The Draconian Hype Machine

Dragon Age: Origins comes out a week from now, finally. That's probably why BioWare and EA Games are stepping up their ad campaign. So everything you see in gaming sites right now are just "pre-order Dragon Age" banners (which are working effectively because I already pre-ordered my copy from Steam). In addition to the massive ad campaign, EA also threw out a stand alone character creator for the game and also a Dragon Age web-based game.

Beautifying my character.

When I pre-ordered my copy of Dragon Age: Origins at Steam, I was surprised to see that there's a stand-alone character creator available for download. That, of course, made me a happy camper. RPG enthusiasts, such as myself, always get stuck at the character generation area of the game, trying to tweak the look of our characters to make them pretty or ruggedly. So I really appreciate EA and BioWare by making a character creator available early on. Now I can take my time making my character, save the progress and then load them once I get my retail copy. Dabbling with the creator and uploading your character via BioWare's social network will also net you an exclusive item.

Combat in Dragon Age: Journeys is fun and addicting.

Then there's Dragon Age: Journeys which is a web-based game developed to feed the hype. It's a perfect game if you're already itching for the real deal. At first, I thought that this was just going to be a simple hack n' slash game, like most web games are. But I was surprised that this game actually have a working RPG system -level progression, skill customization, dialog options- and a fun tactical turn-based combat. Plus, you'll also receive unique items for Dragon Age: Origins if you take the in-game survey and unlock some achievements in the game.

EA Games and BioWare did really well with their ad campaign for Dragon Age: Origins. Both the knick-knacks they gave away before the release date of the actual game are fun, especially Dragon Age: Journeys. I just hope that Dragon Age: Origins will live up to its own hype.

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