Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 550 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 392 out of 550
  2. Mixed: 135 out of 550
  3. Negative: 23 out of 550
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  1. Cindy
    Mar 25, 2010
    7
    More of the same as in Dragon Age. Better area design but much worse in terms of storyline/party banter. The new context triggered banter isn't an improvement in my opinion. The new skills are pretty nice, unfortunately they didn't include an additional shortcut bar so if you're a mage you won't be able to put all of your spells on it. I'm not impressed with the More of the same as in Dragon Age. Better area design but much worse in terms of storyline/party banter. The new context triggered banter isn't an improvement in my opinion. The new skills are pretty nice, unfortunately they didn't include an additional shortcut bar so if you're a mage you won't be able to put all of your spells on it. I'm not impressed with the decision of not having your dragon age decisions carry over into the expansion, it makes for horrible plot holes and definitely hurts the replay value of this expansion.… Expand
  2. arth
    Mar 27, 2010
    5
    This expansion is to Dragon Age: Origins like Icewind Dale is to Baldur's Gate II. It's a severe dumbing down for the console players. NPCs have become more one-dimensional, gone are the romance options and in-depth dialogues, and poor Oghren suffers the same fate as Gimli, in that he's now only comical relief, and not someone you feel with. You also get stuck a LOT in this This expansion is to Dragon Age: Origins like Icewind Dale is to Baldur's Gate II. It's a severe dumbing down for the console players. NPCs have become more one-dimensional, gone are the romance options and in-depth dialogues, and poor Oghren suffers the same fate as Gimli, in that he's now only comical relief, and not someone you feel with. You also get stuck a LOT in this expansion -- on roots, buildings, and pieces of air. And have to wait around for minutes after a kill before loot shows up. Speaking of loot, "Awakening" is one monty haul after another, where after an hour of playing, your new weapons and armor will remove all challenge from the rest of the game. This is especially true if you plonk a couple of points down on the new rune system, and actually figures out how to use it. (It's not explained). Cause armor now comes with three slots. All that said, the expansion isn't all bad. But to ask $40 for it is pure unadulterated greed. The combination of Warden's Keep, Stone Prisoner and Return to Ostagar costs less than half of this, and gives you far more for your money. Like characters you actually can TALK with, and not just dumb marvel-like tanks.… Expand
  3. PhilippT
    Mar 29, 2010
    7
    Good but not great. As a big fan of Dragon Age I was slightly disappointed by the addon. The humor is blunt and childish, the scope is tiny compared to the original and the game is very easy (even on the hardest difficulty). There's some interesting new loot and the crafting system is expanded although it has many issues and feels rushed (you can't access other character's Good but not great. As a big fan of Dragon Age I was slightly disappointed by the addon. The humor is blunt and childish, the scope is tiny compared to the original and the game is very easy (even on the hardest difficulty). There's some interesting new loot and the crafting system is expanded although it has many issues and feels rushed (you can't access other character's crafting abilities in your camp!).… Expand
  4. K.Snow
    Mar 27, 2010
    5
    I kept praying that after I got the obvious done, the game would surprise me open up and reveal 10 times more locations. It didn't. All the tricks learned from weeks of playing Origins made this a breeze. Most of the time I didn't bother to have my characters leveled up! I experienced none of the bugs mentioned here, nor did I have performance problems (I'm running what is I kept praying that after I got the obvious done, the game would surprise me open up and reveal 10 times more locations. It didn't. All the tricks learned from weeks of playing Origins made this a breeze. Most of the time I didn't bother to have my characters leveled up! I experienced none of the bugs mentioned here, nor did I have performance problems (I'm running what is now quite old equipment). It's irritating that Shale didn't come back -- I had deleted the original game, and had to reinstall. No Shale, but instead dire warnings about potential corruptions. Overall? They would have been better off reusing most of the previous game locations, and making the plot 10 times longer. In sum, I will definitely think twice about buying another such an expensive $ / hour game. This isn't the worst for this, but it's certainly in the bottom 1/4 for value.… Expand
  5. JonesM
    Mar 25, 2010
    6
    DAO Awakening is very well done, top Bioware quality as usual, and new companions with great "personalities" for a great follow-up to the original game. However, $40 is kind of a lot of money for an extra 15-20 hours of game play, it's very linear and there's no world exploration like in the first game; it feels like a big DLC rather than a proper expansion, and probably DAO Awakening is very well done, top Bioware quality as usual, and new companions with great "personalities" for a great follow-up to the original game. However, $40 is kind of a lot of money for an extra 15-20 hours of game play, it's very linear and there's no world exploration like in the first game; it feels like a big DLC rather than a proper expansion, and probably should've been available for $20 tops.… Expand
  6. hazsch
    Jan 6, 2021
    7
    Awakening felt more like a mini direct sequel to Origins, and I was more than okay with that. However, as I got further in, it got seriously tedious. It's bloated with a bunch of side quests that don't really amount to much, though there are some fun ones in there. The new NPCs like Anders and Velanna were excellent additions, and the main plot was intriguing, if a bit disjointed. Or maybeAwakening felt more like a mini direct sequel to Origins, and I was more than okay with that. However, as I got further in, it got seriously tedious. It's bloated with a bunch of side quests that don't really amount to much, though there are some fun ones in there. The new NPCs like Anders and Velanna were excellent additions, and the main plot was intriguing, if a bit disjointed. Or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Either way, it didn't really capture my interest as much as Origins did, which I suppose was to be expected.

    Still an excellent preface to DA2! Not to mention fascinating from a lore perspective.    … Expand
  7. Eddyward
    Mar 11, 2011
    6
    I was looking forward to a continuation of DAO, and Awakening wasn't bad. I did like the political parts of the game, and I wish there was more of them. The only noteworthy character was Anders and the rest were dull. I was disappointed that Awakening added nothing to the plot of DAO and didn't give any closure to the cliffhangers of DAO.

    I'm largely indifferent to this game. It wasn't    I was looking forward to a continuation of DAO, and Awakening wasn't bad. I did like the political parts of the game, and I wish there was more of them. The only noteworthy character was Anders and the rest were dull. I was disappointed that Awakening added nothing to the plot of DAO and didn't give any closure to the cliffhangers of DAO.

    I'm largely indifferent to this game. It wasn't great, but it could've been worse. I suppose Bioware just wants to give the player another view of the fantasy setting they're attempting to set up.    … Expand
  8. Harold
    Aug 17, 2010
    6
    It's not bad. It's pretty fun, actually. Though it's not linked in very tightly with Origins, it stands pretty well on its own. It's not as large, or fresh feeling as Origins, but I expected that from an expansion. The price is a little sticky; I wouldn't pay the full $40 for this, but would suggest waiting until you can pick it up on the cheap.
    /// There are two chief issues that I had    It's not bad. It's pretty fun, actually. Though it's not linked in very tightly with Origins, it stands pretty well on its own. It's not as large, or fresh feeling as Origins, but I expected that from an expansion. The price is a little sticky; I wouldn't pay the full $40 for this, but would suggest waiting until you can pick it up on the cheap.
    /// There are two chief issues that I had with the game. First of all, it's easy. *Extremely* easy. I did a play-through on Nightmare and not once had a Game Over. This was extremely disappointing. Even the final battle was easy as sin. Battlemage powers are pretty much able to wreck an entire crowd of minor darkspawn; so is the Overwhelm ability given to a warrior. Elite enemies aren't that much more difficult to take down. Elite Genlock Emissaries could be a tremendous pain in Origins as they messed with you from a distance; here, you can neglect them. It's as though the enemy's levels, relative to your own, have dropped by half. It's terrible.
    ///
    Secondly, I had a few quests that were difficult to trigger, or difficult to resolve, without consulting the Dragon Age Wiki on Wikia. This annoyed me. I don't like having to constantly halt the game to pop over and see why I couldn't find a certain quest item, or trigger a companion quest.
    ///
    And, as a more minor problem, a lot of the decisions made in the game have no actual gameplay relevance, but only come into play during the epilogue. Some of them sort of seem like the should have some effect on gameplay, or at least a *greater* effect on the epilogue than they do.
    ///
    This is still Dragon Age, it still feels Biowarey, and I'd still recommend it. I just can't do so at the full retail price.    … Expand
  9. rpm
    Apr 26, 2011
    7
    I played DA:O and then started Awakening right after that. I think Origins is an excellent game, and the fact that it was so involving is perhaps why I struggled at first to get into the expansion. I spent dozens of hours developing my character, establishing relationships with NPCs (yes, even romantic), and making hundreds of seemingly significant decisions.

    Then, whether you import your    I played DA:O and then started Awakening right after that. I think Origins is an excellent game, and the fact that it was so involving is perhaps why I struggled at first to get into the expansion. I spent dozens of hours developing my character, establishing relationships with NPCs (yes, even romantic), and making hundreds of seemingly significant decisions.

    Then, whether you import your Origins character or begin a new one, Awakening seems to pay only cursory notice to what you did in the main game. The only returning NPC companion was the last one I'd have chosen (but I guess that is personal preference), and the new companions may have been interesting but I only got to spend a couple of days with them so they were not very fleshed out.

    The expansion asks more questions than it answers. Very few, if any, of the unresolved plot elements from Origins are answered here, so don't play the expansion expecting closure. I suppose that will be for DA3.

    While it did take me a while to start enjoying this expansion, once I got out and away from the opening location I did find the story to be intriguing, and if it had lasted more than the approximately 15 hrs. of gameplay I am sure I would have enjoyed getting to know the new companions.

    The new skills/talents/spells and other new elements also seem to be logical "expansions" of the original.

    On a negative side, Awakening did have a few "no u-turn" areas where you can play through and follow one path, miss other areas that you can't revisit. Once you "finish" and area you cannot go back and explore to see if you missed anything. One of those areas is the Fade. If you go through a certain area you cannot benefit from full exploration of the previous area.

    Al in all, I'd say it is an odd expansion that was fun to play but seemed more like a separate game unaffected by the original. It is fun though.    … Expand
  10. braeden
    Jul 8, 2013
    7
    Dragon Age: Origins Awakening is a decent sequel for the original game. Basically, every aspect of this game is just fine, but not quite as good as in the original. Characters are weaker, plot is weaker and the level of polish just isn't quite there. Also, while some of the new classes and skills are useful, the skill system starts to become a mess with higher level characters havingDragon Age: Origins Awakening is a decent sequel for the original game. Basically, every aspect of this game is just fine, but not quite as good as in the original. Characters are weaker, plot is weaker and the level of polish just isn't quite there. Also, while some of the new classes and skills are useful, the skill system starts to become a mess with higher level characters having dozens of skills.

    One thing to mention is the subgame of managing your soldiers and keep. On several occasions, you are given options where you want to place your forces. You can also do some minor upgrades to your keep. In the end, however, it's left unclear how these choices affected to anything which wasn't very satisfying.

    The are also some problems with setting the tone/mood of the game. E.g. the joining ritual is near comical (In original game it was anything but). There's no feeling of desperation, like in first game and lots of stuff feel pretty lackadaisical. Awakening also contains lots of Bioware style sidequests, where you run around and gather some stuff without any relevance to anything.

    All in all, the game was still fun to play. It wasn't really anything too memorable like the original game, but it's worth buying if you get it cheap.    … Expand
  11. Lulgrim
    May 24, 2012
    5
    A lame and uninteresting expansion to a mediocre RPG. I didn't find Origins especially good, but decent enough to get the expansion in hopes of improvement. After playing Awakening I basically decided to see the Mass Effect series through and not buy any other BioWare games anymore. I guess that sums it up.
  12. mpr
    May 29, 2011
    7
    This is a good expansion pack: some minor but still appreciated improvements to the original game, along with a decent storyline and enough quests that will add roughly 50 hours of gameplay to your Dragon Age experience.
  13. AlienSpaceBats
    Jul 6, 2013
    5
    Dull, repetitive, a chore. Poor coding in places (miss an item pick-up? You can not backtrack to retrieve it). Some nice ideas like Justice and the maintenance and upgrading of a keep, also very funny at times (Oghren), unfortunately, it's Dragon Age. Bleh.
  14. Orctownorc
    Aug 24, 2013
    7
    Dragon Age Awakenings represents Bioware at their best, and WORST. It has great writing (as always) but was built with the FATAL BIOWARE FLAW: This game is a dead-end. You get to the end and its a desert. There is nothing there. Nothing to do. You end up building a high level fantasy character and there is precisely NOWHERE you can take it. There is no follow up. This leads to anDragon Age Awakenings represents Bioware at their best, and WORST. It has great writing (as always) but was built with the FATAL BIOWARE FLAW: This game is a dead-end. You get to the end and its a desert. There is nothing there. Nothing to do. You end up building a high level fantasy character and there is precisely NOWHERE you can take it. There is no follow up. This leads to an incredible feeling of emptiness and pointlessness. I will re-write this review later and elaborate on some of the nice content in this game. Better if you buy it and enjoy it yourself. However be warned: Bioware is a company that is truly CLUELESS when it comes to building worlds and offering open adventures. Awakening will definitely wake you up for about 20 hours or so. But when it finishes its the abyss. Go back to sleep, because there is NOTHING else to do once you played it once. Since it is Bioware's own narrative-driven design that has players hanging out for their next fix, you would have figured they would have made DA2 good, and somehow let their passionate fans all stimulated by origins and Awakening fired up to 'get back to Thedas'. My God you would be wrong! This game is a spectacular DEAD END leading nowhere. It didn't even offer proper closure for DAO or make sense of any of the rancid DLC for Origins. Great writing in a FAILED franchise. Another episode of meandering, pointless, going nowhere rudderless 'adventures in Thedas'. Compare this to the professionalism of Blizzard who built Azeroth from the outset and allowed millions of gamers to write their own adventure, and explore a fantasy world for YEARS on end, and its clear, that Bioware has been an over-rated pack of amateurs, poorly lead, with little real understanding of gaming, and far too much smugness about their writing prowess. Pride comes before a fall. But you can't fall if you dont first rise. Fantasy RPG's require enduring world. So long as Bioware refuses to make those their games well end up like this one, a forgotten fragment of lost potential, remembered and loved by a few hard core fans, mocked by Orctowngrot who knows the true value of things. Who can tell you all WHY this game failed. Ingredient One: ENDURING WORLD. Good though Awakening is, this game is a very BLEAK and joyless experience when you get to the end. Its better to quit before you have to make the choice of Vigil's Keep or Amaranthine. Either way your options are expiring faster than a Genlock with AIDS.

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com    … Expand
  15. kane148
    Aug 13, 2012
    7
    I thought this was overall a good expansion to DA:O, although it felt very much like 'more of the same' with few improvements. The new skills and specializations are fun additions, and the ability to craft runes is handy--though both contribute to making Awakening much easier than Origins. Aside from that, the gameplay is essentially the same as the main game. The story is fairly good, andI thought this was overall a good expansion to DA:O, although it felt very much like 'more of the same' with few improvements. The new skills and specializations are fun additions, and the ability to craft runes is handy--though both contribute to making Awakening much easier than Origins. Aside from that, the gameplay is essentially the same as the main game. The story is fairly good, and leaves open interesting possibilities for future games. Unfortunately, the characters are less interesting in Awakening: most have potential but are simply underdeveloped due to the significantly reduced dialogue and lack of romances. The locations are a mixed bag: some are fairly good, while others are just more of the same (more Deep Roads, more elf-forest). If you liked DA:O, then you'll probably like this well enough, and given that you can get the two for $20 or less, there's no reason not to give Awakening a try.… Expand
  16. cossayos
    Nov 2, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The first small disappointment I had with Bioware. True, it's an addon to Origins, but the lack of depth that's now rapidly becoming Bioware canon is already there on the horizon of Awakening. Starts out with not having the option to interact with companions at will and have to wait upon the pleasure, continues with being taken by the hand when it comes to gifts, in case you're to stupid to figure it out by yourself and ends with a very short story. Enjoyable, but the mediocrity is already there and tries to pave the road for the later distasters under that brand.… Expand
  17. SteamEnginator
    Aug 1, 2013
    6
    Watered down dlc for the real thing. Money situation is also thrown out of the window with bottomless enemy pockets. SteamEnginator
  18. JanW
    Mar 22, 2010
    5
    Expensive for the content provided and quite unambitious. Level/area design is quite good, better than Origins in itself, but the story line and characters range from acceptable to absurd and unbelievable. It also seems riddled with continuity errors. I would perhaps wait for a patch.
  19. michael
    Mar 17, 2010
    6
    Hollow gameplay, more bugs than I would have ever expected a Bioware game to have. But the most important dislike is how increadibly simple the combat is in this game, the last dungeon in the game I was able to just run past 4 or 5 packs of monsters are a time and just aoe them down. Origin's AI wouldn't allow you to do this but the game felt horribly dumbed down ( this was even Hollow gameplay, more bugs than I would have ever expected a Bioware game to have. But the most important dislike is how increadibly simple the combat is in this game, the last dungeon in the game I was able to just run past 4 or 5 packs of monsters are a time and just aoe them down. Origin's AI wouldn't allow you to do this but the game felt horribly dumbed down ( this was even on hard ). Also there were a total of 3 new monsters in this expansion, thats right, 3. Plus 2 new boss models ( spectral dragon and inferno golem ) I should say I literally didnt touch my keyboard for the inferno golem boss fight and my chars won, if you still haven't got how easy the game was.… Expand
  20. SrPepe
    Jun 27, 2018
    7
    Ya jugado el DA2 y DAI, Awakening se siente bien y correcto, una gran expansión con 20 horas de juego. Sin embargo muchas de tus decisiones es verdad que no se ven reflejadas, hay muchas dudas.
  21. Eatt
    Jan 30, 2022
    6
    It was nice and wholesome to continue playing with your imported character. However, the story could not live up to the high bar set by base game.

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PC Game of 2010
43
#43 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
41
#41 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. VideoGamer
    80
    If Dragon Age didn't float your boat, neither will Awakening. Dragon Age enthusiasts, however, should consider it an essential purchase. It offers more of the same - no bad thing - in a great value package.
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  2. 1UP
    83
    The characters and talents are almost enough to overlook the fact that the skills, which are where abilities like crafting and coercion reside, seem a bit uninspired.
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  3. SpazioGames
    78
    Awakening is the biggest DLC Dragon Age Origins has ever seen. New lands, new weapons and new evils are the reasons to buy it for who loved the game, but same old graphics, the price and the classic gameplay won't make it more appealing for everyone else.
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