Game reception and rating: Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins received significant praise from many major videogame and media outlets upon its release:

While the game is considered to be virtually identical across all platforms, differences in user interface, graphical performance, and online content delivery have led the PC version to be reviewed slightly more favorably than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions; Metacritic ranks the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game with scores of 91, 87, and 86, respectively.[15][16][17]

Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot reviewed the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions separately. The PC version was given a score of 9.5 out of 10, plus an 'Editor's Choice' award. The game was described as "that kind of game, so rich and involving that you are powerless to resist its wiles and whims, so touching and triumphant that your mind and heart will be moved... Few games are this ambitious, and even fewer can mold these ambitions into such a complete and entertaining experience. You might spend 50 or more hours on your first play-though, but there are so many paths to follow, so many details to uncover, and so many ways to customize your party that you'll want to play again as soon as you finish the first time."[94]

When comparing the console versions, the PlayStation 3 "features higher-quality textures than those on the Xbox 360, better color saturation, smoother facial animations, and shorter load times," although "minor visual hiccups, like corpses that disappear and reappear, are a bit more common on the PS3. The Playstation 3 version was given a 9.0/10 while the Xbox 360 version was given an 8.5/10. "[94]

Giant Bomb writer David Snider also reviewed all three versions of Dragon Age: Origins together and gave an overall rating of five stars out of five. The review favorably described the game as "a real throwback to the good old days of PC role-playing epics... While that means you could rightfully fault the game for not being especially innovative, it's this adherence to a classic style of gameplay that will ensure that it's welcomed by the legions of nostalgic RPG players that make up this genre's core audience."[95] Snider did remark that the game might be daunting or inaccessible to casual players due to the amount of in-game micromanaging that is required, especially on consoles, which he considered to have a more cumbersome interface.[95]

IGN's Jeff Haynes gave the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins a score of 90 out of 100 and characterized it as "one of those titles that can easily swallow up dozens of hours of play and keep you coming back for more... a game with a ton of re-playability and an incredibly vivid world that is the start of an impressive franchise."[96] While the review was mostly glowing, Haynes did note grievances, namely that the combat difficulty was scaled awkwardly, the graphics sometimes appeared dated, and the plot was repetitive of Bioware's other games.[97]

1UP.com editor, Jason Wilson, gave the PC version of the game an 'A' rating, and surmised that "while the story may not be completely original, it's told in a way that enthralls and enchants the player. It's the best RPG of the year -- and maybe the best of the HD era."[98] Wilson briefly compared the PC release to the PlayStation 3 release, and said that combat on the console controller was comparably "hamstrung" and felt "stripped down".[98]
Example of Dragon combat.

GamePro editor Will Herring awarded Dragon Age: Origins 5 out of 5 stars, writing that it was "a spectacular experience from beginning to end, and with an enormous amount of choices to make, cities to visit, dungeons to crawl, NPCs to interact with, treasure to find, quests to complete and crafts to master. I feel pretty confident in saying that Dragon Age: Origins is, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable and immersive RPG experiences I've had since my Infinity Engine days."[99] Herring also noted differences between the PC and console releases, but considered them to be minor.[99]

The New York Times writer Seth Schiesel wrote a positive review of the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins, favorably comparing its scope to another popular RPG, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; but he added that Dragon Age: Origins provided a more engaging experience.[100]

PC Gamer UK, which awarded Dragon Age: Origins a 94%, declared it the "RPG of the decade".[91]

Official Xbox Magazine rated the Xbox 360 version of Dragon Age: Origins with a score of 9.0, listing the combat interface as a plus, while criticizing the amount of story choices available to the player as being potentially overwhelming.[101]

Michael Lafferty of GameZone rated Dragon Age: Origins at 9.9/10 for the PC, stating, "The development team has done a sterling job of creating emotional content within the game’s atmosphere." The 360 version, on the other hand, received a 9.0/10.