Non-spoiler review
Based on 2 playthroughs on an Xbox360:
Differences (that I noticed) from Origins/Awakenings:
· You start (and stay) at level 12. That’s right, no XP gain. The module isn’t really long enough to gain a level anyway and removing XP for killing things allows the infinite reinforcement mechanic to work. This proves ideal since at level 12 you can kick ass but combat remains challenging because you don’t yet have access to all the high-level, game-breaking abilities.
· No character generation, customization, or import. You play the role of a hurlock vanguard (basically an uber version of a hurlock alpha from Origins).
· No party member revival – dead followers are automatically removed from the party. However, the vanguard will be revived when combat ends if at least one other follower survives the battle.
· No party camp. You use a custom ability to add or remove followers (called ‘thralls’) at will to your cadre of controllable darkspawn. This mechanic nicely reinforces the brutal, disposable nature of the darkspawn horde.
· Items equipped on followers are automatically moved back into your party inventory when the follower dies.
· Item drops are fairly rare but always useful (i.e. no gold, gems, blank vellum, crappy weapons, or craftng components). This keeps the focus more on fighting, less on looting. It also means you aren’t always messing about in the inventory screen every time you add a new follower.
· Follower approval increases when they kill a batch of normal creatures or a single boss. All followers get an approval increase when the vanguard kills a batch of normal rank creatures or boss.
· Approval bonuses are progressively larger and apply to multiple attributes. As a result, you become surprisingly protective of darkspawn that have been in the party for a while.
· Cutscenes are only shown at the start of each level and serve to foreshadow imminent events, almost a level overview or flythrough. It's a departure from the style used in Origins/Awakenings but works well for this module.
· Gore on party members does not magically disappear when you go to a new area.
Standout features and nicely done details:
· The deathblow when you kill a thrall/follower never gets old!
· The ogre’s grab ability is super fun. It’s refreshing to be on the other end of it for once.
· It was a nice surprise to find the shriek to be so compelling in its abilities and control.
· Destructible barricades and gates, fireballs starting fires - adds a nice element of interactivity to the game. You feel as if you really are razing the place.
· There's always a horde of darkspawn following you around which gives you the sense that you're leading the attack even without having direct control of all your allies.
· Battles become progressively more difficult. I love that they ebb and flow as combatants die and reinforcements arrive; it makes the whole combat experience more uncertain and more exciting.
· Final battle is well done: you have to defeat the Wardens before they defeat the archdemon. Makes for a fun sense of urgency that does not feel contrived.
· Locations on the map are marked as ‘destroyed by darkspawn’ as you progress through the city.
· The sky becomes progressively darker as you advance into the city. This adds immensely to the atmosphere (bad pun, I know) and makes the re-hashed levels look at least a little different.
· Ballistae are deadly and force the player to take out the operators early in a fight. I love the ones that are sited so you can shoot back! Nothing like killing a golem (or two!) with a single ballista shot!
· Consistent button assignment on the 360 makes it easy to switch between different darkspawn: A is always attack, X and Y are always special attacks, RT+X is always an area/group attack, RT+Y is always a stun/immobilize ability. RT+B is usually a modal or creature-specific ability.
· Default follower tactics are superb and don’t need to be touched at all. This is a huge boon on console since reconfiguring follower tactics in Origins/Awakenins was a tedious chore.
· Respawn rates seem to be proportional to game difficulty (allies take more time to reinforce, enemies less time).
· Automatic save games at the end of areas instead of the start (where they tend to be too distracting). Especially useful since you can't return to an area once you leave it.
· Hurlocks and genlocks are sensibly equipped, balanced, and have intelligent ability selections. One type isn’t overwhelmingly better than the others. I like that they have random weapons and that the weapons aren’t the junk versions used in Origins. Liked that you can choose which kind of hurlock/genlock to use based on preference/situation (archer, two-handed, weapon and shield, dual-wield). Sadly there are no genlocks that wield two-handed weapons.
· Did a good job of showing the darkspawn as intelligent but not intelligible.
· Love the codex entries that are added whenever you kill a named character from Origins.
· Nice that it doesn’t require Awakenings.
· I liked that it didn't dwell on the 'alternate reality' thing in the game. In fact, only the DLC description and trailer actually mention it. For the most part, Darkspawn Chronicles is just the destruction of Denerim from another perspective and the predictable 'twist' at the end. The whole non-canon, alternate reality scenario serves simply to explain the absence of your Origins hero and the last 10 seconds of the module.
· Module ends on a high note. I had a real sense of accomplishment and exhilaration the first time I finished it.
· Complete freedom in party composition (number and type of darkspawn followers) makes it fairly replayable, especially since it's a standalone module.
· Much as I enjoyed Origins and Awakenings, I think it's actually good that I can play this DLC without having to slog through them yet again.
· Quests are nicely gated. You usually only have one active so there's no need to constantly consult the journal. Some quests are optional and at least one has multiple possible outcomes.
· $5 is a fair price point for 6 areas and 1.5-2 hours of gameplay, especially considering I'll replay it at least once more.
Bugs (on 360 version):
· The default follower tactic assignment isn’t actually a proper tactic preset so its easy to inadvertently clobber them on console. Thankfully there’s really no need to change them.
· The spiked collar item can be equipped on any darkspawn (not just the blight wolf). This is broken in Origins/Awakenings too but by the end of my first playthrough of Darkspawn Chronicles I rather liked giving my ogre a spiked collar.
· As with Origins/Awakenings, the game lags in battles with a large number of combatants. Reducing the number of followers in your party seems to help with this.
· As with Origins/Awakenings, loot sparkles and codex entries are often delayed when in combat.
Complaints:
· Lack of differentiation between hurlocks and genlocks. There's no point to adding genlock archers to your party since they have only shortbows whereas hurlock archers all have longbows.
· Would have been nice to have an alternate, ‘canon’, ending cutscene should the final battle go the other way.
· The ogre is painfully slow. And not just when walking - by the time he throws a rock the enemy has already scattered. This was nice in Origins/Awakenings when I was the target and could kite and evade, but now that I'm controlling the ogre I find it just plain frustrating.
· The blight wolf could use some love. I found no compelling reason to use it.
· The shriek’s ‘leap’ ability is underwhelming.
· The deathblow animations for the shriek and blight wolf are pitiful.
· The crafting components scattered about aren’t really necessary (disclaiimer: I hate crafting).
· Disliked the archdemon floaty text messages (too intrusive).
· Disappointed that the level art was simply reused from Origins.
· Absence of voiceover is noticeable though not glaring. A bit of VO would have increased the impact of this module.
· The name is a misnomer as there is only one 'chronicle': the siege of Denerim. Would have been more compelling if it included more scenarios like the attack on Lothering.
· Would have been nice to have alternate paths through the city – back alleys and such.
· The achievements are inconsistent - one is absurdly easy, one is ridiculously hard, and the other is about right. Simply finishing the module is not grounds for an achievement and certainly does not merit a combat and economy breaking uber item added to the main campaign as a reward. BioWare seems to consistently miss on this.
Modifié par Aleena, 18 mai 2010 - 08:29 .
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