is watered down and hard to accept. The breadth of its predecessor was sacrificed for "accessibility" to a wider audience. In fact, the whole game takes place in one (small) town. But besides that, other features I dislike are: Your companions don't get new armor, period. You can purchase "upgrades", but you can't put any loot on them. You don't get to choose a race anymore: you're human, and that's all there is to it. The game reuses the same areas for quest after quest after quest. Most of the loot you find (50-75%) is junk. Literally, it's junk. It goes in the junk tab of your inventory. And its only purpose is to be sold for a pittance to merchants. Really, Bioware? You couldn't just give us more cash in treasure chests? You had to add "broken chair" or "mangled darkspawn dagger" into the mix? Are you kidding? This whole game was a massive disappointment. I will never pre-order another Bioware or EA title again. No, you can earn your money from now on. You don't get to get away with crap like this anymore.    … Expand
  45. Thederaci
    Mar 21, 2011
    0
    I've always thought of Bioware as a safe choice when buying a game. When EA took over I was worried that they were going to ruin another good game company, but surprisingly most of the games came out were good ol' Bioware (maybe abit rushed) with some useless DLC content that I did not care about. That was uintil I came across this joke of a game.
    First of all the world feels soulless and     small. Well actually, the world feels small because it is small. Quoting a critic "You cant have an epic story on your backyard". That pretty much sums it up.
    The game feels more like a grind than a RPG - You're basically running the same linear dungeons over and over again with enemies that have slightly different color and name. Even the bosses are recycled.
    Combat requires no strategy at all, you can basically buttons mash your way trough the game. Increasing difficulty just requires the player to have more potions and the patience to spam the buttons longer. Sure the people looking for a simple game might enjoy it more, but anyone actually looking for a challenge should not bother with this game.
    Something that Bioware has always gotten right is the story, but not this time. Most of the charaters feel hollow and boring, charater cameos from DA:O just makes you wish you were playing DA:O instead.
    The story itself is rather non thrilling and the side quests are very repeative.
    The graphics are outdated (PC) to say the least and there are some annoying gliches with some of the older graphic cards. If the game looks like it was made 10-years ago, it should atleast work with older hardware.
    I could go on pointing out flaws in this game, but I think i made my point - Dont bother paying 60 bucks for a crappy game. If you absolutely must play this game, then do yourself a favour and wait for the GOTY version with all the DLC content and bugfixes.
    When compairing to other games this game does not deserve a 0 though, but on a Bioware scale it absolutely does. It is definitely by far the worst game they have ever done.    … Expand
  46. Tent27
    Apr 1, 2011
    5
    After the initial shock I decided to make a third attempt at Dragon Age 2. I couldn't do it. There are indeed a few things RIGHT with this game like the better flowing combat and re-used mass effect 2 engine, but there are so many things wrong with this game that make it unplayable to me. For one, it feels insulting. This isn't an RPG, there is not a suitable amount of depth to be had for a bioware level RPG. Through my entire 16 hours of play I found one particular thing eating at my head, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was playing a beta. The game has an overwhelming unfinished feeling to it. It literally seems like the developers had so much more in store, but were rushed out the door before they got completely dressed. Dragon Age 2 could use some polish in ALL departments. The product I'm playing is at best a raw attempt at people trying to capture the dragon age feel, but failing to do so. This is the first time I've ever been able to put down a bioware game without finishing it. My 5/10 review is only as such because 5/10 denotes that yes, there is indeed a game somewhere in here, but it's so lost in a pile of problems that it's nearly impossible to find and enjoy. Sorry bioware, it has to be said.… Expand
  47. hexchen1206
    Mar 26, 2011
    0
    I am really disappointed. The game seems to be unfinished, and it has no "soul". It isn't worth the name "Dragon Age". The main-story is boring, the NPCs look all the same and most of them have nothing to say.
  48. WarViking
    Mar 26, 2011
    0
    They said this game had a 8 month development cycle, i think most of us could tell based on how lazy everything was. The gameplay, the characters, the environments, the missions, hell even the soundtrack itself was all lazy Bioware lost respect from me after this release the game was even more lazy than Jade Empire was. It seems Bioware is destined to streamline all their games. Also Bioware needs to stop getting their dev team to come on these sites and give false good reviews own up to the crap you created.… Expand
  49. CTR8008
    Apr 7, 2011
    4
    DA2 was a very basic game to me. Quest seem more like chores and the story seems flat. I did like the combat system though it put you more into the action in every battle. I'm very suprised at Bioware for this one they usually never put out average games like this.
  50. JenniferGoo
    Apr 12, 2011
    2
    The crticial reception of Dragon Age II is one of the most glaring examples of just how terrified the enthusiast video game press is afraid of upsetting publishers. They wouldn't dare tell you at what point this is a focus-driven rushed-to-market insult to video game consumers everywhere. I never played the original Dragon Age so I'm not an irate fan of the original... there is just not much to defend here. There isn't a single battle in the game (including bosses) that doesn't involve waves and waves of enemies spawning out of thin air waiting for you to mow them down. Sometimes, even when you give them a gentle whack, they explode into a dozen pieces... which I guess is suppose to make me feel like a bad ass. The entire game takes place in one city made up of a few small disconnected areas and the same two or three dungeons that are reused for the entire game. They even try to trick you into thinking this is a new area by blocking off doors you were previously able to go through and opening other ones. Why can't you go through that door you see this time around? Who knows! You just can't click on it! Look, when asked about this problem in an interview, the developers claim they had two choices: give us all original content and cut the game length down to a couple hours or reuse the same areas over and over until the game lasted twenty-five hours. If that doesn't give you an idea of how rushed this product is, I don't know what will. There is not 60 dollars worth of content here and yet so many people have already bought this game because the video game press is looking out more for themselves and not for us. The sad part of this is that underneath it all, the character interaction is great even if the overally story arc, like the rest of the game, is not well thought out at all. It's clear there were talented people working on Dragon Age II, but they weren't given the liberty or time to make this into a good product. Buyer beware.… Expand
  51. Jumper_351
    Apr 23, 2011
    4
    Negatives: Dumbed down combat. Consists of mash this button till that guy dies, now do it again here. Simplistic level design. Honestly, I was insulted that they pushed this half-finished game onto us. Terrible.
  52. paketep
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Sorry, this review was intended for PC, and the delete button has gone south.

    150 char 150 char 150 char 150 char 150 char 150 char 150 char 150 char
  53. benjaminavatar
    Mar 11, 2011
    10
    I have to say Dragon Age 2 is 1000 times better than Dragon age origins. I played Dragon Age Origins about 38 times but Dragon age 2 i am playining to play about 60 times. And the idea for a Hack-and-slash RPG is fantastic. A 10!!!
  54. lelloraff
    Mar 11, 2011
    2
    Dragon Age 2 it's painful! I liked Origins for its great dialogues, variety of environments, graphics realism, charismatic characters, possibility of choices. Dragon Age 2 have nothing of that!
  55. tei15
    Mar 15, 2011
    1
    Worst sequel ever. Unbearably repetitive locations (effectively just a copy paste), boring story, weak writing, bad visuals (characters are even uglier than in the first game) . Never expected people who made ME2 to publish such low-quality game.
  56. GimmeThat
    Mar 10, 2011
    9
    BioWare has given us another gem, despite some oversimplifications found in Dragon Age 2. While the game takes a couple steps back with the remove of party member armor and weapon management and the cutting down on talents and spells, it takes many more steps forwards elsewhere. First of all is the setting. Kirkwall feels like a living, breathing city, and a place that was alive long before the player steps into the scene. There is some repetition due to the game being focused on one place, but this is overshadowed by the deepness of Kirkwall. Beyond that, the story is one of the most well-told in gaming. It provides us glimpses of our character (a semi-predefined human named Hawke) through out a decade of her (or his) life. Hawke is voiced dynamically enough to cater to the player's preference to define her personality. The dialogue options avoid the forced morality of Mass Effect and simple allow the players to characterize the hero as they wish. I won't be giving any spoilers here, but you can rest assured that the well-written narrative and characters you've come to expect from BioWare are here. Then there's the combat. It allows the players to think tactfully while also keeping them engaged. Auto-attack is removed (but will be patched in soon for those who miss it), which gives the player more of a feeling of involvement and control. It's faster paced than Dragon Age: Origins, but it's not a hack and slash game (don't believe me? Ask a God of War or Bayonetta enthusiast what they think). The same underlying mechanisms of the Origins combat are present in Dragon Age 2, but with things more visceral and quick-paced. It's a satisfying experience, no matter what class you play. In short, Dragon Age 2 is a marked improvement over the first game and a welcome addition into the pantheon of BioWare classics.… Expand
  57. NoWisdomAtAll
    Mar 9, 2011
    3
    After the scam EA/Bioware pulled with the Signature Edition I decided to buy the regular copy of the game and my experience wasn't very good this whole game seems more like a scam project than a game, as many have said it's shorter than the previous title, the characters are quite interesting upon first meet but then it goes downhill from there. The areas seem different in some ways but more or less copied and pasted work and for the story.....it wasn't one of Bioware's best. Overall this game as I said in the beginning feels like a giant scam.… Expand
  58. McSquib
    Mar 9, 2011
    10
    I love the new updates to the races and overall art style. Very Sharp! Definitly worth picking up.
    The progression, while different from DA:O, is streamlined and very slick.
  59. Maxmerlin92345
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    Why slander this game people. All these minor details your all nitpicking at are irrelevant, no game is perfect, they all have flaws. Don't take it so seriously, just enjoy the ride and chill!!
  60. slymenstra
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    There's too many minor annoyances to mention - like why did they replace the item icons by generic ones so it's impossible to know what item you have geared up unless you mouse-over.

    Or how about the fact that you can now pick locks in plain sight of guards and everyone else right under their nose! Either my memory of DA:O is really terrible, but I think I recall that you couldn't just pi    ck locks in plain sight.

    Not to mention these treasure chests are in plain sight in the oddest locations - in DA:O they were in regular places, not in the middle of a busy market but in a back alley.

    The layout of the Kirkwall city sucks too - it's far too big with streets being incredibly wide despite almost no people being around. I much prefer DA:O's towns and cities which felt bustling and hectic and cramped - like they should be. Not to mention all the straight angles as if the maps were drawn using a pencil and a ruler.

    Ugh, I really really try to like this game but every 10 secs I get slapped in the face by yet another thing they did wrong. Like "the office of the visceral is off limits" yet I can freely open the door, walk in, and loot his treasure chest. This game is soooooo lazy, soooo wrong. It just FEELS wrong - the world doesn't add up. The characters don't behave right, the world doesn't respond the way it should, etc. People trust you for no reason, they want your help for no reason, etc. etc.    … Expand
  61. anthem11
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    Bioware punched up the action for this sequel. I was bummed that character creation wasn't as in depth as the original before I played the game, however, I don't even care about that anymore. Good times.
  62. Evil_Jeff
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    So, Dragon Age 2. This is an amazing game which involves a great story, interesting characters and fantastic action. Great job Bioware! I can not wait Mass Effect 3!
  63. bella1928
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    well done, bioware!! you managed to do it again. loving the new action combat and feel like it all plays much faster. the story is easier to get through, too. interesting improvements while maintaining the DA goodness. hope some of these changes will get into mass effect 3, too.
  64. Jaelit
    Mar 11, 2011
    9
    An excellent role-playing game, and a logical and direct evolution of the previous game, more action-focused and more polished, although its action focus won't please everyone.
    (c)
  65. Firestorm
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    Oh, my goodness. I'm utterly disappointed by all of you who wrote your negative review, you're all such a disgrace to the gaming community. Guys, i'm writing a review for the GameOfTheYear 2011, believe it or not. The graphics are simply PERFECT, the atmosphere is so immersing that after an hour's game-play there's a feeling that you actually LIVED that thing you just played, the dialogues are so real that you think you're watching a hollywood movie , the scenario looks very very promising as I just played the game for 3 hours yet, and now for the combat system. THE COMBAT SYSTEM IS SO FULL OF WIN, DYNAMIC AND JUST THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. In DA1 the warrior slashed with his great sword every 4 seconds, now it's half a second. If you think that's disgraceful for DA2 then think twice. YOU are disgraceful in front of an excellent game that every single person called a gamer must play. And if you think that's it's so easy, try Hard or even Nightmare! Word.… Expand
  66. hero_85
    Mar 11, 2011
    0
    Haven't seen such a rush job since Knights of the Old Republic 2. But, at least there they started hacking things out of the game. Here, they decided to just fill the game with copy and pasted areas (seriously). I loved the first game, and pretty much everything else Bioware has done, but this game is a complete joke with all the bugs and terrible looking graphics. Send EA a message that this is okay, and stay far away from this game (or rent it).… Expand
  67. BioWareEmployee
    Mar 11, 2011
    10
    BioWare has done it again with their most fantastic title to date! Everything from the character interaction to the graphics have been fleshed out making Dragon Age IIâ
  68. vandro
    Mar 12, 2011
    0
    Less races, less skills, less hours of gaming, but more jumping, more killing, more speed. Meant to be a casual game for casual gamers. But looks like a game for people who like tu run amok.
  69. Tanis
    Mar 12, 2011
    0
    All good in Orgins is gone, this is an insult to rpg players from EA/bioware, where is the spirit from Baldurs gate?. Simply, it is dead.
    - Dialog wheel breaks any rpg experience. Good/Bad/Stupid decisions insults human intelligence.
    - No tactical view, wtf! Baldurs legacy!? ( for me the best of the battles in Origins)
    - UI terrible, consolized, ugly and ridiculously small for 1920x1200     ( subtitles hurts my eyes)
    - Corridors maps once and once again, repeat maps once and once again.
    - Companions/history/inmersion far far far from Origins. ( for me the best in Origins)
    - Graphics/Art Design and Music/Effects far worst than Origins.
    - a lot of bugs/side effects in pc because is a very very bad port. (DAO was designed for PC, ME was a bad port, ME2 was a very bad port, and this is extremely bad port, whats the next bioware?)
    - very poor performance for main characters (i like me/me2 character performance but this not)
    - uninspired side quests and typical main quest, always in the same place, only the storytelling is good.
    - etc..., all good in Origins is dumped down extremely or removed.
    - this is not a rpg game, is a kick in the face from bioware for all loyalty customers who support them since their beginning.
    - From more than 900 hours in Origins and still playing to 18 hours in DA2 and uninstalled, this is the evolution for me. The worst game in Bioware history so far.    … Expand
  70. KcSmiff
    Mar 13, 2011
    3
    Vast amount of visual bugs which give horrible performance with a Geforce 580. Even when the game is running smoothly, I can't help but notice the obvious copy-pasting of dungeons/caves. The feeling that the quests are all going to the same places as other quests all the time. God knows what the popular game review sites are on, this is no where near on par with Dragon Age: Origins, let alone an improvement. I liked the combat more on this one, but everything else brings it down and nullifies it. Very mediocre and most likely rushed game; unexpected lackluster installment to the acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins.… Expand
  71. Nerresand
    Mar 14, 2011
    3
    Story - 5/10
    While I appreciate the divergence from the stereotypical "save the universe from an unspeakable evil" in favor of a more down-to-earth story, they spoiled an opportunity here. Not being grandiose doesn't mean the story can't be good and interesting, and this one wasn't particularly either one.

    Graphics/Audio - 4/10
    I actually liked Origins' graphics and sound much more. It'    s just personal preference, but I feel that DA2 looks and sounds more like a comic book than a good RPG.

    Speaking of RPG... 2/10
    The positive spin is that this game was made "more accessible". Unfortunately, I feel that this spoiled part of what made Origins so good - it was a game that focused on RP elements more than most, and they sold out. Interacting with the characters is a shallow experience, inexplicably made more difficult than it needs to be and offering very little satisfaction from a roleplaying perspective. This is a roleplaying game, and while personal character customization and choice are part of that, the RP elements that Dragon Age already had were very good, and just needed a little work; I was surprised and disappointed to discover the gigantic step backwards. Almost everything having to do with your party members is worse than it was in Origins, from customizing their gear, to having conversations with them, to affecting their personalities, to making sweet love with them in a campsite. Overall - 3/10
    Bioware seems to have taken the approach that simplicity is good, delivering a mindless comic book of absurd gore (one fatal sword slash causes an enemy to explode in a cloud of blood and its armor to, for some reason, pop into a dozen pieces?) and lackluster story. Simplicity is a very bad approach for an RPG, however, and a great many things that only needed minor improvement (or didn't need fixing) were completely destroyed in this sequel. Your opinion of DA2 will very likely depend on what you liked or didn't like about DAO. If you were disappointed with the action and thought the overall game was too complex, you'll probably like it. If you liked the core RP elements, you probably won't.    … Expand
  72. Ravepirate
    Mar 14, 2011
    1
    Such a dissappointment from Dragon Age 1, everything that made the Origins fun and interesting has been stripped out and replaced with "EPIC" violence and a failed attempt at trying to gain access to the young violence fanatic. Oh, and it would've been high, BUTTT, this stuff about Bioware padding Metacritic with employee's writing reviews, i feel a -5 is in order
  73. rmorgan779
    Mar 15, 2011
    5
    bioware should be ashamed as a gaming company and being for realesing this u cant go from da to this what has happened i completed game in 38 hours as warrior bearing in mind ive owned every bioware game ever made i was so dissapionted i sold game refusing to keep in my collection i will now buy mass effect 3 to finish the trilogy and thats it i think bioware has down themselves a lot of untold damage by realesing this trash i rate the game a five this in my opinion is generous i dont know what game the reviewers have been playing on its a ugly world when so reviews are honest edge.… Expand
  74. Speck
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    The worst 60 dollar pile of junk I've ever purchased. Cannot believe how bad the role playing is, and how meaningless the dialogue. Voice overs are pathetic, with no inspiration what so ever. This is a sequel? Hack and slash only, what a waste!
  75. Awesome-X
    Mar 15, 2011
    8
    How dense are you people? Dragon Age II is far from perfect, but it is also MUCH better than the 0s and 1s you idiots are giving it. No, pressing A repeatedly does not make it a "hack n' slash." There are still plenty of tactics to use. That's why there are four difficulties. If you try just mashing A through Hard or Nightmare, you will not make it far at all. The skill trees and abilities have actually been expanded. It's much better than the linear 1>2>3>4 skill sets in Origins, so I don't know why people complain about that. The story is actually much more original and interesting than Origins. Origins had the usual "slay the evil thing. Save the world" story. There was white and black. Good and evil. In contrast, 2 is a lot more gray. Both sides have compelling arguments, interesting decisions, etc. Now, it does have some faults. The story, as much as I liked it, does fall apart at the very end. The dungeons and environments do repeat a LOT, which gets really annoying. Also, you can't change your companion's clothes, which isn't a big problem for me, but I do see it as a legitimate complaint. Bioware could have polished this game a lot more. Despite that, it is still a very enjoyable game. The negative reviews are extremely overly-critical.… Expand
  76. Kehfee
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    By reading this review you already put more effort forth then the designers did in this game. In fact, Bioware put more effort into trying to bump up the user score on this site then they put into their game.
  77. kitf0x
    Mar 15, 2011
    8
    I think people are really giving this game the shiv for very little reason. It is a lot of fun and managed to pull me out of the other games I've been playing long enough to beat it. The story is interesting and the game play is engaging. It might not be as good as the original but taken on it's own footing it is still quite a lot of fun and worth the play through.
  78. Stocky
    Mar 16, 2011
    4
    The game for me has had it's ups and downs. But the lack of depth with characters, rehashed environments and the extremely shallow game play personally proved too much to bear. What is even more annoying from a consumer point of view is the DLC on day one. Why provide extra content from the release date especially after consumers are paying £30-40+ for such a lackluster title?
  79. FozzyTheForger
    Mar 16, 2011
    0
    (PC) Acknowledging that "Immersion" has become the sword to wield when you're in computer game or other content delivery marketing, I have built up antibodies that make me immune to marketing BS. If marketing funds manage to show me nothing but outsourced videos to try and lure me in, I just don't bite anymore and put my cravings on hold until I get reviews and visual proof of what's to come. This is, of course, a bit sad in itself since it prevents me from pre-ordering, another new tool of the trade that has already gone bittersweet.

    Thing is, I was really actively waiting for Dragon Age II to happen. So, when I got it in the mail, I simply could not wait to have it up and running. I tried to look beyond the shaved dwarf or the deadpan delivery of unpalatable speech impediments. I was looking forward to dive into the game and get my RPG fix. And I got a hack'n'slash with multiple-choice cutscene intermissions. Or a machinima movie with action-RPG intermissions, maybe.

    Let me say that I really like God of War. But when I go out and (pre)order an RPG, that's what I expect to get. In case of Dragon Age II, however, it is just not what I got - at all. I got a mini-game which consists of way too many options to customize my - one - character. So I did that. Then I was served confusing and annoying bits of want-to-be movie sequences, haphazardly made-up history, cut scenes, an in-my-face appetizer of the action that was to come and.... more cut-scenes and more sessions of story-telling. If you can't read, it's pretty much OK, for the video is included in the game. Then I ran through what appeared to be an on-rails beat-em-up button mashing routine that was only improved (on PC) by having my character auto-attack, which is definitely easier on the mouse-and-keyboard hardware. My brother has no such luck on the PS3, he's mashing buttons till kingdom come - but he likes it, so there you go.

    I have not yet finished the game, but currently I feel more inclined to un-install it and burn the disc it came on. It is not an adventure. It is not an RPG. What it seems to be is partly immersive cut-scenes with multiple choice forks - of the "Good"-"SarcasticLOL!"-"OhShutUpAlready" type, with the "good" ones easily leading to gratuitous sessions of very open-minded sexual intercourse with seemingly anything that moves. Bioware really seems to be about procreation. Was I surprised? Yes. Was I touched? A bit, but not in places where I wish for an RPG to touch me, really. "Moving about" has become a moving back and fro, revisiting recycled resources as if it had a positive impact on CO2 emissions. It is definitely less about discovery and all about run-by kill-em-all. "Dungeons" consist mainly of recycled locations, as well. Not the kind of ever-repeating deja-vu I was looking to find. I actually came up with a word to describe my emotions when i recognized the same set for the n-th time: Grindhog Day.

    I know the bills that need to be paid and business in general call for franchises to be established and then cashed in ASAP to reach ROI targets. But this is sad and preposterous.

    I hope this new-school bubble of not-quite-RPG will soon burst and funds will find a way to flow into the resurrections or reincarnations of the true RPG titles of old. Here's to hoping we'll get more "Dungeon Master", "Bard's Tale" and "Wizardry" crawling and discovering than "Dragon's Lair" interactive cut-scenes (without the brilliant cartoons, mind you). When I feel like watching a movie, I don't sit down to play a game. Maybe this is "modern" and I'm just not "modern" enough. Then again, I remember going out and buying what I thought was a fighting game some fifteen years back. It did involve well-known samurai sword-wielding characters alright. But it turned out to be a Japanese RPG of sorts. I felt stupid for not having informed myself properly beforehand. It was my fault, and it at very least delivered good incentive to get a basic grip on the Kanji & Kana, even though the game still didn't get better once I was able to somewhat understand the funny symbols.

    This time around, however, I got something I thought I was watching closely for a year - and I still didn't get what I thought I'd get. And that's wrong on a number of levels, I think.    … Expand
  80. Jaddel
    Mar 19, 2011
    0
    Absolutely disappointing. This was my last bioware game...
    For the next 5 years I will give the money for every bioware game released, to charity instead buying the game !!!
  81. Arglesmurf
    Mar 21, 2011
    1
    I have never played a bad Bioware game before. As retaliation, I'm giving it a 0. The game is probably nowhere near that bad, but I bought it at full price based on liking the first and loving Bioware products - I'm done with trusting Bioware and will now check reviews before buying. Never again soil your name with crap, Bioware!
  82. spanky36
    Apr 7, 2011
    5
    Take a great RPG, turn it into a decent hack'n'slash with pretty visuals. I loved DA2 at first. from the first combat sequence I was pretty hooked. 40 hours later it was over, with me not gasping, not in amazement at this epic story, but gasping at how bad it actually was. For the first 25-30 hours I was enjoying it a lot, but the rest was more of a "well I made it this far, might as well finish it" feeling instead of playing because I couldn't wait to see what was next. Your decisions have no impact really. The story does not flow. It is kinda like watching the first half of a Batman movie, then replacing the last half with Tron...it makes about that much sense. Fortunately, I can play a game with a bad story and enjoy it just fine, if the rest of the game is great.

    So much gear to upgrade for you and your party! I love it...oh wait, I can't really upgrade my party? And I wore most of the same gear from about the 10th hour until the end? Well, so much for that part.

    So many spells to cast! Wait what? Everything has a long cooldown, so I can only use it once, maybe twice, in a battle? Well, so much for that part.

    So many ways to progress in this open RPG! Uh-oh, what's this? Everything is about as linear as you can get? Well, so much for that part.

    So I give it a 5. If you are one who believes the story is awesome, play a mage, and all of the inconsistencies will present themselves, especially for a blood mage. I go with a 5 because of the amount of fun I had in the first half of the game. I kept thinking ok this game is gonna open up, but once I realized I would see the same locations over and over and over again and follow a strict story line with a few side quests, it became no more fun.    … Expand
  83. mareo2
    Apr 18, 2011
    4
    First I believed it was great deserving a 9 or 8, then after a few hours of playing the game I understood that it was a poor plot with characters not as likable as in ME 2 or DA:O and deserved more like a 7 or 6. Then I discovered a bunch of bugs piling up that underscored the impression of a rushed game and deserved more like a 5 or 4. The average user score of 4.4 is correct in their unbiased verdict.… Expand
  84. Mikolaj
    Sep 30, 2011
    1
    Feels like a budget expansion release, should have cost 15 and be DLC for the original. 1 setting, same dungeon every corner not to mention none of the deep combat of the original.
  85. Davecz
    Jul 25, 2011
    0
    Epic Fail...................................................................................................................................................
  86. fitscotgaymer
    Mar 13, 2012
    7
    This game really gets a bum rap as far as games go, and the reason for it is two fold.

    1) The gaming media has so skewed the ratings system that most people think anything less than a 9 or a 10 is positively awful. This is a belief shared by big publishing houses, and by developers also. It has rendered the ratings system useless; and is, I believe, responsible in part for the negative ov    erreaction to this game as evidenced by the inaccurate and unfair Zero's, One's, and Two's.

    2) Bioware's Marketing Department is really really bad. They gave a distinct impression to the fan base about what Dragon Age "2" was going to be like, and then what was delivered was quite different. Which explains much of the backlash.

    Granted none of this was helped by the extremely short development cycle that resulted in a game that feels incomplete and has a really crappy, bland, and boring ending.

    In spite of this however I still feel like a lot of the really low user reviews are unfair, because IMO the game is decent.
    The engine runs much more smoothly, and is much more stable than in Dragon Age Origins. The Character based textures are much cleaner, and much prettier. The dialogue, and interpersonal interactions with NPC companions are much deeper and more emotive than in Dragon Age Origins. And the overall story arc is coherent and mostly complete, even if it ends a little abruptly, and crappily with SuperEvilNinja!Meredith.

    Claims that the combat has been dumbed down to flashy hack'n'slash mechanics are untrue. Combat runs almost exactly the same as in DAO. The differences are mostly cosmetic, with faster animations, a lack of "finishing" moves, and the missing isometric camera.
    Or are different in the execution/presentation of the combat scenes - example: The Parachuting from the Sky Heavily Armoured Waves of enemies, or occasional cut scene "finishing" move.
    Tactics work the same, and talents (although streamlined) work the same. The guts, the actual mechanics of combat are exactly the same.

    If DA2 were an exam, it would get a solid and respectable B IMO (with DAO getting an A).    … Expand
  87. Smartacus
    Mar 14, 2011
    8
    I went into the accounts of many of the "0" posters on this site and surprisingly there are literally hundreds of new accounts that have never rated a game on MC before. (Yes at work I had the time to go into hundreds of them) Most of these accounts gave the game a "0" on the Xbox, PC and PS3. It is glaringly obvious that the trolls are alive and well and just want to torpedo what is actually a good game.

    All nerd rage aside, this is a pretty good game, and I find myself losing hours playing it.

    Compared to DA, it has been more streamlined and some RP purists take exception to that and cry that the game sold out. Me, I prefer actually playing the game and not micro managing every little detail, some, but not all.

    It is not perfect. I for one hated seeing all that great loot that was soul bound to my character and could not be shared with my group. The combat is simpler as well, and does seem to be easier than in DA. I don't miss getting ganked by a high level Revenant in a low level area, and then have to trek all the way back when I became powerful enough.

    All in all, I would give it an 8.5. DA was a better game as far as story, but this game is much more polished and you do not seem to waste as much time as you did in DA.

    I always took user scores of games with a grain of salt. Now I definitely know the scores cannot be trusted. It is really too bad, the obvious manipulation of the scores on here really hurt the reputation of Metacritic. I am not one for censorship, but Metacritic should really do something to save itsâ    … Expand
  88. evanbiddulph
    Apr 11, 2011
    0
    I heard that Bioware had an employee review on here giving it a perfect 10 score. For that, I am going to write a review with a "0" to even it out. I love Metacritic and always will trust its integrity.
  89. Fireside
    Mar 21, 2011
    4
    So initially I wasn't too upset with this game, but I decided to go back and play DOA over the weekend. Man, you haters are right: this game sucks. Everything about it is tragically inferior to its predecessor, even the graphics. F you Bioware. This game is garbage and you know it.
  90. Toxic_Ninja
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    I think it must have been around my 7th hour of farming 50 gold for an expedition I had no reason to go on, right around the time I was running through the fourth instance of the same god damn cave when I realized this game was unsalvagable. The story is garbage. The gameplay is a dumbed down version of the first one. On the plus side, they broke my favorite feature from DA:O, they replaced the chat system with some mass effect 2 piece of ****

    This game has zero immersion, 12 hours in I still saw no story. How can a game like this even be immersive? I mean, they recycle the dungeons so **** hard it's insane. Way to go bioware, you've gone so far down hill since your kotor and bg days. I blame EA more than you, you're not the first studio they destroyed, who else remembers westwood?    … Expand
  91. L0stR3negade
    Mar 26, 2011
    3
    Horrible ending and just like the first game it just falls really short. This game needed more time in development. Not worth 60 dollars at all =(....
  92. polko-m
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    Game is very good if we are thinking about xbox version. I don't know why so many people gave it so low score. One disadvantage is simplification of equipment of our team. I can't understand why bioware didn't left it. Howevery the story is very good, characters also, even graphic after few hours look good. I know that in PC version lack of izometric point of view can dissapoint, however on xbox and PS3 there wasn't such possibility also in Dragone Age: Origin and honestly I can't see big differences between that games so why so many people is crying??? I would gave it 8,5/10, however to help that game fight with not fair scores as 0 and 1/10 I gave it 10!!!… Expand
  93. MCAJayhawk
    Mar 9, 2011
    9
    I believe most of the people reviewing this game are haters. No one who likes this game has been able to pull themselves away long enough to write a review, I have to imagine. Even 15 hours into the game, I'm barely able to waste this much time, rather than playing this amazing game Bioware's created. I don't know if it's because Bioware usually makes such good turn-based games, and this one is more action-based, that people can't accept this game, or if it's due to bad press pre-release and everyone's jumping on the bandwagon. But this is a good game. No, this is a great game, and by nearly every metric. The combat is intuitive, yet as difficult and complex as you want to make it. The more I play this game, the more I love it. There are, admittedly, some things that DA2 does worse than DA: Origins, much in the manner that Mass Effect 2 was worse in some regards to the original Mass Effect. However, these things are few and far between. The writing, graphics and storyline are all improved in this game from the first. And, after getting used to it, I believe the combat system is at least as good as the old one, if not better. You get a true rush of adrenaline in some major fights. Absent, mainly from the original title. This game is so good, in fact, that I'm utterly and completely bewildered by many people's responses on here. Very little was dumbed down here, contrary to belief. In regards to world-building, character development and voice acting, the game achieves the same grandeur as, or in many cases surpsasses, it's predecessor. I know I'm not going to change any one's opinion who hates the game, but I give this game a very solid 9 out of 10, with leanings toward the higher end of the 9.Xs. This is, simply put, the best gaming experience I've had in years.… Expand
  94. Velenne
    Mar 9, 2011
    10
    I keep reading a lot of "compared to DAO" critiques when really, this game is not DAO. DAO was a behemoth of an adventure. DA II is slicker and slimmer than the original but not dumber. The storytelling style keeps you moving along the plot nicely, the combat just, well, just feels Good. The opening scene hooked me completely. I have to say, I find that I do not miss playing dress up with my followers the way I thought I would. I find not having to micromanage my inventory constantly freeing and gives me more quality play time. I can't tell you how it ends because, well, I have a life and I haven't finished it yet but so far I'm more than pleasantly surprised by the awesome factor. If the game keeps this up, I may like it even better than DAO. Already DA II feels like a bridge to the Real sequel - much the same way ME II felt like a short stop on the way to ME III. I will be disappointed if DA III is not, shall we say, more robust than DA II but it certainly hits the spot until the next full course comes around.… Expand
  95. Adastrius
    Mar 9, 2011
    9
    This game is incredibly impressive, the story, the gameplay, and the overall experience are solid. Yes it is true that you can mash buttons and be marginally successful but if you take the time to customize your character, items, abilities and overall fighting style than this game will be well worth every penny you pay for it. The fact that you spend the majority of the game in the same city is a little bothersome but the fact that the city does have differences and areas that make the environment much more enjoyable than expected. This game has done little to advance the RPG genre but what it has done is take the good aspects of many other RPGs and mash them into one very enjoyable experience. I enjoyed the game and cannot am already working on my second play through. Don't listen to these other wannabee critics. This game is solid, definitely not perfect but fun all the less.… Expand
  96. AdamDaBomb11
    Mar 9, 2011
    9
    Good thing for us, in this case it is easy to tell who is trolling. Anyone who mentions the fact that the graphics are of a lesser/equal quality then DA:O is obviously trolling. The graphics go way beyond what has been seen in the previous games. --As for my review, 9.5/10 graphics 9/10 storyline 8/10 on the mechanics and a big thumbs up for the main character being able to talk-- Overall i give a 9/10.… Expand
  97. Swisspease
    Mar 10, 2011
    9
    Though not as good as Dragon Age: Origins it is still a very enjoyable game. The graphics are better than then the original. Party members are well done. They do re-use environments like caves, warehouses, etc.
  98. Gatt
    Mar 10, 2011
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very epic game! Fights became even more bloody, brutal and fast.Characters in Dragon age has always been able to glory! The most important of the old characters too, can be seen from the last part but it is a huge plus!Yes it is clear that it very short, but it still will force you again it to pass!… Expand
  99. jgreen7
    Mar 10, 2011
    9
    I have always loved Bioware's games. Dragon Age 2 is no exception. Even though the combat may be easier to manage (when compared to Dragon Age Origins) and the environment is repetitive. The game as a whole is ton's of fun. The characters are much better written along with the quests. The combat is much more fluent and fun. The ability upgrade system is much improved. Overall its a great game
  100. fanboy
    Mar 10, 2011
    10
    I only finished about 25% of Dragon Age Origins. I guess Im just not the old-school pen and paper coverted to console kind of guy. DA2 was quick to get into, has some of the best action RPG graphics I've seen on a console and great dialogue and huge number of quests. The combat is insanley great as a warrior and mage (haven't tried rogue yet). I'm about 50% through the game (I think) and can't stop playing/thinking about it. Ignore the campaign to "teach BioWare a lesson" for not making an RPG for uber-nerds!… Expand
Page:

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 75 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 75
  3. Negative: 1 out of 75
  1. GamingExcellence
    Aug 3, 2011
    85
    I'll give Bioware points for trying to do something different in their world, but they really did have it right the first time in terms of character building and the scope of the story.
    Read full review
  2. Gaming Nexus
    May 1, 2011
    75
    Faulty game mechanics and disappointing maps, combat scenarios and storyline direction aside, Dragon Age II still has a surprising amount of intrigue hidden beneath the blemishes. The depth of character relationships, as well as the complex nature of the world of the Dragon Age franchise are a savior to a game that would otherwise forever be remembered by its mistakes.
    Read full review
  3. Game Chronicles
    Apr 22, 2011
    90
    Above all, it seems like Dragon Age II is an experiment. If you're a fan of the first game and expect a direct continuation, either in story or mechanics, you'll be disappointed. If you're not willing to put up with some rough edges and some mechanics that don't quite work as intended, you'll end up having a hard time. But if you're going for a game that has some of the best storytelling in RPGs in a while, or you're looking for a BioWare RPG to tide yourself over until Mass Effect 3, you won't do much better right now than Dragon Age II.
    Read full review
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