While I have given decidedly different reviews of the Mac & PC/Console versions of Dragon Age: Origins, one thing should be very clear – I absolutely love the core game. Now there is a new reason for me to get back to replaying Dragon Age again – a new expansion called The Darkspawn Chronicles!
From the official site:
You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon’s call—Denerim must burn!
* A look at an alternate history: what if your character had died in the Joining ceremony, and the Grey Wardens marched under Alistair’s command instead?
* A standalone adventure in which you command genlocks, hurlocks, shrieks, and even the mighty ogres.
* Complete the module and unlock an epic Darkspawn item in DA:O and Awakening.
The DLC will cost $5 and is scheduled to release on May 18th for the PC and XBOX360, and sometime after that for the PS3 (and presumably about 15 minutes before hell freezes over for the Mac!). There are no details in terms of how much gameplay we will see or what sorts of skills or feats you will have at your command – or even the choices you’ll have for your initial character build.
Darkspawn Chronicles is being called a ‘standalone’ adventure at some sites, actually meaning that none of your characters enter into this game and none of your previous games are taken into account – but you still need the original game to play. This has caused confusion, since usually ‘standalone’ means that you don’t need the original game. In case you’ve seen this and been confused, consider the matter cleared up!
I haven’t touched Dragon Age in what seems like quite a while, so I look forward to getting an excuse to travel back into one of the most exciting game worlds in recent years and take a whole new look at the game world! What about you – have you finished the original adventure? How about the other DLC? Are you ready to take on the role of the DarkSpawn?
