Dragon Age: Origins (Ultimate Edition) (PS3) - Review

After quickly getting tired of the initially exciting but progressively repetitive Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I took a trip to GameStop one day with a few other unwanted titles and traded them in. Thankfully, this was before Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had been publicly known, and so the trade-in credit had not significantly dropped. The last time I was at GameStop, I noticed the Ultimate Edition of Dragon Age: Origins for the PlayStation 3, and had heard some good praise for it. I took Angry Joe of Blistered Thumbs word for it and expressed interest in purchasing since I’m an avid RPG fan; it has probably become my favorite genre at this point. However, during that visit, I didn’t have the money for it, hence the MvC3 trade-in. So I paid for it, and brought it home with me, though my fun would have to wait as the installation download coupled with every DLC made for quite the delay. After every last download had finished, I finally began my quest in the land of Ferelden.

Dragon Age: Origins is an RPG developed by the Western RPG giant known as BioWare, (famous for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect) developed as a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate. Origins details the adventures of your protagonist, a Grey Warden, as he or she battles against the Darkspawn, among other things. Your character is custom when you start, physical appearance, class, race, and combat preference are up to the player. Such choices include a Human Noble, a Dwarf Commoner, and an Elf Mage, to just name examples. Each class and race pairing has its own unique backstory, hence a part of the subtitle. Players of BioWare titles will feel right at home to Dragon Age with trademark dialogue branches and combat. Being a personal fan of Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, it didn’t take me long to get comfortable.

There was something that felt right the moment I began playing, mostly familiarity. My first save file included a Human Noble, and I loved the old-fashioned feel of role-playing that brought me both a feeling of nostalgia as well as a sense of tradition. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with RPGs that push the envelope in a different direction such as Bethesda’s Fallout or The Elder Scrolls series, and as blasphemous as it may sound, I have not had the chance to play any of the Mass Effect games. That being said, Dragon Age: Origins is a fix for a certain hole left unfilled, and that is the Knights of the Old Republic 3 I always wanted (The Old Republic does not count to me). Between a main protagonist without a voice outside of battle phrases, a memorable selection of characters, some unobtainable depending on your choices, and an influence mechanic, the game could very well have Lightsabers and The Force in place of swords and magic.

That’s not to say that the game is some sort of a diamond in the rough, because it has glaring issues. First off, the graphics are a little subpar, but the game has so much to offer in other categories that this fault can very easily be excused. Second, there is considerable slow-down in certain areas, which in my honest opinion, is much less dismissible on a console than a PC. Next, we have texture pop-in, a lack of an alignment mechanic, and dialogue branching could be a little more advanced, considering the technological advancements since KoTOR II in 2004, despite it being developed by Obsidian. These issues make the game feel dated, despite it a fairly recent product. Also, among DLCs, I felt all of them could have been longer; Awakening was particularly disappointing both length-wise and from a storytelling standpoint.

Despite my complaints I would recommend this to most consistent RPG players, as the various origins and different classes offer a solid amount of replay value, and your companions are quite memorable, each having their own personal missions, plus the integration of sex and blood helps this mature package come full circle even with the few bumps in the road. Ferelden is an intriguing setting, the game’s soundtrack is more than generic fantasy, and solid voice acting is greatly appreciated, particularly from Morrigan, played by Claudia Black, previously known for playing Chloe Frazier in Uncharted 2. There are some issues, but I think I probably would have paid a full $60 for it, knowing how good it is now. 9 out of 10.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare - Review

It’s no secret that an overabundance of sequels tends to ruin a franchise. It’s a curse that plagued Friday the 13^th, 007 (on and off), and every cringe-worthy Scary Movie spin-off. It is also no secret that A Nightmare on Elm Street is a staple of pop-culture and the character of Freddy Krueger is a widely known horror icon. I was around nine or ten years old when I stayed over at my aunt’s house, and had spent the day with my favorite cousin, and during the day I had noticed a box set collection of the Nightmare series from the original to Freddy’s Dead. I stood up the entire night watching every film in the series other than New Nightmare as it wasn’t a part of the collection. I thought it was great entertainment, though I was never scared, not even in the slightest. Being a child who was raised on more mature films at an early age, I was considerably desensitized throughout my childhood, at least in terms of movies. The only “scary movies” that were able to frighten me were Child’s Play and later the original Halloween. A Nightmare on Elm Street was entertainment for me, and has been to this day, back then I watched it for the special effects and the treat of seeing such a wicked and likeable antagonist, now that I’ve gotten older I truly appreciate its craft, though I will never say it frightened me, because it never has.

As with many franchises gone awry, there were just too many installments in the Nightmare series, each one becoming more comic and more cartoonish than the last, albeit gore and self-relishing profanity. Sure, Krueger became downright hilarious by the time of Freddy’s Dead, but he had still become a joke, a slasher comedian nine years prior to American Psycho. Wes Craven, the man who introduced the masses to the mythos in the first place, knew it too. I was young when I had first seen New Nightmare, possibly a year or two after I had seen the films before it, and I wasn’t impressed at all. The film-within-a-film premise [insert Inception joke here] did not appeal to me, the lack of screen time for Krueger felt stagnant, and when the redesigned Freddy did appear, I felt it was too little, too late.

Well, years have passed, and I have watched New Nightmare once again. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare follows Heather Langenkamp (Nancy from the first installment) playing herself and dealing with Freddy coming into our world, she’s been having dreams about it, so has Craven, and so has Robert Englund. This is the real world, the Nightmare films are known to the public and the fans hunger for yet another installment despite Freddy being killed off in the previous installment. Apparently Freddy Krueger is a demon who has been contained within the films, and now that they’re concluded, he wants to enter reality. I find this plot a lot more enthralling then I did when I was younger, and Craven’s writing is clever, played serious, and meta, years before the term was used far too often by drones on the Internet.

The film does what modern horror films lack; it takes its time, and instills a sense of dread and anticipation. Krueger’s presence is felt throughout the majority of the film, and the self-aware plotline makes the inevitable confrontation all the more foreboding. The film also includes subtext about the impact of the horror genre and the questionable romanticizing of characters like Freddy Krueger, who are loved and adored for being murderers. New Nightmare was that treat for horror fanatics before Craven had directed Scream two years later. You get the most out of a movie like this when you’re an avid fan of the genre and/or the franchise, especially with the homages to previous installments.

That being said, with credit where credit is due, the film is still flat in some areas, and it does get a little dull in certain areas despite the adjustment to steady pacing. In many ways New Nightmare is akin to Rocky Balboa in terms of its nostalgia-driven narrative and bookend finality, but I wouldn’t call it perfect. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is still a superior follow-up which holds up as a film in its own right, whereas if New Nightmare was seen in that same light it doesn’t do very well. Not to mention, there are certain ideas I wished the film explored or displayed, like a meeting of Robert Englund and the new Freddy as Welshy of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses mentioned in his own review. However, this is as good a closure as you’re going to get, so give it a chance if you hated Freddy’s Dead. 7.5 out of 10.