Players may have managed to defeat the Archdemon in Dragon Age: Origins, but don't think for one second the story is over. It's time to deal with the fallout from all that's happened. The Awakening expansion takes place sometime after the Origins campaign. You start off in a brand new world under a new role: that of the Commander of the Grey Wardens. You enter the land of Amaranthine and soon realize that you’re back to organizing troops to help destroy the devastation that incessant darkspawn attacks have planted. The grand theme behind the expansion of Dragon Age is fairly similar to the main game’s: the darkspawn threat is becoming progressively unmanageable, and as you begin to put in efforts to gather a formidable army while investigating the powers behind the darkspawn brutes, you’ll come across peasants, refugees and orphans all with hands outstretched. BioWare once again does a wonderful job of presenting the sort of distraught lands that lay at the mercy of war.
Your main plot missions will take you to meet new and old characters; this is where BioWare gets a chance to shine once again. Awakening provides you with more characters of diverse backgrounds to explore, all of which have their own entertaining demeanour. The decision to bring back your companion Oghren in your crew was definitely an invited one as he was one of the more delightful characters with his somehow disgusting yet quite charming attitude. The gameplay in Awakening remains very consistent with the original game. Your three teammates run with a customizable AI scheme, but you can choose to control them at any time. BioWare’s infamous spin wheel allocating items and abilities is still in place, so if you’ve played Origins the gameplay will be almost identical.
In the end, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening sums your entire experience to very gratifying results. Your new side quests and missions tie in together with the storyline, really making them feel like their part of the main plot than most games will let on. If you have been itching to get back into the world of Dragon Age like I was, this is a must-own experience. All the fans of the original game should not hesitate in picking up this excellent addition to the lore.
Final Recommendation: Buy
