Dragon Age Origins Darkspawn Chronicles Review: Broken mess
The Darkspawn chronicles was a great concept: replay the ending of Origins but in a changed history where the hero of Fereldan died during the joining and Alistair had lead the defense of Denerim. You play not as the noble heroes, but as the darkspawn themselves. This great concept has been utterly wasted in this miserable add on for Origins.
The action starts out in the city as you take control of a Hurlock Vanguard fighter, a Darkspawn with a fancy helmet and the ability to enthrall, or forcibly recruit, others. This is how you assemble a four-person party, enthralling Genlock archers, Hurlock warriors, magic slinging Emissaries, and even Shrieks and Ogres. The whole pack is a combat crawl through the streets of the burning city. The meat of the pack is in fighting and killing the characters from the main game. This has a real impact as you have spent hours with these characters and know them quite well. Its also interesting to see how the characters fared without the warden, and suffice to say its a tragic take on the events of the main story.
The problems with Darkspawn chronicles are mainly a combination of bugs that ruin the combat. I have gotten stuck in corners playing this on several occasions. There is a point where you lose a part of your party and it can be impossible to get them back. The powers do not work as intended and the pack has frame rate hitches. The pack has nothing outside of its combat, no moral decisions, no dialogue and no exploration.
Darkspawn chronicles the short length, lack of customization options, and absence of any real character interaction make it a waste of time. Its numerous technical problems and sheer boredom factor combined with the fact that a great concept was this badly botched make this dlc revolting and desirable to avoid.
Pros:
- A saddening take on events without the warden
- Killing characters you have spent dozens of hours with has an impact
Cons:
- Too short for its price
- Riddled with technical issues
- Load times are awful
- Combat is boring
- No decisions, conversations or branching paths
- Devoid of meaningful content
- A good concept was ruined
Wtf:
- Oghren leads a band of drunkards, and Herren is a demon
