Dragon Age II

 Xbox 360
User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2466 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 795 out of 2466
  2. Mixed: 431 out of 2466
  3. Negative: 1,240 out of 2466
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  1. Jussi
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    "Darker, sexier, prettier" were the advertising words for this sequel. Unfortunately the ONLY thing that actually has got better (in some parts of the game) is combat dynamics. Story line itself is very narrow comparing to original DAO, darkness has been replaced with fierce button smashing combating and then sex... well that's completely REMOVED. Okay, you actually can get to kiss someone"Darker, sexier, prettier" were the advertising words for this sequel. Unfortunately the ONLY thing that actually has got better (in some parts of the game) is combat dynamics. Story line itself is very narrow comparing to original DAO, darkness has been replaced with fierce button smashing combating and then sex... well that's completely REMOVED. Okay, you actually can get to kiss someone and invoke some dirty dialogue, but anyone who has actually played DAO will be very disappointed. There's no passion, no mature decisions to be made and absolutely nothing to see in terms of mature gaming. It looks like this sequel is more targeted to 13 years old console gamers than to people who actually played and enjoyed the original Dragon Age.

    The only thing that could save the game amongst DAO players would be fast introduction of expansions and toolset, that would make possible to enchange game in mentioned areas. Without that, I think the game is doomed and will only result financial loss and more sadly, ruin the name of Dragon Age.    … Expand
  2. Hammerholm
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Absolute rubbish Bioware, I hope you learn something from the USER experience & score of this game, no matter the platform. I can't believe you'd give in to the temptation of easy made money.
  3. johnnypopular
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Congratulations EA and Bioware! Dragon Age 2 is truly a marvel of modern gaming; no story to get in the way of all that action, no tactics to get in the way of all that hacking... you even reused locations and enemies so we wouldn't get lost or confused. How dear of you! Oh and I promised myself that I wouldn't gush, but I just can't help myself... I love what you've done with theCongratulations EA and Bioware! Dragon Age 2 is truly a marvel of modern gaming; no story to get in the way of all that action, no tactics to get in the way of all that hacking... you even reused locations and enemies so we wouldn't get lost or confused. How dear of you! Oh and I promised myself that I wouldn't gush, but I just can't help myself... I love what you've done with the armor/robes- they are still color coded! Some naysayers think that they are all the same and just palette swapped, but I don't believe it, not one word! You also got rid of all those messy RPG bits like speech challenges and an overarching quest, how silly, who would want either of those? Fat nerds, that's who! But don't you worry Bioware, you are on the side of the angels, or in this case the side of ADD afflicted pre-teens, but they are kinda angelic when they are not snorting Ritalin.
    So Once again, congratulations are due to EA and Bioware! You've made Dragon Age 2 more accessible for action oriented/casual gamers! Of course in the process you forgot who your real fans were, you know those crazy RPG kids who actually bought DA1 and all those pitiful DLC snippets, but who cares, right? You got our money too! You guys should be proud, seriously...    … Expand
  4. Vastgirth
    Mar 22, 2011
    0
    Incredibly disappointing. Lots of boring fighting in the same boring environments. Story doesn't tie in with gameplay. Feels very rushed. What has happened to one of my favourite developers :(.
  5. DisgruntledGame
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    I see a lot of people giving it perfect scores who have only played a few hours of the game. Well guess what? After a few hours you have actually seen the whole game. The landscape is repetitive, you never leave the starting city, and the story is dull and uninspiring. I am thoroughly disappointed in Bioware, and this release does not bode well for Mass Effect 3. There is no replayI see a lot of people giving it perfect scores who have only played a few hours of the game. Well guess what? After a few hours you have actually seen the whole game. The landscape is repetitive, you never leave the starting city, and the story is dull and uninspiring. I am thoroughly disappointed in Bioware, and this release does not bode well for Mass Effect 3. There is no replay value, and the dialogue choices are beyond basic. I can only think that EA rushed this game out the door, and after witnessing how Bioware has handled the PR disaster of rushing out an unreleased game I can no longer say I am a fan of Dragonage, or the company Bioware.

    Do yourself a favor and rent this game, it is absolutely NOT worth 60$. I'm amazed that somehow gaming companies can STILL make the mistake of releasing an unfinished product, and this is the result. As all mature gamers probably know, the review industry is entirely bought and paid for, and if you read through the user reviews I'm sure the trends will become noticeable and you well get a realistic picture of DA2.    … Expand
  6. City17
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    Never hated a game so much ever. It's so badly designed and the fact that someone who made this game is reviewing it as a user is absolutely appalling. https://twitter.com/lewiep/status/47399904137584640
  7. Erenthorn
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This an extremely sad attempt for an rpg, before continuing i will point out the first obvious flaws in the game. -Reusing the same four maps 500 times.
    -Setting the whole game in one city.
    -Enemies have a ton of HP and come in waves so the game feels longer. -Frame narrative to avoid being too descriptive about what happens between large periods of time. -Half as much dialogue, more    This an extremely sad attempt for an rpg, before continuing i will point out the first obvious flaws in the game. -Reusing the same four maps 500 times.
    -Setting the whole game in one city.
    -Enemies have a ton of HP and come in waves so the game feels longer.
    -Frame narrative to avoid being too descriptive about what happens between large periods of time.
    -Half as much dialogue, more passive interaction.
    -Millions of stupid side quests that have nothing to do with anything.
    -Dull environment bereft of life and matter.
    -Inability to customize companions allowed you to skip designing different armor models.
    -Collecting hundreds of-- literally, junk items-- to create the illusion of immersion and depth.
    -Poor character development, so you hardly care about your companions by the end of the game. -Lack of any substantial choices that have lasting effects.
    -Contrived ending, that tells you nothing, and leaves a huge gap for sub-par DLC
    -Generic UI showing a lack of creativity and effort.

    Thank You to Sharkey1337 from the Bioware forums for pointing this out. This "game" is a sad excuse for a rushed rpg that lacked any standards of innovation and i ask anyone who thinks about playing this game to not do so. At most, rent and DO NOT BUY, YOU WILL HAVE WASTED 60$ IF YOU DO. Dragon Age Origins compared to this is an absolute masterpiece and anyone who was not played it should do so over buying this short pathetic game.    … Expand
  8. darkendless
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    The developers claim that they have "streamlined" the game, but in actuality all they have done is ripped out the characteristics that made DA:O fun and unique. Catering to the mainstream user was a huge failure.
  9. 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.
  10. Eikinskjaldi
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    The worst sequel i ever played. Perhaps developers planned this game for dumb heads? 3 variants of answers in dialogs, poor armor and weapons arsenal, stupid, oh sorry, idiotic combat system, absolutely predictable story and a lot of other "great" innovations...
    Am i sleep or this guys really developed the greatest rpg games in past?
    Also, about magazines score - Are U F Kidding? 9/10 -    The worst sequel i ever played. Perhaps developers planned this game for dumb heads? 3 variants of answers in dialogs, poor armor and weapons arsenal, stupid, oh sorry, idiotic combat system, absolutely predictable story and a lot of other "great" innovations...
    Am i sleep or this guys really developed the greatest rpg games in past?
    Also, about magazines score - Are U F Kidding? 9/10 - for what? O_o
    2.0/10.0 - enough for this "masterpiece"    … Expand
  11. 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.
  12. svett
    Feb 28, 2012
    0
    This was the most disappointing game that I ever played. Not because it was the worse, but because it did not measure at all to the first one. There's only one city during the whole game. The dungeons are reused with the entrances reversed and some rooms blocked. The characters are flashy, but not very deep. You can't equip your NPC's now - what's up with that?! It's a terrible failure inThis was the most disappointing game that I ever played. Not because it was the worse, but because it did not measure at all to the first one. There's only one city during the whole game. The dungeons are reused with the entrances reversed and some rooms blocked. The characters are flashy, but not very deep. You can't equip your NPC's now - what's up with that?! It's a terrible failure in light of the previous game - it's as if the game was not made by the same company. I don't know what else to say.… Expand
  13. gheed123
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bioware for me stood for quality RPG. Dragon age Origins was a quality RPG. The quality steadily went down with each DLC and the absolute low of this decline now seems to have been reached with DA2. They tried to make an RPG that appeals to the bro's that play CoD, Halo and Gears of war and the like and ended up with this **** The story is nonexistant, enemies are lame, they raped the lore that they built up with DAO, combat is fun for an hour or 1000 exploding bodies, copypasted terrain, fetch quests.. To me yet another huge disappointment for a triple A title.… Expand
  14. milkymoor
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This is easily Bioware's worst game to date. Extremely repetitive and grueling combat. A lackluster progression system where you never feel any more powerful. A storyline with no internal consistency to itself or its predecessor and there's zero choices except for choosing whether Hawke is nice, angry or sarcastic. Companions are average at best and terrible at worst. And it's incrediblyThis is easily Bioware's worst game to date. Extremely repetitive and grueling combat. A lackluster progression system where you never feel any more powerful. A storyline with no internal consistency to itself or its predecessor and there's zero choices except for choosing whether Hawke is nice, angry or sarcastic. Companions are average at best and terrible at worst. And it's incredibly buggy with cutscenes firing out of order and other strange glitches.

    And I say this as someone who has loved Bioware since the days of Baldur's Gate. This is the game that will shake Bioware's reputation amongst fans and consumers, which is more harmful than any number of bad reviews.    … Expand
  15. slyck
    Mar 14, 2011
    0
    This is not an RPG. Linear, uninspiring garbage is what it is. If you want to know why the game has gotten so many poor reviews try it and see how long you can handle the boredom. If you want to know why it is getting so many 10's it is because paid company shills are posting fake reviews. EA sucks. Bioware now also sucks. P.S. if you say anything negative about bioware on their forumsThis is not an RPG. Linear, uninspiring garbage is what it is. If you want to know why the game has gotten so many poor reviews try it and see how long you can handle the boredom. If you want to know why it is getting so many 10's it is because paid company shills are posting fake reviews. EA sucks. Bioware now also sucks. P.S. if you say anything negative about bioware on their forums they can ban you claiming it's EA's rules and now you can't play the game you paid for. Don't ever give your money to EA or Bioware.… Expand
  16. 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!
  17. acedeck
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    This game oversimplifies everything! What happened to the "RPG" of DA? While I'm at it, what happened to the story? This game is pure crap. I'm so disappointed in Bioware with this game. I could get by with a terrible story if the characters were interesting, but they simply aren't. Inventory management and items in this game seem so half-assed. Honestly, DA:O was dumbed downThis game oversimplifies everything! What happened to the "RPG" of DA? While I'm at it, what happened to the story? This game is pure crap. I'm so disappointed in Bioware with this game. I could get by with a terrible story if the characters were interesting, but they simply aren't. Inventory management and items in this game seem so half-assed. Honestly, DA:O was dumbed down enough. The amount this game has been dumbed down for universal appeal is beyond ridiculous. I can't recommend this game to anyone, not even as a rental. Save your time for a game that deserves your attention.… Expand
  18. MC83
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    A frustrating experience. While the plot has its merits (eventually), it's bogged down by horrible art direction and game design. Somewhat dated graphics are acceptable, but the environments are downright ugly, with barely any detail and apparently no effort to make them look interesting or varied. Areas are RECYCLED over and over again. That could be forgiven, say, a decade ago, whenA frustrating experience. While the plot has its merits (eventually), it's bogged down by horrible art direction and game design. Somewhat dated graphics are acceptable, but the environments are downright ugly, with barely any detail and apparently no effort to make them look interesting or varied. Areas are RECYCLED over and over again. That could be forgiven, say, a decade ago, when storage space and game engines weren't adequate to either retain or dynamically generate large gameplay areas, but in 2011, this is absolutely unacceptable, especially for environments that are as unimaginative, linear, and empty as the ones in this game. The tactical gameplay is ruined by having the majority of enemies spawn at random locations (usually at the player's tactical disadvantage) in the middle of fights, and often the newly spawned enemies outnumber those that were there originally; it's an artificial and lazy way of making the game more difficult. The inventory system has been half-heartedly simplified. Because only the player character can use the majority of equippable items, many end up being discarded because they are class-specific. The majority of found items are useless trinkets to be sold, without even a picture to give a sense that they are something other than - as the game describes them - "junk" (other than the trash can icon that is associated with them, be it a moth-eaten scarf or a diamond). The obvious push for DLCs from day zero is downright insulting for such a rushed and incomplete game, and the gushing reviews for it are similarly insulting to our intelligence. Shame on Bioware, and (as usual) shame on EA.… Expand
  19. SanzaXI
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Dragon Age II is filled with choppy, wooden animations, it suffers worse soulless faces than the Mass Effect series had, graphics worse than Origins, and it is not an immersive RPG despite the high budget and amount of voice acting. They dumbed down the UI and spell casting system to appeal to people who's first RPG was probably Dragon Age 2 and to take in the casual Call of Duty playersDragon Age II is filled with choppy, wooden animations, it suffers worse soulless faces than the Mass Effect series had, graphics worse than Origins, and it is not an immersive RPG despite the high budget and amount of voice acting. They dumbed down the UI and spell casting system to appeal to people who's first RPG was probably Dragon Age 2 and to take in the casual Call of Duty players (http://n4g.com/news/696379/bioware-we-want-call-of-dutys-audience). This is without a doubt Bioware's worst RPG by far. It's a shame to see that the name they've grown through RPG treasures they made like Jade Empire and Kotor are smeared by trash this. I've decided to give up on Bioware until I hear some enlightening news about TOR… Expand
  20. Toribor
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    EA is going to have to learn that Astroturfing is not acceptable for reviews.

    Dragon Age II pales in comparison to it's predecessor. The world is more limited as is character interaction. The game instead attempts to play off everything that is successful in Mass Effect 2, without capitalizing on anything worthwhile or original. While Dragon Age Origins was a fresh and innovative game,    EA is going to have to learn that Astroturfing is not acceptable for reviews.

    Dragon Age II pales in comparison to it's predecessor. The world is more limited as is character interaction. The game instead attempts to play off everything that is successful in Mass Effect 2, without capitalizing on anything worthwhile or original. While Dragon Age Origins was a fresh and innovative game, Dragon Age II feels like a re-tread of the same with a new Mass-Effect-ish coating.    … Expand
  21. Kyronasec
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Dumbed down, over simplified mechanics and ugly repetitive environment. Simplistic character and class development. Uninteresting and dull. Save your $, skip this one.
  22. 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.
  23. KiddPablo
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    I bought this game because I loved DA Origins so much. I've never been so disappointed. It's horrible. How hard would it have been to use the same engines and mechanics as Origins? No. They completely replaced the game with a dumbed down, buggy, ridiculous game that seems designed to appeal to 10 year-olds. It's a terrible game. Try the Witcher if you're really in need of an RPG fix.
  24. dckburry
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    First and foremost, this game is pretty terrible. I wonder if any of them have actually played the game really,,, for the most part you can ASSUME anything positive you'll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference from people in bed with the devil.

    The immersion and combat of this game terribly! A truly puke-worthy and relentlessly stupid story is all you get from    First and foremost, this game is pretty terrible. I wonder if any of them have actually played the game really,,, for the most part you can ASSUME anything positive you'll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference from people in bed with the devil.

    The immersion and combat of this game terribly! A truly puke-worthy and relentlessly stupid story is all you get from this experience. For what it is, it is a slap in the face to those that enjoyed the first game and certainly done by the B-team. I would be more forthcoming but I don't want to get banned by EA.    … Expand
  25. Kcep
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Best RPG of last years.
    As for me - this game much better than DAO.Developers remaked all thigs i hated in DAO:
    1)Story-telling become more dynamic, and it's not about FATE OF THE WORLD, like others like to do 2)Graphic is brilliant in DA2 3)All characters in this game are elaborated 4)Fights become more spectacular, interesting, dynamic. 5)This is game for everyone, not only for    Best RPG of last years.
    As for me - this game much better than DAO.Developers remaked all thigs i hated in DAO:
    1)Story-telling become more dynamic, and it's not about FATE OF THE WORLD, like others like to do
    2)Graphic is brilliant in DA2
    3)All characters in this game are elaborated
    4)Fights become more spectacular, interesting, dynamic.
    5)This is game for everyone, not only for hardcore gamers.U have no need to spend time on collecting items,equipments, or on learning poisoning,trapping or on choosing the way how to lvl up ur character and etc.
    6)Brilliant sound.Excellent.
    And two things i don't like - same locations whole game and same faces of all npc's in game.I met like 10 mothers of main heroe during the game.
    So i give it 10 saying "Well done" to Bioware.And i also "wildly-furiously" wish to see what will happen in DA3.    … Expand
  26. EAsukshard
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    I made an account just for this.Dragon age 2 is **** sequel ever made. Not to mention Avanost gave a 10/10 because he works at Bioware ! seriously? Give your own game a 10/10 shame on you! Umm where to start? o yea sh!t graphics, for dx11 game the game looks like junk, something that was made 4 years ago and not now, we expected great, people working on the game said it will look amazingI made an account just for this.Dragon age 2 is **** sequel ever made. Not to mention Avanost gave a 10/10 because he works at Bioware ! seriously? Give your own game a 10/10 shame on you! Umm where to start? o yea sh!t graphics, for dx11 game the game looks like junk, something that was made 4 years ago and not now, we expected great, people working on the game said it will look amazing and it turn out to be for lack of better word Sh1tty.
    Game play = Tone down so much feel like diablo 2 hack/slash all day yawn.. requires zero skills. I bet a retard with IQ of 5 can beat this game. LIterally
    Console port! 100% is a console port don't fuking bs EA or bioware this PIECE OF SH1t is a console port ~! I dont give a fuk what you say it's a **** console port! ok? everyone it's A CONSOLE PORT NOT a PC game.

    OOOO not to mention the environment is reused, so everywhere you go it looks the same, which is more like a CONSOLE PORT!!!    … Expand
  27. ADogChasingCars
    Mar 15, 2011
    0
    Inspired by the success of Mass Effect 2, Bioware decided to send the Dragon Age franchise down the same dirt brown road. Taking an interesting universe, populated by interesting characters, and replacing it with a bland hero story that tries to hard at every direction. The only button you should press to make something awesome happen with this game is the eject button. :D
  28. Metalsand
    Mar 16, 2011
    0
    First of all, the game isn't all that great. They have you running around in a city for about 20 hours until you actually get to the meat of the quest. That's when you realize that there is no meat, only more walking around. Plus, I really don't care about any of the characters, they are completely unlikable. In the first game, it was a companionship, but all of the new characters areFirst of all, the game isn't all that great. They have you running around in a city for about 20 hours until you actually get to the meat of the quest. That's when you realize that there is no meat, only more walking around. Plus, I really don't care about any of the characters, they are completely unlikable. In the first game, it was a companionship, but all of the new characters are lanky or annoying. I don't like a single one, I barely even like the main character. On top of all of the **** of the game, two employees had the GALL to come on here and vote it a 10 and say it is perfect, which lowers my score down another 3 steps, simply because they obviously don't realize what a ****ter this is. I'd much rather replay oblivion for the 14th time rather than even complete the story on this garbage even once.… Expand
  29. 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.
  30. 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(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
  31. monkcocoa
    Mar 17, 2011
    0
    This game is a mess. The Ishtar of video games. Everything is a downgrade from the first game in the series. The graphics are sloppy and cheap. The game play is dumbed down. The story and characters are worse than the original, if that is even possible. Bioware has really been going downhill since they have been bought by EA.
  32. dgrey
    Mar 17, 2011
    0
    This game represents exactly what is wrong with the video game industry these days. What's more is that developers are attempting to inflate the scores of these games by creating fake reviews (see "Avanost"). For that, and the fact that this game is a travesty, I'm giving the game a 0.
  33. jukejoint
    Mar 17, 2011
    0
    It makes me sad to review this game. I have loved everyone of Biowares games, but this one. Dragon Age 2 is nothing of the same game. They took a fantastic RPG and turned it into an Action/combat console game. The combat is not difficult i didn't die once on default settings, not a challenging game.
  34. scotius
    Mar 17, 2011
    0
    This review contains no spoilers.

    Being a Bioware fan and having followed this company since their dawn, I wanted to love this game. I really wanted to love this game. Bioware is a company renowned for their compelling characters, vibrant locations and amazing storytelling. Sadly, this game has none of these things. Remember HK-47? Remember Morte? Remember the Justicar or Darth Revan?    This review contains no spoilers.

    Being a Bioware fan and having followed this company since their dawn, I wanted to love this game. I really wanted to love this game. Bioware is a company renowned for their compelling characters, vibrant locations and amazing storytelling. Sadly, this game has none of these things. Remember HK-47? Remember Morte? Remember the Justicar or Darth Revan? The characters in this game are very bland, very boring, third rate LOTR rip offs.

    The locations? Well, lets just say that the entirety of this game is played in the same 2 locations. Backgrounds and models are used and rehashed ad nauseam. This entire game feels as if it was very cheaply made, rushed and pointed towards an audience that does not like RPGs or wants them to be "simpler". The combat is half RPG and half Diablo and the end result of that unholy union is something abominable. The game will last you about 6 hours if you play through to the end. Pathetic. The graphics are not as good as Shadow of the Collossus (a game that came out just as the PS2 was ending its commercial life). It is dumbed down terribly. Also, be very aware that Bioware employees are on this site bumping it up. The reviewer "Avanost" has been discovered to be one of these already. "Anything negative you will see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference" eh?! A review is a statement of personal preference. Well done on giving it a ten, though, signifying that you think DA2 is the best that a game can become or ever be.    … Expand
  35. Jealousy
    Mar 17, 2011
    0
    DA2 gone very wrong. It's no more a tactical RPG, it's just an action point & click. Example : when you are in a tavern, you can only talk to Isabella and Varric, and that's only when they have quests available. You can't interact with any of the NPCs at all. The wheel of dialogue don't do her job, sometimes you select a choice, and the dialogue is completely different and then you getDA2 gone very wrong. It's no more a tactical RPG, it's just an action point & click. Example : when you are in a tavern, you can only talk to Isabella and Varric, and that's only when they have quests available. You can't interact with any of the NPCs at all. The wheel of dialogue don't do her job, sometimes you select a choice, and the dialogue is completely different and then you get loose in the conversation, the choice have not really any impact on the story. Optionnal quest are boring, some are using the same graphic for the dungeon. Only one city ..… Expand
  36. InformedGamer
    Mar 20, 2011
    0
    BIOWARE AND EA WROTE THE POSITIVE REVIEWS FOUND ON METACRITIC! Google: "Dragon Age Metacritic Review". I'm sure that most of these positive reviews were written by people with a connection to EA, Bioware or the employees friends and family. If you need to deceptively self promote that is a sign of a BIG PROBLEM! This is not even an RPG at all. Action game, yes...kind of. Devoid of anyBIOWARE AND EA WROTE THE POSITIVE REVIEWS FOUND ON METACRITIC! Google: "Dragon Age Metacritic Review". I'm sure that most of these positive reviews were written by people with a connection to EA, Bioware or the employees friends and family. If you need to deceptively self promote that is a sign of a BIG PROBLEM! This is not even an RPG at all. Action game, yes...kind of. Devoid of any life, the main city feels like an empty shell. The story is poor and the NPC's are lame. I am shocked that this was the sequel. And with the DLC, it feels like a complete money grab. Now I know why EA didn't offer a collector's edition, they can make far more money this way. Bioware has slid to a new low and this is from someone that has been a lifetime fan. All I want to do is bring forth the truth about this so we as gamers can influence a change for the better from a corporate entity that has turned their eyes to dollars instead of quality.… Expand
  37. PrancingPotato
    Mar 18, 2011
    0
    EA is posting their own reviews here and possibly elsewhere online to manipulate reviews. The 10/10 review by Avanost is fake and posted by Bioware:

    http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/g4jei/ea_admits_to_manipulating_online_review_scores_in/
  38. 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 thumbWow, 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
  39. Tata
    Mar 25, 2011
    0
    Bioware, I find your lack of effort disturbing in Dragon Age II.
  40. 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 !!!
  41. 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    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 from 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
  42. Randomfart
    Mar 20, 2011
    0
    A dumbed down experience. Hack and slash combat, cluncky graphics, recycled enviroments bad pacing, boring storyline, bad dialog and companions. All the naysayers have been right since day one, this game has not been made with the spirit of an rpg and it's an insult to what Bioware used to be.
  43. eduln
    Mar 21, 2011
    0
    Just played Dragon Age 2 for some time and Iâ
  44. yalda
    Mar 21, 2011
    0
    Absolutely disapointed, DA II feels like a long trailer for the first expansion. The effects of having played Origins are minimal and also disappointing. Where is Morrigan? Didn't you say the story with her isn't over? And what about Orsino the first enchanter becoming a Golem of Amgarrak with blood magic?!? This is just cheap recycling of already available monster designs. And then allAbsolutely disapointed, DA II feels like a long trailer for the first expansion. The effects of having played Origins are minimal and also disappointing. Where is Morrigan? Didn't you say the story with her isn't over? And what about Orsino the first enchanter becoming a Golem of Amgarrak with blood magic?!? This is just cheap recycling of already available monster designs. And then all the glitches and bugs: Killed Zevran in part 1, but then he shows up again. After Bethany returns at the final battle she seems to be invincible. everytime she dies I didn't have to revive her, she just resurrected without injury. As if the game wasn't already too easy. Playing on normal I just had to load maybe 2 or three times without ever using any special ability of my warrior. When Monsters appear you could just go to the toilet or watch TV, because you'll win the fight without doing anything. Okay, when there is a demon or a dragon you have to use a few portions. Also the money in the game is useless because these's nowhere anything nice to buy. I could go on like this for hours. I loved DA1 but this was just a big big disappointment :(… 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    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. affewaffe
    Mar 22, 2011
    0
    Refrain from buying this game if you have any expectations. While the game is not a complete disaster when regarded as a standalone game, you will get disappointed if you want to play it because you liked Dragon Age: Origins. Basically it is just a thumbed down, simplified version of its predecessor.

    My rating is not only game related, but mostly Biowares fault. While I would give the    Refrain from buying this game if you have any expectations. While the game is not a complete disaster when regarded as a standalone game, you will get disappointed if you want to play it because you liked Dragon Age: Origins. Basically it is just a thumbed down, simplified version of its predecessor.

    My rating is not only game related, but mostly Biowares fault. While I would give the game a 4-5/10, Biowares extreme failure forces me to make it 1/10. How can a gaming company even dare to censor people opinions about the game in their forums, having workers write ridiculous hymns of praise on metacritic and paying major magazines money to give outrageous scores? Just refrain from buying Bioware products if you can avoid it. Don't support companys with such low ethical standards until they feel the consequences. This is the only way to hurt them for deceiving people in such a shameful, pathetic way. Greedy bastards.

    But now to the game, which I played to the end. DA2 had 18 Months of development time, while DA:O took about five years. This manifests throughout the game which looks nice in the beginning, but lacks quality the longer you run around doing mindless, uninnovative quests. The combat system itself is fun at first but gets annoying due to it repetitiveness and unfair spawn system. A typical mission looks like this: Go to a cave, do x, collect y. Encounter enemies which spawn in weird waves that make no sense at all. When you run into the middle of a room you can be sure that enemies spawn right around you and the first thing you have to do in every fight is moving your fragile casters around the place and kite monsters so they don't die. Monsters are killed, many more enemies spawn for an unknown reason (couldn't they just be there from start) right in your casters again. Repeat kiting. Expect this to happen in 95% of all fights. And why do monsters suddenly spawn in hordes when there was not the slightest sign of enemies seconds before the encounter? Challenge in the fights come from unfair mechanics like hordes of monsters spawning in your ranged characters. This was so annoying, I can't put enough emphasis on it. Boss fights suck. On higher difficulties they are next to impossible due to near infinite health rather than intelligent design. You will do the same few button combinations for half an hour if you decide to fight that dragon/random other boss on hard difficulties. Often the result is endless kiting until the boss is finally dead - not worth it. A really sad game mechanic for a hyped 2011 game but probably the only possible outcome for a game which is rushed to make more money from the franchise.

    Next annoying thing is the game recycling as you advance through the game. While the main city Kirkwall and 4 locations outside of the city are not too shabby at first, EXPECT TO SEE THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE WHOLE GAME. EXPECT INSIDE LOCATIONS TO BE SEEN DOZENS OF TIMES WITH DIFFERENT ENEMIES. Every house, every dungeon, every cave is used multiple times. Seriously, there is no excuse for this in any way. Next thing are shallow companions inculding a crappy dialogue system. Low friendship/romance options are usually maxed out by pressing the "friendly" or "heart" answer 3-4 times. Clicking through the choices couldn't be simpler and has really nothing to do with role playing. Random pirate **** which offers sex to you the minute you talk to her, eerie looking elves on crack and other rather uninteresting characters you can have fight along your side.

    The storyline is another failure, since there is NONE. You flee from darkspawn to Kirkwall and try to become a champion there, which you are later on by collecting generic herbs, fighting some bad boys and rescuing maidens. There is no real mainplot which guides you through the game, generally you don't have a clue what to do next or what happens, since you will start running from one questmarker to another. At a certain point I didn't even bother to read quest texts anymore but rather collected the exp from certain generic, really, really, boring sidequests. This game is tricky though, at first it made me think "Aww.. what a bunch of haters, the game is not too bad. Nice fighting, decent graphics." But then you realize more and more that the hate has a foundation. The foundation is bad game design which can hardly be considered standard in a 2011 AAA+ game. Basically you end up running around in the same textures over and over again, slaying the same models of enemies over and over again as you advance through the three acts in the game. I also did not like the unlogical choices you are forced to make later on, but this is rather my personal taste on the story, which I found really awful.

    Do not buy this game if you are searching for a good role-playing game.    … Expand
  47. pete_3po
    Mar 22, 2011
    0
    I have never felt the need to write a review for anything on metacritic before. However after being so excited at getting my hands onto DA 2 and enjoying the first few hours of play i have been left feeling appalled by the absolute lack of regard shown by Bioware towards the Xbox community. As i have said i was enjoying playing this game and have no particular greivance with the differingI have never felt the need to write a review for anything on metacritic before. However after being so excited at getting my hands onto DA 2 and enjoying the first few hours of play i have been left feeling appalled by the absolute lack of regard shown by Bioware towards the Xbox community. As i have said i was enjoying playing this game and have no particular greivance with the differing approach taken from origins, but since running into the shield glitch I have had to stop playing and wait for Bioware to release a patch. The shield glitch is a bug in the game were-by if you unequip/re-equip or change your shield your defense stat is not reset but stacks, meaning that your warrior class characters become unbalanced and in effect you are unintenionally lowering the diffulculty of the game. How was this bug missed in testing? did the testers never change their characters shields? In the demo you were unable to change your characters equipment and this leads me to belive that there were stat issues with regard to altering equipment then, if this was the case why was this game released without Bioware resolving this glitch. While I haven't been playing DA 2 (all most two weeks now) I have been reading the Bioware social forums for info on a ETA for a patch, from what I have read I'm glad that I did stop because multiple other game breaking glitches have been found including save, achievement, AI and issues envolving the downloadable content. While little to no info from Bioware as to why on when these issues have occurred or will be resolved.

    Overall i have had to rate this game 0 out of 10 as it is unfinished and should never have been released and therefore in my opinon does not qualify for a rating. The experience has left me with a nasty taste in my mouth after giving Bioware and EA my £40 day one that all most two weeks later is still not a finished product whilst also feeling completly ignored by a company that just doesn't seem to care that it has done wrong.    … Expand
  48. Lunar_Savage
    Mar 22, 2011
    0
    This is basically a cash in on the popularity of the first game...with complete disregard to what made the first game a success. Designed to completely ride off the name alone. Hardcore fans and the original target audience of the first game were thrown to the side in favor of trying to draw more people. Every aspect of this game is truly inferior to the first game, and borrows directlyThis is basically a cash in on the popularity of the first game...with complete disregard to what made the first game a success. Designed to completely ride off the name alone. Hardcore fans and the original target audience of the first game were thrown to the side in favor of trying to draw more people. Every aspect of this game is truly inferior to the first game, and borrows directly from Mass Effect 2. In some ways, you could simply say this game is Mass Effect 2 with swords.

    Combat is no longer strategic or turn based. It's a complete hack n' slash game that's completely about flash with no difficulty whatsoever. Dialog is copy/pasted from Mass Effect 2. And customization is extremely watered down to the point where you don't even get to equip your party members. Even skill trees have been reduced and dumbed down. Dungeons are largely copy/pasted and look the same throughout the game making any potential exploration almost pointless and largely unrewarding. The only high point is perhaps the story, but even then, some will have issues with the reduced scope and style/method of the storytelling.    … Expand
  49. Ozymandias23
    Mar 23, 2011
    0
    I'll just leave this here:

    http://www.gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/dragon-age-ii-review#comment-38510

    btw I'm giving this a 0 to do my part to offset the 10s given by the EA/Bioware review writers.
  50. Hunterx1x
    Feb 4, 2012
    0
    This game is an insult to players who have played DA:O. I do not see how Mike Laidlaw could have allowed this half***ed game to be released. Does he really think customers are that dumb that we wouldn't notice the recycled maps? Or he just didn't care because he's making good money off it? I played DA:O beginning to finish over 10 times and couldn't even finish DA2 a second time as a mageThis game is an insult to players who have played DA:O. I do not see how Mike Laidlaw could have allowed this half***ed game to be released. Does he really think customers are that dumb that we wouldn't notice the recycled maps? Or he just didn't care because he's making good money off it? I played DA:O beginning to finish over 10 times and couldn't even finish DA2 a second time as a mage versus a warrior. I could go on and on but it's not worth it. I will wait and see DA3's USER reviews first before I think about buying it. Same goes for ME3(… Expand
  51. FaisedOut
    Mar 25, 2011
    0
    This is NOT an RPG, folks. I should've listened to the negative reviews posted here but my excitement for a new console RPG took over and I purchased it anyway. Think of this game as a "Dynasty Warriors" or the related "Samurai Warriors" game. Now if mindless hack-and-slash doesn't appeal to you, this game won't either. Funny thing is, I love hack-and-slash as well as a good RPG butThis is NOT an RPG, folks. I should've listened to the negative reviews posted here but my excitement for a new console RPG took over and I purchased it anyway. Think of this game as a "Dynasty Warriors" or the related "Samurai Warriors" game. Now if mindless hack-and-slash doesn't appeal to you, this game won't either. Funny thing is, I love hack-and-slash as well as a good RPG but this game is neither! Download the demo and you will see what I mean. DO NOT HEED ANY OF THE GOOD REVIEWS ON THIS SITE! Did they even PLAY the game???… Expand
  52. 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.
  53. 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. AlsoThey 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
  54. Dathmir
    Mar 26, 2011
    0
    A remarkable disappointment. With dumbed down gameplay, an uninteresting story and very poor game design, this game is not worth your money. As a stand alone game it is acceptable at best. As the sequel to one of the greatest games made, it's a travesty.
    This may well mark the end of Bioware as we know it - a company that never waver in the quality of its products. If so, it will be the    A remarkable disappointment. With dumbed down gameplay, an uninteresting story and very poor game design, this game is not worth your money. As a stand alone game it is acceptable at best. As the sequel to one of the greatest games made, it's a travesty.
    This may well mark the end of Bioware as we know it - a company that never waver in the quality of its products. If so, it will be the greatest tragedy in recent gaming history.    … Expand
  55. tbaker
    Mar 27, 2011
    0
    This game is awful. Combat is faster but looks absolutely ridiculous. RPG players usually want more detail - not less. I spent over 120 hours on various playthroughs of Origins (that's more than 5 days). I tapped out and returned my signature edition of DA2 after less than 5 hours. I never write these reviews but I'm hoping it will give Bioware a hint going forward.
  56. evox985
    Mar 29, 2011
    0
    Dragon Age 2 was a disappointment, plain and simple. A lot of you Bioware fanboys are trying to say that you have to judge this game based on its own merits and not those of its predecessor, WTF?! Is this game's title not DRAGON AGE 2?! So quit spewing Bioware's BS and develop an informed opinion of your own! And for the Bioware developers of DA2 who decided to post their own positiveDragon Age 2 was a disappointment, plain and simple. A lot of you Bioware fanboys are trying to say that you have to judge this game based on its own merits and not those of its predecessor, WTF?! Is this game's title not DRAGON AGE 2?! So quit spewing Bioware's BS and develop an informed opinion of your own! And for the Bioware developers of DA2 who decided to post their own positive reviews to try to save the user review score, you should be ashamed. You're obviously biased and user reviews should reflect the gamers, not the creators trying to shield themselves from the negative backlash of their own failures. Whatever good intentions that may have been possessed going into development of DA2 were wasted, the game is only worth mentioning as the titanic failure that it is in the wake of Dragon Age: Origins. The character and background artwork/animation are poor design. The storyline, if it even exists, is pathetically weak. Character interaction w/ companions is tedious as sin and not worth the effort due to lackluster personalities. The inability to equip companions w/ unique armor strips the game of one of the fundamental values of the RPG genre and is in my opinion the worst detraction from DA2. Recycled maps? Even the reviewers who gave DA2 a good review bashed Bioware for the recycled maps. And the new combat system that so many reviewers want to boast about effectively turns this game into a hack and slash button masher devoid of tactical approach. The same system used in ME2 was possible w/out detraction because the characters were equipped w/ ballistic weapons and could use cover that created seperation of opposing forces and still allowed the player to effectively perform as a team leader when making decisions for the team. DA2 on the other hand requires players to engage in close combat which works as a major distraction from the rest of the team's welfare because the player is personally caught up in their own struggles so distinctly. Dragon Age: Origins benefitted from the almost 3rd person POV because it allowed the player to control a character right in the midst of a battle but the player could still easily step back and view/alter the other companions behaviors w/out adversely affecting the character they controlled. All said, Bioware is still the best in the business at what they do, I just hope for future titles that they go back to their roots and return to producing games that reward their true fans, not dumbed down garbage for the ignorant masses… Expand
  57. 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.
  58. Tancred88
    Apr 20, 2011
    0
    A dumbed-down RPG, simplified for console users, rapidly released to capitalize on the success of DA Origins and Bioware's reputation. Combat is a clickfest, more akin to a streetfighter game than an RPG. Enemies teleport in, everyone warps around the battlefield, everyone flips around like ninjas, and fountains of blood erupt from every wound. The storyline is simply a grouping ofA dumbed-down RPG, simplified for console users, rapidly released to capitalize on the success of DA Origins and Bioware's reputation. Combat is a clickfest, more akin to a streetfighter game than an RPG. Enemies teleport in, everyone warps around the battlefield, everyone flips around like ninjas, and fountains of blood erupt from every wound. The storyline is simply a grouping of unrelated quests. The zones are totally linear, and are continually reused (every cave looks like one of two possible cave templates, etc). Conversation options have little or no impact on the story. Graphics are ok, though nothing special. This game is not an RPG. It is nothing like Dragon Age Origins. I am a huge fan of previous Bioware games, but I'll never buy another until I read user reviews several weeks after release.… Expand
  59. TheArchitect
    Apr 23, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Horrible disappointment.They took everything that was good in Dragon Age Origins&Awakening and threw it out of the window.Graphics? Poor level design,recycled generic dungeons,90% of the quests are located in ONE CITY! Just terrible.Sound? Also much better in Origins,voice acting in DA2 is poor and unconvincing,music was also waaaaay better in Origins.Dialogues? The dialogue system is a very very poor copy of the Mass Effect dialogue system,with pseudoparagon and pseudorenegade answers and supposedly funny answers that usually spectacularly fail to be funny.Dialogue system in Origins provided much more to choose from and it was much better written.Party members? Extremely annoying and shallow (Varric Tethras is the only half bearable character) and you cannot change their armor AT ALL.Romance? Almost non existant options for any interesting romance,especially for male Hawke,you get to choose from retarded elf woman (Merrill) and a slut (Isabella),that is it if you dont count gay romance with Anders.Combat? One of the most annoying parts of the game,dumbed down to the console click click level catered for the very casual RPG gamers,any true RPG gamer will be extremely disappointed with the new combat system.DAO had pretty good combat system,DA2 combat system is total crap.User interface? DAO had beautifully designed user interface with detailed descriptions of items,now you get a bland black user interface that has no place in any game,let alone a fantasy game.Weapon,armor and item descriptions are also totally dumbed down.Now you actually collect "junk",way to go.Storyline,quests and ending? Unlike DAO,DA2 forces some plot developments on you,regardless of what you do or choices you make,lame.In DAO you could influence even major plot developments,often in significant ways.Now you are forced to accept certain decisions and your influence on them is cosmetics.This game is either rushed so it is half done or Bioware decided to dumb down their best RPG since Baldur's Gate to cater for wider audience,and therefore make more money for Bioware.Hopefully they will listen to the widespread criticism of DA2 and make the likely third installment of Dragon Age once again a real hardcore RPG.DA2 is a great example of what NOT to do with a sequel to a game,take everything that was good,throw it away,add horrible redesign and "new features" that are actually crap and you get this.They even managed to screw up the redesign of DAO character faces like Sandal,Zevran or Alistair.Not to mention that darkspawn now look like a joke.In some moments during gameplay I started laughing on how terrible some things were compared to DAO.I just could not believe that Bioware can screw up the sequel this much.… Expand
  60. whisky
    May 5, 2011
    0
    DA2 is a huge disappointment. Being a sequel to DA:O, it has nothing to do with the Dragon Age universe. Instead, DA2 told some lame story about politics and earning money. Some of you may think it's ridiculous to give this game a zero, but I'll tell you why: Ugly art style, bland environments, ugly user interface, no tactical camera, exploding bodies parts, thousands waves of teleportingDA2 is a huge disappointment. Being a sequel to DA:O, it has nothing to do with the Dragon Age universe. Instead, DA2 told some lame story about politics and earning money. Some of you may think it's ridiculous to give this game a zero, but I'll tell you why: Ugly art style, bland environments, ugly user interface, no tactical camera, exploding bodies parts, thousands waves of teleporting enemies, DMC combat style, no companion interactions, boring companions, boring ugly city, recycle maps, no armor customization for companions, retarded darkspawn design, painfully boring story and conversations choices. If I give a minus (-1) for every bad aspect above, DA2 will get a negative score. Sadly, we all know it's impossible to give a negative score, so zero is my only choice.… Expand
  61. Saker
    May 13, 2011
    0
    on Dragon Age II website they say :

    Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins but then again people say , it's not DA:O 2 , i know it's not and never expected it would either but i would have expected the same quality of it's predecessor or even better but in no way it was. People then say well they only had    on Dragon Age II website they say :

    Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins

    but then again people say , it's not DA:O 2 , i know it's not and never expected it would either but i would have expected the same quality of it's predecessor or even better but in no way it was.

    People then say well they only had 18 months to do it, the development time was too short to make it as good, then why did they scrapped everything and remade a totally different game instead of fixing what was broken and getting rid of meh stuff ? The result is a bland story, shallow companions, retcons, recycled maps: same 1 house same 1 cave same estate and same warehouse X 100 , ninja waves that comes from no where as in popping out of thin air , plot holes .

    While not really worth a 0 but more a 4 or 5 since it's a crap sequel, i put a 0 because of the Biodrones who rated it with a 10 and some tool on DA2 forums exhorted everyone who liked the game to create accounts to raise the user score with 10s    … Expand
  62. brisbanesimon
    May 17, 2011
    0
    I am so disappointed in this game,went out and brought it as soon as it was released,there was no love put into the making of this game there are sloppy textures everywhere and the world seems to be populates by poorly realized idiotic characters,shame on you bioware I will be thinking twice about buying any product that you release in the future
  63. majonez
    May 17, 2011
    0
    Refrain from buying this game if you have any expectations. While the game is not a complete disaster when regarded as a standalone game, you will get disappointed if you want to play it because you liked Dragon Age: Origins. Basically it is just a thumbed down, simplified version of its predecessor. My rating is not only game related, but mostly Biowares fault. While I would give the gameRefrain from buying this game if you have any expectations. While the game is not a complete disaster when regarded as a standalone game, you will get disappointed if you want to play it because you liked Dragon Age: Origins. Basically it is just a thumbed down, simplified version of its predecessor. My rating is not only game related, but mostly Biowares fault. While I would give the game a 4-5/10, Biowares extreme failure forces me to make it 1/10. How can a gaming company even dare to censor people opinions about the game in their forums, having workers write ridiculous hymns of praise on metacritic and paying major magazines money to give outrageous scores? Just refrain from buying Bioware products if you can avoid it. Don't support companys with such low ethical standards until they feel the consequences. This is the only way to hurt them for deceiving people in such a shameful, pathetic way. Greedy bastards. But now to the game, which I played to the end. DA2 had 18 Months of development time, while DA:O took about five years. This manifests throughout the game which looks nice in the beginning, but lacks quality the longer you run around doing mindless, uninnovative quests. The combat system itself is fun at first but gets annoying due to it repetitiveness and unfair spawn system. A typical mission looks like this: Go to a cave, do x, collect y. Encounter enemies which spawn in weird waves that make no sense at all. When you run into the middle of a room you can be sure that enemies spawn right around you and the first thing you have to do in every fight is moving your fragile casters around the place and kite monsters so they don't die. Monsters are killed, many more enemies spawn for an unknown reason (couldn't they just be there from start) right in your casters again. Repeat kiting. Expect this to happen in 95% of all fights. And why do monsters suddenly spawn in hordes when there was not the slightest sign of enemies seconds before the encounter? Challenge in the fights come from unfair mechanics like hordes of monsters spawning in your ranged characters. This was so annoying, I can't put enough emphasis on it. Boss fights suck. On higher difficulties they are next to impossible due to near infinite health rather than intelligent design. You will do the same few button combinations for half an hour if you decide to fight that dragon/random other boss on hard difficulties. Often the result is endless kiting until the boss is finally dead - not worth it. A really sad game mechanic for a hyped 2011 game but probably the only possible outcome for a game which is rushed to make more money from the franchise. Next annoying thing is the game recycling as you advance through the game. While the main city Kirkwall and 4 locations outside of the city are not too shabby at first, EXPECT TO SEE THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE WHOLE GAME. EXPECT INSIDE LOCATIONS TO BE SEEN DOZENS OF TIMES WITH DIFFERENT ENEMIES. Every house, every dungeon, every cave is used multiple times. Seriously, there is no excuse for this in any way. Next thing are shallow companions inculding a crappy dialogue system. Low friendship/romance options are usually maxed out by pressing the "friendly" or "heart" answer 3-4 times. Clicking through the choices couldn't be simpler and has really nothing to do with role playing. Random pirate **** which offers sex to you the minute you talk to her, eerie looking elves on crack and other rather uninteresting characters you can have fight along your side. The storyline is another failure, since there is NONE. You flee from darkspawn to Kirkwall and try to become a champion there, which you are later on by collecting generic herbs, fighting some bad boys and rescuing maidens. There is no real mainplot which guides you through the game, generally you don't have a clue what to do next or what happens, since you will start running from one questmarker to another. At a certain point I didn't even bother to read quest texts anymore but rather collected the exp from certain generic, really, really, boring sidequests. This game is tricky though, at first it made me think "Aww.. what a bunch of haters, the game is not too bad. Nice fighting, decent graphics." But then you realize more and more that the hate has a foundation. The foundation is bad game design which can hardly be considered standard in a 2011 AAA+ game. Basically you end up running around in the same textures over and over again, slaying the same models of enemies over and over again as you advance through the three acts in the game. I also did not like the unlogical choices you are forced to make later on, but this is rather my personal taste on the story, which I found really awful. Do not buy this game if you are searching for a good role-playing game.… Expand
  64. kosiarzksrz
    May 17, 2011
    0
    The worst game of the year . Don't buy it, it's better to spend money on something else. Everything is inferior to the first game. I don't know what to say about this thing.

    very poor game
  65. gorkys
    May 17, 2011
    0
    I am very disappointed. I was expecting something more like RPG game, not Hack&Slash game. BioWare shame on you!! That was waste of my money. This game is very overrated on all platforms.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  66. cainx10a
    May 17, 2011
    0
    I played through the first Dragon Age and its expansion pack, Awakening for a total of 300+ hours, and plan to play more of it over the coming years. Dragon Age: Origins was one of the best RPGs I played in my life time (25 y/o gamer who has played every games in BioWare library). Dragon Age 2 is a mediocre game that is undeserving of the high score given to it by professional reviewers,I played through the first Dragon Age and its expansion pack, Awakening for a total of 300+ hours, and plan to play more of it over the coming years. Dragon Age: Origins was one of the best RPGs I played in my life time (25 y/o gamer who has played every games in BioWare library). Dragon Age 2 is a mediocre game that is undeserving of the high score given to it by professional reviewers, and its legion of fanboys and fangirls who remind me more of twilight fans than mature and honest people. From the unscrupulous BioWare employee who would go as far as accuse The Witcher 2 of plagiarizing its source material (being the Witcher's book itself) for which it was given consent to (how do write something like that is beyond me) to others who are adamant their game is good, and will pay no heed to the complaints of the product, this is a game whose developers only care about hearing praises rather than meaningful criticism, and are eager to shut down everyone who say otherwise. -Story- I love the story, it's an interesting concept to move away from the usual RPG cliche of Epics. Here we live in the small clothes of Hawke, an immigrant to the city of Kirkwall and how over 7 years of Hawke's life, his actions will affect the lives of Kirkwall multi-racial population. It's a personal story... I enjoyed it, a lot. The relationship is great too, the fact that they went with everyone is a Bi is a good move, too bad that'snot the case in real life, but hey, that's what games are for right? ESCAPISM! yay! I would say, if you can ignore every of the gripe I have about the game, go for it. My score of 0 is a biased one, because I had a bad time, a horrible time even, playing it. But there's one major problem the story have. This coincides with the gameplay section, but bare with me on this part, along the road like any good RPG, you will befriend people who will either be your biggest admirator, and loyal kickass buddy. There will always be the other guy, who questions your every choice and is a plain pain in the butt, but hey, you need a warrior on the team. That doesn't sound so bad? Until you look at their skill tree, and the fact the guy who is a crucial member to the team (hint -healer-) decides to be a douche, now you are left with an option, role play (it's an RPG right) and leave him behind. Or not role play, and keep him in the team, and ruin the story for you because your party is lacking skill wise, and the story itself follows the path you wish it did not,.


    -Gameplay- This is where the major problem lies. Gameplay in DA2 yells LAZY in my ears. From enemies that follow a strict archetype, you have your warrior, your rogue, your mage, your archer. That's it. No imagination, at all. The rogue templar is no different than a bandit rogue. How does that make sense, a fully armored rogue should not even exist, they fact they are even harder to deal with than the average templar is just stupid when they can murder your Mage in one strike. How, please, tell me BioWare. Add to that enemies wave, and it stopped making sense, a year ago.

    Add to that, the fact no one bothered to test the different difficulty levels and see whether they are playable or not. Hard was a fun romp until a certain boss fight that was immune to backstabbing (important positioning move), and blam, the useless countdown abilties I had, all used up, and taking another year to cool down, and now my entire party was as useful as that mentally challenged kid ... minus his super powers. Then there's map design, they are all awful, and they are recycled. This is an RPG game right? I am in kirkwall, does every basement and mansion have to look the same? Seriously. Every goddamn cave look the same. Every side quests bring you to those same locations over and over again.

    DA2 gameplay is broken, frustrating on the harder difficulties (way too easy on the normal/easy one), and is pure lazy game development.

    -Presentation-
    Sure, your main characters look beautiful. The environments too. The other NPCs you interact will are good looking too. Then you do a bit of exploring, then you start finding there are some weed here and there, ugly NPCs, people we are not supposed to interact with. You know, beggars, peasants. Should have seen the look on their faces, like they were from the 16-bit era (it's right there before Kitten Age, and after Goat Age ... 16-bit Age). Kirkwall kinda remind me of Braavos from A Song of Ice and Fire, with the massive statue in front of the city. That's about it. The end-game armor for the hero is pretty, the fixed armor design for your companions is a great idea, I understand the logic behind preventing the player to equip the NPCs with rags when they are their own being, and the choice of wearing small clothes ... or not (ISABELLA!!!) is well, their choice.

    - Replay Value -
    Dragon Age: Origins 300 hours and counting
    DA 2: 38 Hour Campaign ... DONE ... UNINSTALLED


    -Conclusion-
    I did not have fun.    … Expand
  67. Fanton
    May 18, 2011
    0
    I had high expectations with this game after Dragon Age: Origins, the game was done without any care for the story, being short and leaving holes that may have been playable and interesting! The worst of it is repeating the same maps in the few places to go! I very much hope that Mass Effect 3 will not turn that same garbage!
  68. Jony22
    May 17, 2011
    0
    Bioware DA two vendetta squad with "o" scores will fail. lowering TW two ratings ? thats not good idea.

    screw u bioware with ur sh..y game. played da two and for me thats the worst pile of sh.t i have ever played.


    DA two SUCKS
  69. yofingolfin
    May 17, 2011
    0
    Oh my God! And I realy mean it- oh my God! How could anyone call this piece of utter uselessnes a cRPG? This is just impossible. Extremely weak plot, characters that are as developed as the grass in my backyard, moder-4-years-ago graphics. But there's a lot of fighting and when you are not fighting you ... fight! If only this was absorbing but no, it's dull and monotonous as hell. FirstOh my God! And I realy mean it- oh my God! How could anyone call this piece of utter uselessnes a cRPG? This is just impossible. Extremely weak plot, characters that are as developed as the grass in my backyard, moder-4-years-ago graphics. But there's a lot of fighting and when you are not fighting you ... fight! If only this was absorbing but no, it's dull and monotonous as hell. First game that I bought just to sell it 2 days later on ebay. This piece of **** is not worth a penny! I give it the score it deserves- (0.0)… Expand
  70. estrogen
    May 19, 2011
    0
    Dragon age 2 is underdeveloped, politically correct [in every possible aspect] and consolized hack'n'slash. Graphics are bad, environments are recycled and repetitive, characters are dull and stereotypical. Dialogue "wheel" is pathetic [GOOD CHOICE,BAD CHOICE, NEUTRAL CHOICE LOL]. Comparing to the first Dragon age everything got dumbed down drastically. Talent trees got simplified,Dragon age 2 is underdeveloped, politically correct [in every possible aspect] and consolized hack'n'slash. Graphics are bad, environments are recycled and repetitive, characters are dull and stereotypical. Dialogue "wheel" is pathetic [GOOD CHOICE,BAD CHOICE, NEUTRAL CHOICE LOL]. Comparing to the first Dragon age everything got dumbed down drastically. Talent trees got simplified, dialogues got simplified, you can even equip your team-mates anymore [I guess bioware thought it was too hard for a subset of gamers]. Conclusion: I don't recommend this game because it's a waste of time and money.… Expand
  71. Utensils
    May 19, 2011
    0
    This has to be one of the most disappointed games I have had the displeasure of playing. I foolishly pre-ordered this P.O.S game on the pretense that Bioware couldn't possibly mess up a sequel to a great game. I was wrong. I will not be buying another Bioware game.
  72. Frorfvoid
    May 20, 2011
    0
    It's not often that a sequel comes out worse in every single way to its predecessor, yet the brilliant minds at BioWare have managed to accomplish just that with Dragon Age 2. This game is clearly rushed, likely due to the influence of EA, and doesn't even remotely resemble all of the greatness that Dragon Age Origins was known for. Try harder next time, BioWare, and you might win back myIt's not often that a sequel comes out worse in every single way to its predecessor, yet the brilliant minds at BioWare have managed to accomplish just that with Dragon Age 2. This game is clearly rushed, likely due to the influence of EA, and doesn't even remotely resemble all of the greatness that Dragon Age Origins was known for. Try harder next time, BioWare, and you might win back my business.… Expand
  73. obrion
    May 21, 2011
    0
    what a stupid game i cant beleive i brought it the music is baaaaaaaad the graphics are baaaaaaaad the story is baaaaaaaaaaaaad the whole game is baaaaaaaaaad
  74. Logikal1
    May 21, 2011
    0
    This game is so bad that I consider it unplayable. I have been a BioWare fan for a decade and I'm sad to say that this product is complete and total trash. Not being able to customize your characters armor is obscene. There is no excuse for that. Not having a tactical camera for a game that IN THEORY (and theory only) is a party based tactical combat RPG is obscene. There is no excuse forThis game is so bad that I consider it unplayable. I have been a BioWare fan for a decade and I'm sad to say that this product is complete and total trash. Not being able to customize your characters armor is obscene. There is no excuse for that. Not having a tactical camera for a game that IN THEORY (and theory only) is a party based tactical combat RPG is obscene. There is no excuse for that. Enemies randomly appearing in 5+ waves on nightmare is obscene. Swordman often literally drop from the sky. There is no excuse for that. Areas are recycled over and over. I don't believe ANY are of the game is unique. The game is trash. Don't buy it. Don't rent it. Don't acknowledge it exists. Its really not worth the frustration if you're expecting another incredible BioWare title. That being said...... I hope Mike Laidlaw never develops another BioWare game.… Expand
  75. rusina
    Jun 6, 2011
    0
    If you are a fan of Dragon Age: Origins, I recommend leaving this abomination on the store shelf. Re-used areas, one dimensional characters, tedious quests and the dumbed down combat ruin the game completely.
  76. Lessi
    May 27, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dragon Age suffers from a disconnect with its predecessor in more than one area.

    One of which being the protagonist and setting. While it is a decent idea to have either a new character or a new location it is an extremely stupid idea to have BOTH. This removes players from the familiar to an absurd degree and makes it harder to see a continuation in the story.

    The story is a weak point in itself. it is a story of religious intolerance and evil magic, but with no real substance. The mages that attack you may as well be cardboard cut outs are are so irredeemably evil that it seems like a safe bet that the local knights of mageslaying are the sane ones until you find out the entire city just wanted to kill itself and the faction that was played up as the 'villains' for 2/3rds of the game probably had the right idea after all.

    The game actually lacks an ending and takes place during a story told by one of the protagonists supposed companions who may or may not be lying through his teeth about everything.

    Hawke is leashed to Kirkwall like a Damane to a Sul'dam (or Saarebas and Arvaarad, as bioware would call yet another of their seemingly endless Wheel of Time borrowances) and can only go to a handful of locations outside the city which never change except to be populated with the monsters that hawke must kill for the new quests.

    Overall the game starts off well enough with anticipation and excitement being the main emotions as the player awaits one of biowares great storylines, this never actually materializes and you eventually wonder what happened as the credits roll.

    One of the reasons the game rates so poorly is the hype and expectation surrounding the game. This to some people may not be a fair evaluation, but as it influenced the positive experience with the first part of the game it is essential in understanding why people are so upset.

    Many people spent months watching trailers and unable to contain their excitement, and the game that arrived is one that causes one of two reactions; denial of its flaws or intense disappointment. I found myself in the later category, after hoping that the game would revive, it didn't.

    Decisions such as having a character killed off immediately if you chose the 'wrong' class reduced the replay value greatly, as it was easy to to see the character 'killed off' if your PC is a wielder of magic is needed to give a magical connection to hawke to artificially draw him/her into the mage-templar conflict.

    As did lack of racial choices. Ultimately we wanted a continuation to the storyline started in origins, wether the Warden's story or Fereldan's story and it simply wasn't told.    … Expand
  77. ronnel990
    Jun 16, 2011
    0
    repetitive maps, cut scene sucks, too short and decision that didn't change the outcome of the game. DRAGON AGE II IS JUST LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  78. jorge100
    Sep 26, 2011
    0
    Terrible game with no redeeming qualities. Game play was horrible and the storyline was pathetic compared to Dragon Age Origins. . The graphics were also better in Origins. The characters were weak and uninspiring. The combat was a joke. Rogue and mage classes stunk. The skill trees had no skills in comparison to DAO. Games a boring button masher.
  79. Davecz
    Jul 25, 2011
    0
    Epic Fail...................................................................................................................................................
  80. SpunkyMonkey
    Sep 6, 2011
    0
    Total dross. Combat is the games main selling point, but it's soooooooo dull and uninteresting, button mashing not unlike Track and Field with very little else - It's just too fast and too sloppy to care about and too in between the action and strategy genres to work well as either. The game as a whole is and a horrid hybrid beteen a Dungeon Crawler and an interactive movie-game whichTotal dross. Combat is the games main selling point, but it's soooooooo dull and uninteresting, button mashing not unlike Track and Field with very little else - It's just too fast and too sloppy to care about and too in between the action and strategy genres to work well as either. The game as a whole is and a horrid hybrid beteen a Dungeon Crawler and an interactive movie-game which you'd find on the Mega CD - There's very little actual roleplaying involved like there was in Origins. As a stand alone game DA2 is very repetative, very dull and dire, but as a sequal it contains none of the elements which were enjoyable in the original. The dialogue tree is missed big time with the conversation choices reduced to a basic "Good/funny/evil" choice, none of which feel well placed or make much difference to proceedings. The final straw is replaying areas which you've already run through several times - how each gang and bad guy hangs out in the same ally is a joke. A perfect example of how this game falls short was with a 1-on-1 battle with what would be deemed as one of the games main antagonists - it literally had me laffing out loud at how bad, boring and comicly the fight unfolded. It was kind of like when I first saw Scream expecting a horror movie, but getting more of a comedy.

    After forcing myself to complete it I put the original on and in 2 minutes it became even more clear how bad DA2 was compare to the quality, if not slightly flawed, Origins. Play Originas through as a different race/class, youtube all the plot vids for DA 2 and avoid purchasing DA2 like the plague!!    … Expand
  81. barbie
    Oct 6, 2011
    0
    I tried my best to like this game, but I couldnâ
  82. Vertillian
    Nov 30, 2011
    0
    This makes a lie of all the previous praise for Bioware. Shoddy design, and lazy production values! In my opinion the inflated praise for ME2 has effected them far too much. Supposedly known for their "humility" bioware still won't admit to the outright failure and terrible reception this game has received. This is not an RPG, its a bland attempt to turn a successful Fantasy RPG into MassThis makes a lie of all the previous praise for Bioware. Shoddy design, and lazy production values! In my opinion the inflated praise for ME2 has effected them far too much. Supposedly known for their "humility" bioware still won't admit to the outright failure and terrible reception this game has received. This is not an RPG, its a bland attempt to turn a successful Fantasy RPG into Mass effect. Linear, unresponsive gameplay with no depth, nor attempt at decent storyline. No consequence to actions, nor any noticeable change to story. Shocking.… Expand
  83. coelo
    Mar 14, 2012
    0
    This game sucks so bad.
    Graphics are not as good as the first DA.

    Also, the environment just repeats over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over...


    See how it felt to have to read that?
    That's how it feels to play DA II.

    The game sucks hard.
  84. weedlord
    Nov 9, 2011
    0
    There was no button-awesome connection for me. I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry!
  85. zakariru
    Nov 10, 2011
    0
    Big Bioware fanboy. This game was an attempt to bring people to the genre who don't understand it at the cost of people who do. I'll probably avoid DA3 because of how much this game offended me. It's not the worst game ever, if it wasn't a Dragon Age game it would probably be a 5 or 6/10 because it was playable. However the fact it has to be compared to DAO which was one of the best RPG'sBig Bioware fanboy. This game was an attempt to bring people to the genre who don't understand it at the cost of people who do. I'll probably avoid DA3 because of how much this game offended me. It's not the worst game ever, if it wasn't a Dragon Age game it would probably be a 5 or 6/10 because it was playable. However the fact it has to be compared to DAO which was one of the best RPG's ever makes it hard to give this anything other than this score.… Expand
  86. Acquiredempire
    Dec 8, 2011
    0
    Bioware fan since Baldur's Gate but this game was rushed, dumb downed and in my mind a sub par money grab off the success of Origins. Barley a RPG. Could have been so much more. Bioware is trying to walk the fine line of pulling in new fans without alienating their core. I hope this is not a sign of things to come from EA.
  87. coughxcool
    Dec 13, 2011
    0
    Whate a waste of money. I was disgusted when I realized I was never leaving Kirkwall. The party and friend mechanics were cool, but thats to be expected from any bBoware game at this point.
  88. Eowor
    Dec 13, 2011
    0
    Dragon Age Origins was announced as the spiritual brother of Baldur's Gate, an rpg in the greatest tradition of the genre.
    As has happened for DA2, strengthened by its new license falls as low as that. To make it the worst game bioware?
    On top of that, we see that mass EFFECT2 also had the race to the bottom, less than rpg, more action. But back in to DA2, the game looks better, but we    Dragon Age Origins was announced as the spiritual brother of Baldur's Gate, an rpg in the greatest tradition of the genre.
    As has happened for DA2, strengthened by its new license falls as low as that. To make it the worst game bioware?
    On top of that, we see that mass EFFECT2 also had the race to the bottom, less than rpg, more action.

    But back in to DA2, the game looks better, but we find ourselves in a smaller area, with some areas copy and paste, so an artistic research much less advanced than in DAO.
    The interface is simplistic, the inventory is ugly, I do not understand this modernity while we are in a medieval world. Our compagons wear one armor, unchangeable, innaceptable.
    The fighting tactics were great at a high level of difficulty, now, we are left with the little brother's spiritual Bayonetta, it does not reflect, is dark, no need to break tactics. Enemies out of the ground like moles.
    The story is weak, very weak compared to that of DAO. Immersion is difficult because of the script which is very poorly led. The fault also has not really charismatic fellow. Forget Sten, Alistair, Morrigan ...
    The design of the elves, Qunaris, Flemeth is really in poor taste, too offset from DAO
    The dialogue system is inadequate because not enough choice, because too Manichean. The hero is good but it speaks to the detriment of our answer choices. The world is not black or white, good or bad, the game is intended for an audience too mature to have such simplistic reasoning.
    Quests are a distressing banality, which do not grow more than that a plunge in the background, which is still good (but that's thanks to DAO).
    The soundtrack, also falls short of the first game, Mr. Inon Zur says himself: the game was sloppy
    I finished the game once, and I sold four days after his purchase, and more so because the game is much shorter than the first.
    Conversely, I always Dragon Age Origins and I remade some every 2 months

    Dragon Age 2 is an oil stain in the curriculum vitae of Bioware, I have done once, but I would be very careful next time.

    For me Mass Effect 3 will be your last chance.    … Expand
  89. ManOfSteel
    Dec 20, 2011
    0
    This game is a monstrosity. After a beautiful and well-written game in DA:O, BioWare took everything about the game, burned it, dumbed down gameplay and made hack/slash combat and a boring story, and what you have is the Dragon Age name tarnished forever. The effort or this game was lazy and rushed. They were very lazy in this game, and BioWare should be ashamed. I will never play a DAThis game is a monstrosity. After a beautiful and well-written game in DA:O, BioWare took everything about the game, burned it, dumbed down gameplay and made hack/slash combat and a boring story, and what you have is the Dragon Age name tarnished forever. The effort or this game was lazy and rushed. They were very lazy in this game, and BioWare should be ashamed. I will never play a DA game again. But at least there is Skyrim :).… Expand
  90. Nikkolette
    Jan 4, 2012
    0
    Dumbed down RPG. Japanese slasher arcade combat with acrobatic knights in heavy armor, parachuting waves of zergling enemies, also in heavy armor. Idiotic wheel dialogue system where your written phrases differs from Hawke actually saying. Location that game uses n+1 times. Shallow companions. Etc etc etc.
    A shadow of Origins.
  91. Crustypirate
    Jan 17, 2012
    0
    The story of dragon age 2 has a number of problems but the most evident one is that it doesn't have any relevance to the dragon age series in the slightest. In fact It feels more at home in the assassins creed universe. My best guess at bioware's thinking is that they wanted to cash in on the success of the assassins creed games and were pushed for time by EA their publisher. TheThe story of dragon age 2 has a number of problems but the most evident one is that it doesn't have any relevance to the dragon age series in the slightest. In fact It feels more at home in the assassins creed universe. My best guess at bioware's thinking is that they wanted to cash in on the success of the assassins creed games and were pushed for time by EA their publisher. The gameplay would be fine if not for the fact that this game bears the title of dragon age 2. The second game in a series is supposed to improve upon a game, refine and add to the mechanics and deliver a better experience. Dragon age 2 dumbs down already simple combat bringing it to a pathetic hack and slash style. Complexity and large numbers of abilities have been thrown out due to bioware attempting to build the game for a controller one of the worst design decisions that can ever be made yet I see repeated over and over. Basically the game is a simplified husk devoid of any interesting lore or gameplay. Do not waste your money on this garbage.… Expand
  92. bubblegumNtaffy
    Mar 3, 2012
    0
    The first RPG game I ever played was KoTOR. From then on I was instantly hooked, even calling it my favorite game. I bought every Bioware release from then on. Although Oblivion eventually replaced KoTOR as my favorite RPG/game of all time, Bioware continued to make me happy. I enjoyed Jade Empire, loved Mass Effect, and honestly I was mesmerized by Dragon Age. No story has fully engrossedThe first RPG game I ever played was KoTOR. From then on I was instantly hooked, even calling it my favorite game. I bought every Bioware release from then on. Although Oblivion eventually replaced KoTOR as my favorite RPG/game of all time, Bioware continued to make me happy. I enjoyed Jade Empire, loved Mass Effect, and honestly I was mesmerized by Dragon Age. No story has fully engrossed me as Dragon Age did. The characters were real. The plot was fantastic and felt as though ti was fully customizable and world that was yours to develop. Lets get this out of the way first, I have always been a console boy. Now onto DA2.... I have never been more let down by a video game. EVER. If you thought Mass Effect 2 was bad then you're in for a rude awakening. Mass Effect 2 at least kept me interested in the ME world. I have completely lost interest in everything relating to the DA world. I was bored the second hour into this game. The combat, is only slightly entertaining... for the first couple of fights. There is no tactical advantage at all. The only reason I finished the game was to finish the game. The game was pure filth. I honestly cannot say any more that anyone else hasn't said. Even those who have been at Bioware for years agree with most here. If you go to Wikipedia you'll read this:

    During the pre-development of the game, Brent Knowles, a veteran lead designer who had been with Bioware for a decade and the central figurehead behind Dragon Age: Origins, decided to resign during the designing process of Dragon Age II and eventually left the company, stating "I'm not the same person I was when I started, and BioWare isn't the same company."[10] He later went on to clarify his decision to leave, elaborating "I never thought Dragon Age 2 would be a terrible game. It was just that a highly cinematic, action-leaning RPG wasnâ    … Expand
  93. moon625
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    Put shortly, an abomination. Completely disregarding any input from the player or its predecessor, this game is, again put shortly, a solipsistic mess. This is an un-game. Its greatest positive influence is that it makes other games better in comparison. Not seem better, but actually making them better games by its mere existence.
  94. lolwut6045
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    this game is so bad that it hurts. bioware needs to be purged. once a great company, now they pander out garbage left and right. also, hamburger helper
  95. noesis790
    Jun 18, 2012
    0
    I created an account just so I could review this game.
    This is a sequel that takes a step backward in almost every area of the game.
    It doesn't even compare to Dragon Age: Origins.
    Skip.
  96. ChrisGames
    Oct 23, 2012
    0
    This is the worst video game i have ever played without a doubt. You will go to the same cave 100 times, and each time the game will rename the cave, telling you it is a new and mysterious place you have never seen before. And then its just the exact same cave. Bioware has no shame for releasing something like this.
  97. Vehement
    Jun 25, 2012
    0
    Bad game. Bioware took everything I loved about DA:O,and destroyed them in DA2. Stiff, locked, and awkward hack and slash really messed up DA2 for me. The characters in DA2 is no where as interesting and heartfelt like Origin. What happened to the many choices I can pick? Why am I getting a choice wheel? This is not f'n Mass Effect. Also, Tons of fetching/killing quests that willBad game. Bioware took everything I loved about DA:O,and destroyed them in DA2. Stiff, locked, and awkward hack and slash really messed up DA2 for me. The characters in DA2 is no where as interesting and heartfelt like Origin. What happened to the many choices I can pick? Why am I getting a choice wheel? This is not f'n Mass Effect. Also, Tons of fetching/killing quests that will have you backtracking the same map over and over and over again. DA2 and ME3 really dropped my confidence in Bioware's game quality.… Expand
  98. hiimbigdave
    Jul 2, 2012
    0
    After playing the marvellous game that was the original Dragon Age this will be nothing but a disappointment to any person who chooses to play it. I suggest you instead use your time wisely and instead grind you way to the next prestige level in Call of Duty
  99. AnEwOkSeXsLaVe
    Apr 25, 2014
    0
    This is not an RPG. There are no choices or customizations. It's like Government... you get the illusion of choice, you get 1 of 2 Satans to pick from. That's the options-scales in this game. Everything is flashy and meant to captivate you "ooh attacks look so cool now". It's smoke and mirrors... dog and pony show... NOT SUBSTANCE beneath it. It's boring, weak, and repetitive combatThis is not an RPG. There are no choices or customizations. It's like Government... you get the illusion of choice, you get 1 of 2 Satans to pick from. That's the options-scales in this game. Everything is flashy and meant to captivate you "ooh attacks look so cool now". It's smoke and mirrors... dog and pony show... NOT SUBSTANCE beneath it. It's boring, weak, and repetitive combat that is essentially brainless. No matter what class you're playing.

    Knights Of The Old Republic was a legendary game that got EVERYTHING RIGHT. Story-telling... RPG, combat... characters... these Dragon Age games get worse and worse and they're all visuals with no real substance at all. And negative reviews are all correct... this game is ON RAILS. Again... NO OPTIONS. The illusion of choices.

    Characters are awful. Story starts out boring and persists to be boring. You can interact with nothing but your next quest thing/guy/objective. On Rails.

    I played this over a couple times as Rogue/Warrior and you're just restricted to nothing at the beginning-mid... few if any skills. Activated Abilities and Passives abound and limit actual gameplay. Combos non-existent. You're 8-12 years old you might like this game a lot. If you're older then that you will hate this piece of flaming ****

    I'm pissed I wasted $20 and had to load these Gamestop Apps (because Origins Store kept having difficulties..) then loading Origins then updating... etc. etc. So much **** to just PLAY A GAME. That's not even a game.... It's not even a good story or movie-game. It's just awful beyond words. And there are recycled areas and everything...

    Recycle, reduce, reuse. The philosophy of these companies now; especially with sequels.

    I'm actually proud of myself thinking of that just now.... RECYCLE. REDUSE, REUSE. That's what these companies do in these games, especially EA. Remember Command and Conquer? Same... damn... thing... happened with it. Over and over.

    DO NOT PURCHASE by titles. I played Diablo 1 and 2... did not buy 3. Watched the updates... learned it was corrupted and garbage. Made by different people. Same with Knights Of The Old Republic MMO... saw it was turning out to be trash and based on greed. Same with C&C titles. Titles get bought out and passed around and used to create a cashcow through people's nostalgia. Don't trust books by covers, ever, or people by looks, or games by titles/screenshots. Research first.

    I mean I could go on all day how bad this game is. It's SO GOD DAMN BORING. BORING. BORING. BORING. Repetitive, NOT an RPG on any level.. (I mean what in this game constitutes it as a real RPG... seriously... it's an illusion). There's really no story either... the other negative reviews are saying it right; no story. Another illusion.

    Go back to old games if you want great stories and great fun. Go play Diablo 1 and 2. Go play Knights Of The Old Republic, or even KOTOR 2, the unfinished and cut down sequel that was forced to be rushed out too early and got chopped in half. Even KOTOR 2 is better then this trash... BY FAR.

    Some other points...

    You cannot talk to party members... they have set gear. It's like no interaction or customization of them at all. You can summon a dog briefly.

    The combat is just extremely slow and plodding. The difficulties just make things take longer to kill. That's all. So there's no difficulty, just kind of a handicap for the enemy. It doesn't make you think any different it just extends combat time. *shrug* You will be bored to tears.

    Another major point: I don't want to paly a game... and read through a god damn bible of Codex/Journal/Quest stuff. There is so much crap to read... it's ridiculous.

    Running and running and reading and reading and running... who wants to DO THAT. Reading is ok, but don't make people read ultra-boring, red herring... non-sequitur ****.

    And quests don't upgrade with the details you want to see. You forget something, go back to the NPC and start over. Not like it matters.

    Probably the most NOTEABLE THING... about this game, is the glitch looking movement and graphics. I have top of the line PC with 6-core processor and an awesome video card. JUST UPGRADED....

    ANY VIDEO SETTINGS YEILD THE SAME GLITCHY LOOKING MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT FLAWS. Big lines, squares of darkness... borders in the environment... weird anomalies... changing settings in anyway did nothing. Same speed, same choppy movements... same glitchy looking hair on characters that looks like toupees... (you can see under it, bald heads). Good graphics but terrible/recycled animations and doodads.. same bookshelf, same walls, same everything, everywhere. It looks like the same crap that was all in DA:O.... it seriously does... Doesn't even look like anything really new went into this.

    Go watch the cutscenes on youtube if you want to see the story-aspects. That will tell you right there.    … Expand
  100. Ocelot113
    Sep 5, 2012
    0
    For a game that really only had to improve on the fluidity of combat, they changed pretty much everything from the first game, for the worse I might add. Combat seems to be the only thing they got right, for the most part.

    The story was linear not allowing for multiple outcomes to situations. Bringing a hero through tragedy is okay, but absolutely dropping the story after the downfall    For a game that really only had to improve on the fluidity of combat, they changed pretty much everything from the first game, for the worse I might add. Combat seems to be the only thing they got right, for the most part.

    The story was linear not allowing for multiple outcomes to situations. Bringing a hero through tragedy is okay, but absolutely dropping the story after the downfall is not. The point of a hero is the journey back from disaster and the choices that they make shortly after tragedy. Dragon Age 2 after every major event skips ahead in time missing all those pivotal choices. Immense tragedy with no option for justice is a good way to piss people off, not get them emotionally invested. because there was no proper response to events it made me realize that this is a game, and I don't want to play it anymore because my reaction was not expressed. Not even close. That's the opposite of immersion.

    Speaking of immersion, the use of a main voice actor could have been an amazing addition, IF... the tone of the voice were more versatile. RPG's requires that you feel like you are the role you are playing and when you cannot be aggressiveness sharp-tongued or be righteously stern then voice acting obliterates immersion. Forcing voice acting into pansy good guy, cheery joker, and jack-off bad guy, means you do not get real characters but cliche stereotypes. And when you are choosing multiple reactions during a scene you get unrealistic multiple personality mood swings.

    Party Character options got an axe to the face. No ability to equip characters with armor and no ability to choose any skill tree, killed this game for ever RPGer that played, and loved Dragon Age: Origins. One of the great things about DAO was that if you didn't like someone in the party, you could give that role to someone more interesting. The fact that I had to run 90% of the game with the soulless, emotionless, thought and humor inept Aveline because she was the only tank, was... well the dumbest character choice I've ever come across in a game.

    Lastly, I'll quickly touch on the combat. Really the only problem I had with the combat was the cooldown system. In DOA there was a dedicated tank and a dedicated healer, for the most part. This system works, use it. Healers were made extinct because of the over-powering cooldown system. I downloaded a mod to lower all cooldowns making this game faster paced and much more fun since the healer was viable again.

    Needed mods to enjoy:
    http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/3194#content (Armor for Party Members)
    http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/2407#content (All Skill Trees for Party Members)
    http://dragonage.nexusmods.com/mods/2186 (Reduce All Cooldowns)    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2011
3
#3 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011
19
#19 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

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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