Return to Ostagar this is not… this is BioWares own personal Awakening!

Moving swiftly on from Return to Ostagar (which was one of the biggest disappointments to come out of the BioWare HQ in my honest opinion), Awakening is a brand new campaign with 5 new party members, new level cap, abilities, items and a storyline deserving of the Dragon Age title.

So let’s quickly go over what is new; 6 new specializations for you and your party. That’s 2 new for each class. Mages get up to 24 new spells including 2 new high level spell chains and a choice of 2 new specializations. If you prefer to play as a Rogue or Warrior you haven’t been forgotten about, you are treated to a total of 32 new talents! Oh and don’t forget the 3 new skills available; Runecrafting, Vitality and Clarity. There are 5 new characters to pick your party from in Awakening and the return of my favourite Origins character; Oghren. That’s right Oghren is back to amuse you with his stories of drinking, whoring and general debauchery… but this time you get to make him a Grey Warden.

Yes you heard me correct, this time round it is up to you to rebuild the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. Every party member you recruit is able to be recruited into the order, and it is up to you to make the decision as to whether or not they are permitted to undergo the joining ritual. Cool huh? You have your very own army of Grey Wardens at your side, but that’s not all. You also have your very own Keep, Vigils Keep, Vassals and everything else that comes with being Arl of Amaranthine. But with this comes great responsibility.

Upon starting the game you can choose to either import your Origins character (minus DLC & Origins specific loot) or start a fresh as an Orlesian Grey Warden sent from afar to take command of Vigils Keep as the Warden Commander. As you approach the Keep it is quite clear something is wrong and of course it is. The Keep has been overrun by Darkspawn and you need clear them out and secure it as quickly as possibly with the aid of Mhairi, Anders (an apostate mage) and Oghren. With the keep secured it becomes yours. But there is work to be done. You need to rebuild the Keep and strengthen its defences, rebuild the Grey Warden order in Ferelden since so many fell during the attack on the Keep, and you will also need to deal with the day to day runnings of Amaranthine. All whilst trying to figure out what sparked such an attack… and learn the mystery behind the Darkspawn commander who had learnt the art of speech, until you ran him through of course.

Along your journey you will meet and recruit Nathaniel Howe a rogue and the son of Arl Rendon Howe (if you played through Origins, this name will make your blood boil), Justice the spirit warrior from the Fade, Sigrun a dwarven scout from the Legion of Dead and Velanna an elven mage of rather unknown and questionable origin. Along with Anders and Oghren you have your new Grey Warden army. Each of them has side quests and stories to uncover when you have befriended them enough because making a return is the reputation system and also the gifting system. Specific gifts can either affect your reputation with a character or can trigger a cut scene or beginning of a new side quest. Choose who you give these gifts too carefully, once you have given it, you can’t take it back.

In Awakening there are plenty of new places to explore. Amaranthine; Rendon Howe’s previous property estate. Blackmarsh a former bustling village abandoned into a gloomy, desolate marsh. Kal’Hirol: The dwarven fortress long known as a center of learning for the smith caste. Knotwood Hills: An area of inhospitable and barren hills to the west of Amaranthine. The Wending Woods: A forest area divided by Pilgrim’s Path, leading to Amaranthine. Dragon Bone Wastes: Wasteland where dragons go to die and the Tevinter Imperium attempts to harvest greater power from their remains. Each and every area is as clean, polished and detailed as those belonging to Origins. From the torn Veil in Blackmarsh to the deep caverns of Kal’Hirol you will feel completely drawn into the detail around you.

Something missing in Awakening is the romancing of your party members. However I don’t see this as a down fall. BioWare have instead spent their time working on ensuring the storyline, character backgrounds and quests all fit perfectly and run smoothly alongside each other.

For my closing comments I think I need to make it clear that fans of Origins will not be disappointed and this expansion will give you more of what it is we all loved about the first one. The storyline is EPIC (as well as the final battle!), the choices you make whilst running Amaranthine really do matter and affect the game, the combat is clean, precise and as detailed as the original and the character system is again as deep and complex as Origins.

Bravo BioWare, you almost lost me with Return to Ostagar but with Awakening it is safe to say I am 100% back on board.

9 / 10

Graphics: The bar was set so high in Origins and yet Awakening hits it and doesn’t falter.

Gameplay: Fun and interesting new characters to bond with and an incredible final 2 hour finale.

Sound: I loved the haunting soundtrack in Origins and Awakening hits the same cords as before. New voice actors are as compelling as ever.

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